It's marathon week! I really can not believe that! All of these weeks of training have absolutely flown by, more so than any other training cycle. I feel good about how I feel going into race week and my goal this week is to hydrate, rest my legs, and eat as healthy as I can! That will be a challenge since I once again travel for work Tuesday-Friday of this week, but I will make it work!
Now it's time to think about goals... I have gone back and forth about what my goals should be. Had I not been wiped out by bronchitis for a good 2 weeks, I would probably feel differently. I am not giving up on having a great marathon, of course, I just am adjusting my expectations and trying to not be too hard on myself if I don't make my goal. I always take an A, B, and C goal approach to racing, so here they are:
A Goal: Finish with a smile on my face. I think this should be a goal for any person training for a marathon as you never know what can happen on race day!
B Goal: PR. To PR, I need to run faster than 4:22:10, which means I have to run faster than 10 minute miles. I KNOW I can do this based on how my 20 and 22 mile training runs went (barring any weird thing happening with the weather or my body).
C Goal: Run a sub-4 hour marathon, so 3:59:59 would be just fine with me. That means I need to run a 9:09 pace. This is definitely going to be a challenging goal, and I am not going into the race completely expecting to accomplish this. I am just going to see how I feel on race day and will listen to my body.
The thing is, I know there will be other marathons, so no matter what happens on Sunday, there will be other races. I just want to have fun and run with a smile on my face.
If you want to track how I am doing on race day, you can sign up for text message alerts here. You do need to know my last name, so if you don't know if, you can email me (I think most of you know it, though).
Here is how my training broke out last week:
Monday: 7 miles at 9:23 pace
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: I did an awesome strides work out (30 seconds at 5k pace, 30 seconds of recovery) along a river in Philadelphia. It's definitely a great city to run in. I did just over 5.6 miles at 9:12 pace overall.
Thursday: Biked 10 miles in the morning before work
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10.4 miles at 9:27 pace
Sunday: Rest
Week 17: 23 miles
Training-to-date: 499.25 (so close to 500!!)
Thanks for all the support and encouragement you have all provided along the way! Hopefully I'll have good results to share with you next week!
Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 16
Well, week 16 is in the books, and I am less than 2 weeks from race day! Kind of crazy! This week was a total whirlwind for me as I was in the Harrisburg, PA area Sunday/Monday, then in St. Louis Thursday-Sunday. I mean, I slept in 5 different beds (hotel in PA, my bed, bed at Nora's, bed at Nora's parents, hotel in St. Louis) over the course of the past week. It's no wonder my head is spinning lately, but there is no slowing down anytime soon as I still have 2 more weeks of travel before my marathon. Actually I will be home a total of 5 days between now and the marathon... Le sigh. But I'll get through it!
The first week of taper went pretty well. I am really glad it's taper time because even getting the decreased mileage in is challenging! I'm definitely ready for the race and feel good about my level of conditioning going into race day. I just really hope I can stay healthy for the next 2 weeks. I'm drinking OJ, taking vitamins, and trying to get 8 hours of sleep a night (totally failing on that last one). Hopefully all of that will help keep me healthy!
I'm starting to get questions about my race goal - I have some goals in mind that I'll be sharing next week. Truth be told, I haven't decided on a final goal, but regardless of my goal, I have a racing strategy in mind that will incorporate my final time goal. I've used it in the past, and it works really well. The strategy is to turn my pace bracelet into a prayer bracelet. Those who have read my blog for a couple of years might remember that I did this for my Portland marathon.
What does this mean? Well for those unfamiliar with a pace bracelet, it's a bracelet with mile splits that tell you how many minutes should have passed at each mile marker for you to hit your goal. So if you are trying to run a 4 hour marathon, on mile 5 it will say 54:54, meaning, your garmin better show less than 54:54 on it if you are trying to run a sub-4 hour marathon. It's really easy for us runners to get totally caught up in the numbers and to obsessively look at the pace bracelet and our garmin, so what I do to sort of couteract that is write the name of person next to each mile, and I dedicate that miles to that person. I usually pick people most especially in need of my prayers for the end miles as those are the toughest miles, and that's when you REALLY need the mental distraction. Plus, you are really suffering in those miles, so I try to offer up that suffering for the person I am thinking of. For instance, for this race I will be offering the final 3 miles for my aunt Betty who is fighting cancer. Yes, she gets 3 miles (and is the only person who will get multiple miles) because she is fighting the ultimate fight right now, with such grace. So if during those final 3 miles, I feel like giving up, I will think of her and I think that will keep the pain of the final miles in perspective.
I'm excited to pick out names for each mile of the marathon. And while I do keep an eye on the split times for each mile, I am more so excited to look down at each mile marker and see who I get to pray for/think about next!
Here is how the training broke out last week:
Monday: Rest (travel day)
Tuesday: 5 pre-dawn recovery miles at 9:24 pace.
Wednesday: We did a warm up, then 1 mi @ MP, 1 @ HMP, and 2 @ MP. My goal was sub 9 for the MP and 8:30 for the HMP. I ended up running my MP miles at 8:43, 8:44, and 8:39, and ran my HMP mile at 8:16! Did a cool down afterwards and was happy to see the entire 7+ miles was sub 9! Great confidence booster for the DSM marathon.
Thursday: Rest (travel day)
Friday: 4 miles on the dreadmill at 9:05 pace
Saturday: Rest (wedding festivities)
Sunday: 15 miles @ 10:04 pace. My coach and another friend from run club came out on their Sunday afternoon to run with me. My friend even set up a water/gatorade stop for us. Talk about star treatment. I was pretty tired on this run, which is to be expected after a week of celebrations and some libations!
Week 16: 31 miles
Training-to-date: 476.25
If you are a marathon or half-marathon runner, do you have a racing strategy to keep your mind off the miles? Doyou use the pace bracelet?
The first week of taper went pretty well. I am really glad it's taper time because even getting the decreased mileage in is challenging! I'm definitely ready for the race and feel good about my level of conditioning going into race day. I just really hope I can stay healthy for the next 2 weeks. I'm drinking OJ, taking vitamins, and trying to get 8 hours of sleep a night (totally failing on that last one). Hopefully all of that will help keep me healthy!
I'm starting to get questions about my race goal - I have some goals in mind that I'll be sharing next week. Truth be told, I haven't decided on a final goal, but regardless of my goal, I have a racing strategy in mind that will incorporate my final time goal. I've used it in the past, and it works really well. The strategy is to turn my pace bracelet into a prayer bracelet. Those who have read my blog for a couple of years might remember that I did this for my Portland marathon.
What does this mean? Well for those unfamiliar with a pace bracelet, it's a bracelet with mile splits that tell you how many minutes should have passed at each mile marker for you to hit your goal. So if you are trying to run a 4 hour marathon, on mile 5 it will say 54:54, meaning, your garmin better show less than 54:54 on it if you are trying to run a sub-4 hour marathon. It's really easy for us runners to get totally caught up in the numbers and to obsessively look at the pace bracelet and our garmin, so what I do to sort of couteract that is write the name of person next to each mile, and I dedicate that miles to that person. I usually pick people most especially in need of my prayers for the end miles as those are the toughest miles, and that's when you REALLY need the mental distraction. Plus, you are really suffering in those miles, so I try to offer up that suffering for the person I am thinking of. For instance, for this race I will be offering the final 3 miles for my aunt Betty who is fighting cancer. Yes, she gets 3 miles (and is the only person who will get multiple miles) because she is fighting the ultimate fight right now, with such grace. So if during those final 3 miles, I feel like giving up, I will think of her and I think that will keep the pain of the final miles in perspective.
I'm excited to pick out names for each mile of the marathon. And while I do keep an eye on the split times for each mile, I am more so excited to look down at each mile marker and see who I get to pray for/think about next!
Here is how the training broke out last week:
Monday: Rest (travel day)
Tuesday: 5 pre-dawn recovery miles at 9:24 pace.
Wednesday: We did a warm up, then 1 mi @ MP, 1 @ HMP, and 2 @ MP. My goal was sub 9 for the MP and 8:30 for the HMP. I ended up running my MP miles at 8:43, 8:44, and 8:39, and ran my HMP mile at 8:16! Did a cool down afterwards and was happy to see the entire 7+ miles was sub 9! Great confidence booster for the DSM marathon.
Thursday: Rest (travel day)
Friday: 4 miles on the dreadmill at 9:05 pace
Saturday: Rest (wedding festivities)
Sunday: 15 miles @ 10:04 pace. My coach and another friend from run club came out on their Sunday afternoon to run with me. My friend even set up a water/gatorade stop for us. Talk about star treatment. I was pretty tired on this run, which is to be expected after a week of celebrations and some libations!
Week 16: 31 miles
Training-to-date: 476.25
If you are a marathon or half-marathon runner, do you have a racing strategy to keep your mind off the miles? Doyou use the pace bracelet?
Monday, October 1, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 15
Well the taper has officially began! I ran my last REALLY long run of 22 miles on Saturday and it went AWESOME. I felt strong the entire run and finished in about 3:31, so a pace of 9:36 which is a good pace for a long run. I now know for certain that I have a PR in me (barring anything unusual happening on race day!). It was a stunningly beautiful day to run. The temps were around 55 when we started and with the leaves turning, it was gorgeous to run along the Mississippi river and a couple of lakes. I was definitely wishing I had brought a phone or camera with me, but maybe I will do that next week!
I did encounter a snafu involving marathon weekend. Last week I called to request a late checkout for marathon weekend and the hotel could not find my reservation. Cue panic. I had booked my room back in March and my credit card had been charge in April, so I KNEW I had a reservation. After over an hour on the phone with the hotel and my credit card, my credit card company finally solved the puzzle: the hotel had misspelled my name, so I did not get the email confirmation. Which means I was unaware of the fact that the reservation person I spoke to booked it for APRIL not OCTOBER (excuse me, how do you confuse those 2 months??). So that charge in April was for a no-show fee. And of course, 3 weeks out from the marathon there are no hotel rooms available in the downtown area of Des Moines. I was SO pissed on Thursday. It pretty much ruined my day. When something like this happens, it makes me wish I had a simple last name like Johnson or Smith. My last name is phonetic but it gets messed up all the time.
Luckily, Iowa Amber came to the rescue and said I could say with her! Phew. What a relief!! When I decided to run DSM, Amber thought she was going to be in Vegas, but now she is actually going to be home and is running the half so it will work out great for me to stay with her since she'll be heading to the start line as well! So the problem is solved. The hotel is reimbursing me for the mistake as they clearly got so much wrong. I mean, besides misspelling my last name, which resulted in an incorrect email address, and booking it for 4/20 instead of 10/20, they also got my mailing address wrong (3rd avenue instead of 1st street - which again - how does that happen?). So yah. The guest service person I spoke to was very kind and apologetic. I think I should have gotten a comped room for a future visit but I had spent so much time on the phone at that point, I didn't feel like arguing that point with them.
All's well that ends well, though, and at least I have somewhere to stay - and will get even more quality time with Amber which I am excited about!
Here is how the week broke out:
Monday: 6 miles on the dreadmill at the Charotte Westin, with 3 miles at marathon pace. I didn't hate this dreadmill run because you could play solitaire on the dreadmill. How genius is that??
Tuesday: Biked 8 miles
Wednesday: 9.5 miles with 2 hilly out-and-back loops. I wanted to run sub-9 pace for those out & back, and I did for all but 1 mile.
Thursday: 4.5 miles at 8:50 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 22 miles at 9:36 pace
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 15: 42
Training-to-date: 445.25
I am traveling again today, and then Thursday-Sunday for Nora's wedding so once again I will have to be flexible on my training! But it's taper time! Which feels weird coming off my death virus-induced mini taper.
I did encounter a snafu involving marathon weekend. Last week I called to request a late checkout for marathon weekend and the hotel could not find my reservation. Cue panic. I had booked my room back in March and my credit card had been charge in April, so I KNEW I had a reservation. After over an hour on the phone with the hotel and my credit card, my credit card company finally solved the puzzle: the hotel had misspelled my name, so I did not get the email confirmation. Which means I was unaware of the fact that the reservation person I spoke to booked it for APRIL not OCTOBER (excuse me, how do you confuse those 2 months??). So that charge in April was for a no-show fee. And of course, 3 weeks out from the marathon there are no hotel rooms available in the downtown area of Des Moines. I was SO pissed on Thursday. It pretty much ruined my day. When something like this happens, it makes me wish I had a simple last name like Johnson or Smith. My last name is phonetic but it gets messed up all the time.
Luckily, Iowa Amber came to the rescue and said I could say with her! Phew. What a relief!! When I decided to run DSM, Amber thought she was going to be in Vegas, but now she is actually going to be home and is running the half so it will work out great for me to stay with her since she'll be heading to the start line as well! So the problem is solved. The hotel is reimbursing me for the mistake as they clearly got so much wrong. I mean, besides misspelling my last name, which resulted in an incorrect email address, and booking it for 4/20 instead of 10/20, they also got my mailing address wrong (3rd avenue instead of 1st street - which again - how does that happen?). So yah. The guest service person I spoke to was very kind and apologetic. I think I should have gotten a comped room for a future visit but I had spent so much time on the phone at that point, I didn't feel like arguing that point with them.
All's well that ends well, though, and at least I have somewhere to stay - and will get even more quality time with Amber which I am excited about!
Here is how the week broke out:
Monday: 6 miles on the dreadmill at the Charotte Westin, with 3 miles at marathon pace. I didn't hate this dreadmill run because you could play solitaire on the dreadmill. How genius is that??
Tuesday: Biked 8 miles
Wednesday: 9.5 miles with 2 hilly out-and-back loops. I wanted to run sub-9 pace for those out & back, and I did for all but 1 mile.
Thursday: 4.5 miles at 8:50 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 22 miles at 9:36 pace
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 15: 42
Training-to-date: 445.25
I am traveling again today, and then Thursday-Sunday for Nora's wedding so once again I will have to be flexible on my training! But it's taper time! Which feels weird coming off my death virus-induced mini taper.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 14
4 weeks until the marathon! Holy cannasta. It is coming fast.
Despite my doubts after being so sick with bronchitis, I totally staged a comeback last week. It started with that 13 mile run in Chicago. That run was tough, but I was able to complete it without feeling too tired - and I wasn't sore the next day, which was a good sign. I decided to err on the side of caution and rested both Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, I decided to try to do my first run club workout in over 3 weeks! I had ran with the group the previous Wednesday, but I just did an 'easy pace' run instead of yassos since my lungs were not fully functioning!
The workout on Wednesday was pace work - after the warm-up, we did 2 miles at marathon pace and 2 miles at half marathon pace. When I started the workout, I really wasn't sure if I would be able to do the full workout, but I wanted to give it my all (while listening to my body). Well, it turned out to be one of the best work outs I've had all year! My goal pace for the marathon miles was 9:09 and I ran them at 8:48 and 9:00. My goal for the half marathon miles was 8:45 and I ran them in 8:21 and 8:26.
I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD AFTER THIS WORKOUT. Seriously. I had been seriously doubting my ability to run the marathon, but this workout really gave me a boost of confidence and showed me I CAN do it. I may need to adjust my goals and expectations, but I am definitely going to be able to run a strong marathon!
I capped off the week with an AMAZING 18 mile long run! I actually had to consciously try to hold myself back during this run as my legs were ready to GO. Next week, I will do my 2nd and final 20+ mile run. I am a bit disappointed that I won't get 3 20+ milers in, but I will take what I can get! It just feels so good to be BACK! I wanted to high five the world on Saturday!
In fact, how I felt is best summed up by this:
Here is how the training broke out:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 2xMP, 2xHMP, 8 miles total
Thursday: 4 mile recovery at 9:24 pace
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18.25 miles at 9:20 pace
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 14: 30.25 miles (still too low but I'll take what I can get)
Training-to-date: 403.25
I am traveling again - this time I am in Charlotte - so I will have to miss run club again tonight! And I will be traveling next Monday as well, and the following weekend for Nora's wedding (so 3 trips in the span of 2 weeks). The timing of all of this travel is not optimal, but I can't really control my travel schedule right now and I just have to roll with it and fit in runs when I can!!
When is the last time you had a workout that left you feeling like you were on cloud 9? The last workout before Wednesday's & Saturday's was probably about a month ago when I held an 8:30 pace for 4 miles (which is good for me!)!
Despite my doubts after being so sick with bronchitis, I totally staged a comeback last week. It started with that 13 mile run in Chicago. That run was tough, but I was able to complete it without feeling too tired - and I wasn't sore the next day, which was a good sign. I decided to err on the side of caution and rested both Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, I decided to try to do my first run club workout in over 3 weeks! I had ran with the group the previous Wednesday, but I just did an 'easy pace' run instead of yassos since my lungs were not fully functioning!
The workout on Wednesday was pace work - after the warm-up, we did 2 miles at marathon pace and 2 miles at half marathon pace. When I started the workout, I really wasn't sure if I would be able to do the full workout, but I wanted to give it my all (while listening to my body). Well, it turned out to be one of the best work outs I've had all year! My goal pace for the marathon miles was 9:09 and I ran them at 8:48 and 9:00. My goal for the half marathon miles was 8:45 and I ran them in 8:21 and 8:26.
I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD AFTER THIS WORKOUT. Seriously. I had been seriously doubting my ability to run the marathon, but this workout really gave me a boost of confidence and showed me I CAN do it. I may need to adjust my goals and expectations, but I am definitely going to be able to run a strong marathon!
I capped off the week with an AMAZING 18 mile long run! I actually had to consciously try to hold myself back during this run as my legs were ready to GO. Next week, I will do my 2nd and final 20+ mile run. I am a bit disappointed that I won't get 3 20+ milers in, but I will take what I can get! It just feels so good to be BACK! I wanted to high five the world on Saturday!
In fact, how I felt is best summed up by this:
Here is how the training broke out:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 2xMP, 2xHMP, 8 miles total
Thursday: 4 mile recovery at 9:24 pace
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18.25 miles at 9:20 pace
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 14: 30.25 miles (still too low but I'll take what I can get)
Training-to-date: 403.25
I am traveling again - this time I am in Charlotte - so I will have to miss run club again tonight! And I will be traveling next Monday as well, and the following weekend for Nora's wedding (so 3 trips in the span of 2 weeks). The timing of all of this travel is not optimal, but I can't really control my travel schedule right now and I just have to roll with it and fit in runs when I can!!
When is the last time you had a workout that left you feeling like you were on cloud 9? The last workout before Wednesday's & Saturday's was probably about a month ago when I held an 8:30 pace for 4 miles (which is good for me!)!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday - Week 13
Today, I should be recapping the 21 mile run I did on Saturday. But oh no - no 21 mile run happened last weekend. Instead I spent Friday sitting in a doctor's office, looking like this:
Yes, friends, I once again had to sit in the waiting room and wear a face mask. That totally wasn't embarrassing at all. #sarcasm
So yes, I went back to the doctor. My cough got worse instead of better, and I still had a fever on Friday. My body is worn out right now. So I got another round of antibiotics and some steroids to help with the cough, and they also took a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia (I'll get the result today). Man, I was/am sick.
I do have to give a shout out to my pharmacist, though. She picked up on the fact that the doctor prescribed a drug that interacts with steroids and could cause a ruptured tendon. She said she would advise most people to avoid exercise but when I told her I am training for a marathon, she decided to call the doctor and come up with a different drug (which ended up being 1/10 of the cost! Double win!).
Anyways, not much running happened last week. I am starting to watch my hopes of a strong marathon slip away. At this point, I don't even know if I will be able to run the Des Moines marathon. My coach said I shouldn't give up yet, but that I should also have a back-up marathon in case I am unable to run the DSM marathon.
To say I am discouraged is an understatement. But more than anything, I am MAD. I do all the right things (eat well, go to bed early, rarely drink, don't smoke), and this is how my body thanks me? Granted, I know that I was under a heightened level of stress in August when my boss decided to leave the company, so that is a likely culprit in why I got so sick. But it still sucks. :(
On a positive note, the steroids + antibiotics ARE working and I felt well enough to do a long run in Chicago yesterday (which was great, albeit a little slow but I'll take it).
So I guess now I have to take a wait and see approach. I know in the grand scheme of things that it won't matter if I can't run the Des Moines marathon, but dangit, I was really excited about it and I have been working so hard all summer. I guess time will tell what happens, and if this is not my race, there will be others (my back-up plan at this point is the CIM in Sacramento in early December).
Training Tally:
Wednesday: 6.5 miles (during which I coughed and coughed and coughed)
Sunday: 13 miles @ 9:51 pace along the beautiful Lake Shore Path in Chicago. Wow this is an awesome city to run in!!
Week 13: 19.5 miles (sob)
Training to date: 373miles
Despite the fact that I am really bummed about how this illness is impacting my training, I am focusing on what my coach said in his email to me last week: "There are many marathons, there is only one Lisa. Get well." (I have THE best coach).
Yes, friends, I once again had to sit in the waiting room and wear a face mask. That totally wasn't embarrassing at all. #sarcasm
So yes, I went back to the doctor. My cough got worse instead of better, and I still had a fever on Friday. My body is worn out right now. So I got another round of antibiotics and some steroids to help with the cough, and they also took a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia (I'll get the result today). Man, I was/am sick.
I do have to give a shout out to my pharmacist, though. She picked up on the fact that the doctor prescribed a drug that interacts with steroids and could cause a ruptured tendon. She said she would advise most people to avoid exercise but when I told her I am training for a marathon, she decided to call the doctor and come up with a different drug (which ended up being 1/10 of the cost! Double win!).
Anyways, not much running happened last week. I am starting to watch my hopes of a strong marathon slip away. At this point, I don't even know if I will be able to run the Des Moines marathon. My coach said I shouldn't give up yet, but that I should also have a back-up marathon in case I am unable to run the DSM marathon.
To say I am discouraged is an understatement. But more than anything, I am MAD. I do all the right things (eat well, go to bed early, rarely drink, don't smoke), and this is how my body thanks me? Granted, I know that I was under a heightened level of stress in August when my boss decided to leave the company, so that is a likely culprit in why I got so sick. But it still sucks. :(
On a positive note, the steroids + antibiotics ARE working and I felt well enough to do a long run in Chicago yesterday (which was great, albeit a little slow but I'll take it).
So I guess now I have to take a wait and see approach. I know in the grand scheme of things that it won't matter if I can't run the Des Moines marathon, but dangit, I was really excited about it and I have been working so hard all summer. I guess time will tell what happens, and if this is not my race, there will be others (my back-up plan at this point is the CIM in Sacramento in early December).
Training Tally:
Wednesday: 6.5 miles (during which I coughed and coughed and coughed)
Sunday: 13 miles @ 9:51 pace along the beautiful Lake Shore Path in Chicago. Wow this is an awesome city to run in!!
Week 13: 19.5 miles (sob)
Training to date: 373miles
Despite the fact that I am really bummed about how this illness is impacting my training, I am focusing on what my coach said in his email to me last week: "There are many marathons, there is only one Lisa. Get well." (I have THE best coach).
Monday, September 10, 2012
Marathon Training Monday: Week 12
This week of marathon training can be summed up by the movie title, "Death Becomes Her." I am not being dramatic - holy wow, I got sick last week. While traveling. And presenting. It was *awesome*. #sarcasm.
You can plan and plan and plan for something like a marathon, but sometimes life throws a wrench in those plans and you come down with a terrible case of bronchitis. I went to the doctor on Friday and am on antibiotics so am hopefully on the mend, but this infection seriously laid me up. I exchanged a flurry of messages with my coach, who assured me that missing a long run this weekend would not be the end of the world and would be in my best interest.
So my mileage this week was super low. I worked out twice. TWICE. Terrible huh? But when the death virus comes a-knocking, you best lay your body down on the couch and admit defeat.
Here's hoping my 21 mile run goes ok on Saturday... I am really nervous about how this interruption of marathon training is going to impact my marathon, but I guess if it does impact the race, there will be other marathons. And like my mom said on Friday, nothing would have been gained by running this weekend.
I am so sick, I ended up having to cancel my Sunday/Monday trip to Philadelphia as I am still home sick. I can't believe how much this illness wiped me out.
Here's how my epically disappointing week of marathon training played out:
Monday - 7.25 miles with 4 miles at marathon pace. I ran those 4 miles at 9:08, 9:05, 8:52, and 8:57 and felt strong during that stretch of the run despite the fact that my cold was really starting to come on this day.
Tuesday - rest (travel day)
Wednesay - I felt like absolute crap but dragged my butt down to the hotel gym to crank out some yassos. I ran 6.25 miles total and did 6 yassos at an 8 min/mile pace. I actually didn't feel too bad during this run, surprisingly.
Thursday - Sunday - rest
Training Tally:
Week 12: a measly 13.5 miles
Training to date: 353.5
Have you ever had to take a week off from training for something due to an illness? This is a new experience for me. I've been sick in other training cycles, like last year when I got that string of sinus infections, but this level of sickness is like nothing I have experienced in years honestly.
You can plan and plan and plan for something like a marathon, but sometimes life throws a wrench in those plans and you come down with a terrible case of bronchitis. I went to the doctor on Friday and am on antibiotics so am hopefully on the mend, but this infection seriously laid me up. I exchanged a flurry of messages with my coach, who assured me that missing a long run this weekend would not be the end of the world and would be in my best interest.
So my mileage this week was super low. I worked out twice. TWICE. Terrible huh? But when the death virus comes a-knocking, you best lay your body down on the couch and admit defeat.
Here's hoping my 21 mile run goes ok on Saturday... I am really nervous about how this interruption of marathon training is going to impact my marathon, but I guess if it does impact the race, there will be other marathons. And like my mom said on Friday, nothing would have been gained by running this weekend.
I am so sick, I ended up having to cancel my Sunday/Monday trip to Philadelphia as I am still home sick. I can't believe how much this illness wiped me out.
Here's how my epically disappointing week of marathon training played out:
Monday - 7.25 miles with 4 miles at marathon pace. I ran those 4 miles at 9:08, 9:05, 8:52, and 8:57 and felt strong during that stretch of the run despite the fact that my cold was really starting to come on this day.
Tuesday - rest (travel day)
Wednesay - I felt like absolute crap but dragged my butt down to the hotel gym to crank out some yassos. I ran 6.25 miles total and did 6 yassos at an 8 min/mile pace. I actually didn't feel too bad during this run, surprisingly.
Thursday - Sunday - rest
Training Tally:
Week 12: a measly 13.5 miles
Training to date: 353.5
Have you ever had to take a week off from training for something due to an illness? This is a new experience for me. I've been sick in other training cycles, like last year when I got that string of sinus infections, but this level of sickness is like nothing I have experienced in years honestly.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 11
This week of marathon training is brought to you by the word flexibility.
I will totally own up to the fact that I am not the most flexible person when it comes to my schedule (oh who I am kidding, I'm not flexible when it comes to pretty much anything). Controlling my schedule and planning out my weeks makes me feel more in control of my life in general. But last week was so not in my control. I had some evening commitments for work on Wednesday and Thursday night, and was gone for the weekend for Nora's bridal shower and bachelorette party, so I REALLY had to re-shuffle my workouts.
It went so so. The biggest adjustment was doing my long run before work on Thursday morning. I knew that the weekend was not going to be conducive to 2+ hours of running, so I did it before work on Thursday morning. Which meant getting up at 4:15 so I could eat and be out the door by 4:45. It. Was. Tough. It was dark for 8 miles of my run, which really messes with my pace. And it was warm and muggy. But I pushed through and kept focusing on putting one foot in front of the other until those 14 miles were done. All in all, they weren't that bad, but it wasn't very fun running that early in the morning.
I ended up taking an extra rest day this week, which I am fine with as I have not been sleeping well and I know I just have to accept that some weeks are out of my control. I am a little nervous as the next couple of weeks are going to be so busy and I will be traveling so much (I have 2 sets of flights in the next week). I hope I can still squeeze workouts in here and there - some of which will be on a treadmill. I'm sure I'll make it work - I will just have to be flexible and patient with myself.
Here is how the training played out this week:
Monday - 4 mile tempo run at half marathon pace with a warm up and cool down (7 miles total). I am SUPER pleased with how this workout went as I ran my 4 miles at an average pace of around 8:33!
Tuesday - 7 mile recovery run @ 9:44 pace. This was a tough run as it was hot and the route I picked had no shade. I struggled to finish this run.
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 14 mile long run @ 9:33 pace. Toughest long run of the training season. Running at 4:45 is tough, yo!
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 4 miles on the dreadmill. Given my propensity for getting lost, I opted to run on the treadmill v. risking getting lost in Nora's neighborhood. :)
Sunday - Rest
Training Tally:
Week 11: 32
Training-to-date: 340
Would you say you are a planner? I live and die by my Erin Condren planner and would be so lost without it. Most weeks I have control of my schedule, except when work-related things pop up, as they did last week.
PS - I hope those who have the day off are enjoying themselves. I certainly am!
I will totally own up to the fact that I am not the most flexible person when it comes to my schedule (oh who I am kidding, I'm not flexible when it comes to pretty much anything). Controlling my schedule and planning out my weeks makes me feel more in control of my life in general. But last week was so not in my control. I had some evening commitments for work on Wednesday and Thursday night, and was gone for the weekend for Nora's bridal shower and bachelorette party, so I REALLY had to re-shuffle my workouts.
It went so so. The biggest adjustment was doing my long run before work on Thursday morning. I knew that the weekend was not going to be conducive to 2+ hours of running, so I did it before work on Thursday morning. Which meant getting up at 4:15 so I could eat and be out the door by 4:45. It. Was. Tough. It was dark for 8 miles of my run, which really messes with my pace. And it was warm and muggy. But I pushed through and kept focusing on putting one foot in front of the other until those 14 miles were done. All in all, they weren't that bad, but it wasn't very fun running that early in the morning.
I ended up taking an extra rest day this week, which I am fine with as I have not been sleeping well and I know I just have to accept that some weeks are out of my control. I am a little nervous as the next couple of weeks are going to be so busy and I will be traveling so much (I have 2 sets of flights in the next week). I hope I can still squeeze workouts in here and there - some of which will be on a treadmill. I'm sure I'll make it work - I will just have to be flexible and patient with myself.
Here is how the training played out this week:
Monday - 4 mile tempo run at half marathon pace with a warm up and cool down (7 miles total). I am SUPER pleased with how this workout went as I ran my 4 miles at an average pace of around 8:33!
Tuesday - 7 mile recovery run @ 9:44 pace. This was a tough run as it was hot and the route I picked had no shade. I struggled to finish this run.
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 14 mile long run @ 9:33 pace. Toughest long run of the training season. Running at 4:45 is tough, yo!
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 4 miles on the dreadmill. Given my propensity for getting lost, I opted to run on the treadmill v. risking getting lost in Nora's neighborhood. :)
Sunday - Rest
Training Tally:
Week 11: 32
Training-to-date: 340
Would you say you are a planner? I live and die by my Erin Condren planner and would be so lost without it. Most weeks I have control of my schedule, except when work-related things pop up, as they did last week.
PS - I hope those who have the day off are enjoying themselves. I certainly am!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday - Week 10
Woo hoo! I did my first 20 miler this weekend. It was HARD. Everyone else was doing 16 as it was a step back week for them, so I started early and did 4 miles before the group started at 7. This was not a great week to extend the run as the route was HARD. It's called "Potpourri of Hills." We did 6 sets of hills, and did a double loop of the last hill - which I hit at mile 17. You know that children's song, "This is the song that never end"? Well I sang that to myself in my head and changed the word song to hill.
But I survived and was impressed that my overall pace was 9:51. I definitely struggled at the end, which is to be expected - you can see those 2 hill loops I did at the end on the far right of this elevation profile.
So running 20 miles means I burned approximately 2000 calories. Add on the 1,200-1,600 calories a person needs, and well, you need to eat a lot on the days when you do long runs. I think some people think that you lose weight when training for a marathon - but that is really not the case. Many actually GAIN weight. That hasn't been the case for me - my weight has stayed the same. But it does seem to change the way a person thinks about eating. I eat for performance and recovery and really think about what I put in my body. Now I am far from perfect, so I definitely eat some things that are not healthy (hello, m&m's), but in general, I eat pretty cleanly when I am running.
I'm always curious about what others eating when they are training, so here is a selection of most of the things I ate on the day of my long run last Saturday!
That is pretty much everything I ate. The only things I left out were the 3 gu's I ate during the run and the chocolate milk I drank after the run (can't stand the dairy-free versions so I still drink this once a week). So all in all, not a CRAZY amount of food, but I definitely consumed a lot of calories. Obviously there was no dessert or sweets consumed yesterday, unless you count the chocolate milk and yogurt which are both on the sweet side. This isn't out of the norm for me as I am just not a sweets person, and the one item I would want - frozen yogurt - would have been too much on top of the yogurt I had (my body can not handle much dairy in a day, especially since I cut back my dairy consumption last year).
Here is how the training broke out for the week!
Monday: 8 mile recovery run at 9:30 pace. We took it easy on this run as most had ran 20 on Saturday.
Tuesday: 30 minutes on a stationary bike - 8.5 miles
Wednesday: Yassos! For those not familiar w/ Yassos, they are 1/2 mile repeats. If your goal is a 4 hour marathon, you run the 1/2 mile in 4 minutes. 4 hours is my goal, so my goal was 4 minutes. I ran my 4 yassos in 3:54, 3:49, 4:00, and 4:03. Pace deteriorated, but I am still happy with how they went. We will work our way up to doing 10 of them! Eeks!
Thursday: 4 mile recovery run at 9:22 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 miles of hellacious hills, pace of 9:51. First ice bath of the training season.
Sunday: Rest
****
Training Tally:
Week 10: 39 miles
Training-to-Date: 308
Are you a sweets person? If so, what is your favorite sweet indulgence? I am not a huge sweets person as I prefer salty/savory foods, but I do like m&m's, starburst and frozen yogurt!
 |
| These are the hills that never end. They just go on and on, my friend. Some people started running them not know what they were and they'll continue running them forever just because... |
So running 20 miles means I burned approximately 2000 calories. Add on the 1,200-1,600 calories a person needs, and well, you need to eat a lot on the days when you do long runs. I think some people think that you lose weight when training for a marathon - but that is really not the case. Many actually GAIN weight. That hasn't been the case for me - my weight has stayed the same. But it does seem to change the way a person thinks about eating. I eat for performance and recovery and really think about what I put in my body. Now I am far from perfect, so I definitely eat some things that are not healthy (hello, m&m's), but in general, I eat pretty cleanly when I am running.
I'm always curious about what others eating when they are training, so here is a selection of most of the things I ate on the day of my long run last Saturday!
 |
| coffee w/ French Vanilla creamer + PB on GF toast = my standard pre-run breakfast |
 |
| Post-run breakfast of 3 scrambled eggs w/ salsa |
 |
| Left over brown rice spaghetti with ground turkey marinara sauce for lunch! |
 |
| An hour after lunch, I was hungry, so I had some vanilla yogurt (I'll re-introduced yogurt into my diet) + GF granola |
 |
| A couple hours later, I was STILL hungry, so I boiled 2 ears of corn. I know it's a lot for a snack, but I was insatiable at this point |
 |
| Dinner was foil packets of baby red potatoes and zucchini with a small serving of steak, all grilled on my charcoal grill! |
That is pretty much everything I ate. The only things I left out were the 3 gu's I ate during the run and the chocolate milk I drank after the run (can't stand the dairy-free versions so I still drink this once a week). So all in all, not a CRAZY amount of food, but I definitely consumed a lot of calories. Obviously there was no dessert or sweets consumed yesterday, unless you count the chocolate milk and yogurt which are both on the sweet side. This isn't out of the norm for me as I am just not a sweets person, and the one item I would want - frozen yogurt - would have been too much on top of the yogurt I had (my body can not handle much dairy in a day, especially since I cut back my dairy consumption last year).
Here is how the training broke out for the week!
Monday: 8 mile recovery run at 9:30 pace. We took it easy on this run as most had ran 20 on Saturday.
Tuesday: 30 minutes on a stationary bike - 8.5 miles
Wednesday: Yassos! For those not familiar w/ Yassos, they are 1/2 mile repeats. If your goal is a 4 hour marathon, you run the 1/2 mile in 4 minutes. 4 hours is my goal, so my goal was 4 minutes. I ran my 4 yassos in 3:54, 3:49, 4:00, and 4:03. Pace deteriorated, but I am still happy with how they went. We will work our way up to doing 10 of them! Eeks!
Thursday: 4 mile recovery run at 9:22 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 miles of hellacious hills, pace of 9:51. First ice bath of the training season.
Sunday: Rest
****
Training Tally:
Week 10: 39 miles
Training-to-Date: 308
Are you a sweets person? If so, what is your favorite sweet indulgence? I am not a huge sweets person as I prefer salty/savory foods, but I do like m&m's, starburst and frozen yogurt!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 9
Well, I am half ways through training! It has gone fast, but it know the next 9 are going to go even faster as the next couple of months are going to be super busy for me due to some things happening at work.
Today I wanted to talk about another important aspect of marathon training that I am really struggling with: sleep. There are a few good articles out there, like this one and this one. Bottom line, runners, or anyone training for an endurance event, need sleep. Probably more sleep than they would need under normal conditions. According to William O. Roberts, M.D., associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and medical director of the Twin Cities Marathon, "A sleep-deprived person is physically able to run the same distance or lift the same weight, but the mental effects can have consequences."
That is phrase probably sums up how I have been feeling lately. I have been getting my workouts in and have been happy with how they have gone - especially my long runs, but I have felt more mentally and physically fatigued lately. I am still absolutely loving marathon training and haven't hit a burn out point, but I just really wish I could get a bit more sleep.
Most nights, my sleep pattern looks like this (according to the sleep apI used I'm obsessed with on my iPhone):
Then once every week or two, the stars align, or my body gives in to the exhaustion, and I sleep like this!
Sleeping has never been my forte. I struggle to fall asleep. I struggle to stay asleep. I avoid caffeine after noon, take melatonin at night, read for 30 minutes before going to bed, and while some of those activities do help, I still suck at sleeping. Add in the fact that I am dealing with some stressful things at work (that I can't share at this point), and well, some days I'm a hot tired mess.
I don't really have any solutions at this point, but one way I compensate for sleeping less is trying to plan a less full calendar. I try to reserve 1-2 nights a week that are absolutely unplanned, and I had a couple of unplanned weekends this month. Having more downtime seems to help compensate for the fact that I'm getting around 7-7.5 hours of sleep a night (ideally I'd like to get 8-9). My schedule will be out of my control in September when I start to travel for work (hello, 4 business trips in 5 weeks). I wish I could store up these times of relaxation, but I know that isn't how it works. I guess when I start traveling, I will have to use the plane rides as times to relax or something like that!
On a positive note, I think I have picked out my marathon race outfit - or at least my race shirt. I think it will provide for maximum spotability - don't you think?
And yes, that is a large bunny that we are crowding around and no, I do not know why there is a giant bronze bunny in a random location in south Minneapolis!
Here is how the training broke out this week:
Monday: Hills, 8 miles, 9:36 pace. The temps were cool this evening so this workout went pretty well!
Tuesday: Biked 11 miles on a stationary bike and did some strength training, focusing on my core and arms.
Wednesday: 7.35 miles w/ 3 miles at half marathon pace. My goal for those 3 miles was 8:40, my pace ended up being 8:49. I feel so so about that. I gave it my all, so I can't really complain.
Thursday: 4.15 mile recovery run at 9:22 pace. I felt SO tired during this run. I had slept very poorly the night before (less than 5 hours of sleep), and just felt sluggish. It was 65, but 83% humidity so not the best conditions.
Friday: rest
Saturday: 16 miles at 9:21 pace. Another awesome long run!! We picked it up at the end so our last mile was an 8:50 pace! Felt awesome!
Sunday: rest
Training totals:
Week 9: 35.5 miles
Training to date: 269 miles
Would you say that you are a 'good sleeper'? Like I said, I suck at it and I don't enjoy it. I know some people enjoy sleeping and would almost list it as a hobby, but if I could take a (legal) pill to replace the need to sleep, I totally would as I do not really 'enjoy' sleeping.
Today I wanted to talk about another important aspect of marathon training that I am really struggling with: sleep. There are a few good articles out there, like this one and this one. Bottom line, runners, or anyone training for an endurance event, need sleep. Probably more sleep than they would need under normal conditions. According to William O. Roberts, M.D., associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and medical director of the Twin Cities Marathon, "A sleep-deprived person is physically able to run the same distance or lift the same weight, but the mental effects can have consequences."
That is phrase probably sums up how I have been feeling lately. I have been getting my workouts in and have been happy with how they have gone - especially my long runs, but I have felt more mentally and physically fatigued lately. I am still absolutely loving marathon training and haven't hit a burn out point, but I just really wish I could get a bit more sleep.
Most nights, my sleep pattern looks like this (according to the sleep ap
 |
| I awake multiple times and don't really sleep deeply for very long. |
 |
| A blissfully deep night of sleep! |
I don't really have any solutions at this point, but one way I compensate for sleeping less is trying to plan a less full calendar. I try to reserve 1-2 nights a week that are absolutely unplanned, and I had a couple of unplanned weekends this month. Having more downtime seems to help compensate for the fact that I'm getting around 7-7.5 hours of sleep a night (ideally I'd like to get 8-9). My schedule will be out of my control in September when I start to travel for work (hello, 4 business trips in 5 weeks). I wish I could store up these times of relaxation, but I know that isn't how it works. I guess when I start traveling, I will have to use the plane rides as times to relax or something like that!
On a positive note, I think I have picked out my marathon race outfit - or at least my race shirt. I think it will provide for maximum spotability - don't you think?
And yes, that is a large bunny that we are crowding around and no, I do not know why there is a giant bronze bunny in a random location in south Minneapolis!
Here is how the training broke out this week:
Monday: Hills, 8 miles, 9:36 pace. The temps were cool this evening so this workout went pretty well!
Tuesday: Biked 11 miles on a stationary bike and did some strength training, focusing on my core and arms.
Wednesday: 7.35 miles w/ 3 miles at half marathon pace. My goal for those 3 miles was 8:40, my pace ended up being 8:49. I feel so so about that. I gave it my all, so I can't really complain.
Thursday: 4.15 mile recovery run at 9:22 pace. I felt SO tired during this run. I had slept very poorly the night before (less than 5 hours of sleep), and just felt sluggish. It was 65, but 83% humidity so not the best conditions.
Friday: rest
Saturday: 16 miles at 9:21 pace. Another awesome long run!! We picked it up at the end so our last mile was an 8:50 pace! Felt awesome!
Sunday: rest
Training totals:
Week 9: 35.5 miles
Training to date: 269 miles
Would you say that you are a 'good sleeper'? Like I said, I suck at it and I don't enjoy it. I know some people enjoy sleeping and would almost list it as a hobby, but if I could take a (legal) pill to replace the need to sleep, I totally would as I do not really 'enjoy' sleeping.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 8
Mother nature gifted me with cooler temps this week - thank God! Cooler weather makes a world of difference!
I have firmly believed for a long time that I am built for distance - not speed. I was reminded of this last week when we did a 2 mile time trial at run club. The 2 mile time trial is supposed to determine our VO2 Max, which in turn predicts our marathon time, and tells us what pace we should run speed work, tempos, and long runs. I did this time trial last year and was so disappointed with the results as it predicted a half marathon time that was over 10 minutes slower than my previous PR - and 20+ minutes slower than the PR I set last fall. So after that experience I knew the time trial wasn't necessary an accurate predictor for me.
But I decided to give it another shot this year as I am in better shape this year than I was at this point last year due to my strong spring running. I thought maybe it would go better this year.
Wrongo batman.
My time for the 2 mile time trial was a 16:47, so a pace of 8:19. Which predicts a marathon time of 4:27 - 5 minutes slower than my previous PR. I was NOT happy with these results. But I had to just let it go. Instead of using these results, I plugged my half marathon time from last year into the predictor my club uses (Oregon Pace Wizard) and it predicted a 4:02:32 finish. Now that is more like it! To get a prediction of a 4:02 marathon, I would have had to run a 7:32 pace for those 2 miles. And I really do not see that happening regardless of how in shape I am.
So I will just keep training for a 4 hour marathon and hope that the pace wizard is totally wrong. I really think a PR is very likely for me as I am such a stronger runner than I was in 2010.
Despite that disappointing run, the week ended on a high note with an awesome 18 miler! My average pace was 9:26 and I felt AWESOME. Cooler temps helped! Everyone had a great run so we snapped a photo at the finish!
Here is how the training broke out last week:
Monday: 5 miles total, 2 of which were the 2 mile time trial.
Tuesday: Biked 8.8 miles of a hill course on the stationary bike in 30 minutes.
Wednesday: Hill work - finally NOT in the heat. We did 7 miles, and my overall pace was 9:45. I did 5 hill repeats and actually felt really strong on this workout for a change!
Thursday: 4 mile run at 5 am when it was a blissful 65 degrees! Pace was 9:07 and I ran negative splits, which I feel really good about!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18.25 miles @ 9:26 pace. Awesome, awesome run!
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 8: 34.25 miles
Training to date: 233.50 miles
Would you say that you are built for distance or speed? Or both? As I said, I'm built for distance. My optimal race distance is 10 miles or greater! I think 5k's are harder than a half marathon (if you are trying to get a good time for a 5k).
I have firmly believed for a long time that I am built for distance - not speed. I was reminded of this last week when we did a 2 mile time trial at run club. The 2 mile time trial is supposed to determine our VO2 Max, which in turn predicts our marathon time, and tells us what pace we should run speed work, tempos, and long runs. I did this time trial last year and was so disappointed with the results as it predicted a half marathon time that was over 10 minutes slower than my previous PR - and 20+ minutes slower than the PR I set last fall. So after that experience I knew the time trial wasn't necessary an accurate predictor for me.
But I decided to give it another shot this year as I am in better shape this year than I was at this point last year due to my strong spring running. I thought maybe it would go better this year.
Wrongo batman.
My time for the 2 mile time trial was a 16:47, so a pace of 8:19. Which predicts a marathon time of 4:27 - 5 minutes slower than my previous PR. I was NOT happy with these results. But I had to just let it go. Instead of using these results, I plugged my half marathon time from last year into the predictor my club uses (Oregon Pace Wizard) and it predicted a 4:02:32 finish. Now that is more like it! To get a prediction of a 4:02 marathon, I would have had to run a 7:32 pace for those 2 miles. And I really do not see that happening regardless of how in shape I am.
So I will just keep training for a 4 hour marathon and hope that the pace wizard is totally wrong. I really think a PR is very likely for me as I am such a stronger runner than I was in 2010.
Despite that disappointing run, the week ended on a high note with an awesome 18 miler! My average pace was 9:26 and I felt AWESOME. Cooler temps helped! Everyone had a great run so we snapped a photo at the finish!
Here is how the training broke out last week:
Monday: 5 miles total, 2 of which were the 2 mile time trial.
Tuesday: Biked 8.8 miles of a hill course on the stationary bike in 30 minutes.
Wednesday: Hill work - finally NOT in the heat. We did 7 miles, and my overall pace was 9:45. I did 5 hill repeats and actually felt really strong on this workout for a change!
Thursday: 4 mile run at 5 am when it was a blissful 65 degrees! Pace was 9:07 and I ran negative splits, which I feel really good about!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18.25 miles @ 9:26 pace. Awesome, awesome run!
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 8: 34.25 miles
Training to date: 233.50 miles
Would you say that you are built for distance or speed? Or both? As I said, I'm built for distance. My optimal race distance is 10 miles or greater! I think 5k's are harder than a half marathon (if you are trying to get a good time for a 5k).
Monday, August 6, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 7
Another strong week of training for me. I definitely had some cranky moments this week (due to the heat/humidity), but all in all, I really can't complain about how the week went.
Today I thought I'd talk about selecting the right training plan for you. In the past, I have always followed Hal Higdon's plans. I also read his book, Marathon, which I highly recommend to anyone running a marathon! I actually got to meet Hal Higdon one year at the Twin Cities Marathon Expo. I was so star struck! I mean, when you follow someone's training plans for years, they really become a big part of your training, so it was cool to meet the man who helped me get to the finish lines for multiple marathons and half marathons.
Of course, there are other great training plans out there! I know Runner's World has some great ones, as does Jeff Galloway. Bottom line, there are many options - you just have to find what works for you.
Now that I am in a running club, I take a little different approach to training plans. I still print out a Hal Hidgon one and use that to guide my training, but I follow the plan my coaches have put together, and I mostly use Hal's plans as a guideline for my long runs (I'm using one of his intermediate plans this cycle).
In my years of training, I have learned 2 crucial things about training plans:
Trust the training. These plans are developed by people who know A TON about training for races. I still marvel at the fact that I can run 26.2 miles when my longest run in past training cycles was 20 miles (it will be 22 this cycle). But on race day, your body is somehow able to do it. And like many things in life, it can be overwhelming to look at the whole training plan, but taking it a week at a time makes it so much more doable (this lesson is applicable to many areas of life - like studying for the CFA!)
Don't compare. I am actually kind of glad that I didn't have a blog or read blogs back when I trained for my first marathon in 2006. I think one somewhat negative consequence of blogging is our tendency to compare our lives to others - and this is especially true when you are training for something like a marathon. People have different approaches and goals and our bodies have different tolerances for running (My body does not respond well to running 5+ days/week). I'm running 4 days a week for a total of around 30 miles/week right now while others are running 50+. And that is ok! While I think it is healthy to aspire to improve our times - it's unhealthy if those comparison's begin to make us feel bad about ourselves or question our training.
At the end of the day - this is supposed to be fun! Sometimes I have to remind myself to not take things too seriously, enjoy my runs, and appreciate my body's ability to log all the miles!
Here is how the training broke out this week:
Monday: Pace work - 7 miles total including 3 x 1 mile repeats @ half marathon pace. My splits were 8:35, 8:39, and 8:54. The last one was ugly, but the first 3 were great, so I will take what I can get.
Tuesday: 8.5 miles on a stationary bike before work.
Wednesday: 6.5 miles with hills repeats in the heat (as usual). We did 3 x 800m hill repeats with an 800m recovery in between. It was brutal. Overall pace was 10:04.
Thursday: 4 miles @ 9:06 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 16 miles @ 9:53 pace. This run went well despite the fact that I really did not feel like running 16 when we started. We added some hills at the end, which were brutal, but I know will be good for me.
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 7: 33.5 miles
Training to Date: 199.25
What training plan do you follow when preparing for a race? What lessons have you learned about training plans when training for other races? Do you struggle with comparing yourself to others? Being part of a run club helps me cut out the comparison aspect as so many others are following the same training plan - and having great successes out on marathon courses, which helps me have faith in the training plans crafted by our coaches.
Today I thought I'd talk about selecting the right training plan for you. In the past, I have always followed Hal Higdon's plans. I also read his book, Marathon, which I highly recommend to anyone running a marathon! I actually got to meet Hal Higdon one year at the Twin Cities Marathon Expo. I was so star struck! I mean, when you follow someone's training plans for years, they really become a big part of your training, so it was cool to meet the man who helped me get to the finish lines for multiple marathons and half marathons.
Of course, there are other great training plans out there! I know Runner's World has some great ones, as does Jeff Galloway. Bottom line, there are many options - you just have to find what works for you.
Now that I am in a running club, I take a little different approach to training plans. I still print out a Hal Hidgon one and use that to guide my training, but I follow the plan my coaches have put together, and I mostly use Hal's plans as a guideline for my long runs (I'm using one of his intermediate plans this cycle).
In my years of training, I have learned 2 crucial things about training plans:
Trust the training. These plans are developed by people who know A TON about training for races. I still marvel at the fact that I can run 26.2 miles when my longest run in past training cycles was 20 miles (it will be 22 this cycle). But on race day, your body is somehow able to do it. And like many things in life, it can be overwhelming to look at the whole training plan, but taking it a week at a time makes it so much more doable (this lesson is applicable to many areas of life - like studying for the CFA!)
Don't compare. I am actually kind of glad that I didn't have a blog or read blogs back when I trained for my first marathon in 2006. I think one somewhat negative consequence of blogging is our tendency to compare our lives to others - and this is especially true when you are training for something like a marathon. People have different approaches and goals and our bodies have different tolerances for running (My body does not respond well to running 5+ days/week). I'm running 4 days a week for a total of around 30 miles/week right now while others are running 50+. And that is ok! While I think it is healthy to aspire to improve our times - it's unhealthy if those comparison's begin to make us feel bad about ourselves or question our training.
At the end of the day - this is supposed to be fun! Sometimes I have to remind myself to not take things too seriously, enjoy my runs, and appreciate my body's ability to log all the miles!
Here is how the training broke out this week:
Monday: Pace work - 7 miles total including 3 x 1 mile repeats @ half marathon pace. My splits were 8:35, 8:39, and 8:54. The last one was ugly, but the first 3 were great, so I will take what I can get.
Tuesday: 8.5 miles on a stationary bike before work.
Wednesday: 6.5 miles with hills repeats in the heat (as usual). We did 3 x 800m hill repeats with an 800m recovery in between. It was brutal. Overall pace was 10:04.
Thursday: 4 miles @ 9:06 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 16 miles @ 9:53 pace. This run went well despite the fact that I really did not feel like running 16 when we started. We added some hills at the end, which were brutal, but I know will be good for me.
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 7: 33.5 miles
Training to Date: 199.25
What training plan do you follow when preparing for a race? What lessons have you learned about training plans when training for other races? Do you struggle with comparing yourself to others? Being part of a run club helps me cut out the comparison aspect as so many others are following the same training plan - and having great successes out on marathon courses, which helps me have faith in the training plans crafted by our coaches.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 6
Wow, I'm 1/3 of the way through training! I know that the next 2/3 will fly by as well! October 21st still seems far off, but I know it will come fast.
Today I thought I'd talk about what is working well this training cycle and what I'm struggling with. I have been really positive in these marathon training recap posts, but trust me - not every run is awesome for me...
What's Working: My long runs are going really, really well. Like better than any other marathon training cycle. I think this is due to the fact that I came into marathon training with a very nice base amount of miles. Actually, I looked back on my training and was surprised to find that I ran more miles in the months of April and May than I did in the month of July last year when I was training hard for my half marathon. So clearly all those miles I put in between March-May are helping me now. I've increased my long runs a little faster than a Hal Higdon schedule would call for, but I'm listening to my body and my coaches, and I know I've made good decisions so far.
Also, this is the first training cycle where I have ran with others and clearly having some company out there on the trails makes a big difference. I have become known as the quiet runner who doesn't really like to engage in non-stop conversation, but I like having someone else out there with me.
I have ran enough marathons to know that I have some bad long runs ahead of me - it's inevitable. But I am enjoying these great long runs while they last!
What I'm Struggling With: Pace work is REALLY hard for me. Like really hard. We did a run this week where we did 1 mile at marathon pace and then 4 x 1200m at half marathon pace. I hit my pace for the 1 mile and 2 of the 4 1200, but the last 2 1200s were ugly. Part of it is the extreme humidity we've had lately. It's like running through stream. I got really frustrated on Wednesday as I was running those last 2 1200s at a slower pace than I ran my half marathon last fall... and I was working REALLY hard (i.e. panting and wanting to die) but when I was not all that winded when I ran my half last fall. Yes it was work, but not THAT much work.
BUT - it was also about 40 degrees cooler when I ran my half last fall and there was no humidity. And I know I went through this frustrating phase last summer. It's just part of the process. I had a great run on Thursday in cooler, less humid temps, though, which restored some of my confidence.
My challenge is to not give up on myself and to not mentally kick the crap out of myself after these tough runs as I am prone to do...
Here is how the training broke out for the week:
Monday: 7.25 miles of hills at a 9:43 pace. This was a tough run as it was very humid that night.
Tuesday: Biked 8 miles on the stationary bike before work.
Wednesday: 7 mile run w/ an overall pace of 9:42. Pace work: 1 mile @ 8:55, 4 x 1200m repeats @ 8:40, 8:50, 8:54, 9:02 (ugly, ugly run for me).
Thursday: 4 miles @ 8:52 pace. This was an awesome run for me and showed me how the humidity had been impacting my runs as it was only 82 this day and not humid, and the run went great.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 12 miles @ 9:48 pace. This run went awesome. I felt strong the whole time and was very consistent with my pace.
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 6: 30.75 miles
Training to date: 165.75 miles
How has the weather been where you are? Has it impacted your training? I am trying to remind myself that this heat and humidity will make me a strong runner come fall when the temps cool and the humidity eases. But right now, moving to Seattle sounds awfully tempting....
Today I thought I'd talk about what is working well this training cycle and what I'm struggling with. I have been really positive in these marathon training recap posts, but trust me - not every run is awesome for me...
What's Working: My long runs are going really, really well. Like better than any other marathon training cycle. I think this is due to the fact that I came into marathon training with a very nice base amount of miles. Actually, I looked back on my training and was surprised to find that I ran more miles in the months of April and May than I did in the month of July last year when I was training hard for my half marathon. So clearly all those miles I put in between March-May are helping me now. I've increased my long runs a little faster than a Hal Higdon schedule would call for, but I'm listening to my body and my coaches, and I know I've made good decisions so far.
Also, this is the first training cycle where I have ran with others and clearly having some company out there on the trails makes a big difference. I have become known as the quiet runner who doesn't really like to engage in non-stop conversation, but I like having someone else out there with me.
I have ran enough marathons to know that I have some bad long runs ahead of me - it's inevitable. But I am enjoying these great long runs while they last!
What I'm Struggling With: Pace work is REALLY hard for me. Like really hard. We did a run this week where we did 1 mile at marathon pace and then 4 x 1200m at half marathon pace. I hit my pace for the 1 mile and 2 of the 4 1200, but the last 2 1200s were ugly. Part of it is the extreme humidity we've had lately. It's like running through stream. I got really frustrated on Wednesday as I was running those last 2 1200s at a slower pace than I ran my half marathon last fall... and I was working REALLY hard (i.e. panting and wanting to die) but when I was not all that winded when I ran my half last fall. Yes it was work, but not THAT much work.
BUT - it was also about 40 degrees cooler when I ran my half last fall and there was no humidity. And I know I went through this frustrating phase last summer. It's just part of the process. I had a great run on Thursday in cooler, less humid temps, though, which restored some of my confidence.
My challenge is to not give up on myself and to not mentally kick the crap out of myself after these tough runs as I am prone to do...
Here is how the training broke out for the week:
Monday: 7.25 miles of hills at a 9:43 pace. This was a tough run as it was very humid that night.
Tuesday: Biked 8 miles on the stationary bike before work.
Wednesday: 7 mile run w/ an overall pace of 9:42. Pace work: 1 mile @ 8:55, 4 x 1200m repeats @ 8:40, 8:50, 8:54, 9:02 (ugly, ugly run for me).
Thursday: 4 miles @ 8:52 pace. This was an awesome run for me and showed me how the humidity had been impacting my runs as it was only 82 this day and not humid, and the run went great.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 12 miles @ 9:48 pace. This run went awesome. I felt strong the whole time and was very consistent with my pace.
Sunday: Rest
Training Tally:
Week 6: 30.75 miles
Training to date: 165.75 miles
How has the weather been where you are? Has it impacted your training? I am trying to remind myself that this heat and humidity will make me a strong runner come fall when the temps cool and the humidity eases. But right now, moving to Seattle sounds awfully tempting....
Monday, July 23, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 5
Greetings and happy Monday!
I'm only 5 weeks in, but training is going really well so far. I'm feeling healthy and my long runs are going well - which is such a confidence booster. This isn't my first marathon, so I know I have tough runs ahead of me, as they are an inevitable part of training, but I am enjoying these strong runs while they last.
Besides PR'ing, another goal of mine for this marathon training session is to stay healthy. Obviously, that is a goal we all want to achieve, but I am trying some new things to help me accomplish this goal. First, I am really focusing on cross training and strength training. The other thing I am doing is seeing a chiro for ART (active release technique) therapy. Amber recommended it to me as she did ART to help with some of the tightness in her calves. In my case, I struggle with knee pain caused by patella femoral, and after doing some research, I found that ART can help.
So what is ART? Well, to dumb it down, it's a massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. I had my initial assessment about a month ago and was happy that this chiro came up with the same conclusion as the PT I saw 2 years ago for my knee pain: weak hips and a weak right glute. I won't bore you with the details of it, but long story short, the chiro finds areas of tightness and massages them. It's a pretty intense type of massage - sort of akin to the pain of foam rolling, but times 10, I'd say. It's a 'hurt so good' type of feeling, though, and I noticed a difference right away. Luckily it is covered by insurance and since I met my out of pocket maximum already, I don't even have to pay a co-pay. So that is nice. I saw him a couple of times before my trip and now I will go to him on an as needed basis when I start to feel some tightening/knee pain. The nice thing is that you notice a difference immediately. I am so glad I looked into this type of therapy!
Here is how the training week broke out!
Monday: Hills in the heat, 6.35 miles @ 10:43 pace. This run was VERY difficult as it was 97 and very humid. I was so tired at the end, I could barely talk. Our coaches kept a close eye on us and got us popsicle for after the run, which helps lower your core temperate. This is probably the hardest/worst run of this training cycle.
Tuesday: 4 miles @ 9:25 pace. Another hot, humid run.
Wednesday: 7.7 miles on the stationary bike before work.
Thursday: 4 miles @ 9:10 pace. I started running at 5 so was able to beat the heat. I felt great on this run!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 15 miles @ 9:47 pace. It down poured for much of this run - and there was some thunder and lightening, so it was a bit nerve wracking, but I had a great run despite the elements. The rain actually kept me cool so I did not feel fatigued at the end!
Sunday: 1 hour and 45 minutes of kayaking. It was my first time, and I LOVED it. A friend from run club took me and we had a blast and saw 4 lakes (Cedar, Isles, Calhoun, and Brownie)!! It was a great arm workout and a peaceful way to end a great weekend.
Training tally:
Week 5: 30 miles
Training to Date: 135 miles
Have you have been to a chiropractor or had ART therapy?
I'm only 5 weeks in, but training is going really well so far. I'm feeling healthy and my long runs are going well - which is such a confidence booster. This isn't my first marathon, so I know I have tough runs ahead of me, as they are an inevitable part of training, but I am enjoying these strong runs while they last.
Besides PR'ing, another goal of mine for this marathon training session is to stay healthy. Obviously, that is a goal we all want to achieve, but I am trying some new things to help me accomplish this goal. First, I am really focusing on cross training and strength training. The other thing I am doing is seeing a chiro for ART (active release technique) therapy. Amber recommended it to me as she did ART to help with some of the tightness in her calves. In my case, I struggle with knee pain caused by patella femoral, and after doing some research, I found that ART can help.
So what is ART? Well, to dumb it down, it's a massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. I had my initial assessment about a month ago and was happy that this chiro came up with the same conclusion as the PT I saw 2 years ago for my knee pain: weak hips and a weak right glute. I won't bore you with the details of it, but long story short, the chiro finds areas of tightness and massages them. It's a pretty intense type of massage - sort of akin to the pain of foam rolling, but times 10, I'd say. It's a 'hurt so good' type of feeling, though, and I noticed a difference right away. Luckily it is covered by insurance and since I met my out of pocket maximum already, I don't even have to pay a co-pay. So that is nice. I saw him a couple of times before my trip and now I will go to him on an as needed basis when I start to feel some tightening/knee pain. The nice thing is that you notice a difference immediately. I am so glad I looked into this type of therapy!
Here is how the training week broke out!
Monday: Hills in the heat, 6.35 miles @ 10:43 pace. This run was VERY difficult as it was 97 and very humid. I was so tired at the end, I could barely talk. Our coaches kept a close eye on us and got us popsicle for after the run, which helps lower your core temperate. This is probably the hardest/worst run of this training cycle.
Tuesday: 4 miles @ 9:25 pace. Another hot, humid run.
Wednesday: 7.7 miles on the stationary bike before work.
Thursday: 4 miles @ 9:10 pace. I started running at 5 so was able to beat the heat. I felt great on this run!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 15 miles @ 9:47 pace. It down poured for much of this run - and there was some thunder and lightening, so it was a bit nerve wracking, but I had a great run despite the elements. The rain actually kept me cool so I did not feel fatigued at the end!
Sunday: 1 hour and 45 minutes of kayaking. It was my first time, and I LOVED it. A friend from run club took me and we had a blast and saw 4 lakes (Cedar, Isles, Calhoun, and Brownie)!! It was a great arm workout and a peaceful way to end a great weekend.
Training tally:
Week 5: 30 miles
Training to Date: 135 miles
Have you have been to a chiropractor or had ART therapy?
Monday, July 16, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 4
4 weeks down, 14 to go! I am almost 1/3 of the way through training which is kind of crazy!
Today I want to talk about something really important: runner safety. This is going to be a "do as I say, not as I do" post as I made some stupid mistakes last Wednesday when I went for a run in Seattle. The first part was unpreventable, but I fell about 4 miles into my run (tripped over a buckled sidewalk). In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't too major, but I really fell hard, and skidded across the sidewalk for a bit.
It really hurt, but I was able to continue running. In hindsight I should have turned around at that point and made it an out-and-back run, but I thought I'd be able to run around Lake Union. Instead, I tooka wrong turn multiple wrong turns, and this is the path I ended running.
I had intended to run 8 miles that day, and as you can see from the map, I was no where near my starting point nearly 9 miles into my run. I kept stopping and asking people how I could get back to the Queen Anne area and a couple of people were like - 'ON FOOT'? I thought they were exaggerating, but once I realized where I was on my (crappy) tourist map, I knew it was time to throw in the towel.
I don't run with my iPhone, so I had to go to a restaurant to have them call me a cab. I was dripping with blood from my fall (gross I know) and was pretty hot and tired at this point. The guy that helped me was concerned as I looked pretty rough at this point.
Oh, and did I mention that I didn't have any money on me? Rookie mistake. Luckily the angelic cab driver that picked me up let me run up to my room to get cash. I think he took pity on me as I looked pretty awful with all the abrasions from my fall.
It all worked out for me - luckily. But I definitely made some stupid rookie mistakes that a runner with 7+ years of running under her belt shouldn't make!
So what did I learn?
1. Tell people where you are going! No one knew when I was running, how far, or what area I'd be running in. When you are a single person who lives (or is traveling alone), it would be smart to tell someone when/where you are running and approximately how long you'll be gone for.
2. Carry a phone when running in an unfamiliar area.
3. Always carry money on you. You may need water. Or a cab!
4. Wear something like a road id in case you are in distress and someone needs to contact a loved one (I ALWAYS have my road id on my shoes).
Wednesday was the perfect storm of runs but it all worked out in the end. Sometimes I am a bit too independent for my own good and I need experiences like this to remind myself that I am not invincible. None of us are. And yes, bad things can still happen to the most cautious runners, but it's pretty dumb to make as many mistakes as I did!
Here is how my week broke out:
Monday: Rest day... unless I can count dancing at the wedding as cross training. ;)
Tuesday: Rest day as I was traveling all day.
Wednesday: Adventurous 8.75 mile run, 9:30 pace
Thursday: 5.25 run at 9:24 pace
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: 16 miles at 10 min pace. I meant to run 14 but the people I was running with were doing 16 so I stuck with them. I was not at all sore the next day so I take that as a sign that my body was ready for the increase in distance.
Sunday: Rest day
There were more rest days than I'd like, but I'll take what I can get when traveling. This week will be a more solid week.
***
Training tally:
Week 4: 30 miles
Training to date: 105
Do you have any runner's safety tips to add to my list?
Today I want to talk about something really important: runner safety. This is going to be a "do as I say, not as I do" post as I made some stupid mistakes last Wednesday when I went for a run in Seattle. The first part was unpreventable, but I fell about 4 miles into my run (tripped over a buckled sidewalk). In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't too major, but I really fell hard, and skidded across the sidewalk for a bit.
 |
| Sorry for anyone who is grossed out by blood. It actually looks worse now than it did right after it happened! I also skinned my palms, got road rash on my upper thigh, and bruised my shoulder. I am not kidding when I say I fell HARD. |
It really hurt, but I was able to continue running. In hindsight I should have turned around at that point and made it an out-and-back run, but I thought I'd be able to run around Lake Union. Instead, I took
I had intended to run 8 miles that day, and as you can see from the map, I was no where near my starting point nearly 9 miles into my run. I kept stopping and asking people how I could get back to the Queen Anne area and a couple of people were like - 'ON FOOT'? I thought they were exaggerating, but once I realized where I was on my (crappy) tourist map, I knew it was time to throw in the towel.
I don't run with my iPhone, so I had to go to a restaurant to have them call me a cab. I was dripping with blood from my fall (gross I know) and was pretty hot and tired at this point. The guy that helped me was concerned as I looked pretty rough at this point.
Oh, and did I mention that I didn't have any money on me? Rookie mistake. Luckily the angelic cab driver that picked me up let me run up to my room to get cash. I think he took pity on me as I looked pretty awful with all the abrasions from my fall.
It all worked out for me - luckily. But I definitely made some stupid rookie mistakes that a runner with 7+ years of running under her belt shouldn't make!
So what did I learn?
1. Tell people where you are going! No one knew when I was running, how far, or what area I'd be running in. When you are a single person who lives (or is traveling alone), it would be smart to tell someone when/where you are running and approximately how long you'll be gone for.
2. Carry a phone when running in an unfamiliar area.
3. Always carry money on you. You may need water. Or a cab!
4. Wear something like a road id in case you are in distress and someone needs to contact a loved one (I ALWAYS have my road id on my shoes).
Wednesday was the perfect storm of runs but it all worked out in the end. Sometimes I am a bit too independent for my own good and I need experiences like this to remind myself that I am not invincible. None of us are. And yes, bad things can still happen to the most cautious runners, but it's pretty dumb to make as many mistakes as I did!
Here is how my week broke out:
Monday: Rest day... unless I can count dancing at the wedding as cross training. ;)
Tuesday: Rest day as I was traveling all day.
Wednesday: Adventurous 8.75 mile run, 9:30 pace
Thursday: 5.25 run at 9:24 pace
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: 16 miles at 10 min pace. I meant to run 14 but the people I was running with were doing 16 so I stuck with them. I was not at all sore the next day so I take that as a sign that my body was ready for the increase in distance.
Sunday: Rest day
There were more rest days than I'd like, but I'll take what I can get when traveling. This week will be a more solid week.
***
Training tally:
Week 4: 30 miles
Training to date: 105
Do you have any runner's safety tips to add to my list?
Monday, July 9, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 3
Greetings from the stunningly beautiful Sunshine Coast of British Columbia! I feel like I've been a lot of places in the last week! Battle Lake Minnesota to Minneapolis to Seattle to Vancouver to the Sunshine Coast. Phew! I've put on a lot of miles, but it has been an awesome trip so far! I'll share more with you when I return but suffice it to say this has been an amazing vacation!! And today is the main event - Amber's Wedding!!!!!!! I am sure I'll have lots of pictures to share!
Today I thought I'd talk about maintaining your exercise schedule while on vacation. I am not always great about making time for workout when I am on vacation. My vacations tend to be active anyways as I tend to do a lot of walking/exploring. In fact, I usually lose a little weight when I go to Europe because of all the walking I do! But when you are training for something like a marathon, the natural activity that you do on a trip just doesn't really cut it, so fitting in runs is a must.
Last week was challenging because I was in an area that is not great for running (unshaded roads by my parents cabin, curvy narrow roads without shoulders in the area). Add in the fact that it was ridiculously hot and humid, and it was a tough week of training for me. As a result, I made this week a sort of 'step back' week, which means I decreased my mileage. I was due for a step back week anyways as every 3rd week is usually a step back when training. So it worked out just fine!
I did my Mon and Wed runs by myself in the hot, humid temps of Minnesota, and then enjoyed a beautiful, cool run in Vancouver with Amber and Anais on Saturday. I will say - it's a lot easier to fit runs in when you are traveling with fellow runners! I ran by myself earlier in the week and held myself accountable by writing it down ahead of time in my planner. For me, writing it down helps me stick to the plan!
Here is how the training broke out for the week!
Monday: hilly, hot 6 miles, 9:40 pace. It was 81 and ridiculously humid, so I am surprised my pace wasn't slower.
Tuesday: We had a big storm come through on Monday so I raked up the branches in my parents yard and helped move a boat lift. I am considering this cross training! I also swam quite a bit!
Wednesday: 5 hot, humid miles at a 9:40 pace.
Thursday: rest day due to traveling!
Friday: Cross training = 1.5 hour bike ride around the Stanley Park area of Vancouver.
Saturday: 11.25 miles along the sea wall at a 10:40 pace. I took it extra easy on this run and focused on taking in the beautiful views!! We took lots of walk breaks and stopped to take a couple of pictures. I felt awesome at the end.
Sunday: rest day
***
Training tally:
Week 3: 22.25
Training to date: 75
Are you good at fitting in workouts while traveling? I have gotten good at fitting them in when traveling for fun, but am not so great at fitting it in while traveling for work as we work such long days!
Today I thought I'd talk about maintaining your exercise schedule while on vacation. I am not always great about making time for workout when I am on vacation. My vacations tend to be active anyways as I tend to do a lot of walking/exploring. In fact, I usually lose a little weight when I go to Europe because of all the walking I do! But when you are training for something like a marathon, the natural activity that you do on a trip just doesn't really cut it, so fitting in runs is a must.
Last week was challenging because I was in an area that is not great for running (unshaded roads by my parents cabin, curvy narrow roads without shoulders in the area). Add in the fact that it was ridiculously hot and humid, and it was a tough week of training for me. As a result, I made this week a sort of 'step back' week, which means I decreased my mileage. I was due for a step back week anyways as every 3rd week is usually a step back when training. So it worked out just fine!
I did my Mon and Wed runs by myself in the hot, humid temps of Minnesota, and then enjoyed a beautiful, cool run in Vancouver with Amber and Anais on Saturday. I will say - it's a lot easier to fit runs in when you are traveling with fellow runners! I ran by myself earlier in the week and held myself accountable by writing it down ahead of time in my planner. For me, writing it down helps me stick to the plan!
Here is how the training broke out for the week!
Monday: hilly, hot 6 miles, 9:40 pace. It was 81 and ridiculously humid, so I am surprised my pace wasn't slower.
Tuesday: We had a big storm come through on Monday so I raked up the branches in my parents yard and helped move a boat lift. I am considering this cross training! I also swam quite a bit!
Wednesday: 5 hot, humid miles at a 9:40 pace.
Thursday: rest day due to traveling!
Friday: Cross training = 1.5 hour bike ride around the Stanley Park area of Vancouver.
Saturday: 11.25 miles along the sea wall at a 10:40 pace. I took it extra easy on this run and focused on taking in the beautiful views!! We took lots of walk breaks and stopped to take a couple of pictures. I felt awesome at the end.
Sunday: rest day
***
Training tally:
Week 3: 22.25
Training to date: 75
Are you good at fitting in workouts while traveling? I have gotten good at fitting them in when traveling for fun, but am not so great at fitting it in while traveling for work as we work such long days!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 2
Good morning and happy Monday. It is an especially happy Monday for me as I am on vacation! :)
Oh my goodness, it has been HOT here lately! It's awesome lake weather, but can be challenging for running. Last week I did most of my runs in pretty high temps.
Case and point - here I am after my 5:15 am 4 mile run.
Yah, just a little bit sweaty.
Hot weather is not my favorite weather to run in, but you can safely run in high temps if you are careful about it. In fact, I think running in the heat last summer made me a really strong runner and helped me PR in the cool fall temps! But you have to be smart about running in the heat. Here are some of the things I do:
1. Hydrate before your run. On days when it is especially warm, I try to double my usual water intake. If you start out dehydrated, it's going to be a rotten (and risky) run.
2. Carry water. Even if I am just going out for a 3 mile run, I carry water (unless there is water close by). If I am running more than 30 minutes, I carry some gatorade and drink gatorade right after the run to help hydrate myself.
3. Take it easier. This is hard to do at time as us runners tend to like to push ourselves, but it's not smart to do that on especially hot days. Maybe do a run/walk combo instead of running without taking a break.
4. Replace what you sweat. Some people will weigh themselves before and after a run to figure out how much water they lost on the run. Last year, one of our coaches lost 8 POUNDS during the course of a run. That is extreme, of course, but the heat index was 110 that day. You need to replace what you sweat during your run. It can be challenging to do this because often times when your body is dehydrated, you feel nauseated or don't feel like drinking, but you just have to drink whether you feel like it or not. I will sometimes add cucumbers or lemons to my water on days like this to make the water taste extra good, which tends to result in me drinking more.
So these are some basic and rather obvious suggestions, but they are still important to consider. For more information about running in the heat, check out this post by Shut Up and Run.
Here's how the training broke out for me.
Monday: 6.25 mi @ 10 min pace - we did hill repeats. It was my idea as there was no prescribed workout. The weather was awesome so I figured we should do a tough workout before the weather got super steamy!
Tuesday: 8.5 mi on the stationary bike, 15 minutes of strength training
Wednesday: 6.5 miles in the heat. The heat index was above 100 so we took it easy and did a run walk combo. Our pace was 10:45, so very slow for me, but I really did not care as it was such a hard run.
Thursday: 4 sweaty miles before work, pace of 9:38 (it was 81 and humid when I started at 5:15). Still felt pretty sluggish from the hot run the night before so didn't push it.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long run of 12 miles at 9:52 pace. I felt great on this run. It was hot and I felt a little sluggish around 10.5, but all in all it went great!
Sunday: Rest
Training tally:
Week 2: 28.75
Training to Date: 52.75
If you run/exercise in the heat, what are some suggestions you have for training in the heat?
Oh my goodness, it has been HOT here lately! It's awesome lake weather, but can be challenging for running. Last week I did most of my runs in pretty high temps.
Case and point - here I am after my 5:15 am 4 mile run.
Yah, just a little bit sweaty.
Hot weather is not my favorite weather to run in, but you can safely run in high temps if you are careful about it. In fact, I think running in the heat last summer made me a really strong runner and helped me PR in the cool fall temps! But you have to be smart about running in the heat. Here are some of the things I do:
1. Hydrate before your run. On days when it is especially warm, I try to double my usual water intake. If you start out dehydrated, it's going to be a rotten (and risky) run.
2. Carry water. Even if I am just going out for a 3 mile run, I carry water (unless there is water close by). If I am running more than 30 minutes, I carry some gatorade and drink gatorade right after the run to help hydrate myself.
3. Take it easier. This is hard to do at time as us runners tend to like to push ourselves, but it's not smart to do that on especially hot days. Maybe do a run/walk combo instead of running without taking a break.
4. Replace what you sweat. Some people will weigh themselves before and after a run to figure out how much water they lost on the run. Last year, one of our coaches lost 8 POUNDS during the course of a run. That is extreme, of course, but the heat index was 110 that day. You need to replace what you sweat during your run. It can be challenging to do this because often times when your body is dehydrated, you feel nauseated or don't feel like drinking, but you just have to drink whether you feel like it or not. I will sometimes add cucumbers or lemons to my water on days like this to make the water taste extra good, which tends to result in me drinking more.
So these are some basic and rather obvious suggestions, but they are still important to consider. For more information about running in the heat, check out this post by Shut Up and Run.
Here's how the training broke out for me.
Monday: 6.25 mi @ 10 min pace - we did hill repeats. It was my idea as there was no prescribed workout. The weather was awesome so I figured we should do a tough workout before the weather got super steamy!
Tuesday: 8.5 mi on the stationary bike, 15 minutes of strength training
Wednesday: 6.5 miles in the heat. The heat index was above 100 so we took it easy and did a run walk combo. Our pace was 10:45, so very slow for me, but I really did not care as it was such a hard run.
Thursday: 4 sweaty miles before work, pace of 9:38 (it was 81 and humid when I started at 5:15). Still felt pretty sluggish from the hot run the night before so didn't push it.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long run of 12 miles at 9:52 pace. I felt great on this run. It was hot and I felt a little sluggish around 10.5, but all in all it went great!
Sunday: Rest
Training tally:
Week 2: 28.75
Training to Date: 52.75
If you run/exercise in the heat, what are some suggestions you have for training in the heat?
Monday, June 25, 2012
Marathon Madness Monday: Week 1
The first week of marathon training is in the books - and it was a good one! My mileage is starting off on the low end, but I am happy with the number of miles I ran this week. My run club is on a hiatus until this Saturday, so the workouts are informal right now. I ran with them on Monday and Saturday, and ran on my own on Wednesday.
The exciting part of my week is that I tried something new! Yoga! I had taken classes at a gym, but had never been to a yoga studio. One of the studios in Minneapolis (which has a location 2 blocks from my condo) offers a week of free yoga, so I decided to take advantage of it since I'd be around this weekend.
I took my first class on Tuesday and I was so nervous! I sent Amber a bunch of messages with questions about what to expect, what to wear, etc. I ended up going with this outfit: a Lulu Lemon fitted tank (purchased at the outlet last fall) and fitted pants.
The verdict? I absolutely loved it! I fit in as many classes as my schedule would allow this week (4). Now I have to think about whether I can make room in my budget for more classes. It is certainly not cheap, but I think it would really compliment my training. I know I could practice on my own at home, but there is something special about going to an actual studio and having someone coach you through all the various moves and positions - and correcting you when you are doing it wrong. I liked the deep stretching of the vinyasa class - and I got my butt totally and completely kicked by the Yoga Sculpt class, which ended up being more of a boot camp style class with things like mountain climbers, burpees, and tons of push-ups (hello, weak upper body).
Anyways, back to the training recap, here is how the week broke out for me:
Monday - 5 miles at an easier pace (9:40) - it was 90+ degrees and super humid. It felt like I was running through steam, so I took it pretty easy.
Tuesday - 9 miles on a stationary bike, 60 minute yoga class
Wednesday - 7 miles ran on a hilly path at a 9:20 pace. This was a challenging run as it was so humid but I was really happy with my pace.
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 60 minute yoga class
Saturday - 12 miles at a slow 10:00 pace. I used to dread my long runs, now they have become one of my favorite parts of my week! It helps to have good company out there on the running paths! I got home, had an avocado as a snack, and headed to a 75 minutes yoga sculpt class. Big mistake!! I won't do this class after a long run ever again! I clearly need a fresh body to make it through this intense class!
Sunday - 60 minute yoga class
****
All in all, I am really happy with how this week went. Ideally I would like to run 3-4 times and bike 1-2 times; this week, I ran 3 times, biked once, and did 4 yoga classes, so I feel good about everything I fit in. I am definitely excited for this training session. I have some work to do as I lost some speed over the winter/spring, but I am ready for the challenge.
Training Total:
Week 1: 24 miles
Have you ever tried yoga? If so, do you do it on your own or go to a class? Are you able to do the crow pose? That is the one pose I absolutely COULD NOT do!!
The exciting part of my week is that I tried something new! Yoga! I had taken classes at a gym, but had never been to a yoga studio. One of the studios in Minneapolis (which has a location 2 blocks from my condo) offers a week of free yoga, so I decided to take advantage of it since I'd be around this weekend.
I took my first class on Tuesday and I was so nervous! I sent Amber a bunch of messages with questions about what to expect, what to wear, etc. I ended up going with this outfit: a Lulu Lemon fitted tank (purchased at the outlet last fall) and fitted pants.
 |
| I may not know what I am doing, but at least I look the part! |
The verdict? I absolutely loved it! I fit in as many classes as my schedule would allow this week (4). Now I have to think about whether I can make room in my budget for more classes. It is certainly not cheap, but I think it would really compliment my training. I know I could practice on my own at home, but there is something special about going to an actual studio and having someone coach you through all the various moves and positions - and correcting you when you are doing it wrong. I liked the deep stretching of the vinyasa class - and I got my butt totally and completely kicked by the Yoga Sculpt class, which ended up being more of a boot camp style class with things like mountain climbers, burpees, and tons of push-ups (hello, weak upper body).
Anyways, back to the training recap, here is how the week broke out for me:
Monday - 5 miles at an easier pace (9:40) - it was 90+ degrees and super humid. It felt like I was running through steam, so I took it pretty easy.
Tuesday - 9 miles on a stationary bike, 60 minute yoga class
Wednesday - 7 miles ran on a hilly path at a 9:20 pace. This was a challenging run as it was so humid but I was really happy with my pace.
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 60 minute yoga class
Saturday - 12 miles at a slow 10:00 pace. I used to dread my long runs, now they have become one of my favorite parts of my week! It helps to have good company out there on the running paths! I got home, had an avocado as a snack, and headed to a 75 minutes yoga sculpt class. Big mistake!! I won't do this class after a long run ever again! I clearly need a fresh body to make it through this intense class!
Sunday - 60 minute yoga class
****
All in all, I am really happy with how this week went. Ideally I would like to run 3-4 times and bike 1-2 times; this week, I ran 3 times, biked once, and did 4 yoga classes, so I feel good about everything I fit in. I am definitely excited for this training session. I have some work to do as I lost some speed over the winter/spring, but I am ready for the challenge.
Training Total:
Week 1: 24 miles
Have you ever tried yoga? If so, do you do it on your own or go to a class? Are you able to do the crow pose? That is the one pose I absolutely COULD NOT do!!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Marathon Madness Begins
Greetings and happy Monday! I had another wonderful weekend, and hope you did as well. I did my long run with my run club on Saturday morning and then headed to my parents' lake home afterwards. It was a more relaxing weekend, which was just what I needed! I missed the Mother's Day celebration, so was so glad I got to be there for our low key Father's Day celebration.
It's hard to believe this, but I start training for my 3rd marathon today! From past experiences, I know these 18 weeks are going to fly by! This will be my first time training for a marathon with my running group. I loved training for my half with them last year, but I really missed out on some of the camaraderie because my long runs were so much shorter than everyone else, so I'd miss out on the post-run "woo hoo we did it" conversations, breakfasts, coffees, etc. But this year I get to be a part of it all and will get to know people in the club better as a result.
I haven't really decided on a firm goal for the marathon yet (I obviously have time to finalize my goal). I want to see how the training goes and then go from there. My plan right now is to train for a 4 hour marathon with an actual goal of 4:10. If the workouts are going well, I will pick up the intensity and train for a 3:50 marathon with a goal of 4. My PR is 4:22, and I am fairly confident that I can beat that time. When I trained for past marathons, I just focused on logging miles - which worked fine. But now that I train with a club, each workout has a purpose (speed, hills, tempo, slower paced long runs), and judging by how well that approached worked for my half, I know it will work well for a full, and am fairly confident a PR is within my reach. I also am going to focus on strengthening my core and cross training 2 times/week, which should also help me improve my time.
Like I said, I am really excited for this training cycle. I went back and read through my posts from when I was training for my Portland marathon in 2010 and to sum it up, I sounded tired in those posts... Despite the fact that I was training remotely with Amber, I was doing all the running alone. I know that works for some, but I think I do better training with others. I like the support and encouragement of my fellow run club members - and the guidance and tough love of my coaches!
I'll be doing my "Marathon Madness Monday" posts again, just like I did when I trained for my Portland marathon.
So here's to what will hopefully be a healthy, fun training season!
Are you training for any races? Have you or would you ever run a marathon?
It's hard to believe this, but I start training for my 3rd marathon today! From past experiences, I know these 18 weeks are going to fly by! This will be my first time training for a marathon with my running group. I loved training for my half with them last year, but I really missed out on some of the camaraderie because my long runs were so much shorter than everyone else, so I'd miss out on the post-run "woo hoo we did it" conversations, breakfasts, coffees, etc. But this year I get to be a part of it all and will get to know people in the club better as a result.
I haven't really decided on a firm goal for the marathon yet (I obviously have time to finalize my goal). I want to see how the training goes and then go from there. My plan right now is to train for a 4 hour marathon with an actual goal of 4:10. If the workouts are going well, I will pick up the intensity and train for a 3:50 marathon with a goal of 4. My PR is 4:22, and I am fairly confident that I can beat that time. When I trained for past marathons, I just focused on logging miles - which worked fine. But now that I train with a club, each workout has a purpose (speed, hills, tempo, slower paced long runs), and judging by how well that approached worked for my half, I know it will work well for a full, and am fairly confident a PR is within my reach. I also am going to focus on strengthening my core and cross training 2 times/week, which should also help me improve my time.
Like I said, I am really excited for this training cycle. I went back and read through my posts from when I was training for my Portland marathon in 2010 and to sum it up, I sounded tired in those posts... Despite the fact that I was training remotely with Amber, I was doing all the running alone. I know that works for some, but I think I do better training with others. I like the support and encouragement of my fellow run club members - and the guidance and tough love of my coaches!
I'll be doing my "Marathon Madness Monday" posts again, just like I did when I trained for my Portland marathon.
So here's to what will hopefully be a healthy, fun training season!
Are you training for any races? Have you or would you ever run a marathon?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A case of the blahs
I think I am experiencing a bit of the marathon blues.
It's only natural, I think. I felt similar after my 2006 marathon. I remember feeling kind of 'blah'. I remember finishing that marathon and thinking, "Was it a big deal that I ran a marathon?"
Now I ask myself, "Is it a big deal that I ran a 4:22:10 marathon and beat my time goal of 4:30? Was 4:30 an ambitious goal? Is 26.2 mile really that far??
I realize that questions like these sound down right delusional.
But marathon training kind of messes with your mind, in my opinion. You lose perspective of what a 'long run' is. You toss around phrases like, "I only have to run 12 miles this weekend."
I think I need time away from marathon training to gain respect for what I accomplished.
But then I see things like the text of this ad from Nike, which I saw on (Long) Road to Paradise.
You pretended the snooze button didn’t exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while others slept. While others ate their pancakes you had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you.
"You ran 5Ks, 10Ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior.
You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays. You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmer’s tan.
You hit the wall. You went through it. You decided to be man about it. You decided to be woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just kept putting mile after mile on your internal odometer... You ran. And we ran with you. How much farther will we go? As far as you will."
I read this ad and I remember that running a marathon IS an admirable goal.
I remember that I made quite a few sacrifices while training.
I remember how hard I pushed myself.
I know I shouldn't need to read a silly ad to feel this way, but I do. I am confident that this is just a little phase that I am going through; before long, that feeling of pride will catch up with me.
Have you ever worked towards a goal and then after achieving it, felt a little blah like I do? Also, I should emphasize that I am not fishing for compliments; I am just being honest about how I feel, post-marathon.
It's only natural, I think. I felt similar after my 2006 marathon. I remember feeling kind of 'blah'. I remember finishing that marathon and thinking, "Was it a big deal that I ran a marathon?"
Now I ask myself, "Is it a big deal that I ran a 4:22:10 marathon and beat my time goal of 4:30? Was 4:30 an ambitious goal? Is 26.2 mile really that far??
I realize that questions like these sound down right delusional.
But marathon training kind of messes with your mind, in my opinion. You lose perspective of what a 'long run' is. You toss around phrases like, "I only have to run 12 miles this weekend."
I think I need time away from marathon training to gain respect for what I accomplished.
But then I see things like the text of this ad from Nike, which I saw on (Long) Road to Paradise.
You pretended the snooze button didn’t exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while others slept. While others ate their pancakes you had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you.
"You ran 5Ks, 10Ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior.
You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays. You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmer’s tan.
You hit the wall. You went through it. You decided to be man about it. You decided to be woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just kept putting mile after mile on your internal odometer... You ran. And we ran with you. How much farther will we go? As far as you will."
I read this ad and I remember that running a marathon IS an admirable goal.
I remember that I made quite a few sacrifices while training.
I remember how hard I pushed myself.
I know I shouldn't need to read a silly ad to feel this way, but I do. I am confident that this is just a little phase that I am going through; before long, that feeling of pride will catch up with me.
Have you ever worked towards a goal and then after achieving it, felt a little blah like I do? Also, I should emphasize that I am not fishing for compliments; I am just being honest about how I feel, post-marathon.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Marathon Recap: Part I
I have been thinking about this marathon post for the last couple of days and have decided that it has to be a 2 part post... I hope I don't bore you all with them, but I really want to properly capture it so I can come back and re-read it when I need to remember the events of the marathon.
So part I will be a high level post (but still sort of long!), part II will delve into the splits, etc.
So here goes!
On Saturday afternoon, Amber and I met up with Lauren and her manfriend and headed to the expo. It was awesome to meet Lauren and manfriend face-to-face after reading her blog for such a long time. She was exactly how she comes off in her blog! It was great meeting her boyfriend - they are such a fun/cute couple. I definitely wish we lived closer so I could hang out with them more often, but we did discuss meeting up for a destination half marathon in the future!
After getting our numbers and wandering around the expo, we headed to dinner at a local restaurant that actually had some gluten free pasta options!! It was a cute little restaurant and the service was awesome. Our server was a runner so she understood that we were hydrating and was great about constantly re-filling our water glasses.
We got back to the hotel and the nerves really started to set in. I knew it was going to be raining the next day and I have rarely ran in the rain, so I hemmed and hawed about what to wear. Amber posted a question on the Portland Marathon page on facebook and on Twitter to get recommendations, which was so helpful. Someone commented and said to dress for the temperature and not for the rain; the temps were going to be in the 60s, so I went with my original planned and layed out my marathon outfit.
So part I will be a high level post (but still sort of long!), part II will delve into the splits, etc.
So here goes!
On Saturday afternoon, Amber and I met up with Lauren and her manfriend and headed to the expo. It was awesome to meet Lauren and manfriend face-to-face after reading her blog for such a long time. She was exactly how she comes off in her blog! It was great meeting her boyfriend - they are such a fun/cute couple. I definitely wish we lived closer so I could hang out with them more often, but we did discuss meeting up for a destination half marathon in the future!
After getting our numbers and wandering around the expo, we headed to dinner at a local restaurant that actually had some gluten free pasta options!! It was a cute little restaurant and the service was awesome. Our server was a runner so she understood that we were hydrating and was great about constantly re-filling our water glasses.
We got back to the hotel and the nerves really started to set in. I knew it was going to be raining the next day and I have rarely ran in the rain, so I hemmed and hawed about what to wear. Amber posted a question on the Portland Marathon page on facebook and on Twitter to get recommendations, which was so helpful. Someone commented and said to dress for the temperature and not for the rain; the temps were going to be in the 60s, so I went with my original planned and layed out my marathon outfit.
This is the same outfit that I wore on the 20 mile run - that run went so well, I figured I would wear it again!
We went to bed early but I tossed and turned all night and never really fell into a deep sleep. Before I knew it, our 4:45 alarm was going off and Amber and I both sprung out of bed! And I mean that literally. There was no pressing the snooze button that morning. We had a marathon to run!
Amber snapped this photo of me before we headed out the door!
It was lightly raining as we walked to the starting line and I thought - 'eh, we can do this. I can handle a drizzle.'
Well, that drizzle turned into a heavy rain. And then the wind came up. As we lined up to start the race, I looked at Amber and said - 'this is hell.'
Ok, I know there are worse things than running the rain, but it is really, really mentally grueling to run in the rain for ~ 4.5 hours. What choice did we have, though, right?
I had picked up a 4:30 pace bracelet and the night before, I wrote down a name next to each mile and dedicated each mile to a family member, nephew, or special person in my life. Looking back, this was a really, really smart thing to do because each mile, I would focus on that person. I would envision their face or I would think about fun things we had done together. I dedicated some of the later miles in the race to friends/family members who are pregnant right now and when I was really struggling, I thought of how hard they will work to bring their baby into the world. Thinking of that helped me to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Which is exactly what I did! My goal was to run the entire thing and to only walk through aid stations, and I accomplished that goal. I really wanted to stop and walk during some of the final miles, but I pushed through and kept running, albeit a little slower than I ran the earlier miles.
I'll be back with my splits and other reflections, but for now, I will leave you with some stats!
- I finished ahead of 44% of the men!
- I finished ahead of 72% of the women!
- In the final 6.2 miles, I passed 239 runners and was passed by 41 runners.
- I finished ahead of 64% of the women in my age group (25-29)
- My average pace was 6 mph
It probably sounds braggy to mention these stats, but I am mentioning them because I have come so far since my last marathon. For starters, I took nearly 28 minutes off my time. Plus, when you consider the fact that I took a long break from running, returned to the sport and could barely run 10 minutes miles for 2-4 miles and now held that pace for 26.2 miles, it makes me even more proud of how far I have come!
So this is what you can take away form this post: If you want to run a marathon, you can do it. It wasn't long ago that I was huffing and puffing and struggled to run 2-3 miles at a time. It takes hard work, dedication, and perseverance - if you have those things, and the desire to run a marathon, you can do it!
I'll be back later this week with part II!
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