Apparently I didn't take any pictures this week. Well, at least no pics from my runs! Lots of pics from the new house. Some I'm not too happy about but I don't want to talk about it.
I should've learned my lesson by now - if you have the time to run, go run! I didn't run on Monday in Detroit because it was hot and I was exhausted. Ended up skipping my 5 mile run on Tuesday as well because I was even MORE exhausted. Even though I stayed in ACY Monday night after my trip, I was still just beat all day Tuesday, especially after starting to move our stuff over to the house in earnest.
Wednesday was better - 3 solid, fast miles, even though it was late in the day and super hot out. Rest day Thursday, and a pulled back long run of 7 miles this week. How funny that 7 miles feels like a short run now!! It was a nice day - a little bit lower humidity and a breeze. A breeze!
This week is another build up week. 3 miles each on Monday and Wednesday, up to 6 miles on Tuesday and 12 on Friday. TWELVE. *DIES*
I'm actually not sore today - but of course getting 3 miles in tomorrow would be difficult because I'm laying over in Oakland. Maybe the hotel gym isn't terrible. No matter what I'll be running on the treadmill in ORD - luckily I do really like the hotel gym there so slogging out 6 miles wouldn't be terrible. Just have to schedule it with something on TV. But I have no idea how to get 3 miles in on Tuesday because I work all day and then drive home. But I'd rather miss that 3 mile run than miss the 6 miler, and honestly I'll just go for a slow 3 miles (or walk it) on my rest day.
Trying to train while moving into the house has been so hard. Luckily I have David yelling at me to go run.
I'm trying to decide if I want to do my 12 miler (once again, eek!) on Thursday or Friday this week - may not have a choice if work calls me out when I'm on reserve. We'll see. Hopefully heading to Tampa on Thursday so maybe I'll knock out those 12 miles down there on the Trail.
Starting to see why half marathons are so popular - I feel like I could have already solidly trained for a half marathon, and I'm not even halfway through marathon training. I'm not fatigued all the time but my legs are always tired. On the upside I've managed to not injure myself so far (knock on wood!), which is a miracle in itself!! Marathon training is definitely not for the faint of heart, it takes a lot of planning and dedication. Hopefully I'm up to the task.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
#AirForceMarathon
90 days and counting!!
I can't believe that I'll be running a marathon in 3 months. Training has been going really well. The long runs have mostly sucked but I haven't been terribly sore, much less running injured. I'm not excellent at getting all my mid-week runs in, mostly because all these back to back days are hard for me! But I'm making up the miles one way or another.
I was so upset about not journaling before my first half, so I'm trying to avoid that mistake this time. Instead of trying to write after every run, I'm going to focus on writing on my weekend rest days, when I'm super restless and just want to go run! So here's the recap of last week:
Week four was awful: my trip had 3 short Boston layover in a row, and I missed two of my midweek runs. However, my 9 mile long run went pretty well later that week!! Hopefully there won't be many weeks like that going forward.
Monday/Tuesday runs went well - 3 and 5 miles respectively. It's been super hot and humid at home, so even on the 5 milers I'm bringing my 20 ounce Nathan belt and nearly finishing it.
I've also been using the Powerade concentrate. I really want to find a natural alternative, but the Nuun tables fizz too much. I even set one out the night before and STILL had issues with my bottle trying to explode the next morning. At least the Powerade isn't bothering my stomach. I'm also learning that I just can't tolerate a lot of food close to my morning runs; at most I can eat half an english muffin with a tablespoon of almond butter and even that gives me some minor GI discomfort. Another reason I prefer afternoon runs - I've had plenty of time to digest whatever I've eaten that day!
I ended up skipping Wednesday's 3 mile run to use it as a rest day so that I could do my long run a day early. I had an early show in ACY Friday morning and I knew by the time we got to MYR I wouldn't be in the mood or awake enough to pull off 10 miles. Additionally it was about 1,000 degrees in Myrtle Beach this weekend!!
I'm not sure how I managed to get out of bed Thursday morning so my long run, but it had a lot to do with the fact that my husband is amazing. Even at 6am he manages to convince me to get out of bed and go run! And he's right, once I get my shoes on and get out the door I feel so much better. I was dreading this run - even for my 1/2s I never managed more than a 9 mile training run for one reason or another. It was pretty brutal - I'm not sure if it was the heat, or fueling issues or just being tired from a busy week but I'm glad I did it! The honey stinger gels are working out really well, however about 7.5 miles in, I was starving. So maybe I need to carry something solid like fig newtons. Still managed to keep a decent pace, too. If I can keep up this 12:10-12:20 training pace then I should have no problem finishing in under 5:30!
It was very exciting to reach the Hunsicker Road covered bridge - it's several miles from our house and I have always hoped I'd reach it on a run!!
Today I'm in Detroit on the last day of a 4 day. I've been kind of inexplicably exhausted this trip - spent most of my long MYR layover lounging around and napping, recovering from Thursday's miles and the 2:30am wakeup call. Then a super-late night getting out to LAX - although I did manage 3 nice miles yesterday on the Long Beach bike path to make up for last week's skipped miles.
Today calls for 3 miles but I'm just not feeling it - I didn't get much sleep again last night. Tonight we should land before 11pm (if LGA cooperates) but as David won't be getting home until tomorrow morning, I got a hotel room in ACY tonight. That was I won't be totally wrecked tomorrow. Scheduled for 5, but I think I'll bump it up to 6 and then bump Wednesday's 3 miles to 4 or 5; that'll make up the miles! Friday's long run is 7 miles - thank God for Hal Higdon and his drawback weeks!! They give me courage for the next two!
I can't believe that I'll be running a marathon in 3 months. Training has been going really well. The long runs have mostly sucked but I haven't been terribly sore, much less running injured. I'm not excellent at getting all my mid-week runs in, mostly because all these back to back days are hard for me! But I'm making up the miles one way or another.
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| Landis Run - a stream near my house and a favorite part of my runs. |
Week four was awful: my trip had 3 short Boston layover in a row, and I missed two of my midweek runs. However, my 9 mile long run went pretty well later that week!! Hopefully there won't be many weeks like that going forward.
Monday/Tuesday runs went well - 3 and 5 miles respectively. It's been super hot and humid at home, so even on the 5 milers I'm bringing my 20 ounce Nathan belt and nearly finishing it.
I've also been using the Powerade concentrate. I really want to find a natural alternative, but the Nuun tables fizz too much. I even set one out the night before and STILL had issues with my bottle trying to explode the next morning. At least the Powerade isn't bothering my stomach. I'm also learning that I just can't tolerate a lot of food close to my morning runs; at most I can eat half an english muffin with a tablespoon of almond butter and even that gives me some minor GI discomfort. Another reason I prefer afternoon runs - I've had plenty of time to digest whatever I've eaten that day!
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| This is my "holy crap guys, it's hot out" face |
I'm not sure how I managed to get out of bed Thursday morning so my long run, but it had a lot to do with the fact that my husband is amazing. Even at 6am he manages to convince me to get out of bed and go run! And he's right, once I get my shoes on and get out the door I feel so much better. I was dreading this run - even for my 1/2s I never managed more than a 9 mile training run for one reason or another. It was pretty brutal - I'm not sure if it was the heat, or fueling issues or just being tired from a busy week but I'm glad I did it! The honey stinger gels are working out really well, however about 7.5 miles in, I was starving. So maybe I need to carry something solid like fig newtons. Still managed to keep a decent pace, too. If I can keep up this 12:10-12:20 training pace then I should have no problem finishing in under 5:30!
It was very exciting to reach the Hunsicker Road covered bridge - it's several miles from our house and I have always hoped I'd reach it on a run!!
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| Covered bridge!! From my 10 miler. |
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| I can't not go out and run when I'm on a L.A. layover. |
Sunday, May 4, 2014
PR day!
Haven't been updating much but really have been meaning to! I've had a couple wonderful runs in the last month that I wish I had written about. That'll teach me!
Anywho today I ran a 5K that I found through the Pretzel City Sports website last week. Sometimes it seems that every 5K around here is funding a cause I'd rather not give money to, being such a religious area. I just don't feel comfortable funding a mission trip as I don't agree with proselytizing. But we do have plenty of fire house and school fundraising raises, which I love! Today's race was in Myerstown, about 20 minutes north of downtown Lititz. Beautiful town! I even passed a farm on the way in with a ton of baby lambs and two yaks! Yaks!!
The race was funding the local high school's post graduation bash - a party hosted by the school where the kids can go celebrate safely! Love it. It was a super small race; I think there were only 40 runners! I got excited when I saw the small field, since I thought I could rustle up an age group award. Unfortunately out of those 40 people, about 10 were women in the 30-39 age group! Doh!
The race director was super nice and she did a really good job marking the course - there was really only one point where I had no one in front of me and wasn't 100% sure where to go, but it worked out in the end. The weather was freezing when we started, so I wore a long sleeve top over my shirt, but got rid of that about halfway through the race when the sun came out. This is when I love having my Nathan bib holder. It's nothing fancy, just a strap with two toggles for the bib, but it's so nice to be able to get rid of a layer and not have to worry about safety pins.
We finished the first mile in just over 9 minutes, which is SUPER fast for me. But I could see who I thought was the #3 woman in my age group about a minute ahead of me and I desperately wanted to catch up with her, so I tried to keep the pace. Eventually I had to let that pace go and even had to walk a couple times in the 3rd mile to catch my breath, but I still managed 10:35' miles after the first and finished in 31:53. That's like a 55 second PR, y'all! That broke my middle school 5K time, haha. So happy!!
Time to go pick up husband from the train station - our 2nd anniversary is in 2 days! <3
Anywho today I ran a 5K that I found through the Pretzel City Sports website last week. Sometimes it seems that every 5K around here is funding a cause I'd rather not give money to, being such a religious area. I just don't feel comfortable funding a mission trip as I don't agree with proselytizing. But we do have plenty of fire house and school fundraising raises, which I love! Today's race was in Myerstown, about 20 minutes north of downtown Lititz. Beautiful town! I even passed a farm on the way in with a ton of baby lambs and two yaks! Yaks!!
The race was funding the local high school's post graduation bash - a party hosted by the school where the kids can go celebrate safely! Love it. It was a super small race; I think there were only 40 runners! I got excited when I saw the small field, since I thought I could rustle up an age group award. Unfortunately out of those 40 people, about 10 were women in the 30-39 age group! Doh!
The race director was super nice and she did a really good job marking the course - there was really only one point where I had no one in front of me and wasn't 100% sure where to go, but it worked out in the end. The weather was freezing when we started, so I wore a long sleeve top over my shirt, but got rid of that about halfway through the race when the sun came out. This is when I love having my Nathan bib holder. It's nothing fancy, just a strap with two toggles for the bib, but it's so nice to be able to get rid of a layer and not have to worry about safety pins.
We finished the first mile in just over 9 minutes, which is SUPER fast for me. But I could see who I thought was the #3 woman in my age group about a minute ahead of me and I desperately wanted to catch up with her, so I tried to keep the pace. Eventually I had to let that pace go and even had to walk a couple times in the 3rd mile to catch my breath, but I still managed 10:35' miles after the first and finished in 31:53. That's like a 55 second PR, y'all! That broke my middle school 5K time, haha. So happy!!
Time to go pick up husband from the train station - our 2nd anniversary is in 2 days! <3
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Rain rain go away!
March, that bitch, has seemed to transition right into April. Growing up in the Sunshine State, I never understood the adage "April showers bring May flowers." I always thought "but flowers grow year round!" HAHAHAHA how blissfully unaware I was.
It's rained now for the last 2 days with more rain tomorrow. I wanted to run today, and honest, I don't mind running in the rain. However, I do mind how waterlogged my shoes get. It's miserable. And today's light drizzle would go to steady rain without warning. It just wasn't going to happen.
Luckily yesterday everyone favorite yogi (Brad) sent out an email saying that this morning's vinyasa class was going to be hot vinyasa!! There's nothing better for a misplaced Floridian than yoga in 90 degree heat, yo. Nuh-thing. It was great! I was soaked and I'm pretty sure I hair-flipped some sweat on to the girl next to me, but whatever. You know what you're getting into when you go to hot yoga.
I always feel like a cheater when I only go to yoga during the day, so I hung out, played some video games, went grocery shopping and hit the gym for some more swimming. I went yesterday after the elliptical but was so tired/hangry that I only got in 15 minutes.
Rediscovering swimming has made me really happy. It's so easy to forget how cold it is outside when you're in a bathing suit! Management said the heat is on the fritz in the swim area but you couldn't really notice. I'm learning that Friday nights/weekends aren't great times to try to get a workout in, as the gym puts up their (totally boss) inflatable for the kids to play on. This thing is seriously about 60 feet long - NFL combine meets water slide. One of these days I'm totally going to get on it. The downside is that when the inflatable is out, the pool is down to one lap lane. When I arrived tonight the lane was already being used by two people, but I hung out for a few minutes and grabbed it when they were done. 20 minutes and 800m later I'm exhausted and trying to figure out how I can run for 13 miles but can't swim a 1/2 mile without taking 152 breaks!!
I do love swimming, though. It has the same great exertion and "zone out" qualities that running does. It's becoming my go to "hip hurts today/shin splints acting up/it's rainy out" running substitute. And at least now I'm getting use out of that $80 speedo I bought last year!!
namaste, y'all.
It's rained now for the last 2 days with more rain tomorrow. I wanted to run today, and honest, I don't mind running in the rain. However, I do mind how waterlogged my shoes get. It's miserable. And today's light drizzle would go to steady rain without warning. It just wasn't going to happen.
Luckily yesterday everyone favorite yogi (Brad) sent out an email saying that this morning's vinyasa class was going to be hot vinyasa!! There's nothing better for a misplaced Floridian than yoga in 90 degree heat, yo. Nuh-thing. It was great! I was soaked and I'm pretty sure I hair-flipped some sweat on to the girl next to me, but whatever. You know what you're getting into when you go to hot yoga.
I always feel like a cheater when I only go to yoga during the day, so I hung out, played some video games, went grocery shopping and hit the gym for some more swimming. I went yesterday after the elliptical but was so tired/hangry that I only got in 15 minutes.
Rediscovering swimming has made me really happy. It's so easy to forget how cold it is outside when you're in a bathing suit! Management said the heat is on the fritz in the swim area but you couldn't really notice. I'm learning that Friday nights/weekends aren't great times to try to get a workout in, as the gym puts up their (totally boss) inflatable for the kids to play on. This thing is seriously about 60 feet long - NFL combine meets water slide. One of these days I'm totally going to get on it. The downside is that when the inflatable is out, the pool is down to one lap lane. When I arrived tonight the lane was already being used by two people, but I hung out for a few minutes and grabbed it when they were done. 20 minutes and 800m later I'm exhausted and trying to figure out how I can run for 13 miles but can't swim a 1/2 mile without taking 152 breaks!!
I do love swimming, though. It has the same great exertion and "zone out" qualities that running does. It's becoming my go to "hip hurts today/shin splints acting up/it's rainy out" running substitute. And at least now I'm getting use out of that $80 speedo I bought last year!!
namaste, y'all.
Monday, March 24, 2014
It's Spring! Or..not.
I decided against doing Saturday's 5K because my hip flexor pain seemed to be coming back and I had been dealing with some shin splints. I think that was the good choice for me - I'm trying to not put any pressure on myself in March so that I can ramp up my long runs and weekly mileage safely.
Today's 5 mile long run went well - I held a 11:36 average pace, which I'm happy with. I didn't feel like doing my spur out to the museum (which requires crossing a busy road twice) so I decided to loop around the middle school. I was just about to do that when I realized that it was Monday and school was still in session, and I'm so worried about getting in trouble! Instead I ran through their great XC area. It's uneven as heck but I like trail running, it makes a humdrum run exciting!!
The temperature today was brutal - 26 degrees! I had to dig out all my winter running clothes AGAIN. At least there's no snow on the ground and all the fauna are out. I saw robins, sparrows and what were either Carolina wrens or titmice. It's a reassuring sign that spring may actually be coming after all.
We've got a lot going on tomorrow but eventually I'm going to get into some more strength training and swimming. For now I have a date with a yoga mat and my Grid foam roller!
Today's 5 mile long run went well - I held a 11:36 average pace, which I'm happy with. I didn't feel like doing my spur out to the museum (which requires crossing a busy road twice) so I decided to loop around the middle school. I was just about to do that when I realized that it was Monday and school was still in session, and I'm so worried about getting in trouble! Instead I ran through their great XC area. It's uneven as heck but I like trail running, it makes a humdrum run exciting!!
The temperature today was brutal - 26 degrees! I had to dig out all my winter running clothes AGAIN. At least there's no snow on the ground and all the fauna are out. I saw robins, sparrows and what were either Carolina wrens or titmice. It's a reassuring sign that spring may actually be coming after all.
We've got a lot going on tomorrow but eventually I'm going to get into some more strength training and swimming. For now I have a date with a yoga mat and my Grid foam roller!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Coming out of hibernation
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day that begged me to slip on my shoes and hit the roads. While I typically avoid going out during "rush hour," I chose to just stick to my local neighborhoods and enjoy the last couple hours of daylight before the impending bad weather and cold of the next two days.
It was like the entire world had come out of hibernation. I chatted with a woman walking her two dachshunds that she thinks used to belong to a runner because they always bark at runners. Doug and Brodie (a neighbor and his sweet-as-sugar yellow lab) were also out - I haven't seen them in months! An adorable spaniel jumped on me to say hi as his owner and her parents were out for an after-schools walk by the pond. So many people were out walking, running, biking and just enjoying the sunshine. It was a wonderful change after the last few months of darkness and cold.
I ran for 40 minutes - sometimes when I don't feel like committing to a distance I'll commit to a time. I enjoy the change of goals. It wasn't an easy run - I haven't slept well the last few nights and am dealing with a lot of personal anxiety, so my whole body felt heavy. But even these hard runs are amazing considering that a month ago we were dealing with snow piles taller than me! And I know my endurance will be back and I'll drop the few extra pound I put on while in Florida. I want to Run for Fun this month and it's going swimmingly.
It was like the entire world had come out of hibernation. I chatted with a woman walking her two dachshunds that she thinks used to belong to a runner because they always bark at runners. Doug and Brodie (a neighbor and his sweet-as-sugar yellow lab) were also out - I haven't seen them in months! An adorable spaniel jumped on me to say hi as his owner and her parents were out for an after-schools walk by the pond. So many people were out walking, running, biking and just enjoying the sunshine. It was a wonderful change after the last few months of darkness and cold.
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| The duck pond is still mostly frozen but the snow is disappearing fast. |
I ran for 40 minutes - sometimes when I don't feel like committing to a distance I'll commit to a time. I enjoy the change of goals. It wasn't an easy run - I haven't slept well the last few nights and am dealing with a lot of personal anxiety, so my whole body felt heavy. But even these hard runs are amazing considering that a month ago we were dealing with snow piles taller than me! And I know my endurance will be back and I'll drop the few extra pound I put on while in Florida. I want to Run for Fun this month and it's going swimmingly.
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| Reclaiming the pavement, one day at a time. |
Monday, March 10, 2014
Finally!!
Today was shaping up to be a complete waste of a day off! I got home at 2am from work, didn't go to sleep around 4am, and was up around 9. I lazed about most of the day, doing laundry and watching Once Upon a Time and Modern Family. Around 5 my husband (who is at work) asked why I was inside all day when it was so gorgeous outside. Duh!
Even though I hadn't really intended to run today I threw some tights and one of my shiny new Gasparilla shirts on, grabbed my shoes and my iPhone and said "ok! No more than two miles!"
Is there anything better, more freeing, more gleeful that those first few strides on a gorgeous, sunny day? I felt like my inner lab was coming out, as I started out WAY too fast. Oh well, right? March is Fun Run month. I'm just going to run for fun and no worry so much about training paces and distances.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
2 miles in just over 22 minutes, which felt great after 2 weeks of grumpy nothingness. Even the ol' fitbit was excited. There was barely any snow left on the paths - just a couple sections to tiptoe through. Overall, a great run. The hip started bothering me around 1.5 miles in but we're working on that. My foot felt great, though. No pain at all during the run and only a little nagging after.
Whee! I might go out again tomorrow!!
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