Tag Archives: running

Week 12 Training: 5/7 – 5/13

15 May

When we went camping a few weeks ago, it was incredibly windy all day Saturday. The sun was shining with no clouds in the sky but with a constant 20 mph breeze and highs only in the upper 50s to begin with, it was chilly. I wore a sweatshirt and windbreaker all day and broke out my long underwear in the evening.

One unfortunate side effect of being out in the sun all day but cold was that we forgot about getting sunburned. After our friend Lauren mentioned that she had gotten burned out there before, Travis and I put sunscreen on the few skin surfaces that were exposed. I of course forgot about my scalp and lips, both of which got toasted.

Since then, my head has been a mess. My scalp and parts of my face are peeling (though most of my face was fine) and my lips – oh my poor lips.

They were on fire Sunday when we got home from camping. I iced them with a popsicle (by eating it) and slathered on Burt’s Bees. When I woke up Monday morning, my bottom lip was twice its normal size. My vanity kicked in and I contemplated locking myself into my home office and refusing to go to work but it ended up deflating enough to look pretty normal by the time I left for work. By noon, it was back to normal.

But by the time I got home from work that day, I could feel something… a look in the mirror told me a nice blister was forming there. Sweet. Yet again, I was tempted to sequester myself at home. Practicality won and I just sucked up looking a little gross with Blistex smeared on my lip sore for what has now been over a week. My lip has gotten somewhat better but it’s still pretty nasty.

This morning, I woke up to this:

That would be dried blood. Apparently, I was attacked during my sleep.

For some reason, it reminded me of Heath Ledger as The Joker.

Eh?

Anyway, I’ve been diligent about putting Blistex on it so that it doesn’t dry out, crack and bleed everywhere but apparently I’m failing a little. Even just eating my salad makes my lip bleed. I’m SO ready for this to be over with. Okay, lip?

…………………

Training last week was less than normal but still decent:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Run fail; 2 mile walk, 4.5 mile bike

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 5 mile very easy run (untimed)

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 12 mile easy long run (2:23:14, 12:02/mile)

Sunday: 60 minutes Hot Yoga

Total Running Miles = 17

………………….

Do any of you watch Bones? The episode last night was SO GOOD! I was worried that it was the season finale but it’s not – their website says another episode will be on June 1. Whew! That was a close one.

But Desperate Housewives IS over. Did any of you watch the season finale on Sunday? So good. I was happy yet sad about how it ended. I’ll miss that show but think that it’s wise to end a show on a good note instead of dragging it out until it’s a craptastic limp noodle (ahem, House and The Office).

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I’m back baby.

13 May

Yesterday morning, I met my friend Cathy for coffee, which is always a great start to the day. Then, I timidly headed out on what I hoped would be a 12 mile run. Together with my successful 5 mile run on Thursday, my weekly mileage would be 17 – which I feel is decent for a week when legs wouldn’t cooperate.

It helped that yesterday was the perfect day for a run – 50 and overcast. It seemed to be on the verge of rain all day but it didn’t actually start until the late afternoon.

I got going on my run around 10:00. I decided to run a 3.7 mile loop with the pooches, then drop them off at the house and run the last 8.3 alone. Right away, I could tell a huge difference in how my legs felt from earlier in the week. They actually felt normal instead of running-through-mud exhausted! I was so thankful and the entire run, I kept reminding myself to be grateful for being able to run, regardless of pace.

I think my incredible soreness + exhaustion was partly caused by some tough long runs and by doing a long run at night – instead of moving around like I normally do after morning long runs, I went to bed and then sat around all the next day (camping). Probably didn’t help things.

To help prevent that from happening again, I ran yesterday’s run at a very easy, comfortable pace. Whenever my legs felt good and I was tempted to pick up the pace, I humbled my pride (I didn’t need to prove myself!) and ran slower. All that said, I still ended up averaging an 12 min/mile pace, which I am very pleased with. Not only do I know that I have it in me to run faster than that, I am running smart and not trying to prove myself during training. Whatever gets me to the start line sans injury and ready to tackle the 26.2 beast.

Splits:

I also discovered a fix to my feet blisters: bandaids and first aid tape.

Sorry for the nasty foot pic. That will be the last, I promise.

I put a bandaid on with the pad over the blister area, then taped them around once (the tape is clear). It wasn’t completely comfortable and I was aware of them the whole time I was running but it really wasn’t that bad and I didn’t have any painful blisters after my run (and the ones that are there from before didn’t get any worse). I consider it a success and will be doing this for my long runs from now on.

I wore my new Brooks for the first 3.7 miles of this run and definitely think that them bothering my calves earlier in the week was a fluke. The problem was my legs, not the shoes. I think I will really like these! But I’m going to break them in with lower mileage runs to get my legs used to them, just in case running 16 miles in them straight out of the box added to the legs fiasco.

Following my ideas for long run recovery, I also elevated my legs after both of my runs this week. I can’t say whether or not it helps but I can definitely feel the blood flowing so it must be doing something. I also drank a protein shake after my long run yesterday.

It was delicious but it has 44 g of sugar. Can’t say I’ll be buying it again – I’ll probably just stick with Athlete’s HoneyMilk or look into Muscle Milk.

………………………

Now that I’ve detailed all the ways I’m trying to be smart and giving my legs some help in staying rested and refreshed, I’ll tell you about how I trashed my legs by going to my first hot yoga class this afternoon.

One of my 2012 goals was to try hot/Bikram yoga and I had penciled it into my schedule to go today. I’ve seen a lot of Corepower Yoga locations around Denver and they seemed to be pretty much the only yoga studio near my house that offered hot yoga. So it was the logical place.

Conveniently, they also are offering a free week of yoga to newcomers so I got to take the class today for free! I would love to check out another class or two this week – we’ll see if it works out!

The class I went to was Hot Power Fusion. This is the description that they have online:

The woman who checked me in, Laura, was also the instructor and she was great. So friendly and happy. She explained all about hot yoga as I was filling out my information form and during the class, she encouraged us all to listen to our bodies and do whatever we were comfortable with. She also explained that since the room is heated to 100 degrees with 30% humidity (making it feel like 150 degrees), I might feel faint or light-headed. If I did, I could just rest, take a drink of water, and start again when I was ready.

I walked into the room and it was HOT. I laughed silently as the class started because Laura apologized for the room being on the cooler side. It was definitely hot enough for me. I was a little nervous about it before the class started because I don’t like saunas – it feels so hard to breathe.

Surprisingly, I got more used to the heat as we started moving. Pretty soon though, the sweat was pouring off me. My arms, legs, face, neck, hands – everything was just drenched by the time the class was over.

I enjoyed the class – there were a lot of “yogi” names for poses that I didn’t know. I call them by their layman’s terms, I guess. There were only a few times during the class that I was lost or confused about what Laura was asking us to do – though if I didn’t have a basic knowledge of yoga, I would’ve been lost. (If I had told Laura that it was my first time practicing – she did ask when I was registering – maybe she would’ve explained things more.)

Anyway, it was very enjoyable (and challenging!) and I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to doing hot yoga again. I do, however, think that the copious amounts of sweat that I had to mop off my body will deter me from making this my yoga class of choice. I mean, I don’t mind sweating during a workout but this was ridiculous. I had heard stories about how much you sweat, and now I know firsthand.

My body feels like jello now, which it always does after a good, hard yoga session. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t feel like jello tomorrow (or at least that my legs don’t!)

Do you enjoy hot yoga?

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Week 11 Training: 4/30 – 5/6

8 May

I guess I spoke too soon when I said that I hadn’t missed a training run. Because now I have.

It started off with shaving a mile off two of my mid-week runs last week. And then last night, I totally blew off both my run and the cross-training I was going to do in lieu of my run. But it was for a good reason – we got new couches! Our friends sold their house to travel the country as a traveling nurse (the wife) in an RV so they gave us their couches. The evening was spent rearranging furniture. I’ll post pics soon. We like the new setup a lot (and are praying that the dogs don’t destroy the couches like they did last time).

Anyway, here’s last week’s training rundown:

Monday: 3.04 mile easy run (35:56; 11:49/mile); 45 minutes easy yoga

This was supposed to be a 4 mile run.

Tuesday: 8 mile run w/5 x 800 (1:37:45; 10:51/mile)

800s: 5:04, 5:08, 4:54, 4:40, 4:34. The first couple of 800s were done at a comfortably fast pace. The last couple, I was really pushing it. The rest of the run was at an 11 min pace.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 2.5 mile easy run (31:15; 12:18/mile)

This was supposed to be a 4 mile run.

Friday: 16 mile long run (3:14:18; 12:08/mile)

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 45 minute walk with pooches

………………………..

This training week really tested my mental resolve to run a marathon. This was the first week when I actually doubted my ability to do this. That run on Friday, and specifically Mile 2, really freaked me out. “What if I can’t run this marathon? Maybe my body just can’t handle this. What if I’m tired for the rest of my training plan? What if my legs feel like this until the race?”

Obviously, I’m not giving up and I’m taking practical action to get my legs rested up. But I’ve felt God challenging me.

It started the Saturday I ran 15 miles – when I stopped at the gas station between my warmup and the half marathon course, the gas station guy asked me, “Do you run happy?” At first, I was really confused. Then I realized I was wearing my Brooks running shirt that said Run Happy. I laughed a bit, said “Yeah I do,” and left.

But his comment stuck with me. On my warmup, I had been thinking about how tired my legs felt and how I didn’t know if I could run 13 more miles. “I don’t know if I can do this.” That phrase sounded like something I’ve said about the Christian life. “I don’t know if I can do this.” I’ve discovered that the remedy to that is to depend on God – because guess what? I’m not expected to be able to do it. God wants me to admit my need and look to Him for strength and sufficiency, not within myself. Why would running be any different?

And that’s where I get hung up. For some reason, I have a really hard time believing that God cares about running. It’s the same way I had felt about my eating habits – my struggle seemed so trivial, so vain. Why would God want to be involved? How could I ask His blessing and help with something that is clearly my own undertaking or doing?

I often think about the quote from Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Well, God didn’t make me fast but He did give me a love for endurance sports. When running doesn’t suck, I really do love it. So why wouldn’t God care about it?

It’s my own mental block so I won’t go any further into my own struggle. I believe that the truth (whether I can truly buy it or not) is that God cares about everything we care about. There’s nothing too trivial or menial or vain to Him. And He wants to be involved in every single aspect of our lives, whether that is running or reading or cleaning our house or working at our job. Especially when it’s something that I spend so much time doing, thinking about and writing about. I want to involve God in my running, despite all of my objections about why He shouldn’t want to or why it’s “not worthy” of being prayed for.

So I’m praying for it. I’m acting in light of what I objectively know to be truth, regardless of how I feel subjectively. I see that training for a marathon can be an opportunity for my faith to grow. Instead of entertaining “What if’s?” about my ability and race conditions, I can run to God in faith. Faith that He will sustain me to race day. Faith that no matter what happens, God is ultimately the one in charge and is actively working everything together for my good. Faith to remember that running doesn’t define me – it’s something I do but it’s not who I am. 

I’m also praying for the grace to be thankful. That’s what was so convicting about the gas station guy’s comment – Do I run happy? Well, actually, no I don’t. Most of the time when I’m out running, I’m complaining and whining (to myself) about this ache and that twinge, my slow pace, the bug swarms, the d@mn traffic, the stupid gits in my way, etc. etc.

There’s a verse in 1 Timothy that reads:

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:4-5 ESV)

Thanksgiving is the key to receiving things in faith. So my desire above all, more than a fast pace or race goals or a perfect training plan, is that my running – and life – would reflect how grateful and thankful I am to God for His provision. It’s His blessing that I have the time, energy, resources and desire to be out there, pushing my physical body to its limits. It’s His blessing that I haven’t gotten injured or sick. His blessing that I get to run my first marathon in Alaska, of all places.

Circumstances don’t create joy or rob us of it. It’s our perspective that does.

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16 miles, 88 degrees.

7 May

So about that long run…

I got off of work an hour early and was greeted by a balmy 88 degrees. On my way home, I heard on the radio that the temperature broke the record for Denver. Sweet.

I decided that I was in no rush to get going on my run so I took my time getting ready, eating pretzels and packing my Camelbak. I had planned a 10 mile loop followed by a 6 mile loop, giving me time to come back to the house to get more water and to change shoes if I needed to.

Oh yeah, Thursday night I went and bought new running shoes from Runner’s Roost. I normally get all of my shoes from Boulder Running Company but I had a 20% off coupon from the Platte River Half for Brooks footwear at Runner’s Roost. You can’t argue with that.

I explained to the sales guy that I had gone through four pairs of my trusty old Nikes and they had been great until I started running more mileage. I showed him the shoes I had (I brought them along) and he pointed out several different brands that had stability shoes with larger toe boxes.

I tried on the Brooks Adrenaline as well as a pair of Mizunos and Adidas. The Adidas had a weird heel feel and the Mizunos were way too tight right when I put them on. But the Brooks… those felt pretty good. They were roomy, felt low to the ground, fit my heel well. I ran for a minute on the treadmill (I was in my work clothes so that was plenty!) and they felt pretty good. Since that was what my coupon was good for, I decided to go with them.

I took them to the Rec for what was planned to be a 4 mile tempo run. As I got started running, the tempo run turned into a nice, easy run. “Just get the miles in.” The shoe on my left foot felt great. But the shoe on my right foot felt too tight. I retied it at least four times. Didn’t work. After about 2 miles, the outside of my right foot started hurting. And then my right ankle. The run was sucking anyway, so I called it quits after 2.5 miles. I was a little nervous for 16 miles the next day. (And I was pretty sure that it wasn’t the shoes – just my foot being stupid.)

I made sure to drink plenty of water while I was at work on Friday and did some carbo loading from the vending machine:

After loading some new Lady Gaga tunes onto my iPod, I headed out on my run a little after 5:30. Right from the start, my legs felt tired. Not a good sign. But I hit Mile 1 at 10:52 so at least I wasn’t running as slow as I thought I was. Then I got to mile 2.

It’s a decent hill but definitely not as tough as some of the hills I’ve run. But it crushed me. I seriously have never felt like that on a run before  – when I say it felt like a nightmare where I was trying to run and couldn’t, I’m not exaggerating. It was a horrible feeling. I didn’t even get to the toughest part of the hill before walking. All I knew was that if I didn’t feel better on the downhill, I was calling it a day. I couldn’t imagine trying to do 15 more miles like that!

Amazingly, though, I did feel better on the downhill. I didn’t feel great but compared to how I had felt almost the entire previous mile, tired legs didn’t seem half bad. I decided then and there that I’d rather feel like I was running fast and really be running slow, than feeling like I was running slow and be running fast. Running is not fun when it sucks.

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful but I definitely let go of any expectations about time (ok, I’ll admit I still wanted to run faster than  a 12 min pace). I had worn a tanktop because of the heat and my backpack was rubbing on my back, which was not enjoyable. I took gels at Miles 4.5 and 9. But my shoes and feet felt good. Legs were meh but they were still moving, which is all I could ask for.

Splits:

1- 10:52 
2 – 12:34 (hill) 
3 – 11:04 
4 – 11:39 
5 – 11:59 
6 – 11:16 
7 – 11:40 
8 – 12:33 
9 – 12:34 
10 – 11:33 
.1 – 1:12 

Total – 10.1 miles; 1:58:56 (11:46 average)

Back at the house, I stopped long enough to exchange my tank for a t-shirt (heavenly!) and headed back out. I had filled my Camelbak up, so I didn’t need more water, and it was already 8:00! It would get dark around 8:30 so I knew that I’d be running in the dark for the last few miles.

There was a big hill at Mile 2 of that loop too. (Who planned this route anyhow?)

That hill was more substantial and I ended up walking it as well. As I was running around the park at the top, I was actually feeling pretty great. The sun was setting as I made my way around the park – it was beautiful.

Besides the fact that I could tell my shoes were rubbing my feet (grrr!!), my legs felt pretty speedy. (They were actually slower, however.) I don’t quite know what happened to these splits but I was tired – I kept forgetting where my mile markers were (I actually couldn’t remember them the whole run, while is abnormal – good thing I wrote them down!)

It was dark as I left the park and started on my last 2 miles of what felt like a day-long run. Travis ended up coming to look for me, since it was so late. What a sweetie. He offered me a ride home but I declined – I only had 1 mile left!

Splits: 

1.16 – 13:40 (forgot to hit split)
2 – 12:13 (hill!) 
2.92 – 11:53 (hit too early)
4 – 14:04 
5 – 12:34 
5.93 – 10:47 

Total – 5.93 miles; 1:15:11 (12:40 average)

16 miles total in 3:14:18, 12:08 average

Even though it pains me to see the dreaded 12 at the beginning of my pace again, I feel like this run was an anomaly for two main reasons:

1) It was almost 90 degrees out when I started.

2) My legs were exhausted from the get-go.

I don’t think running on a Friday night had that much of an effect (I had actually slept pretty well the previous few nights), but it probably didn’t help.

And actually, I don’t think the heat was the biggest factor in this run either. I surprisingly didn’t sweat that much and while I drank my entire Camelbak over the course of the 16 miles, I don’t feel like that’s a ton. Although I did do much better with hydrating early in this run – I wasn’t nearly as thirsty toward the end as I have been on other runs (trying to get better about that since I realize I’ll have another 10 miles to go during the marathon!).

The biggest factor in this run I think was exhaustion. All of my runs last week were just plain crappy. My 8 mile run on Tuesday had some redeeming Yasso 800s but otherwise, those miles were also slogged out at on very tired legs.

Since this week is a stepback week anyway, I’m going to really step it back. I’ll still do my long run of 12 miles on Saturday and my long mid-week run of 8 miles tomorrow. But I took another rest day today and I’ll probably just do some light cross-training on Wednesday and Thursday instead of my 5 mile run – probably just walking or the elliptical. I’m also going to hold back on the speed work and lower body strength training until my legs feel back to “normal.” (I realize that they’re probably not going to feel 100% until I start tapering.) I would really like to avoid having another week like this past one!

As for my new Brooks shoes, I’m not ready to give up on them. I ran 16 miles in them almost straight out of the box so I think they have potential. The next thing I’m going to try is Nu Skin or taping my feet. (Travis requested that Plan B be cheaper than a new pair of shoes.)

And now I’m off to bed!

What’s the warmest temperature you’ve run in?

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16 miles done.

4 May

Well, I survived my 16 mile run. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t fast. Even though it was 88 degrees outside when I headed out, I think the main culprit behind my less-than-stellar performance was sheer exhaustion. I felt like I was running through jello for the first two miles – you know those nightmares when you’re trying to run but can’t? It was like that.

Luckily, things improved after those first couple of miles – I mean, my legs felt better. I didn’t get any faster.

But I got the miles in and at this moment, that’s all that matters. And that’s all I care about.

I’m completely exhausted and have an early wakeup call to head up into the mountains so the details will have to wait.

I’ll leave you with this:

16 miles

3:14:18

12:08 average pace

1 more long run closer to a marathon

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Week 10 Training: 4/23 – 4/29

1 May

We spontaneously planted a tree on Sunday!

The bottom is hidden in shadows, so you can’t see our landscaping but we had some really pretty Yarrow planted there. This is what it looked like last year:

But apparently, Yarrow is an invasive species of plant. Meaning it TOOK OVER. And as I told Travis, I don’t allow rogue plants in my landscaping. They have to stay where they’re planted or I’m ripping it out (sorry plant). I’m kicking myself now that we didn’t get a before picture because those plants were massive. Each plant epicenter + its intricate, shallow root base had to have been 3 feet in diameter.

In place of the Yarrow, we planted an Autumn Blaze Maple tree. It has small white blossoms in the spring and turns bright red in the fall. It’s also hardy enough to withstand a lot of wind – which is key since this poor little tree is on the west side of our house (the strongest winds always come from the west).

As you can imagine, the Yarrow left quite a big empty gap so there’s still more room for us to plant some more perennials. But now I’ll be on guard against ROGUE PLANTS.

Last week’s training went fairly well. My legs were pretty tight so I ended up wearing my compression tights to bed 4 nights in a row. They really do help!!

Monday: 3.24 mile easy run (36:52, 11:23/mile); Drop 10 Workout from Self

Tuesday: 4.11 mile run with 4 Yasso 800s (50:14; 12:13/mile)

I warmed up for .5 mile, ran 4 x 800 with 2-2:30 rest in between, ran .5 mile  home to drop off pooches and finished with 1 mile moderate. 800s were 4:56, 5:01, 5:01, 4:53. If these 800s are supposed to determine how fast I can run a marathon, I think that keeping them around 5:00 – 5:30 is a good goal (since that’s roughly my marathon goal, in hours obviously).

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 7 mile run (1:13:50, 10:28/mile); UB weights + 30 one-legged squats

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 15 mile long run (2:55:07; 11:50/mile); 1.15 mile walk with pooches

Sunday: 1.5 mile walk with pooches; 2 hours of gardening + cleaning

Total Running Miles: 29.4

…………………..

For my long run last Saturday, I tried out a new hairstyle. My hair is about the longest I’ve ever had it (tied with the length of my hair when I got married in 2007) and so, my go-to hairstyles no longer work. But the front layers of my hair are too short to be practical for long hairstyles so I’ve been extremely frustrated. I seem to have the greatest hair problems whenever I go on a run with Travis. Anyway, I tried a hairstyle I’ve seen and heard from other ladies with long hair: the braided ponytail.

I had to wet my ponytail a bit so that my hair didn’t slip out of the braid (my hair is ridiculously fine and doesn’t stay anywhere you put it) but I really liked this. It didn’t bounce all over the place like a regular ponytail and I didn’t have to comb a rats nest out later. Win, win.

How do you wear your hair for workouts?

Have you had any experience with rogue plants?

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Revisiting Ralston: 15 Mile Long Run

30 Apr

Saturday morning, I got up around 7:30, planning to eat breakfast and head out for my run soon after. But I was lazy Friday night and didn’t do any run prep – meaning both my phone and iPod were out of battery. Since the day was on the cooler side anyway (40s in the morning, high 50s in the afternoon), I decided that it wouldn’t be a big deal if I waited for my devices to charge.

So I ate breakfast, got dressed, filled my Camelbak with water and gels, started a load of laundry and worked on the Sunday morning slides for church. As I went to throw the laundry in the dryer about 40 minutes later, I saw a giant puddle of water on the floor in the kitchen. As a dog owner, the first thought that raced through my head was “Charlie peed!” But then I saw the water dripping from the table – I had set my Camelbak down on top of the mouthpiece and water was leaking out all over the place.

I cleaned the puddle up and started blow-drying my soaking-wet backpack.

I was very glad that I wasn’t in a rush!

Once my backpack was damp instead of wet, my phone and iPod read almost fully charged so it was time to take off. I drove the 15 minutes over to the ‘race’ start and got there around 10. I had mapped out an easy 2 miles to run before I started my half marathon time trial, which was a brilliant idea because almost immediately, I needed a bathroom. So between my 2 mile warmup and the remaining 13.1 miles, I drove to a gas station about a block away. Much better.

Back to the race start. I walked to the spot where I guessed the timing mats had been, started my watch and music and took off. I was feeling just okay. My 2 mile warmup hadn’t been fantastic, but it wasn’t horrible either. My legs felt a little tired and I felt out of breath. It was fairly windy (10-15 mph), and it was a cold wind. The kind of wind that takes your breath away if it hits you just right. (For the rest of the day after the run, my lungs felt wind-burned.) I started the run with a long sleeve tech tee and a lightweight jacket but ended up ditching the jacket after a mile – while the wind was cold, the sun was warm. I ended up being fine in just the long sleeve.

As I ran, I couldn’t help but think about the weather conditions the last time I had been on that trail – snowy and 8 degrees! Now, the trail was lush, green and warm (when the wind wasn’t blowing).

My lack of run prep Friday night also meant that I didn’t have my Poor Man’s GPS – I hadn’t memorized where the mile splits were. So instead, I clicked my watch at certain landmarks, so that I could generally track how fast I was running by later using a map to determine the distance between each. It’s a lot more work than having a Garmin but it’s free! And a major benefit was that I couldn’t analyze or stress over my pace (and I was too focused on willing myself to keep running to attempt the math in my head).

Finally, I was at Big Hill #1. It’s not that steep, it’s just LONG. I allowed myself to walk for about 20 seconds in the middle of the hill, but then pushed it the rest of the way – knowing I had a walking break coming up.

For this run, I decided to walk when I took each gel instead of trying to run. It was easier, I could breathe better and a little break was appreciated. I also plan to do this for future runs – practice walking through aid stations. I’ve never done this in a race, mostly because I bring all of my own stuff and I can drink out of my Camelbak while running. But I’m entertaining the idea of going Camelbak-less for the marathon since it does add a few pounds and jostles around a bit…

I ate 3 gels during the run at Miles 2.5, 6.5, and 9 of the half marathon course (so Miles 4.5, 8.5, and 11 of my entire run). I mostly ate them because I was so hungry! Running later in the morning definitely threw off my eating habits.  But for future runs, I think I’ll bring a peanut butter sandwich along just in case hunger strikes again. I think that would be more effective than a gel for hunger.

At the top of Hill #1

On to Hill #2. From far away, it actually doesn’t look that bad.

But then you get started on it…

And at the top, realize how high you are.

I ran as much of Hill #2 as I could but I did walk some of it. I mean, the trail had switchbacks for crying out loud…

Finally, the hills were over!

The run back actually went surprisingly fast. Even though my legs and lower back were hurting units, I only walked 2 times for about 30 seconds. Mentally, it helped that I recognized the course and could tell I was getting closer to the end. After my last walking break, I switched my watch from the timer to the clock, so that I couldn’t see what my ‘final time’ was until I reached the imaginary finish line. I branched off from the trail into a residential neighborhood and I was finally on the home stretch.

It was no coincidence that the song playing in my ears at that very moment was Fighter by Christina Aguilera. I thought the words very fittingly described the result of a tough long run:

Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

Dear Incredibly Hard Long Run, 

YOU-WON’T-STOP-ME

I am a fighter and I
I ain’t gonna stop
There is no turning back

Even though I guesstimated the start and finish, and stopped several times to take pictures, I finished in 2:32:48! That’s an average pace of 11:39 and almost 6 minutes faster than my previous course time of 2:38:24. I feel like that difference is big enough to not just be circumstantial.

Booyah! 

My total time for 15 miles was 2:55:07, an average pace of 11:40. And because my splits aren’t broken down into nice even miles, I’ll leave it at that.

After my run, I went home, took an Epsom salt bath and then ate this deliciousness:

2 egg + provolone cheese + butter on whole wheat; tangelo; chocolate milk

…………………………….

I’m so encouraged to see that my efforts have paid off – not only from doing intentional hill training over the past 2 months, but also pushing myself to keep running when my body wanted to physically collapse. All of this hard training is developing my mental fortitude – which I will need for the marathon!

That said, it seems that my body doesn’t have enough time to recover between my longest mid-week run on Thursday night and my long run on Saturday morning. So I am moving my long mid-week run to Tuesday nights. Hopefully that will help give me some fresh legs on Saturdays!

This week’s training is going to be a bit weird – we’re going camping in the mountains Saturday morning, meaning I have to do my long run of 16 miles after work sometime this week. (Gulp.) I’m thinking Friday night, so that I don’t have to sit around at work all the next day, but I’d love to hear your advice! (Friday also looks better weather-wise but it’s still too soon to tell.)

Finally, to wrap this all up, I want to highlight that I give God the credit and thanks for how well my training is going so far. Yes, I am running the miles, doing the stretching, lifting the weights and going to bed early but HE is the One ultimately in control of my life. If I get to run the marathon pain-free and sans injury, it’s His blessing to me. I’ll have some more thoughts on running + faith coming up in the next few days. But that will suffice for now. 😉

Tell me about your weekend!

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Dreadmill and Longest Run Ever.

27 Apr

Last night after work, I geared up for my 7-mile run. But in the time between getting home from work and walking out of the garage with pooches and Travis in tow, the skies changed from cloudy to stormy. Refusing to be scared by rain, we headed out anyway. A minute later, big lightning bolts streaked across the sky. Hmmm…

We revised our south-bound 4 mile run to a north-bound 1.5 mile run since the skies looked less menacing that way. For the entire run, lightning and thunder boomed at us from the east. Less than .25 mile from home, it started raining and the wind picked up.

Plan B was going to the gym. I convinced Travis to come along and as we pulled out of the driveway, it looked like the storm might have already passed. (Sadly, it only rained for about 15 minutes. Colorado is so dry this year!) But we figured we might as well just stick with the gym.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I seriously have not been back to the gym since my near brush with death by brussel sprouts in February. Ever since then, I have associated the gym with thick, warm air that smothers me until I can’t breathe. Not appealing for a 5.5 mile run.

But I sucked it up (because I realized I was being ridiculous). When we got there, one treadmill was open so I decided to snag one while I had the chance.

I set the incline to 1.0, the speed to 5.6 (10:42/mile), and tried to read my magazine, which was unfortunately near impossible. I could only read the ads, which, as compelling and persuasive as they are, didn’t do the trick in helping me zone out.

So I watched the people on the bikes in front of me, scanned the TVs for something interesting (the puzzle on Wheel of Fortune was ‘Fork of the Road Runner’…what the heck is that?), and went back to my magazine.

I tried to be patient and let plenty of time (and miles) go by before I looked at the distance (which was conveniently hidden by my magazine). When my stomach started to hurt, I thought maybe it was time to take my mid-run gel. So I moved my magazine and saw…

1.1

Seriously? Seriously.

I made a deal with myself that I at least had to make it to 2.5 so that I could get off and run an even 3 around the track to finish. I made it to 2.76 then the blasted treadmill went into cool-down mode. I restarted it for another .24, then jumped off and did 2.5 around the track.

You know how your legs feel after you’ve been running on a treadmill – like you’re just zooming everywhere, even when you’re walking? Well, that lasted for 2 laps (.2 mile). Then my legs alternated between feeling GREAT and speedy, and then feeling like I was trudging through a swamp. It was quite strange actually.

When all was said and done, though, I ran 7.05 miles in 1:13:50 – an average of 10:28/mile.

I’ll take it.

……………………

The Eugene Marathon is this weekend. If I had stuck to my original plan of running that race, this would be THE weekend! But alas, I still have 2 months to go until my race. Good luck to all of those running Eugene! May the running force be with you.

Instead of doing that race this weekend, I’ll be revisiting the course for the bane of my racing existence (this race).

Not only will this be my longest run of this training cycle, it will be the longest run of my life at 15 miles.

This is what the course looks like:

The lowest point is 5483 and the highest point is 5965 – a gain/loss of 485 feet. That race (the Ralston Creek Half) made me realize that I was not prepared to run any sort of hilly race. Since then, I have done 5-6 long-ish runs with 300-400 feet of elevation gain – since the Mayor’s Marathon gains 300 feet over 15 miles, I want to be prepared. And what better way to prepare than get my a$$ handed to me? (Pardon the language, but ‘getting my butt handed to me’ didn’t have the same ring to it.)

So unless I wuss out between now and 7 am, I am planning to run an easy 2 mile warm-up (while I still can) and then run an unofficial hilly half marathon to see if I can beat my February time of 2:38:24. I’ll report back this weekend if I don’t dissolve from sitting in an Epsom salt bath too long.

Do you have anything challenging or exciting planned for the weekend?

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Marathon Training Thus Far…

24 Apr

In the past 9 weeks:

  • I have ran 183.07 miles.
  • My highest mileage week was @ 25.48 (although technically, my highest mileage 7-day period was last week @ 37.59 miles but I track Monday – Sunday, not Sunday – Saturday).
  • My longest run was 13.1 miles.
  • I set a new half marathon PR.

What’s Not Surprising about Training:

  • I’m tired often. Going to bed at 8:30 is tough when I run after work and then cook dinner. We usually don’t even eat until around 7:30 or 8. But I have maintained my motivation to cook actual dinners, which is good.
  • My feet have developed giant calluses/blisters on the outsides of my big toes and balls of my feet, and the nail next to my big toe on my right foot has died but has yet to fall off. Wearing different socks seems to help with the blisters. Apparently, my feet don’t like Smart Wool.
  • Most days, I have good runs. Other days, bad runs. It happens to everyone. Generally, I see a correlation between being tired and having a bad run.
  • I have skipped strength training or cross training at least once every week. I don’t really care though.
  • I have been chafed by my sports bras about 3 times on long runs. Be more careful with the Body Glide application!
  • I have bought at least 10 new items of running apparel and 1 pair of shoes (soon to be followed by another) and earned 2 race shirts. But I think I’m still a pretty frugal runner, comparatively.

What Is Surprising about Training:

  • I haven’t really experienced any runger. My appetite is pretty normal overall. In fact, since I’ve started eating oatmeal for breakfast, I don’t usually get hungry at work until 11 at the earliest. I used to get hungry around 9. My cereal love has been replaced. Sorry Oatmeal Squares!
  • I haven’t lost any weight, even though I don’t feel like I’m eating a ton to compensate for running. I kind of expect the appetite to pick up soon here though…
  • I feel thirsty. This might not seem strange to most runners, but I used to never feel thirsty. I don’t really drink that much more than I used to (64 oz a day), but now, I actually feel thirsty.
  • I am a lot warmer than I used to be. Most days, I am too warm at work to wear anything but a short-sleeve shirt (even though I sit at a desk all day). When I do wear sweaters, I end up taking them off. This is strange for me because I used to be cold constantly and everywhere.
  • In the past 9 weeks, I haven’t skipped a single run. My stubbornness at its best.
  • I think I might enjoy solo or duo long runs more than running a race. I don’t like having to run around people and it’s harder for me to zone out.
  • I actually really like gels for fuel during runs. Who knew?

I have convinced Travis to run the Taste of Louisville Half on June 2 with me! That race will be part of my longest long run of 20 miles.

Looking forward to it.

Did you observe anything surprising while training for a marathon?

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Week 9 Training Recap: 4/16 – 4/22

23 Apr

Week 9 of my 18-week training plan is done, which means… I’m halfway there!

I’m very excited for the next stage of marathon training (it’s uncharted territory for me!), though I know that it’s going to be challenging to stay motivated for the longer distances after work. At least it’s light and warm outside, right?

Last week’s training:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 2.58 mile run, untimed; PT strength exercises

I was expecting this run to feel like crap after the previous Sunday’s half marathon PR, but my legs actually felt amazing. What didn’t feel amazing, however, were my blistered feet. I turned around early, cutting 3 miles to 2.5.

Wednesday: 4.1 mile fartlek run (43:36; 10:38/mile)

My legs felt a little slow and tired this day (maybe from strength training on Tuesday?), but pace was decent.

Thursday: 7.88 mile tempo run (1:24:51; 10:46/mile)

I didn’t intentionally run this as a tempo run but it’s at a tempo pace, so I’ll take it.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 9.93 mile long run (1:55:36; 11:38/mile)

More details below.

Sunday: Rest

Total Running Miles = 24.39

………………………

On Saturday morning, Travis and I drove out to DIA to have breakfast with my parents, who were at the airport during a layover on their way to Mexico. I ate a Belgian waffle, covered with bananas and strawberries, topped with syrup. That, along with getting out of my long run routine (even though it was worth it to see my parents!), and being ridiculously tired, made for a tough long run.

I got up to Boulder around 11 and since it was in the high 60s/low 70s, I wore my Aspaeris Pivot compression shorts under my new running skirt. The combination worked really well, although I did miss my 2XU compression tights a bit. One of my favorite features of the running skirt is that the inside of the waistband has “silicon strips” (aka sticky rubber) so that it doesn’t slide up while you’re running. Genius!

From the very start of the run, I just wasn’t into it. I could name a dozen other things I would rather have been doing – and at the top of that list was sleeping. I was just so. tired. But I had driven all the way up to Boulder to run 10 miles so I sucked it up and just ran at an easy pace. It was a gorgeous day and I didn’t get too hot at all during the run (though I was sweating quite a bit), but the whole time I was counting down the miles so that I could be done.

I don’t know if it was the 8 miles on Thursday or running at a slower pace or not stretching as much this past week, but by about mile 7, my legs started to hurt. Specifically my left glute and IT band/knee. Uh oh. (Although two years ago, it was my right IT band/knee that kept me from running the full Malibu Marathon). I’m putting my money on the whole “not stretching enough” thing and am really going to buckle down on that for the second half of the plan. It’s not that I don’t want to stretch – I just fit my weekday runs in right before dashing off to a church function so I don’t have time to stretch. But one of those meetings is ending tomorrow so that will help.

Yesterday, instead of doing yoga or walking, I took a nap and we planted our garden.

It was fun being outside but man, gardening is hard on the body! We have those fences up because of the dogs (even though they don’t stop them from getting in) and my back and legs were not happy with bending over them to plant things. I can crouch down for about 2 minutes before they demand that I stop. I don’t see a lot of gardening in my future before the marathon.

My tulips are happy at least (though I want to plant more this fall so they’re not so spread out).

On Saturday, Travis put down landscaping fabric and mulch on the back of our house:

It looks so much better!

I had been thinking about going to hot yoga this past Sunday – but we had a church meeting at the same time. Next Sunday, I’m going to a baby shower, and the Sunday after that, we’re going camping. So hot yoga has been rescheduled to May 13. Maybe that means I can convince some friends to join me…

I have some interesting observations about marathon training coming up soon!

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