Tag Archives: running

Training Recap: 2/6 – 2/12

13 Feb

I forgot my camera cord this morning and since I don’t want to post a recap of yesterday’s half marathon sans pictures, I’ll post my training recap now and post the race recap tonight.

I will say, however, that the week started off crappily but went out on a high hilly note. Five words: The half kicked my butt. It was a LOT harder than I was prepared for. (And then I go look at the results and the winners ran like a 5:30 pace. WHaaaaAAATTT?) Anywho, I’ll save the meaty details for posting tonight.

This was last week’s training:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 1.97 mile tempo run (22:10, 11:15/mile); first 30 minutes of P90X Yoga

I was really excited after doing the yoga because the first time I ever did it, I just about died and was sore for at least 4 days afterward. This time, it didn’t seem that hard and I was only slightly sore for 1 day. Progress!

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 3.04 mile easy run (35:56, 11:49/mile)

Saturday: 1.55 mile easy/tempo run (16:48, 10:50/mile)

I ran easy for the first and last .5 mile, and picked up the pace for the middle .5 mile to wake up my fast-twitch muscles. (I’m just saying that because it sounds cool.)

Sunday: Ralston Creek Half Marathon… 13.1 miles in 2:38:24, 12:04/mile

So I didn’t quite make my goal of beating 2:30:46 but I ran my little heart out. It was a tough race, both physically and mentally, and I gave it my all. So it is what it is.

Here’s a sneak peek…

Hint: They didn’t make the trail meander just because they felt like it.

…………………….

Looking ahead, I only have 1 week left until the Official official marathon training starts (last time was just a teaser). Travis and our friends, D and Doug, are going to do the Snowman Stampede with me next weekend and since they’re all going to do the 5 mile instead of the 10 mile, and I haven’t signed up yet, and there’s no reason I have to do 10 miles next weekend, I’ve decided to just do the 5 mile distance too. And I swear it’s not just because I had my @$$ handed to me by the Ralston Creek Trail.

The main thing I’m going to focus on is getting back into the routine. I feel like my training has been all over the place for the past 3 weeks or so, and I’ve moved workouts around, cut them out, or revised them so many times, I don’t know what’s going on. So I’m going to try to stick to my training schedule more consistently. I actually miss strength training! I really like how I feel when I’m consistent with that.

And to end, I updated my Marathon 2012 page a couple weeks ago so if you’re interested in what the latest is, go check it out.

Stay tuned for the race recap…

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How to NOT Prepare for a Race.

10 Feb

Don’t:

Run only 2 miles the week before.

Let your sore throat prevent you from drinking water.

Have a busy work week plus plans after work that keep you out at least an hour and a half past your bedtime each night.

Ditch your Thursday run for 2 glasses of chardonnay at happy hour and pass out in a chair (at home) before 8 pm.

Eat sweets like they haven’t touched your lips for a month.

Eat food like it’s going out of style.

Stay out late at a hockey game the night before the race.

Plan the race for a morning of cold and snow:

Do (Attempt to) Redeem Your Race:

Fit in an easy 2-3 mile run on Friday and Saturday so that your body doesn’t curse you for springing 13.1 miles on it out of nowhere.

Be a man runner and dress for the weather instead of whining about it. That’s why you bought a $110 Speedy Bullet (blindingly bright) jacket. Wear your UnderArmour tights UnderNeath another pair of running pants. Don some wool socks and winter gloves. Possibly buy a winter running hat instead of your chintzy ear warmer.

Drive only 15 minutes from your house to the start line.

Download a GPS-tracking app so your friend can come out and cheer you on as you run past her house.

Ditch the Camelbak that annoyed you on your last 10 mile run. Stash Shotbloks in your jacket and drink water at the aid stations. Bring a piece of bread with peanut butter too, since you know you love it it helps you not feel sick after mile 8.

Have fun. It’s only running, for pete’s sake.

Would you wear an ear warmer or a full hat for this race?

How have you redeemed a week of poor race preparation?

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Busyness is the new black.

8 Feb

Yesterday, I hit a milestone at my job: I worked the entire day. I didn’t even check my gmail. (I decided to end that streak today.)

Things have picked up here big time and it feels so good to finally be involved, contributing, bettering the company that I’m working for instead of just schleping a paycheck home every week.

Since my blogging time has now become work time (and rightly so), I’m back to the ever-a-struggle of finding time to blog during non-work hours. Which has been tough so far this week…

Monday night, I was excused from a workout by spending an hour and a half at the vet just for Katy to get her heartworm shot. I swear, going to the vet is even worse than going to the doctor. And my dogs go to the doctor more often than I do! Completely. ridiculous.

Last night, I raced home after work for a quick 2 mile run with the pooches and then did the first 30 minutes of P90X Yoga before heading to my church for a book study. I helped clean up afterward so I didn’t get home until 10:30 – waaaay past my bedtime. But somehow, I still managed to wake up this morning at 5:15 without an alarm. This has happened to me a lot lately. How does my body know what time to get up even when I go to bed later than usual? It boggles my mind.

Speaking of that 2 mile run, I wore my new Speedy Bullet jacket for the first time. And I am totally convinced it was worth the hefty price tag. My biggest concern about the jacket was that it wouldn’t be warm enough but it was 25 degrees on my run yesterday and with just a long-sleeve running shirt under the jacket, I felt perfect. Even, perhaps, slightly too warm (though I’m not complaining). This means I don’t have to dress like the Abdominal Snowman anymore!

Even though I was very impressed with my new coat, I was not impressed with the running trail.

My choices of running terrain were: 3 inches of snow or black ice. I actually didn’t mind running through the snow but the ice scared the crap out of me. And of course, the pooches were pulling me along wondering why I was being so slow. I’m ashamed to say that after at least 10 yanks on Katy’s leash, I used it as a rein to slap her butt so that she’d slow down and not pull me over. It worked… but she was not happy.

To switch topics in a completely random way, I have a new favorite breakfast.

Mix 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats with water and microwave. Add 1/2 tbsp peanut butter and 1/2 tbsp raspberry jam and stir until blended. Add 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder and 1 tbsp ground flaxseed; stir until blended. Top with 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberries, fresh blueberries and Fiber One cereal. Mmmm…

This idea was inspired by Run Eat Repeat and Clean Eating Chelsey – they always get creative with their breakfasts. I like that this keeps me fuller for longer than just plain cereal, but it’s also a way to get my cereal fix. It’s a win-win!

What’s your favorite way to eat oatmeal?

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Training Recap: 1/30 – 2/5

6 Feb

I have a case of the Mondays today. I was so tired that I got up an hour late, I ate too much at the Super Bowl party last night so I feel like a blob, and I still haven’t quite shaken my sinus/throat congestion.

My training last week:

Monday: 3.0 mile run (37:36, 12:31/mile)

I did this run at a really easy pace because I was still recovering from the chest congestion of the previous week.

Tuesday: 6 x 400 repeats @ 2:30 on treadmill (3 miles total, 33:56); Physical therapy

I was going to do 4 x 800 but it wasn’t happening. So I did 6 x 400 instead and even though I was only running a 10:00 pace for my repeats, I felt challenged by the end. I blame the sickness.

I also count physical therapy as my strength training because I always end up sweating.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 1.15 mile dog walk (20:00); 2.4 mile run (28:00); 1.5 mile walk at incline on treadmill (24:00); 15 minute tabata workout

This was the night that I discovered I should not eat a salad before a run. I was planning to run 5 but could only muscle through to 2.4. I actually felt sick enough that I had to sit down and rest for 5 minutes. Ever the stubborn one, I finished off an unofficial 5 miles by walking 1.5 miles on the treadmill, starting at 2.0 incline, working up to 8.0 and back down.

My tabata workout (from what I remember) consisted of squats with overhead press, lunges with bicep curls, knee pushups, and bicycle crunches.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 11 mile run on track (1:58:36, 10:46/mile)

Sunday: 1.5 mile dog walk

I was going to do yoga when I got home from the Super Bowl party but instead, I went straight to bed. I’ll try to do a longer cross-training workout this Wednesday.

…………………………….

Even though I’m coughing and blowing my nose less each day, I still wake up feeling like poo. And since I have races the next two weekends (so I’m technically in taper mode now) and I would prefer to not start official marathon training still sick, these next two weeks are going to be fairly laid back – yoga, cross-training, hydration, sleep. Nothing too crazy.

And since this cheered me up on this Blah of a Monday, I had to share:

There are some other funny ones there too.

What is your favorite part of tapering before a race?

Mine is usually having time to do all the things I haven’t had time to do during training but since I just had an entire week of no running, I think the perk this time is having yet another reason to go to bed at 8 pm. 😉

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New Discoveries.

4 Feb

Thursday night, I discovered that a salad is not a good pre-run meal.

Friday, I discovered that it’s actually kind of nice that everything in Denver shuts down with a big snowstorm, because I get to work from home.

I also discovered that working from home with nothing to do is only slightly less boring that being at work with nothing to do.

I discovered that it takes two feet of snow for Denver to actually plow main side roads with any sort of decency {these pictures were taken Friday morning – it continued snowing all day and we ended up with about 2 feet).

This afternoon, I discovered that the plows still don’t always do a very good job because I almost got stranded at the library.

This morning, I discovered that running 11 miles, or 115 circles, on the indoor track is surprisingly painless with a friend. (Thanks Heidi!)

I also discovered that with no wind and no hills, I can run a 10:45/mile pace for 11 miles…

…and that despite good intentions and a camera, I can still forget to take a picture of my first-ever blogger meetup, and instead make do with a crappy picture of me in my bathroom.

This afternoon, I discovered that the day before the Super Bowl is an even worse day to grocery shop than the day before Thanksgiving.

I also discovered (again) that one of my all-time favorite kinds of candy is Australian Style licorice. Seriously, try it. It’s amazing. (I found it at the regular grocery store in the candy section.)

And finally, I discovered that Reese’s peanut butter eggs are just as delicious as I remember them. Mmmm…

Have you discovered anything new this weekend?

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This is not good.

2 Feb

Of course, right when I’ve gotten used to Denver having no snow and spring-like temperatures, someone decides we need a foot or more of snow dropped on us. Didn’t they know I had 11 miles planned for Saturday? What am I supposed to do now?!?!

::sigh:: (first world problems)

Would you rather run 11 miles on a treadmill or do 110 laps around a track?

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Call a spade a spade.

31 Jan

All female health bloggers: Stop right now.

I see so many gorgeous female bloggers who have amazing figures, entertaining blogs, and impressive race times constantly demean, lament and berate their so-called flaws. Even if they have ripped abs that most women would have to eat only spinach and do 600 sit-ups a day to get, they joke about their love-handles or flabby stomach. Uh, right. If they run 30 miles one week, they were such a slacker. Their 4:00 marathon time was horrible because they could only manage a 9:00 pace for 26.2 miles.

I’m mentioning this because I think this is something that we as women, and humans, are tempted to do: We’re so afraid of being called proud that we take pride in nothing.

This is something I learned from my Grandma Dee. The last few years of her life, she lived with my grandpa in an assisted living home. Like a nursing home, they had all kinds of activities going on, and lots of other people living in the same building. Every once in a while, my grandma would say something like, “Dorothy came over and sat with me at lunch again today. She just really likes talking to me.” At first, I was taken aback by her frankness. Nobody I knew talked like that – because {hush} it was prideful. But my grandma said it so matter-of-factly and moved off the subject so quickly that I kept thinking about it. She got away with saying it. Why? Because she was just stating the facts.

{source*}

The Urban Dictionary describes False Modesty as:

To tell everyone that what you did is bad, knowing all the way that what you did is good, just so everybody says the opposite.
Usually used by women.

EmoGothgirl666: OMG , My blog is crap.
EmoboyLestatDarkness: Don’t say that, it’s great!

The Wiktionary describes it as:

Behavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering.

Usage: “Although having a large ego is considered undesirable, at times it is proper to take credit where it is due rather than display false modesty.”

And I think that last sentence sums up my point perfectly.

Sure, no one wants to be boastful and self-absorbed. But c’mon. Call a spade a spade.

Not only do I not believe that you truly hate your abs of steel or think a 4-hour marathon is an absolutely pitiful time, your false modesty makes it seem like any stomach that can’t bounce a quarter or any turtle coming across the finish at 6 hours, 30 minutes is something to be even more ashamed of. If you’re complaining over what is almost unanimously the goal, standard or aim of others, what becomes of anything that falls short of that?

What about the women who hardly dare take their shirts off in front of their husbands?

What about the runners who have put their hearts and souls into training for athletic event of their life, only for the aid stations to be packing up by the time they get there?

The unfortunate side effect of false modesty is that all of those women who will never have a rock-hard stomach and never run a 4-hour, 5-hour, or even 6-hour marathon even up thinking, “Well, if she’s flabby and if she’s slow, then what am I?”

I’ll tell you what would be refreshing. A female runner who runs a 8:00 pace on an “easy recovery run” and is happy about it. A woman who has worked hard to tone her biceps to get excited over them without adding the caveat, “But I still have a loooooong way to go” or “There’s still toooooons of room for improvement.” A recovering chocoholic who makes it through the day with only one Oreo to rejoice over improvement, instead of gut out an extra 15 minutes on the elliptical because she has absolutely.no.willpower.

If you don’t want to gush and aw over your rockin’ bod or your killer time, I get it. But at the very least, don’t knock it. State the facts and make no judgments. Let the cards fall where they may.

If we as women want to create an environment of acceptance and body-love, then we have to STOP CRITICIZING ourselves instead of poking, pinching and lamenting our imperfections.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (Marianne Williamson)

Delighting in who we are, what we’re capable of, and our accomplishments gives other people the permission to do the same. Be a source of inspiration to others.

What are your thoughts about pride and false modesty?

……………………..

*The sunrise is not actually ugly; I’m using it to illustrate how ludicrous false modesty is.

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Training Recap: 1/23 – 1/29

30 Jan

Thanks to my lovely cold, my training last week was pretty measly.

Monday: 30 Day Shred Level 1; 25 minutes yoga; 1.15 mile dog walk (20 min)

Tuesday: Rest (laziness)

Wednesday: Rest (started feeling sick this day)

Thursday: 1.97 mile dog walk (32:55)

I had been thinking about going to the gym to do cross-training but when I got out of breath on my walk from the chest congestion, I decided that would be stupid.

Friday: 3.04 mile dog walk (55:14)

Saturday: 1.7 mile dog walk (30:00)

Sunday: Rest

I was planning to go to the gym but when I got home after a baby shower, I was exhausted, had a headache, and my chest congestion had been so nice as to move to my nose. So instead, I watched a new episode of Bones that had somehow passed under my radar. So glad I didn’t delete that one before checking if I had seen it!

…………………………..

I am feeling much better today – my headache is gone, my cough has almost completely gone away, and my nose is clearing up little by little. So I am planning to attempt my first run in over a week – and I’m pretty pumped about it. It’s almost 60 degrees out today. When I got out of my car to walk into work this morning, birds were singing and it felt like spring. I am so ready for spring. I always say that spring is my least favorite season because I hate when the snow melts and you have to deal with dirty, dirty puddles everywhere. But in Colorado, I think spring is my favorite season. Which is good because every other day in January is a taste of spring. 😉

……………………………

Travis and I had a “conference call” last night with his parents to talk about our plans for Alaska. At this point, barring death or illness, I think it is 95% safe to say that I am doing the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska on June 23.

Which means that after the Ralston Creek Half Marathon on 2/12 and Snowman Stampede 10 Mile on 2/18, I will completely restart my marathon training plan:

Considering my sickness this week, I am glad to have the time to start over! Hopefully I won’t get sick again during training.

In the next two weeks, I plan on researching more about the marathon course so that I know how to tailor my training. Luckily, I don’t think the hills will be an issue. Here is the elevation profile:

It looks bad but note that even the biggest hill is only a 300 foot gain from the very beginning (and less so in the individual climb) and after mile 16, it’s pretty much completely downhill. Since I’ve read that part of the course is on a gravel/rocky trail, I am aiming to do at least one run a week on a trail, and in Colorado, trails usually mean more hills. So I think I’ll kill two birds with one stone there.

Also, as I was walking the dogs the other day, I discovered a staircase on one of my favorite running routes. How I have run past that staircase 2,000 times and never thought about running on them for stair work is beyond me. But no more! Next week’s speed run will be there.

It’s exciting to finally know (almost for sure) which race I’m doing!

………………………….

Finally, I went to the grocery store (aka SuperTarget) on Saturday night and bought 25 tubs of yogurt. Ok, not really but I did buy a big tub of plain non-fat yogurt to use in recipes, smoothies, sour cream, etc, as well as 6 new (to me) Chobani flavors I had to try after seeing every blogger in the US talk about them, plus 6 Yoplait Lights for Travis so that he wouldn’t steal my Chobanis. 😉 I just ate the Blood Orange Chobani today and it was really good – a little sweet but I love how Greek yogurt is so much thicker than regular yogurt. I do not, however, like the price.

I told Travis how much we’re spending on groceries every month (from what I can guesstimate, since we’re not doing the Dave Ramsey envelope system anymore and I haven’t checked our bank account online since… 5 years ago) and he was a little surprised. Sooooo… I will be looking for ways to cut down our grocery bill in the near future. (Goodbye Chobani.)

One thing I think will help is to stop buying processed food (like mac ‘n’ cheese in a box, frozen pizza, cans of soup). Every couple months, I buy those things more often than I should because I just get lazy in the kitchen. But I realized yesterday that making my own little pizzas on whole wheat pitas isn’t really that much more work and it’s way healthier; it’s really easy and healthy to make soup from scratch with low-sodium ingredients (dump everything into the crockpot!); and it doesn’t take much longer for me to boil whole wheat or brown rice noodles and add real cheese than it does for me to use a pre-packaged box. Not only do I pay more with my wallet for the convenience, I pay more with my health too.

I just get lured in by the pictures of creamy deliciousness and liquid gold – I never knew I was such a sucker for Mac ‘n’ Cheese until I was paging through my binder of printed recipes the other day and had 4 or 5 different versions of it. Heh.

What are your tips for keeping the grocery bill down?

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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Bright.

28 Jan

That’s how I would define my new Brooks running jacket and Aspaeris compression shorts.

In the words of Elf, That’s shocking.

But colors aside, I think my new running gear is going to be good. The jacket fits snugly but a good snug. The bottom black part is elastic so it stretches across my booty and the jacket is roomy enough in the chest and arms for me to fit one or two thin layers underneath. I’m not sure I’ll need to though, since this jacket clearly states that it’s designed for “40 degrees and below.” The jacket is thinner than I expected but when I put it on, I do feel warmer. According to the tag, the “lightweight aluminum membrane retains your heat so you stay warm without adding layers.” For $110, it better live up to the hype. Now I’m wishing for Colorado to cool off so I can try it out. 😉

I really like the reflective details on the jacket – you can see the vertical one at the bottom in the picture above (there’s another one on the right side). There’s also a reflective logo on the left sleeve, and on the back, there’s a reflective logo at the top and then another reflective piping strip along the vent in the middle (never mind the black specks, those are mascara smudges on the mirror that I can’t get off):

And never mind that you can see the stripes of my underwear through the red shorts (buyers, beware). I also like the left inside pocket for holding your mp3 player or phone (the gray mesh part is also a bigger pocket, on both sides):

And the thumb holes:

The black fabric, which is just from the cuff down, is really soft. I’ve never had a jacket or sweatshirt with thumb holes before but I think I’ll like it. At the very least, it’ll force me to not obsess over my pace because I can’t get to my watch!

I’ve wanted the compression shorts because SkinnyRunner raves about them, I don’t like my other tight running shorts, and I’m in love with all shapes and sizes of compression gear – but I couldn’t stomach the $60 price tag. The minute I heard they were 50% off with the code cooleronline (in support of SR’s Ragnar team – I’m not sure if it still works but give it a shot), I snatched them up. And in red. Why not? It’s actually a very pretty red, IMO.

The shorts fit really well – they’re definitely tight and hard to get on, which is the key to compression gear. If it slides on easily, it isn’t compression.

I also like that they come up higher so I don’t feel like my belly is hanging over them or getting some muffin top action. That’s never good. In case you’re wondering, I ordered a medium in both the jacket and shorts. It’s a rare day that I’m not a medium!

But it’ll be a couple of days until I can try these things out – or try running in general because I ended up getting sick. Boo. I started feeling sick on Wednesday but didn’t feel sick enough to stay home so I went to work that day and Thursday. Finally, Friday I felt crappy enough to merit starting the weekend early staying home from work.

As far as sickness goes, it’s been kind of bittersweet. I have hardly any sinus congestion but I have a major headache that I can’t get rid of (even with acetaminophen and lots of water) and some major chest congestion and a hacking cough. Which means I feel well enough to read, bake and take the dogs on slow walks, but I can’t run or do anything that would get my heart rate up. I’m a little bummed because I was looking forward to running this weekend but the smart thing is to rest until this blows over. (I’m pretty sure I’d hack up a lung running anyway and I need to keep what little lung I have.)

I am thankful that I can mostly enjoy being forced to take things easy, instead of being in a Sudafed-induced coma. I’ll live vicariously through reading about all of your runs. 😉

Hope you’re having a good weekend!

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Training Recap: 1/16 – 1/22

24 Jan

I had the most amazing dinner last night: a homemade waffle topped with peanut butter, raspberry yogurt, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. It totally hit the spot. I had been craving that for days. Actually, I was craving what I used to eat in college: Eggo waffles topped with peanut butter and frozen cool whip. So delicious. But since cool whip is off-limits for January (only one week left!), I had to make do with yogurt.

Things have finally picked up at work (hip hip hooray!) so I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

Last week’s workouts were:

Monday: 2.5 mile run (31:08, 12:04/mile)

It started blowing snow as I set out on this run, which was not enjoyable because I could barely keep my eyes open. The arch of my right foot felt really tight too. Not the best run.

Tuesday: 3 mile intervals on treadmill (31:58, 10:39/mile), 10 min upper body weights

I alternated between jogging at 5.5 mph for 90 seconds and sprinting at 7.5 mph for 30 seconds.

Wednesday: Supposed to be rest but did resistance training at physical therapy

Thursday: 4 mile tempo run (43:24, 10:22/mile)

Friday: Supposed to be rest but did resistance training at physical therapy

The lateral and front/back moves with a resistance band around my ankles were killer after my tempo run. Feel the burn.

Saturday: 9.64 mile long run (1:49:42, 11:22/mile)

Sunday: 500 yard swim + 15 minute walk

I was also going to do yoga on Sunday but the couch got the best of me.

Travis and I went out to eat twice last weekend – which is uncharacteristic for us. Friday night, we went out to an Italian place called Abrusci’s. We had Chicken Saltimbocca, which was chicken breast topped with ham and mozzarella served on spaghetti with broccoli. It was delicious – and no wonder, since everything was covered in butter. They also had the most amazing garlic dipping sauce for bread. I haven’t yet advanced to the heights of taking pictures of food in restaurants, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. Sorry.

Then Saturday, after I was done with my long run, we went to Denny’s. I got their new Fit Omelette that comes with turkey bacon and fruit, plus a side of the Hearty Wheat Pancakes. Seriously delicious. And the Omelette only has 390 calories! Totally worth it.

I wanted to go to Panera for breakfast before church on Sunday but we decided we had spent enough money eating out for one weekend. But this Sunday, Pa-nay-nay here I come!

How often do you go out to eat?

What is your favorite way to eat a waffle? We had cinnamon and sugar on our waffles in Mexico during our honeymoon and I got hooked on those for a while. Now I’m hooked on pb and yogurt.

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