It's hard to believe I've made through 7 weeks of marathon training with hardly a complaint! I guess it just goes to show that in the past, I was definitely trying to push myself way too hard.
All in all last week was a really good week. I got in some quality workouts and felt pretty darn good. I started looking and flights and booking my spot with Marathon Tours. It's getting real!
Monday: abs & pushups, with a few rounds vinyasas
Tuesday: Speed work day. This week, the running group was at the track, doing 2x400, 3x800, 9 minute 1x1 fartlek and 8 minutes of hill sprints. Those hill sprints were a killer, but I killed them :)
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 6 miles in the morning. About 1.5 miles in, it started sprinkling and I was incredibly thankful. Then it started raining a little harder ... and a little harder ... and a little harder ... and a little harder. Before I knew it, I was soaked, but glad that I had worn my visor so I could at least see. I'm sure the many cars that passed me thought I was crazy. Frankly, I felt a little crazy, particularly when I tried to wipe sweat off of my face with my wet t-shirt.
Still ... it was a great run.
Friday: 25 minute HIIT workout. Burn, baby, burn!
Saturday: 25 minutes on the recumbent bike and 20 minutes of lifting.
Sunday: 12 miles!!! It was a fabulous day for a long run - 68* at 7:00! I was surprised at how quickly the miles ticked by and how I was never bored. In particular miles 7 & 8 flew by! Mile 12 was my fastest, with an average 12:25. All in all 2:40 and change, with an average 13:25 pace. Right on target.
I am still amazed that I am feeling this confident. I feel like I could take on any distance and finish it, and not be in pain, which is a feeling I wasn't sure I'd ever have again. I'm flying high and it feels great!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Back to Weekly Workout Logs
It's getting harder to write blogs that I feel are worth publishing .... So for the time being, I'll start back with the weekly workout logs.
Monday: 60 minutes on the elliptical. Made it just under 6 miles. I found it interesting that I get much farther on the elliptical at my apartment than on the one at the gym, despite the same perceived effort.
Tuesday: Running group speedwork day. We warmed up with an 11 minute jog, then 20/40 striders. The workout began with a 12 minute jog in the sand, followed by drills and another jog in the sand back to the pavement. Then, a 1 mile tempo at half marathon pace and 1X1 fartleks to finish the workout.
It was brutal, but I made it through!
Wednesday: A much needed rest day.
Thursday: HIIT workout, followed by a few sun salutations to keep the muscles in tune. It feels good to get back to the short, intense workouts, and to still have time to take Jeff to the dog park.
Friday: an easy 4 miles. I ran/walked miles 1 & 4 and ran all of 2 & 3! Part of mile 4 was also some running/soccer drills on the tennis courts by my building. I can already tell the speed work is helping!
Saturday: 30 minutes on the arc trainer and 30 minutes of lifting.
Sunday: 11 mile long run. While it was a cool morning, it was so humid, I was sweating as if I were running in 90* weather instead of 72* degree weather. Humidity aside, it was a lovely run, and felt as wonderful as ever.
Monday: 60 minutes on the elliptical. Made it just under 6 miles. I found it interesting that I get much farther on the elliptical at my apartment than on the one at the gym, despite the same perceived effort.
Tuesday: Running group speedwork day. We warmed up with an 11 minute jog, then 20/40 striders. The workout began with a 12 minute jog in the sand, followed by drills and another jog in the sand back to the pavement. Then, a 1 mile tempo at half marathon pace and 1X1 fartleks to finish the workout.
It was brutal, but I made it through!
Wednesday: A much needed rest day.
Thursday: HIIT workout, followed by a few sun salutations to keep the muscles in tune. It feels good to get back to the short, intense workouts, and to still have time to take Jeff to the dog park.
Friday: an easy 4 miles. I ran/walked miles 1 & 4 and ran all of 2 & 3! Part of mile 4 was also some running/soccer drills on the tennis courts by my building. I can already tell the speed work is helping!
Saturday: 30 minutes on the arc trainer and 30 minutes of lifting.
Sunday: 11 mile long run. While it was a cool morning, it was so humid, I was sweating as if I were running in 90* weather instead of 72* degree weather. Humidity aside, it was a lovely run, and felt as wonderful as ever.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Speed Session #2
For those of you following my marathon journey on Facebook, you know that I started weekly speed sessions with a new running group - a very organized and coached running group.
Week 1 was a 2 mile time trial ... in a 115* heat index. There's not much to write about, except that it was hot, sweaty and there were few other times when Gatorade tasted so good. Ok, and I nailed my time trial goal time, which was based on how I thought I would do in the marathon in October. I was on the slower end of the large group, but guess what? DON'T CARE!
Week 2 was about building strength:
Week 1 was a 2 mile time trial ... in a 115* heat index. There's not much to write about, except that it was hot, sweaty and there were few other times when Gatorade tasted so good. Ok, and I nailed my time trial goal time, which was based on how I thought I would do in the marathon in October. I was on the slower end of the large group, but guess what? DON'T CARE!
Week 2 was about building strength:
Warm up
-A few minutes of dynamic pre-warm up stretches and light mini-band exercises
-11 minute jog (start with a 'Kenyan' warm up the first 5 minutes)
-4 striders of 20 seconds fast (sub 5K race effort) / 40 seconds slow
-Hydrate at aid station
Sand Strength Running Workout
-Jog on the sand for 7 minutes
-12 minutes of drills
-Jog 5 minutes back to road (hydrate at aid station and shake sand out of shoes)
1 Mile Tempo Run at 10K to half marathon race pace with a 2-4 minute recovery
Fartlek 1/1's
-Push the pace at 2 mile-5K race effort for 1 minute followed by a 1 minute recovery jog.
Level I = 2-4 reps / Level II = 3-6 reps / Level III = 4-8 reps / Level IV = 5-10 reps
Cool Down
-5 minute cool down jog, stretch, and foam roll
Based on our time trials, we were divided into groups. I am grouped with 3 other really great women, who I know I am going to enjoy training with over the next 12 weeks. Out 1 mile tempo run was at 10:55, give or take, which sounded easy at first, but after all that sand work, we had to work to not slow down at the halfway point.
(I suppose that was the purpose, wasn't it?)
We are all in the Level I group as well (20 miles per week) and decided to go for 4 reps. We aimed for a sub-10 min pace ... and certainly got it! We were running at 8:30 to 9:00 ... and as the only one with a watch this week, I decided to not tell them and just let us run at a hard effort. :)
It was another warm day and I was soaked by the end of the workout, mostly from sweat, but also from dumping water on myself. I ended up taking of my tank top, shoes and socks and sitting on a blanket for my drive home. I could also smell myself.
I guess that means I did a good job.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Last week's runs: Red Face, Green Sweat, and Saving a Turtle
Last week was an interesting week.
While there were many wonderful, chilly mornings, I missed out on all of them for various reasons, including fever due to an infected insect or spider bite (who knows what it really was) and being lazy because I was on vacation and I really missed snuggling with my pup in the morning.
So, I set out for run #1 of the week on Wednesday afternoon, around 3 pm, when of course it's the hottest it can be in Kansas. But hey, it was only 85*, who cares if the UV index is 10 and I'm a pasty person? It was almost 100* the week before!
I sunscreened up for a quick 4 miles in the nearby neighborhood, where there would be lots of shade. I even wore my hat because that sounded like it would be better than running glasses.
The run went well ... until I got home and showered and looked at my face. It was, in no exaggeration whatsoever, tomato red.
HOW COULD I FORGET SUNSCREEN ON MY FACE????!?!?!??!
MY FACE! I'M LITERALLY A WHITE PERSON! THIS IS GOING TO LOOK SOOOO AWFUL! I'M GOING TO WRINKLE! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
An hour later, I learned I actually had not forgotten sunscreen, as I glimpsed in the mirror and saw that my face was back to normal. It was so warm, I just got THAT red-faced.
Run #2 was Friday morning. I had planned to go around 7AM ... and finally got around to it around 9:30. Oops.
That day, I was due for 6 and wore my "I can, I will" necklace for a little extra inspiration. Even though it was still relatively early in the morning, I was still a sweaty mess ... sweat dripping in my eyes sweaty mess. That stuff stings! Ouch!
When I finally got home and looked at myself in the mirror, I cursed yet again. My inspirational necklace left it's "mark" with green drips of sweat running across my collar bones. Great. Not sterling silver like I had thought. Thanks Origami Owl.
Run #3 was my long run for the week. Nine miles was on the agenda and I was feeling pretty confident. The run itself was wonderful, and I enjoyed it a lot. I mused over the fact that it was weird how some miles flew by while others dragged on. The last mile still felt wonderful and I attribute it to my Gallowaying approach. Seriously, deciding to run/walk was the best decision I ever made. It takes so much pressure off.
In any case, the only mildy interesting thing that happend on my run was seeing a turtle crossing the path around mile 7. This was a path that had lots of cyclists, so I worried that someone not paying attention would hit the turtle and hurt themselves in addition to the turtle. Or maybe the turtle would have been okay. Who knows. In any case, while it tucked itself safely inside its shell, I picked him up and helped him to the other side of the path.
Then I had to remember to not wipe the sweat of my face with the had that picked up the turtle. Ever heard of Salmonella being associated with reptiles? Oh yeah, it is. Good thing I had hand sanitizer in my car.
So that was my running week.
While there were many wonderful, chilly mornings, I missed out on all of them for various reasons, including fever due to an infected insect or spider bite (who knows what it really was) and being lazy because I was on vacation and I really missed snuggling with my pup in the morning.
So, I set out for run #1 of the week on Wednesday afternoon, around 3 pm, when of course it's the hottest it can be in Kansas. But hey, it was only 85*, who cares if the UV index is 10 and I'm a pasty person? It was almost 100* the week before!
I sunscreened up for a quick 4 miles in the nearby neighborhood, where there would be lots of shade. I even wore my hat because that sounded like it would be better than running glasses.
The run went well ... until I got home and showered and looked at my face. It was, in no exaggeration whatsoever, tomato red.
HOW COULD I FORGET SUNSCREEN ON MY FACE????!?!?!??!
MY FACE! I'M LITERALLY A WHITE PERSON! THIS IS GOING TO LOOK SOOOO AWFUL! I'M GOING TO WRINKLE! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
An hour later, I learned I actually had not forgotten sunscreen, as I glimpsed in the mirror and saw that my face was back to normal. It was so warm, I just got THAT red-faced.
Run #2 was Friday morning. I had planned to go around 7AM ... and finally got around to it around 9:30. Oops.
That day, I was due for 6 and wore my "I can, I will" necklace for a little extra inspiration. Even though it was still relatively early in the morning, I was still a sweaty mess ... sweat dripping in my eyes sweaty mess. That stuff stings! Ouch!
When I finally got home and looked at myself in the mirror, I cursed yet again. My inspirational necklace left it's "mark" with green drips of sweat running across my collar bones. Great. Not sterling silver like I had thought. Thanks Origami Owl.
Run #3 was my long run for the week. Nine miles was on the agenda and I was feeling pretty confident. The run itself was wonderful, and I enjoyed it a lot. I mused over the fact that it was weird how some miles flew by while others dragged on. The last mile still felt wonderful and I attribute it to my Gallowaying approach. Seriously, deciding to run/walk was the best decision I ever made. It takes so much pressure off.
In any case, the only mildy interesting thing that happend on my run was seeing a turtle crossing the path around mile 7. This was a path that had lots of cyclists, so I worried that someone not paying attention would hit the turtle and hurt themselves in addition to the turtle. Or maybe the turtle would have been okay. Who knows. In any case, while it tucked itself safely inside its shell, I picked him up and helped him to the other side of the path.
Then I had to remember to not wipe the sweat of my face with the had that picked up the turtle. Ever heard of Salmonella being associated with reptiles? Oh yeah, it is. Good thing I had hand sanitizer in my car.
So that was my running week.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Eight Before (and during) Eight
Saturday morning, I crawled out of bed bright and early to let Jeff out for his morning pee.
Then I snoozed for another half hour :) .
Finally, around 6, I got myself ready for a milestone run: eight big ones. This would be a milestone, because it would be the longest distance I have ran since March of 2011; in other words, the longest distance since the disastrous attempt at completing the Heartland 39.3 series, where I would drop out of the first half marathon at mile 7, the second at mile 4 and not even start the third.
The weather was finally cooler than it had been in awhile - low 70's in the morning, rather than nearly 80 before 7AM. However, the @#$^$@ dew point still hovered about 65*. Seriously, Mother Nature, can you give me a break???
In any case, I parked at Shawnee Mission Park to find a group of shirtless guys loitering before their group run. High school cross country guys.
Great.
I felt like a goon during my warmup as a squatted and lunged in all directions, but whatever. Soon, those fast teenagers were gone and I only had me to be self-conscious around.
As usual, I stuck to my run 2/walk 2 plan. I was a little concerned when I started to feel twinges in my hip flexor around mile 2, but kept on ... chose a bit of a different path this time, and enjoyed a more wooded run this time, as opposed to my prairie run last week. I also found myself on a path with a 700 foot climb ... which I would avoid on my way back.
Had to stop and stretch a few times, but nothing too bad. Was insanely excited when I came across a restroom around 3.60 miles.
Found myself running under a certain street which made me insanely confused as to where I was.
During mile 4, I saw a deer casually walk out of the trees on one side of the trail, and stroll across to the other side, stopping to stare at me as I made my way towards her. This made me smile. Why is it that seeing deer always feels somewhat magical? I grew up in Iowa! There are too many deer and yet it still feels like I'm seeing the White Stag from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Mile 5, for whatever reason, flew by.
Of course, this made mile 6 C-R-A-W-L by.
I don't remember much about mile 7 ... only that I knew that I was going to finish this run and it made me grin from ear to ear.
Mile 8 was just wonderful. I ended up running about half of it, and I simply enjoyed the fact that I get to run, and that I get to run with such a wonderful organization - MOCSA - in mind.
At the end of my run, I really wanted a cinnamon roll. I settled for gluten free blueberry pancakes.
Then I snoozed for another half hour :) .
Finally, around 6, I got myself ready for a milestone run: eight big ones. This would be a milestone, because it would be the longest distance I have ran since March of 2011; in other words, the longest distance since the disastrous attempt at completing the Heartland 39.3 series, where I would drop out of the first half marathon at mile 7, the second at mile 4 and not even start the third.
The weather was finally cooler than it had been in awhile - low 70's in the morning, rather than nearly 80 before 7AM. However, the @#$^$@ dew point still hovered about 65*. Seriously, Mother Nature, can you give me a break???
In any case, I parked at Shawnee Mission Park to find a group of shirtless guys loitering before their group run. High school cross country guys.
Great.
I felt like a goon during my warmup as a squatted and lunged in all directions, but whatever. Soon, those fast teenagers were gone and I only had me to be self-conscious around.
As usual, I stuck to my run 2/walk 2 plan. I was a little concerned when I started to feel twinges in my hip flexor around mile 2, but kept on ... chose a bit of a different path this time, and enjoyed a more wooded run this time, as opposed to my prairie run last week. I also found myself on a path with a 700 foot climb ... which I would avoid on my way back.
Had to stop and stretch a few times, but nothing too bad. Was insanely excited when I came across a restroom around 3.60 miles.
Found myself running under a certain street which made me insanely confused as to where I was.
During mile 4, I saw a deer casually walk out of the trees on one side of the trail, and stroll across to the other side, stopping to stare at me as I made my way towards her. This made me smile. Why is it that seeing deer always feels somewhat magical? I grew up in Iowa! There are too many deer and yet it still feels like I'm seeing the White Stag from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Mile 5, for whatever reason, flew by.
Of course, this made mile 6 C-R-A-W-L by.
I don't remember much about mile 7 ... only that I knew that I was going to finish this run and it made me grin from ear to ear.
Mile 8 was just wonderful. I ended up running about half of it, and I simply enjoyed the fact that I get to run, and that I get to run with such a wonderful organization - MOCSA - in mind.
At the end of my run, I really wanted a cinnamon roll. I settled for gluten free blueberry pancakes.
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