My training plan has been loosely following Jeff Galloway's plan for running your first marathon. I like what he has to say about not overtraining, taking walk breaks, and generally making it as easy on yourself as possible. Anything to make this easier! lol Anyway, at around mile 14 or 15 his training plan stops adding a mile a week to the long run and starts playing leap frog. It goes something like: 14 miles this week, 7 miles next week, 16 miles the week following.
Julie and I have discussed trying that, but I think we were both afraid of losing momentum or losing endurance or something. Last week I had a good chance to talk to both of my running sisters in law about it, and they both encouraged me to try it. I needed that little confirmation that it would be okay, so we decided to go for it.
This being Thanksgiving week, schedules were a little crazy so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Last week's 14 mile burrito run is behind us, so today instead of 15 we ran 7. Talk about a relief! It was so nice to back off a little today and run a shorter distance. (Since when did 7 miles become a shorter distance, by the way? Craziness.) We upped our intervals to 10/1 and had a good run. Finished in a nice comfortable 79 minutes (fast people, please pretend I just said 49 minutes) and we're done.
Next week we'll jump to 16. Hopefully that will be a good, strong run and not a day of reckoning for running 7 this week.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Fourteen
It seems that the story of my long runs usually begins a few days prior to the run. The stories begin with things like "I got lots of sleep this week so I felt well rested on my run". Or maybe "I should've had more water this week as I felt a bit dehydrated on my run." Unfortunately, the story of my 14 mile run begins with, "I ate a giant burrito on Wednesday."
It was a delicious burrito ~ quite possibly the best I've ever had. It was so good, in fact, that I ate the whole thing. I bet it weighed 3 pounds. Did I mention the rice and beans were to-die-for good, too? Yep, I ate all of those, too. It was heaven, but before the last bite urped its way down, I realized this could be a problem for Friday's run. I shook off the nagging thought, unbuttoned my jeans (okay, not really, but I felt like it), and continued on my way.
Without getting too graphic let me tell you that I should not have eaten the whole thing. Bad, bad idea. A few miles into our 14 mile run I was knocking of the door of the Lavendar Farm out of the highway, hoping beyond hope they would let me in. Thankfully, the office was open and they let us make a little pit stop.
Lesson learned. Giant burritos + Long runs = Bad, bad, bad
It was a delicious burrito ~ quite possibly the best I've ever had. It was so good, in fact, that I ate the whole thing. I bet it weighed 3 pounds. Did I mention the rice and beans were to-die-for good, too? Yep, I ate all of those, too. It was heaven, but before the last bite urped its way down, I realized this could be a problem for Friday's run. I shook off the nagging thought, unbuttoned my jeans (okay, not really, but I felt like it), and continued on my way.
Without getting too graphic let me tell you that I should not have eaten the whole thing. Bad, bad idea. A few miles into our 14 mile run I was knocking of the door of the Lavendar Farm out of the highway, hoping beyond hope they would let me in. Thankfully, the office was open and they let us make a little pit stop.
Lesson learned. Giant burritos + Long runs = Bad, bad, bad
Friday, November 13, 2009
Uh huh, I'm Cool
I dressed in my favorite ninja outfit for my short run today, including all my new winter doodads. Put on my UnderArmour cold gear top, my Nike Pro winter weight running tights, my new headwrap-because-I-hate-hats, gloves... the whole 9 yards. Before adding the jacket I was Ninja Girl, ready to conquer the universe. I was feeling mighty fine... even took a picture of myself. Once I added the jacket and my iPod I was some serious bad mama.
You know how they say you learn something new every day? Well today I learned that when you drop enough weight from running, your pants will no longer stay up. Thank goodness I added my I'm-Bad jacket or I'd have been in serious trouble. While I have certainly been losing weight and getting more fit from all this crazy running, my Four Babies in Six Years stomach does not ever again deserve to see the light of day. As I was running along, I started noticing slippage of pants right away. Another half mile and my not so tights were down around my hipbones, while my top was slowly traveling north. I decided to ignore it, because my jacket would cover all, but another half mile and I knew I was going to have to do something, lest I become a penguin runner. So now I'm running and hiking up pants, running and hiking up pants. I'd give them a good tug, then put up with the slippage until I entered the danger zone, then tug again.
This was all moderately tolerable until I started to warm up. I ditched the gloves first and got them zipped into my pockets. Next I unzipped my jacket as far as I could without exposing myself. Meanwhile I'm running and hiking, running and hiking. Imagine the graceful, Ninja image I presented as I hitched my gitalong down the road. On the last hill back up to my house I finally decided to try wrapping the jacket around my waist because I was just plain hot by that point. First I tied it tight, but slippage was still at risky levels above and below the knot. Next I tried loosening the jacket's knot, thinking it could ride a bit lower and cover the unacceptable stomach. Nope. Now my pants are slipping and so is my jacket.
Finally I just plain gave up and walked the rest of the way up the hill. Some things are just not meant to be.
You know how they say you learn something new every day? Well today I learned that when you drop enough weight from running, your pants will no longer stay up. Thank goodness I added my I'm-Bad jacket or I'd have been in serious trouble. While I have certainly been losing weight and getting more fit from all this crazy running, my Four Babies in Six Years stomach does not ever again deserve to see the light of day. As I was running along, I started noticing slippage of pants right away. Another half mile and my not so tights were down around my hipbones, while my top was slowly traveling north. I decided to ignore it, because my jacket would cover all, but another half mile and I knew I was going to have to do something, lest I become a penguin runner. So now I'm running and hiking up pants, running and hiking up pants. I'd give them a good tug, then put up with the slippage until I entered the danger zone, then tug again.
This was all moderately tolerable until I started to warm up. I ditched the gloves first and got them zipped into my pockets. Next I unzipped my jacket as far as I could without exposing myself. Meanwhile I'm running and hiking, running and hiking. Imagine the graceful, Ninja image I presented as I hitched my gitalong down the road. On the last hill back up to my house I finally decided to try wrapping the jacket around my waist because I was just plain hot by that point. First I tied it tight, but slippage was still at risky levels above and below the knot. Next I tried loosening the jacket's knot, thinking it could ride a bit lower and cover the unacceptable stomach. Nope. Now my pants are slipping and so is my jacket.
Finally I just plain gave up and walked the rest of the way up the hill. Some things are just not meant to be.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Half Marathon... halfway there!
May 3rd, 2009: Eugene Half Marathon, my accidental and unintentional half, completed in 2:44.
Nov 10, 2009: Training Half, this one intentional, completed in 2:26. So maybe training really does make a difference. haha!
Julie and I ran our 13 miles yesterday just 3 days after our 12. Not ideal, certainly, but necessary due to crazy schedules this week. All in all, I think it went really well. We both started out stiff and slow (well, actually we're always slow... so maybe we started out extra slow) and had sore muscles and achy things for the first 3 or 4 miles. Once we left town and headed out into the countryside we finally started to find our groove. Mental preparation is making a huge difference for me ~ I'm trying to be very conscious of what I'm saying to myself in my head about all of this. I think it helped avoid the nasty wall I hit last time we ran this route.
We were both very happy with our time. I don't know yet whether I can sustain this pace for 26 miles, but if I could I would complete the marathon in around 5 hours. I would be thrilled to finish with that time, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.
The biggest difference I noticed with only a three day break between long runs is that I am incredibly stiff and sore today. Hobbling along a little, but super pleased with yesterday. I'm going to rest up for a few days before heading out for a short run.
Nov 10, 2009: Training Half, this one intentional, completed in 2:26. So maybe training really does make a difference. haha!
Julie and I ran our 13 miles yesterday just 3 days after our 12. Not ideal, certainly, but necessary due to crazy schedules this week. All in all, I think it went really well. We both started out stiff and slow (well, actually we're always slow... so maybe we started out extra slow) and had sore muscles and achy things for the first 3 or 4 miles. Once we left town and headed out into the countryside we finally started to find our groove. Mental preparation is making a huge difference for me ~ I'm trying to be very conscious of what I'm saying to myself in my head about all of this. I think it helped avoid the nasty wall I hit last time we ran this route.
We were both very happy with our time. I don't know yet whether I can sustain this pace for 26 miles, but if I could I would complete the marathon in around 5 hours. I would be thrilled to finish with that time, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.
The biggest difference I noticed with only a three day break between long runs is that I am incredibly stiff and sore today. Hobbling along a little, but super pleased with yesterday. I'm going to rest up for a few days before heading out for a short run.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Bad Ideas
1. Running out of Shot Bloks and sports drinks before a 13 mile run. No problem ~ quick trip to the bike shop which is the only place in town that carries sport products. Discover they are closed Tuesdays. Thank goodness for running partners who are well stocked and Safeway which is now carrying PowerAde Ion.
2. Trying to hem new winter weight running pants at the last second with double sided fabric tape and running out of tape halfway through.
3. Pulling and tugging at the sports bra trying to figure out why it doesn't feel right, only to discover you are wearing it inside out.
4. Scheduling your 13 mile run right up against dentist appointments for your kids and realizing you cannot take it slow and easy. Must. Run. Fast.
This should be an interesting run.
2. Trying to hem new winter weight running pants at the last second with double sided fabric tape and running out of tape halfway through.
3. Pulling and tugging at the sports bra trying to figure out why it doesn't feel right, only to discover you are wearing it inside out.
4. Scheduling your 13 mile run right up against dentist appointments for your kids and realizing you cannot take it slow and easy. Must. Run. Fast.
This should be an interesting run.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Velly Intellesting
I am not a fortune cookie follower. Not. That said, I opened this cookie on November 7th. Guess what day I run my marathon? Yep, February 7th. Talk about weird coincidences!Friday, November 6, 2009
Twelve
Julie and I have been doing our long runs as soon as the kids go to school ~ around 8:20. We've been working on our attitudes about it all week ~ mini pep assembly for both of us. Our 12 miler was scheduled for Friday morning, today.
Yesterday was a busy day for me (yes, I have a point, hang with me). I got up, got the kids out the door, took Sarah to school, dropped off Booster Club stuff, took the cat to the vet, drove an hour north to return something at the outlet mall, waited for the mall to open, did a little shopping, drove to downtown Portland, found a parking garage, got my car settled, walked almost in the door of NikeTown when I got a text. I stopped to read it and it was from Julie. It read: "Good news. We will be getting done at this time tomorrow. :-)" Stopped me in my tracks. I had done SO much that morning already and traveled pretty far from home. To realize all that could be accomplished during my run today was very intimidating!
So anyway... we met at 8:20 this morning at The Pill Box and ran down Miller, out to the highway, down the highway to the green Victorian farmhouse, and all the way back. Figuring out how to dress was tricky. The forecast was rain and cold, the ground was soaked, but the sky was partly blue. First I dressed in all my cold gear, then I changed into lighter weight fare. I finally ended up in running pants and a t-shirt with a long sleeved shirt over the top. I packed Shot Bloks, a Clif Bar, and a big old jug of Gatorade. Sure enough, it was pretty warm out there. I ditched the long sleeves at the church where we made a pit stop and ran in short sleeves. Oregon weather is so unpredictable.
Our run was good... the fear of a very tough run like last week motivated lots of good behavior this week (except for the Candy Pumpkin Incident, but we won't dwell on that...). We were well hydrated, better rested, good attitudes, ready to roll. We have been doing 5/1 intervals for the long runs, but today tried out 6/1. We popped Shot Bloks, hydrated, and ran hard. (Please don't ask me to define that. It was hard, trust me). We spent a couple of miles running into a headwind which was tricky, but on the way home we also had the wind at our back for a few miles. The sky was spectacular most of the way ~ blue sky, puffy white clouds with black clouds in the distance, autumn colors, a big flock of birds migrating overhead, and even a rainbow set against a black cloud.
The last two miles we finally ran into the rain. The sky got black and opened up one heckuva cold, pounding wet on us. Thank goodness it waited until the end and it was good motivation to hurry up and finish the last two miles without intervals. We finished the 12 miles in 2 hours and 16 minutes and were extremely happy with that considering we ran the Terrible 11 in 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Another one down!
Yesterday was a busy day for me (yes, I have a point, hang with me). I got up, got the kids out the door, took Sarah to school, dropped off Booster Club stuff, took the cat to the vet, drove an hour north to return something at the outlet mall, waited for the mall to open, did a little shopping, drove to downtown Portland, found a parking garage, got my car settled, walked almost in the door of NikeTown when I got a text. I stopped to read it and it was from Julie. It read: "Good news. We will be getting done at this time tomorrow. :-)" Stopped me in my tracks. I had done SO much that morning already and traveled pretty far from home. To realize all that could be accomplished during my run today was very intimidating!
So anyway... we met at 8:20 this morning at The Pill Box and ran down Miller, out to the highway, down the highway to the green Victorian farmhouse, and all the way back. Figuring out how to dress was tricky. The forecast was rain and cold, the ground was soaked, but the sky was partly blue. First I dressed in all my cold gear, then I changed into lighter weight fare. I finally ended up in running pants and a t-shirt with a long sleeved shirt over the top. I packed Shot Bloks, a Clif Bar, and a big old jug of Gatorade. Sure enough, it was pretty warm out there. I ditched the long sleeves at the church where we made a pit stop and ran in short sleeves. Oregon weather is so unpredictable.
Our run was good... the fear of a very tough run like last week motivated lots of good behavior this week (except for the Candy Pumpkin Incident, but we won't dwell on that...). We were well hydrated, better rested, good attitudes, ready to roll. We have been doing 5/1 intervals for the long runs, but today tried out 6/1. We popped Shot Bloks, hydrated, and ran hard. (Please don't ask me to define that. It was hard, trust me). We spent a couple of miles running into a headwind which was tricky, but on the way home we also had the wind at our back for a few miles. The sky was spectacular most of the way ~ blue sky, puffy white clouds with black clouds in the distance, autumn colors, a big flock of birds migrating overhead, and even a rainbow set against a black cloud.
The last two miles we finally ran into the rain. The sky got black and opened up one heckuva cold, pounding wet on us. Thank goodness it waited until the end and it was good motivation to hurry up and finish the last two miles without intervals. We finished the 12 miles in 2 hours and 16 minutes and were extremely happy with that considering we ran the Terrible 11 in 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Another one down!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
11 Down
Julie and I ran 11 miles on Thursday morning and man it was tough from the get go. We had skipped a long run the week before due to illness but had run several shorter runs. Still I was nervous about 11 ~ more nervous than I had been about 10 for some reason. We were scheduled to meet at 8 a.m. and when I woke up it was pitch black outside, pouring rain and the wind was blowing. So not good. I whipped off a text that went something like "Are we seriously going to do this?!?" After a bit of back and forth discussion about our options for rescheduling, we decided just to go for it.
We had decided to mix up the route of our usual long runs, so we met at Julie's instead of the The Pill Box. I have a 6 mile loop mapped out through town from Julie's which turns around and heads back at one of the elementary schools, out past The Pill Box. Our plan for mixing up the 11 miles was to run the 6 mile town loop, but at the turn around keep running out and then back another 2.5, giving us the 5 extra miles.
I think the run was going pretty well until we got the the normal turn around spot. Having to run another 5 miles there was mentally a kicker and suddenly things got harder. The extra 5 also heads out into open farm land, where the wind was getting intense. The last half mile before we turned around felt like we were laying forward into a headwind and pushing through. Not fun! The turn around was a relief, as was having that killer wind at our backs, but still the run felt tough. We both popped a Shot Blok hoping for a little relief, but I'm not sure how much it offered. Do stale Shot Bloks leftover from Portland to Coast last August still work? lol
We pushed through, both believing things would get better once we had passed The Pill Box. Getting past that was definitely tough as it's our normal ending point on long runs. We made it past, though, and finally started to get a bit of a second wind in the last 3 miles. We finished strong, both of us immensely relieved we had done the run and not put it off, and immensely relieved it was over. I was fighting a bit of a panicky feeling about how much farther our long runs will take us in the near future, but tried hard to squash that down.
I am so thankful for Julie, who is crazy enough to be out there running these nutso runs with me, with no immediate training goals of her own. I want a marathon plan for you, Julie! You're so strong, you need to do one.
So, 11 behind me. On to 12.
We had decided to mix up the route of our usual long runs, so we met at Julie's instead of the The Pill Box. I have a 6 mile loop mapped out through town from Julie's which turns around and heads back at one of the elementary schools, out past The Pill Box. Our plan for mixing up the 11 miles was to run the 6 mile town loop, but at the turn around keep running out and then back another 2.5, giving us the 5 extra miles.
I think the run was going pretty well until we got the the normal turn around spot. Having to run another 5 miles there was mentally a kicker and suddenly things got harder. The extra 5 also heads out into open farm land, where the wind was getting intense. The last half mile before we turned around felt like we were laying forward into a headwind and pushing through. Not fun! The turn around was a relief, as was having that killer wind at our backs, but still the run felt tough. We both popped a Shot Blok hoping for a little relief, but I'm not sure how much it offered. Do stale Shot Bloks leftover from Portland to Coast last August still work? lol
We pushed through, both believing things would get better once we had passed The Pill Box. Getting past that was definitely tough as it's our normal ending point on long runs. We made it past, though, and finally started to get a bit of a second wind in the last 3 miles. We finished strong, both of us immensely relieved we had done the run and not put it off, and immensely relieved it was over. I was fighting a bit of a panicky feeling about how much farther our long runs will take us in the near future, but tried hard to squash that down.
I am so thankful for Julie, who is crazy enough to be out there running these nutso runs with me, with no immediate training goals of her own. I want a marathon plan for you, Julie! You're so strong, you need to do one.
So, 11 behind me. On to 12.
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