In previous half marathon training cycles, I've capped my longest long run at 12 miles. This time, I'm planning to exceed the half marathon distance in training to 1. be better prepared and 2. get a small taste of the "next step"
This week's long run was 12.33 miles. Not significantly longer than previous training cycles, but still. It counts. I meant to do 13, but I misjudged how long my loops were. I'm still very satisfied with 12.33 miles. They were tough, but solid miles. And I was sore the next day. I haven't been sore after a long run in several weeks, so it felt good to push it.
It would be nice if it would stop heating up so fast in the mornings (20 degree difference between start and finish, not ideal). But, i'll survive. I just keep telling myself this will make me a stronger runner.
Some time this weekend i'll be pushing it to 14-15 miles. I'm a little nervous, but I have confidence. Just. Keep. Running.
Let's get it in folks. Marathon training is approaching in just a few short weeks!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Jumping the Gun
Well, last post I wrote tons of positive affirmations about going after my PDR this weekend (current PDR is 13.1). However, I jumped the gun. I've always planned to hit 15 miles during the training for the Lake Placid Half. However, I took a more laid back approach to my training this time (to avoid too much structure/mental burnout) by not writing down a stringent plan and as a result, I didn't realize that if I did 15 this weekend, I'd effectively spend the next 3 weeks tapering, which is the opposite of what I wanted to do this cycle. So, probs no PDR this weekend (maybe by a few tenths of a mile, we'll see.)
I am still thinking positively about seriously kicking this run's ass. What is good about not trying to hit a PDR this weekend, is that last weekend I aimed for 13 miles and failed miserably. So I get a do over! yay! I've got a better outlook, and slightly cooler morning temps. Plans to get on the road about two hours earlier than last week. And BV has offered to pit-crew me if I need it! :) Doesn't get much better than that!
Yesterday I did my very first double run day! Not necessarily by design, but definitely on purpose. I didn't go into this cycle planning on double days, but the Workforce Challenge was yesterday after work, and I had an itch to get a few miles in yesterday morning (plus my upper body was pretty sore from my first p90x workout, ouch). So I did 2.5 in the morning and 3.5 "race" in the afternoon. The race was great, it's really laid back, get together with coworkers and run as a team. I do believe they have these races all over the place - usually referred to as "corporate challenge" but in Albany, we have a focus on politics and with an absurd number of public employees, "workforce" was deemed more politically correct. blah blah.
Anyway, 3.5 miles with about 9300 people. I wasn't aiming to break any records, just an easy peasy negative split running along with BV who snuck up on me just after the first mile :) It was fun to run a race actually with someone! I must say it was also pretty cool to be in a race environment, and not feel like endurance death is taking over. This was the shortest distance I've "raced" since my very first 5k in September 2010! It was a beautiful day, and the serious downhill at the end is just the way everyone wants to finish their workday :)
Double day yesterday also kept me on track for possibly hitting 100!!!! miles for the month! I really hope it pans out, May seems like a really nice month to hit 100 miles, as opposed to my next most likely month of August - which is sure to be a sweat-fest.
Happy Friday, everyone. This weekend I'll be sure to post a long run recap, and stay on the blogging train! Gotta get my chops back before marathon training begins :)
I am still thinking positively about seriously kicking this run's ass. What is good about not trying to hit a PDR this weekend, is that last weekend I aimed for 13 miles and failed miserably. So I get a do over! yay! I've got a better outlook, and slightly cooler morning temps. Plans to get on the road about two hours earlier than last week. And BV has offered to pit-crew me if I need it! :) Doesn't get much better than that!
Yesterday I did my very first double run day! Not necessarily by design, but definitely on purpose. I didn't go into this cycle planning on double days, but the Workforce Challenge was yesterday after work, and I had an itch to get a few miles in yesterday morning (plus my upper body was pretty sore from my first p90x workout, ouch). So I did 2.5 in the morning and 3.5 "race" in the afternoon. The race was great, it's really laid back, get together with coworkers and run as a team. I do believe they have these races all over the place - usually referred to as "corporate challenge" but in Albany, we have a focus on politics and with an absurd number of public employees, "workforce" was deemed more politically correct. blah blah.
Anyway, 3.5 miles with about 9300 people. I wasn't aiming to break any records, just an easy peasy negative split running along with BV who snuck up on me just after the first mile :) It was fun to run a race actually with someone! I must say it was also pretty cool to be in a race environment, and not feel like endurance death is taking over. This was the shortest distance I've "raced" since my very first 5k in September 2010! It was a beautiful day, and the serious downhill at the end is just the way everyone wants to finish their workday :)
Double day yesterday also kept me on track for possibly hitting 100!!!! miles for the month! I really hope it pans out, May seems like a really nice month to hit 100 miles, as opposed to my next most likely month of August - which is sure to be a sweat-fest.
Happy Friday, everyone. This weekend I'll be sure to post a long run recap, and stay on the blogging train! Gotta get my chops back before marathon training begins :)
Monday, May 14, 2012
Annnd, I'm back
I've taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging. A fair bit has happened since my last post - for example, I finished my second master's degree! woo! it had been hanging out there for a while, I just needed to complete the thesis, and I finally got the kick in the arse I needed and finished it up. So, originally, blogging to a back seat to being a responsible adult (boring.)
But then, I started to get a bit down on myself about my running. Admittedly, I'm still more or less in that funk. Initially I wasn't *too* upset after the half marathon on April 1 didn't go as well as planned. I knew I was under-trained for the hills, and I also didn't have a good mental game going in. Unfortunately, for the most part, my mental game hasn't gotten too much better. I did have a super good run on May 5th, where I killed 10.5 miles at what would be a half marathon PR pace. I also spectated BV running the New Jersey marathon and witnessed him taking FIFTY EIGHT minutes off of his marathon time in SEVEN months. Talk about inspiring. However, this past weekend's long run sucked - I was dehydrated, it was much warmer than it has been for previous long runs. And, despite the fact that I have another half (on a familiar course) before I even formally begin full marathon training, I'm already scared out of my wits about it, and I keep pestering myself with self-doubt.
So I've been avoiding blogging, because every time I see blogger pop up in my browser, I recall some sucky run i've had, or think I will have, and avoid it.
Then, literally like 2 minutes before I started this post, I recalled that I've had some rough patches with mental toughness before... and blogging has always helped, not hurt the issue. So, time to stop avoiding and start confronting. This weekend's long run will be a PDR. It WILL be. I will not wimp out and stop before the end. I've got a 5 mile loop that I love, and I will complete it three times. I WILL. I may employ a run-walk method for it. But no matter what I do, I won't stop after the second loop. I won't cut back early on the third loop. I'll embrace those rolling hills two miles into the loop with style.
I've been doing a bit of reading on mental toughness and focus, so I'm going to be employing some positive thinking tactics all week. I'm going to envision myself killing it on this long run from now till sunday. That should help get me in the right frame of mind for this long run. I will start my run early because it is going to be WARM. I will hydrate all weekend. I will do awesome... right?
Ugh, see what I mean?!
But then, I started to get a bit down on myself about my running. Admittedly, I'm still more or less in that funk. Initially I wasn't *too* upset after the half marathon on April 1 didn't go as well as planned. I knew I was under-trained for the hills, and I also didn't have a good mental game going in. Unfortunately, for the most part, my mental game hasn't gotten too much better. I did have a super good run on May 5th, where I killed 10.5 miles at what would be a half marathon PR pace. I also spectated BV running the New Jersey marathon and witnessed him taking FIFTY EIGHT minutes off of his marathon time in SEVEN months. Talk about inspiring. However, this past weekend's long run sucked - I was dehydrated, it was much warmer than it has been for previous long runs. And, despite the fact that I have another half (on a familiar course) before I even formally begin full marathon training, I'm already scared out of my wits about it, and I keep pestering myself with self-doubt.
So I've been avoiding blogging, because every time I see blogger pop up in my browser, I recall some sucky run i've had, or think I will have, and avoid it.
Then, literally like 2 minutes before I started this post, I recalled that I've had some rough patches with mental toughness before... and blogging has always helped, not hurt the issue. So, time to stop avoiding and start confronting. This weekend's long run will be a PDR. It WILL be. I will not wimp out and stop before the end. I've got a 5 mile loop that I love, and I will complete it three times. I WILL. I may employ a run-walk method for it. But no matter what I do, I won't stop after the second loop. I won't cut back early on the third loop. I'll embrace those rolling hills two miles into the loop with style.
I've been doing a bit of reading on mental toughness and focus, so I'm going to be employing some positive thinking tactics all week. I'm going to envision myself killing it on this long run from now till sunday. That should help get me in the right frame of mind for this long run. I will start my run early because it is going to be WARM. I will hydrate all weekend. I will do awesome... right?
Ugh, see what I mean?!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Oleksak Lumber Half Marathon–Westfield, MA
Today was my THIRD half marathon! I can’t believe than in 10 months I’ve run three half marathons! Awesome!
My unofficial time was 2:40. This amounts to my absolute slowest half marathon time thus far. However, I find the I was much more bummed after the Empire State Half in October than I am by this slow time. Reasons include – being a mere 12 seconds off my goal time at Empire, and knowing that I was absolutely not prepared for the hills on today’s race.
I’ve barely run outside this cycle. While that has helped with my ever nagging “high-mileage ITB tightness” (that’s a diagnosis I made up, fyi), I think I did myself a disservice by only TM training, less a few long runs. I really did get in no hills. Even my 5 mile race last weekend was virtually flat.
But, I find myself meeting this bump in the road with resolve. I know now what I need to work on for Lake Placid. hills hills hills. So I’m back on the running outside train. I will not give up lifting though. There were some serious hills in the beginning of this race, and if it had been a shorter distance I’m pretty sure I would’ve killed it. I felt strong on them!
There is a bigger, underlying issue here. My mental game was miserable today. I didn’t go into this race with any time goals, but I also felt really unprepared. I didn’t feel particularly challenged this training training cycle (treadmill?), and I really was kind of unconvinced about my ability to do this today. It just didn’t feel right.
Just a few miles in, the mental degradation started. Tons of self doubt. I just couldn’t shake it. By mile 7 I really, really wanted to be done running. I mean, 7 miles in and I’m ready to throw in the towel? I’m kind of disappointed in myself, not for my time, but for my attitude.
In all honesty, the mental part of running is really the part I don’t have a good handle on yet. I know that’s always the real challenge, but I’m not sure if I’ve made strides in that department anywhere like I have in the physical department. I need to spend a bit more time reflecting on this, and figuring out a better strategy. Any suggestions are appreciated!!
Overall, I’m leaving this race experience feeling resolved (and full, hello post race food catered by olive garden? this race is da bomb). I’m ready for a light week, and then to jump back in to getting ready for Lake Placid!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Race Season
Race season is upon us, runner friends!
I kicked off my race season with a 5 mile Shamrock Shuffle in Glens Falls, NY. I wasn't looking to "race race" this one, but use it as a nice last weekend-workout while tapering. However, I ran this race last year and it was bitter cold and I wasn't feeling well. So, I did want to better my time.
And better it I did! The official race time ended up being 51:54. That puts me at a 10:23 average mile, with over a minute off my time from last year. And... I was reigning it in. I was constantly reminding myself (as i continuted to buzz by people) to SLOW DOWN. I even resisted the urge to chick a couple of old guys in the final stretch. I did not want to over push it and wear myself out. This was a TAPER run. But, this time puts me at the FASTEST per mile average of any road race I've run yet! This is super confidence building to me because I was running at a comfortable pace the whole time, I really felt like the miles were clicking by. This felt so much better than last year! I LOVE seeing improvements in my running. It's really starting to feel more natural (well, the shorter distances at least).
I did have some ankle pain after the race, which concerns me a bit. But I'm feeling okay now, I'm paying close attention to it, and I am going to keep up my regimen of lower leg and foot stretching and rolling out that arch with a tennis and/or golf ball (really helps!).
This Sunday brings me to my first big race of the season! The Oleksak Half Marathon in Westfield, MA. I am so ready! I don't feel nervous or burnt out like I have in previous training cycles! I'm just excited!!!
I don't really have any time goals for this race. I've stated before that this year is about building endurance as opposed to speed. I'm using this race as a building block for the main event (MARATHON!)
I would like to finish around 2:30. I'm a bit worried about the hills as I haven't done much hill training this cycle. But, and i'll credit weight lifting with this, I have found that I feel much stronger running hills now than I have in the past. Overall, I just hoping for a solid race!
Good luck to all of you racing this weekend as well!
I kicked off my race season with a 5 mile Shamrock Shuffle in Glens Falls, NY. I wasn't looking to "race race" this one, but use it as a nice last weekend-workout while tapering. However, I ran this race last year and it was bitter cold and I wasn't feeling well. So, I did want to better my time.
And better it I did! The official race time ended up being 51:54. That puts me at a 10:23 average mile, with over a minute off my time from last year. And... I was reigning it in. I was constantly reminding myself (as i continuted to buzz by people) to SLOW DOWN. I even resisted the urge to chick a couple of old guys in the final stretch. I did not want to over push it and wear myself out. This was a TAPER run. But, this time puts me at the FASTEST per mile average of any road race I've run yet! This is super confidence building to me because I was running at a comfortable pace the whole time, I really felt like the miles were clicking by. This felt so much better than last year! I LOVE seeing improvements in my running. It's really starting to feel more natural (well, the shorter distances at least).
I did have some ankle pain after the race, which concerns me a bit. But I'm feeling okay now, I'm paying close attention to it, and I am going to keep up my regimen of lower leg and foot stretching and rolling out that arch with a tennis and/or golf ball (really helps!).
This Sunday brings me to my first big race of the season! The Oleksak Half Marathon in Westfield, MA. I am so ready! I don't feel nervous or burnt out like I have in previous training cycles! I'm just excited!!!
I don't really have any time goals for this race. I've stated before that this year is about building endurance as opposed to speed. I'm using this race as a building block for the main event (MARATHON!)
I would like to finish around 2:30. I'm a bit worried about the hills as I haven't done much hill training this cycle. But, and i'll credit weight lifting with this, I have found that I feel much stronger running hills now than I have in the past. Overall, I just hoping for a solid race!
Good luck to all of you racing this weekend as well!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Registration Mania
Well folks, I went on a bit of a race registration binge the other morning!
The good news is, I didn't break the bank! haha.
More good news - I will be racing each of the first three weekends of spring! I'm so excited.
I'll start off on the 25th with a 5-mile Shamrock Shuffle about an hour north of here. One of my best friends is running it as well, it will be her last race in her 20s! (can't believe we're at that age) but it will also be a first for us. First race together as bride-to-be and MOH (I'm the MOH, calm your hormones). yayayay!
On April 1- half number one of the year in Westfield, MA. I'm not sure about my goals for this race yet - to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what kind of shape I'm in? This training cycle has gone well, a bit too well. I'll discuss plans for this race more fully in another post. However, it is half 1 of 3 for the year.
On April 7 I'll be doing my first 4 mile race, and my first HMRRC race as a member! wooo! I'm pretty excited!
I also registered for one other race......
The Mohawk Hudson River Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right folks. These aren't just champagne dreams any more. I'm really going to do this. I've spent my money, and posted it on facebook. So now I've got to! Too many haters on facebook to not follow through now! hehe just kidding....
Cheers to kicking off spring race season!
The good news is, I didn't break the bank! haha.
More good news - I will be racing each of the first three weekends of spring! I'm so excited.
I'll start off on the 25th with a 5-mile Shamrock Shuffle about an hour north of here. One of my best friends is running it as well, it will be her last race in her 20s! (can't believe we're at that age) but it will also be a first for us. First race together as bride-to-be and MOH (I'm the MOH, calm your hormones). yayayay!
On April 1- half number one of the year in Westfield, MA. I'm not sure about my goals for this race yet - to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what kind of shape I'm in? This training cycle has gone well, a bit too well. I'll discuss plans for this race more fully in another post. However, it is half 1 of 3 for the year.
On April 7 I'll be doing my first 4 mile race, and my first HMRRC race as a member! wooo! I'm pretty excited!
I also registered for one other race......
The Mohawk Hudson River Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right folks. These aren't just champagne dreams any more. I'm really going to do this. I've spent my money, and posted it on facebook. So now I've got to! Too many haters on facebook to not follow through now! hehe just kidding....
Cheers to kicking off spring race season!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Running is my religion
And apparently, our number 1 hymn is the theme song from reading rainbow – as that was on repeat in my head for two hours.
This run was some sort of magical, and boy did I need it. This is the second time I’ve run this particular 11 mile loop, and both times have been amazing runs. Aside from being quite hungry at the moment, I do not feel like I just ran for 2 hours. I’m not tired, but cleansed. I’m not sore, but strong. When I checked my watch an noticed I had only 3.5 miles left to go on this run, I was sad. I am still kind of sad it’s over. All of life is so much simpler when it’s just you and the road (and the occasional jack ass rolling through stop signs.)
My life outside of running (yes, there is one, unfortunately) has been… interesting this weekend. I like running because it’s simple. You either ran or you didn’t. Black and white. There’s no “grey area” in running. You can’t “sorta” run. I am a black and white person. I don’t enjoy the grey. I like things simple, straight forward, drama-free. But alas, life is messy and we can’t always have what we want.
11 miles with no music (except the aforementioned reading rainbow theme song) gives you a lot of time to sort through the mess. And it doesn’t take long. By mile two, things were looking up. By mile 3 I knew everything would be all right. In the words of a wise friend “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” The hardest part of accepting that statement, of course, is that you don’t have control over where the end is all the time. But you know what, that’s okay too.
On my run today I reminded myself of how far I’ve come in the last 18 months. Of how settled in to myself, grew with confidence – mentally and physically. No one can take that away from me. I have stopped trying to dispel people’s misconceptions of me, and instead just stopped caring. The most important thing is to do right by yourself. YOU are the one you have to live with day in and day out. YOU are the one you have to sleep next to every night. YOU are the one you have to trust with your own emotions. YOU are the one inside your head when you’re running. And as long as YOU are okay with who YOU are, then nothing else really matters.
None of these revelations would’ve happened without the run. The perfectly wonderful super strong amazing run that I just had. These were the fastest, and perhaps best 2 hours of the weekend. And they are mine, all mine.
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