Fall Racing: Schedule and Goals

Welp, it’s officially Fall.

I’ve lamented the end of Summer, but I am excited for Fall running! It also doesn’t hurt that I just ordered myself some fun new cold-weather gear and am excited to wear it.

With the first race of the season behind me, I’m starting to look at my calendar and get excited about all the awesome races I have coming up in the next couple of months! I’ve never raced so much in a short amount of time. In the past I’ve kept it to a half marathon weeks and then eventually a full marathon, and that’s all I do in a calendar year.

I wanted to do something different this year though. I wanted to race more, race differently, and have a lot of fun doing it!

Coming up I’ve got the following:

• Soulstice Mountain Trail Race, October 10th. (11 miles with some insane climbs) Another trail race, with some intense elevation change, I don’t have too  much in mind for this other than to enjoy it. Soulstice is a huge event for the trail running community in Flag, and I’m really excited to be a part of it this year!
• Ragnar McDowell Mountain. (November 6&7, 15ish miles total). I’ve never done a Ragnar and I’m really looking forward to my first and have it be a trail race as well. I’ve heard great things about it from people on my team that have done it before.
• Girls on the Run 5k. (November 21) This isn’t actually a race, but I’m including it anyway. The AZ Oiselle gals are meeting up to run with a girl from Girls on the Run and help her finish her 5k. I’m really excited to do this. Right before I started working at the gallery, I had been looking into becoming a coach for Girls on the Run, but unfortunately didn’t have the time then. I’m excited to meet the Oiselle ladies and help out at such an awesome event. I’ll probably do a longer training run beforehand to get some marathon-training worthy miles in.
• Tucson Half Marathon (Tentative. December 6). I haven’t registered for this yet, but I am seriously contemplating it. J and I would make a weekend out of it–my best friend and younger brother are in Tucson, so we could go and spend time with them, and I could run a half and have a solid test of my fitness with 10 weeks to go before the marathon. It’s a net downhill course and I got it in my mind that it would be fun to shoot for my sub-1:40 there.

Since marathon training will officially kickstart in November, I’m trying to figure out how I want to balance my training for a goal race, while also racing quite a bit. The thing I’m really quite excited for, is I’m going to have quite the base already built up before marathon training starts. I want to keep my long runs at about 10-13 miles for the next few weeks. I was considering “tapering” for the Soulstice Mountain run in a few weeks, but since I am taking this week very easy, I’ll treat the next few weeks as training, and include Soulstice as a harder effort long run.

With some of these things in mind, here are my goals for this training season.

1. Stay Healthy. Run Smart. First and foremost, treat my body with love and care. I’m taking it easy this week after my back really started to hurt on Monday’s run. Since then, I’ve done a barre workout and a vinyasa yoga session. This morning, I put the treadmill at a 10% incline and walked uphill for 2 miles (good practice for Soulstice!) and then did 2 easy miles to test out the back. It felt much better and I’m confident that I’ll be back at it next week. The important thing was, however, that I realized I needed to let it rest, and that’s what I did. It’s no sprained ankle, but it did cost me a few miles, and that’s okay. I have plenty of time to run all the miles. I want to let my body rest when it needs to rest and be okay skipping a workout here and there. Maybe that’ll be an extra easy run one week, or an extra rest day completely. I’m not going to make myself stick to a hard and fast schedule with such a long season ahead of me. Keeping myself healthy and feeling good–avoiding the burnout–will be imperative to reaching my ultimate goal.
2. Speedwork! I’ve neglected any kind of regimented speedwork for almost 7 months now, and I can tell. I’ve hit a few sub-8’s on runs, but overall an 8 min/mile pace still feels like a lot of effort–and that’s gotta change. Since my endurance is built and I’ve got a solid base to work with, the next few weeks are going to see an introduction to speed workouts. Eventually, I’d like to get one track-like workout in, a fartlek/tempo/progression run, and fast miles during my long run each week. My biggest barrier during a marathon is falling apart once I start to feel fatigued. I’m hoping that by incorporating more speedwork (and sticking to it!), will help me in the last few miles of the marathon.
3. Stretch/yoga/roll: Again, something I always say I need to do and never do it. I recently signed up for a trial subscription to Jasyoga. It’s only $4.99/month and she’s got several short “reset” yoga videos (I’m talkin 10-15 min). It’s completely doable and will be hard to justify my way out of NOT doing them. If I can incorporate them after a hard run/longer run and give my body more TLC during training, I’m pretty confident I’ll stay more fresh and enjoy myself a whole lot more.
4. Don’t be afraid to say no. I’m working full time, going to school, and training for a 3:30 marathon. If all I want to do is come home after work, crash on the couch and watch TV, I’m going to. I am not going to be afraid to tell anybody no, if I don’t feel like being social.
5. Maintain balance. On the other hand of that though, I don’t want to completely become a hermit until February 14th. I do want to ensure that I’m spending time with the people I love, and enjoying myself. It’s all about balance people!
6. Pay attention to nutrition. It happens every cycle. I get busy, my days get long and crazy and I start to eat like crap. I want to be better about meal planning/prepping on the weekends so Jeff AND myself are still eating well during the next few months.
7. HAVE FUN! I want to enjoy every second of this. I want to work hard and see the results. I want to enjoy every race. I want to meet new people and maybe find friends to run cold, winter miles with. I want to toe the start line in February, after months of work, and feel excited for the 26.2 ahead of me. I don’t want to feel dread and burnt out from it!

   So there you have it! Bring it on fall! Let’s see what you’ve got!

Oh, hey there.

Yowza friends! Sorry for the radio silence over here. I’m popping in for just a quick update and then I’ll be off again.

Friday I had every intention of a great Friday Things post, but then I woke up with the worst stomach bug ever. I had to drag myself into work for a few hours since my coworker had taken the day off, but after 3 miserable hours I was able to go home and sleep it off. And thank goodness for that, because I had plans to meet THESE GIRLS for the weekend!

My very best friends and I were able to get together for the first time in FOUR years. It was spectacular. We spent the night in Phoenix and then my friend Alyssa has been up in Flag for the last few days. It’s been so fun and I’m trying to soak up every minute with them.

Also, this happened.

Yes. I’m running marathon #5. I have a very long, lengthy post in the works about WHY (so many WHY’s!) that I hope to get up in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

That’s all I’ve got for you for now! I’m off to enjoy my last full day with my best friend. Hope you all had a great weekend! And congrats to all those runners that ran this past weekend! Hanna crushed Grandma’s Marathon this weekend and came away with a new shiny PR!

February In Review

Hello March!

Thanks for bringing winter with you.

We had the storm of the season this past weekend, and I could not be more relieved that it decided to show up AFTER we were home safe from the Phoenix. I can’t imagine needing to do a training run in that. I also had the luxury of having a four day weekend, which does not happen often, so I spent most of Sunday and Monday sitting on the couch watching the snowfall.

February was a pretty great month! A 20 miler, 22 miler, a taper and of course the BQ! (I still cannot believe it actually happened). I had a serious case of the taper crazies this time around, but other than that, everything went pretty smoothly leading up to the race. We had some amazing weather in February, including some 70* days, which is unseasonably warm, and I took advantage of it by running after work with the pup several times.

Let’s break it down!

Total miles: 142.7

I didn’t do a training log for this past week, since it didn’t include much running up until the marathon. But, I did 3 easy miles on the treadmill on Tuesday and Thursday, and a very easy, very slow, 2 miles to shake out the legs on Sunday post-race (which helped with my recovery a LOT. I felt much better Monday and even better on Tuesday). I feel really good about this month’s miles. It included my last two long training runs, and my peak weeks of training + taper. Overall, it was just a big month and those miles were probably some of the most important.

Total Days Run: 19

During taper I cut down my days of running to 4x/week, rather than five, and I think it played an important part in resting my legs.

Total Strength Days: 4

Not my best. However, when taper started, I did start incorporating more ab work each week. I tried to do an ab workout at least 4 times a week and I hope to continue that.

Rest Days: 7

The most I’ve ever had since starting this blog, but I rested a LOT during taper, so I’m pretty okay with that. It seemed to work out in my favor.

Goals from January: 

• Stay strong. I’m definitely going to say check on that one.
• Take care of myself–Meaning foam rolling, strength training and general taking care of my body. Ehh….so so. I didn’t do much strength training, or yoga, but I did do a good amount of foam rolling prior to the race.
• BQ. CHECK AND CHECK!
• Get to that start line healthy. Done. I even got made fun of at work for squirting hand sanitizer onto my hands every few minutes, but with the amount of sickness going around in all the galleries, I wasn’t about to take ANY chances.

Goals for March:

• Strength Train: I’m probably going to cut back on running for the next few weeks, so I’d like to up my strength training a bit.
• Run for fun: No watch, no pace goals, no distance goals. Just lace up and head out the door. Now that training is over, I want to run because I want to and go for as long as I feel like it.
• Pose of the Month with Kerry at Yoga on The Run: Kerry posted up that she’ll be doing a Pose of the Month, in which she practices a certain yoga pose every day for the month. She took a photo of her in the pose the first day, and will post her progress over the month. I love this idea. I’m terrible at stretching and rolling, and maintaining any kind of yoga practice, so I’m hoping this will help. I’ll be starting with a simpler pose: Seated wide-legged forward folds, to work on my flexibility (since I have almost none). I started yesterday evening and here’s my beginning photo:

Rudy came and laid right down when I was beginning the pose–he does not want to be left out. Either way, you can see I can’t really stretch very far. I may post another photo sans-Rudy so I can actually track my improvement. I’m hoping this will allow me to recuperate faster from the marathon and let me get my mileage back up to a comfortable level, while also taking care of myself. We’ll see how it goes!

I haven’t quite decided what I want to do now that the marathon is over, so for March I’d like to figure that out, while enjoying running for the sake of running.

What are some of your goals for March? I’d love to hear it!

Race Recap: BMO Phoenix Marathon

Or, “The Race That Probably Shouldn’t Have Been a BQ, but I Somehow Managed It Anyway”

I’m sitting here Sunday afternoon, watching the snow fall and trying to figure out how to write this post. I don’t exactly know how to organize all my thoughts about yesterday, so I’m just going to jump right into it.

(I took barely any photos because I am a bad blogger. So, you’ll have to use your imaginations, or read other blogger’s recaps that did a better job of taking photographs).

Friday afternoon J-Money, Rudy and I hopped into the car to head down to Phoenix. It was raining and kept me checking the weather obsessively. Luckily, it was pretty dang warm in Phoenix (almost 80* when we got there) and sunny. The drive down was pretty uneventful. There was way more traffic than either of us expected, but other than that, fine. Google took us on a really roundabout way to Mesa, including getting on the wrong direction of the 10, then getting off and making a u-turn to get on the right direction and we sat in a fair amount of traffic once we got into Phoenix–Friday rush hour, I guess. We pulled up to the expo at around 3:30, so I missed all the blogger meet-ups, which was disappointing.

We walked in, grabbed my bib, I bought a new pair of Pro Compression sleeves for the race, and then went inside Sports Authority to get my shirt (side bar: this is the nicest race shirt I have ever received. It’s a super cute tank and I kind of love it). We rushed through it pretty quickly since we had Ru-dog with us and it was a tad overwhelming for him.

Trying to get a Bib photo…#reallife

After the expo, we headed over to our hotel to check in and unwind a bit. We were both kind of stressed out, so we decided to order out some pasta from Olive Garden. We carb loaded up while watching a marathon of Modern Family on USA. After eating, I spent some time getting everything laid out and ready for the morning, and was heading to sleep by 8:45.

I got up at 3 and started moving. I made some coffee, ate half a peanut butter sandwich (took the other half to eat before the start) and a banana. After checking obsessively that I had everything I needed, we headed out the door at about 3:50ish.

We had a bit of difficulty finding the bus drop off due to closed streets and detours, but we managed to find it. I kissed Jeff goodbye, he wished me luck and I headed over to the buses. I got onto one pretty quickly and ended up sitting next to a fellow Flagstaff runner! We chatted and right before our bus exited the freeway…it stopped. Our bus driver came over the speakers and said “Uh..the check engine light just came on and the engine just shut off…I’ll call this in and get you another bus.” Not exactly how you want your morning to start. We got a new bus pretty quickly though, and got to the starting line with over an hour to spare.

I went immediately to the Porta Potties and got in line. One thing I will say negatively about this race is the lack of porta potties. The lines were HUGE. I waited in the them twice and ended up finding a bush twice (one was RIGHT by the start line. I think we had about 3 minutes left before the start and I was like oh crap I gotta pee again! Sorry if I mooned any fellow runners. You gotta do what you gotta do.) The time before the race was pretty uneventful. I kept walking around to see if I could recognize anyone and then settled under a heater for the last few minutes. I ate my sandwich and hung out.

They played the National Anthem before we all moved to the start line, and shot off some fireworks (which was so great! I wish I had gotten a photo, but I had kept my phone in my Spibelt and couldn’t get it out in time). I found the 3:30 pace group at the start and settled in slightly ahead of them. Pace groups always mess with my mind, so I wanted to stay just slightly ahead of them, so I wouldn’t have to worry about falling behind (or the crowds that inevitably follow the pacer). I took my jacket off right before the start and crossed the start line about 30 sec. after the gun went off (and more fireworks).

Right away I felt pretty good. I couldn’t really see my pace as it was still pretty dark out, so I just went out on feel. I didn’t want to go too fast, but wanted to see what was going to be comfortable. The weather was perfect. It was cold at the camp before hand, but the minute I started moving I felt fine. I had kept gloves on, but ended up throwing those away within the first two miles. The first miles felt great and easy and I was moving comfortably

7:49, 7:45, 7:54, 7:57

I was worried about moving too quickly, but since I didn’t feel like it was taking much effort I went with what my body wanted to do, keeping as close to a 8 min/mile pace as I could. Around mile 4.5 we started the only major climb of the course. I pulled back and ran the next mile and a half easy. The course at UVM had a few big hills that I ruined my legs on by trying to maintain pace and I didn’t want to make that mistake again. I figured taking it easy on the incline would give me room to make up for it on the decline. Around mile 5, the 3:30 pace group caught up to me and surrounded me. I got blocked in for a while and couldn’t get around them. I finally ended up just squeezing through two people since I couldn’t deal with the claustrophobic feeling. I jumped just ahead to get out of the crowd.

8:17, 8:27

Mile 6 beeped and we were heading back downhill. I opened up my stride and let my legs do what they wanted. This was also about the time where we really hit the wind. It ended up being a headwind for almost the entire race (so much for the hope of a tailwind!) and at 20 mph, it was killer. I found myself counting down to the halfway mark over the next few miles…which I realized was not a great sign. I tried to stay positive, telling myself I felt good and I can handle the wind.

7:42, 7:49, 7:56

Around mile 10, I really started looking forward to the halfway mark. I already wanted to be done, which scared me. The 3:30 group had caught back up, and I stayed just about even with them for a while.

7:53, 8:00, 7:42

We were hitting some rolling hills at this point, going over and under freeways, and the wind was so brutal! I found myself listening to the pace leader as he yelled out turns, eagerly anticipating the moment we would turn away from the wind.

Mile 13 was a 7:52, putting me at a 1:44 half (7:58 avg). It was here that I really started to have some mental game issues. I told myself, regardless of anything else, maintain an 8 min/mil pace. The 3:30 group was still near me, so I ducked in, hoping to draft off them and block some of the wind. It didn’t help, but I was still feeling okay through mile 14. Mile 15 I was starting to tell myself to just get to 16 and then only 10 miles left—5 mile halves. Easy.

8:01, 8:02, 8:06

Mile 17 is where I entered the Pain Cave and I stayed deep, deep, in the cave for the rest of the race.

I started doing mental math–an 8 min mile pace was getting too hard, so how about an 8:10? That would still give me a qualifying time.

8:11, 8:15, 8:18.

Mile 20 is where I broke. I was fighting, fighting, fighting, with myself. Telling myself to suck it up and get through it. It was only 6 more miles and then I would have a BQ! I texted Jeff and told him I didn’t think I had it in me and he texted me back all the right things; I did have it in me, to just push through it, I was almost there.

I fought with myself a LOT during the next few miles. The 3:30 pace group had long since passed me and left me in its dust and I was struggling just to put one foot in front of the other. My quads were burning and I could feel the beginning of a blister on my left foot. I just couldn’t get my legs to move any faster.

8:32, 8:50, 9:10, 8:29

I thought for sure I had lost it. I had slowed down so much and was trying so hard to push myself and just wasn’t moving. During mile 24, I was doing the math and wondering if I could push myself to an 8 min pace for the last 2 miles. I tried, and my legs just weren’t turning over the way I wanted so desperately for them to.

8:28

I slowed to a walk at an aid station, and started debating whether I wanted to try to finish for a BQ and miss it by a few seconds, or just keep walking and accept that today wasn’t my day.

I texted Jeff again saying I didn’t have it in me and he replied “Don’t give up now! You’re SO close!” And I realized that even if I didn’t qualify, I would be more upset at myself for giving up a mile and a half from the finish then if I pushed myself to the end.

9:21

The last mile I gave it everything I had. It was mostly downhill and I kept thinking “Pain is temporary. Do you really want to have to do all this again? Keep going”. I hit 25.7 and was in so much pain and so badly wanted to stop. I had 4 min to get to the finish line in order to BQ. And I just ran with everything I had

7:46

I got to the chute and couldn’t see the finish line and almost started to cry. I actually stopped for a split second and then yelled at myself “WTF ARE YOU DOING? YOU’RE .2 MILES AWAY”. I started running again and almost immediately saw Jeff and Rudy. I grabbed his hand and kept going. I turned another corner, and there was the finish line. I ran as fast and as hard as I could, picking people off at the end, staring down the clock, desperate to finish before it hit 3:35.

I crossed the finish and almost fell to my knees. I managed to make it to a chair near the finish where I collapsed and kept my head between my knees until I stopped seeing spots and I could breathe normally again. I got up shakily, and started making my way out to the food. I grabbed a water, my medal and a towel (instead of a space blanket??? I couldn’t believe they didn’t have space blankets at the finish with the weather) and slowly started moving to find Jeff.

When I finally found him and Rudy, I gave him a huge hug and said “I did it.” My Garmin read 3:34:44. I had done it…just barely.

Final Sats:

Chip Time: 3:34:43

Division Place: 15 out of 99

Gender Place: 88 out of 851

Overall Place: 342 out of 1900

First Half: 1:44:11

Second Half: 1:50:32

20 Mile Split: 2:43:06

Last 10k: 51:37

This race took everything I had in me. It was the hardest race I have ever run. I am so incredibly proud of crossing that finish line with a BQ, even if it was only by 17 seconds. I so easily could have given up and decided that I wasn’t going to do it that day. Do I wish I had a bit of a faster time? Sure. I’m aware that if I hadn’t stopped to walk and text Jeff, or walked at the aid stations, I would have crossed that finish line sooner, but I didn’t give up. I wanted to–so, so badly. I didn’t let myself quit, and for that I am infinitely proud. I know getting this BQ doesn’t guarantee I’ll be toeing the line in Boston next April, but I’m staying optimistic about that. The goal was a BQ and I achieved that on Saturday, despite the shitty wind, despite the way my legs and mind quit.

Overall, this was a really well organized race. The announcers at the start line were INCREDIBLY annoying (or was that just me?) and they needed more toilets, but other than that, it was great. The aid stations were extremely well organized and all the volunteers were great. The spectators along the course were amazing. I saw the same people several times and they all cheered so loudly each time. I can’t really say much for the course, however. The beginning was beautiful and then you were mostly in neighborhoods. At one point we ran by a grove of orange trees, but I was battling the wind and trying to hang onto my pace that I didn’t really notice much else. On a better day, I think this would be an amazing course to PR at. I’m already thinking about running the half next year.

Thanks for all the support and good wishes sent my way last week! It was an incredible experience, as painful as it was. I haven’t been able to process everything about it (perhaps a post on that later), but I did learn one thing: I can do hard things.

I did it.



Phoenix Marathon: 3:34:43 

It was painful and a literal sprint to the finish, but I pulled that BQ with 17 seconds to spare! 

Random Thoughts for Race Week

Holy cow guys. Race Week is messing with my head. I am all over the spectrum to feeling so freaking ready and so freaking not. I’m having full blown conversations with myself in my head, with one voice high pitched and freaking out about everything, and then the calm reassuring voice telling me everything is going to be great. So, rather than continue down this road to insanity (and in hopes of not having weird looks on my face anymore that concern the man-friend), here are my random thoughts about race day.

I am playing Russian Roulette with emotions lately. One minute I am SO pumped and excited for Saturday, the next I am freaking out about all my little aches and pains. My heel has been  bothering me off and on for a while and the last week or so it’s been pretty persistent. I’m sure that having to spend most of my days on my feet (even though I’m in good shoes) has something to do with it. It feels better when I’m in my running shoes or my work shoes though, so that’s good. I bought some KT Tape, hoping that may helpa smidge. Also, my hip/glutes are still SO sore. I’m pretty sure that had to do with my run on Sunday. I plan on some stretching, rolling and yoga-ing tonight in hopes of loosening it all up.

I’ve been checking the weather obsessively. Monday there was an 80% chance of rain in the afternoon. Then that moved to late in the morning (when I’ll be finishing running), to the full morning. Then yesterday it changed to rain all day, to rain in the afternoon, to a 20% chance of rain. The little rain emoticon was even gone from the forecast. This morning, however, I woke back up to this:

Back to afternoon showers! I know it’ll continue to change and I won’t really know until Saturday morning, but I can’t help myself. That wind is freaking me out, too, though. UVM in June had a headwind of 20 mph and it slowed runners down about 10  min or so (I crossed the line 7 min shy of a BQ). Luckily, this course is mostly SW facing, so it should be a tailwind for the majority of the course. Clouds means a cooler course, so my fears a few weeks ago of overheating won’t be an issue. I’m remaining positive that it’ll start the downpour AFTER I cross the finish line and am tucked away safely back in our hotel room.

I’m also not entirely sure what to wear. I’ve got my shorts and sports bra…and that’s about it. Tank top? T-shirt? I tend to run cold…so long sleeve? What if it does end up raining. Capris? I’ll probably bring a few different options to make a game day decision.

Overall, I think the most overwhelming feeling I have is anxiety. I’m anxious over just about everything and analyzing  E V E R Y T H I N G .

I know that I am capable of running a 3:30 on Saturday and am confident I can do it. I know the hardest thing for me will be the last 6 miles when my legs start to feel fatigued and my brain starts to tell me to walk.

Too far.

I’m incredibly grateful for the race I had at UVM in June. It was the first time I finished a marathon feeling strong and crossed the finish without having to walk, so I KNOW that I can do it. My biggest focus will be keeping my head in the game, being positive and telling my legs to move a little faster then what’s comfortable.

I have NO idea what I’m going to listen to while I run. My last marathon, I had saved up a few “Stuff You Should Know Episodes” but I haven’t been doing that (oops). I think I may just listen to “Serial” all over again. I know for a fact that it will keep me interested, so that may be my best bet.

I am so stoked to meet all the runners! This marathon is shaping up to be the social event of the season and I hope to meet a few readers (come say hi if you recognize me!) and instagrammers! I’m hoping to drag J-Money to a few of the meet-ups if possible. If you don’t already, follow me on instagram as I’ll be posting updates during the weekend.

And those are all my crazy thoughts. Thanks for sticking with me through that! It feels better to get it out of my head 🙂

Happy Wednesday all!

Have you ever run a race in the rain? What do you recommend wearing?

Any advice to keep your head strong, let me hear it! Love hearing from you!

Training Log 2.16.15-2.22.15

Happy Monday to you! Did anyone suffer through the Oscars last night? Jeff and I attempted, as I usually am a sucker for them, but about halfway through we turned it off. It was just SO boring. I also love Neil Patrick Harris, but I thought he was kind of a dud as a host. Maybe it got better as the night went on, but I was unimpressed!

Anyway, it’s RACE WEEK! 5 days until the marathon and I have no idea how I’m feeling. My glutes are crazy sore for some reason and my heel has been bugging me a bit the last week or so. I’m hoping I won’t need to be on the sales floor too much this week and can sit as much as possible. I am super excited, and absolutely confident that on Saturday evening, I’ll be sitting on the couch getting drunk off champagne and celebrating my BQ. Gonna make it happen!

Anyway, this past week I really embraced the taper. I would go to bed and set my alarm for 5-5:30 and, with one exception, would reset it in the morning for an hour later and run after work. Since it’s lighter outside longer, I figured it can’t be bad to give myself more rest.

Monday – 3 miles, 7.0 mph on treadmill, 1% incline

I usually rest on Mondays, but since I was working that day and taking Tuesday off for J-Money’s birthday, I figured I’d switch my runs around too. 3 easy miles on the treadmill before work.

Tuesday – Rest

J’s birthday. So many activities, but no running.

Wednesday – 3.52 miles with the pup, 8:07 pace

I’ve been loving taking Rudy running with me lately. It’s nice to go on easy runs together after work. He’s been doing a lot better, too. He rarely tries to pull my arm from it’s socket anymore and only wants to stop and pee 100 times instead of 1000.

Thursday – Strength day

I used this workout from Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers. It’s been one of my favorite go-to’s for a quick workout for ages. It’s effective and, depending on your pace, can be thoroughly exhausting. I added some extra arm and ab work at the end.

Friday – 3 miles, treadmill

Another treadmill run after work. I had big plans for another run outside with Rudy, but I got home a lot later from work than I was expecting, so I hopped on the treadmill as it was getting dark outside.

Saturday  – Rest

I had intentions to do yoga on Saturday, but again, I slept in over getting up and then it was my friend’s birthday party, so straight from work we went over to her place.

Sunday  – 7 miles, 8:31 avg

I was getting ready to head out for my run when Rudy started excitedly following me and dashing toward the garage anytime I stepped around him. I decided to take him with me for the first few miles.

How do you say no to that face?

 It was insanely windy. We’re talking, 35mph gusts. So, I ran two easy miles with the pup, dropped him off and headed out for 5 more on a nearby trail. Besides the wind, it was a beautiful day. It’s currently raining/snowing outside, so I’m glad I fought the wind and spent some time outside.

Total miles: 16.5

This week I’m taking it really easy. I’m hoping to squeeze in a yoga session at some point today to stretch out my glutes and run easy Tuesday, Thursday and take Wednesday and Friday off completely to rest. Here’s hoping it pays off!

Hope you have a great Monday!

Training Log 2.10.15-2.16.15

Happiest of Mondays! I’m all thrown around this morning, since I’m heading into work. J-Money’s birthday is tomorrow, so I swapped days off so we could celebrate! I also ran this morning so tomorrow could be a rest day, so I feel like it should be Tuesday already! As is Mondays aren’t bad enough!

The first week of taper is behind me, and besides dealing with a bit of the Taper Crazies, it was a good week of running.

Tuesday – Strength training

I did an arm and ab circuit that left my tricpes sore for days!

Wednesday – 4 easy miles with the pup, 8:00 avg

It was a beautiful evening when I got home from work, so I laced up and took Rudy with me for some easy sunset miles. I’m loving that the days are getting longer!

Thursday  – 7 miles, 8:21 avg

I split this run into two. I ran 5 miles in the early morning and just didn’t have any gas in the tank. So, when I got home from work that evening, I grabbed Rudy and we went out to finish two easy miles together.

Friday – 3 miles on treadmill, 7.0mph

Another easy run. Work was insane busy and I realized midway through my run when I was feeling crazy lightheaded that I hadn’t had much to eat that day. I cut it short and immediately made dinner.

Saturday – Rest

I was going to get up early Saturday morning to do a strength workout, but that didn’t happen. I got home from work much later than I anticipated and J was ready to start our Valentine’s date, so I took the day as a rest.

Sunday – 10 miles, 8:10 avg

I set out for some easy miles before Jeff and I went and explored Pine and Strawberry for the day. I knew I wanted to do double digits and keep it at an easy pace. I didn’t look at my Garmin at all and just counted the beeps for miles, but I ended up running pretty consistently at race pace, which felt really good!

The next few weeks before the race are crazy busy. Work is picking up since we’re going into season, which will mean longer days and hours and more time on my feet. I’m relieved the race is so soon, because man, do I need a break! Gonna keep it easy again this week, and bring my milage down even more. I am getting super pumped for the race though!

Total mileage : 24 miles

How was your Valentine’s weekend? How far did you run this week?

Fighting off the Taper Crazies

The countdown to the Phoenix Marathon has officially begun. As of this morning, there are only SIXTEEN DAYS until I’ll be toeing that start line, hoping for that elusive 3:30.

AND I AM FREAKING OUT.

This week has felt really off to me. Since I wasn’t able to do my long run on Sunday, and then it got cut into pieces on Monday, I don’t feel like I ended my training cycle on a strong upswing. I’m sitting here scrolling through Instagram and seeing other people’s workouts and I can’t help but think..

Did I train hard enough? Am I really ready for this?

And the big one…

What if the BQ doesn’t happen. 

I know everyone talks about the “Taper Crazies”–when you have to suddenly slow waaaay down and do that whole “trust in your training” thing…And dude. It’s effing hard, bro. I am so nervous that this race is going to go to hell.

The kicker is, I KNOW I have no reason to be so worried. I’m usually really ready for the taper. It’s the time to relax and sleep more–run a lot less and enjoy some down time before the big day. I’m usually so wiped out that that is exactly what I need and want, so I take full advantage of it.

For some reason though, this time around my head is an absolute mess.

FO REAL.

My training cycle was solid. I know that. I may not in the shape I was before UVM in June, but I feel pretty fit. Despite this, I catch myself listing off all the aspects of my training that I could have done better.

My strength training was lacking. I can admit that. I cut it down to once a week, and when I did it, it was pretty lackluster. I did an arm workout yesterday and holy hell are my triceps sore today! Not an awesome sign… I didn’t do as much yoga as I probably should have, and I’m suddenly terrified that because my 20 miler and my 22 miler weren’t stellar that I’m totally f*cked. Add to the list that I did no downhill training even though the course is downhill and in my head, I’m totally screwed.

Regardless of how insane I feel, and worried that I rushed this training cycle and didn’t push myself as hard as I should have, I’m trying to focus on the positive aspects of the last few months.

Optimism.

• I may not have PRed at the Fiesta Bowl Half, but I still ran a solid time.
• I had a kick ass 18 mile run.
• I pushed through all the mental crap and finished the crappy runs.
• I pulled myself out of the deep dark black hole of a bad week and kept going.
• I put the work in.

Regardless of what happens on the course on the 28th, I’ll finish another 26.2 miles. That in itself is a big deal. Especially considering the crazy schedule I managed in order to get my training in (a post on that to come!).

I’m hoping this blog post will help me get back into a more stable mental state–I’m writing the crazy out as I eat some more Goldfish (because, carbo loading) and I’ll wake up tomorrow mentally strong and able shut out the Taper Crazies for the next two weeks.

And in the meantime I’m going to continue eating all of the food and sleeping as much as possible…because I can.

And with this motivational quote, I leave you.

Do you fall victim to the Taper Crazies? What are your tips for coping during taper time?

Training Log 2.2.15-2.9.15

Hello friends!

My apologies for being a day late with this, but this weekend was just out of control. My long run didn’t happen until yesterday, and by the time I was done, there was so much other stuff to be done, I just didn’t have time to make it to this lil blog of mine. So, here I am with an update!

Monday – 3 mile walk with Rudy

I was so stiff and sore after my 20 miler last Monday that I set out for a walk with Rudy to move my legs a bit. We set out on the road, I had a podcast I was listening to, and it was a beautiful day out. On our way back, Rudy found a trail and I thought “Oh that could be fun”. I figured it would drop us out along the same area that we came from. Turns out I was wrong, and we ended up having to hike quite a ways back home.

Tuesday – Treadmill: 7 miles with 5 mile tempo

Tuesday morning I decided to hit the treadmill for my tempo run, rather than brave the cold outside. (I think having the treadmill has made me a bit of wimp! But oh well). I did a mile warm up, 5 miles at a 7:30 pace, and a mile cooldown.

The pup never strayed too far away.

It was not an easy run by any means, but I made it!

Wednesday – 6 miles, 8:11 avg

I went running in Sedona after work on Wednesday. It was hilly and I tried to run it easy, but my overall average ended up a lot faster than I was anticipating. It was a great run though. I felt awesome, the weather was gorgeous (a tank top and shorts! at 5pm!) and it was a very pleasant end to my day!

Thursday – 11 miles, 8:16 avg

I was up at 4:45 to get this run in before heading to work. It was uneventful. I tried my best to run in as many well-lit areas as I could. I actually felt really strong on this run and ran faster than I thought.

Friday – 4 easy, 8:42 pace

I put myself on the treadmill for a recovery run. I’m not the greatest at forcing a slower pace on myself, and after how dead my legs were for my 20 miler, I wanted to do everything I could to ensure my 22 miler was as good as possible. So, I set the pace at a comfortable, easy pace and zoned out for four miles.

Saturday – A bit of yoga, and abs

I had great intentions of getting up on Saturday to do a strength workout. But, when my alarm actually went off, I opted for an extra hour of sleep. When I got home from work that night, I did a bit of ab work and some yoga/stretching and rolling in preparation for the next day’s long run.

Sunday – Off

Something more important than my run came up on Sunday and the running didn’t happen.

Monday – 22 miles, 8:36 avg

Since I wasn’t able to run on Sunday, I set off for my 22 miles around 9 am yesterday morning. I started off and about 4.5 miles in, I ended up calling Jeff to see if he would bring me a hat to wear since the sun was blaring into my eyes. He caught up to me when I was about 6.5 miles in. I am so happy I called and he brought me the hat–it was a game changer!

I was feeling pretty good for my run. As I neared my turn around point, I started to get worried about my water supply. It was warmer out than I had anticipated and I only had about half of my water bottle left and I was so thirsty. Also, I had thrown in half a Nuun tablet, since I figured some electrolytes would be beneficial, but I think the sweetness and fizziness of it was detrimental. When I would take a sip, it didn’t feel like it was doing anything at all for my thirst.

Around mile 12 I started to feel really sick to my stomach. The kind of sickness that usually settles in around mile 22 of the marathon. I texted Jeff to let him know I wasn’t feeling well, but that I was going to try to push through it. I slowed down a considerable amount and tried to make it go away, but every sip of liquid I took made it worse. By mile 14 I was feeling lightheaded and so nauseous. I took a knee of the side of the road and called Jeff to come pick me up. I figured I’d get home and finish the run on the treadmill–where it was cooler and I had plain water to drink.

Jeff said he was on his way and I decided if I could squeeze some more miles out, it would be less time on the treadmill. I managed 2 before he caught up to me. I felt instantly better once I sat down. Once we got home, finishing on the treadmill was tough. Mentally, I wanted to be done, and physically I felt like crap. But, I pushed through it, knowing that I needed the mental toughness and finished the 22 miles.

This wasn’t how I wanted my training cycle to end. I’m in taper mode now and kind of disappointed that my last long run sucked so badly. I’m trying to remember that I got the miles in, and getting to the start line healthy on race day is what counts. A part of me is terrified though about the weather on race day. We’ve been having a warm streak–in the high 60s here in Flag, which means high 80s in Phoenix. That is warm. I’m just hoping that my body can handle it on race day.

Total Miles : 50

And with it the end of peak week! I’m ready to taper and get myself ready to run my heart out in 2 1/2 weeks.