Running Long

I've already told you that my running plans changed from what I had originally set out to do. I was supposed to run a few weeks of 50+ miles but if I hit 30, I'd be shocked. My husband tells me that I'll learn to train for a marathon once I experience how my lack of training affects me on race day. It sounds like he's being a jerk but in reality he is right. Unfortunately, he some times is just that. Right.

When my training plans altered I knew one thing that I could not push off were the long runs. It's important to get your body used to running for that period of time. I've done a 15, 16 and a 17. I really wanted to run a 20 but I just can't seem to fit that into weekend schedule. Oh well. I'm planning that my mental state and all the spectators will push me over those last 8-9 miles. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

The long runs have been interesting. I've done most of them with a friend or two. Running with someone for a couple of hours is a definite way to get to know someone. What else are you going to do but chat about anything and everything. I definitely know way more about them than I did before! And vice-a-versa for sure.

I love doing the long runs with running groups. The pre-set water stops are such welcome relief and help to break up the run. I honestly don't think I could do a 10+ miler without a group. I absolutely love how I feel when I'm done and I'm the happiest girl for the rest of those Saturdays. I feel good about myself since I've done something to take care of me. I'm happy to make lunches for the family or spend a few hours at the park with the girls because I can sit back and think about all that I've already accomplished that day. A friend recently asked me if I was spent for the rest of the day on those long run days. Honestly, I think I maintain my energy level - it's Sunday that I'm feeling sluggish and enjoying an afternoon nap. Another great thing about running long is that it re-sets what you originally called 'running long.' After running 18 miles, 10 miles is no longer considered running long.

(For Me) Running is Lonely and I Don't Want to Write About It

The best thing about trying something new is that inevitably you end up learning something about yourself. The beginning of this blog and even my marathon training are two examples of new things I've tried this year. If you've been wondering where I've been for the last month or so -  let's just say I've been off learning.

I don't consider myself to be a writer but I had a gut feeling that starting a blog would be a good thing for me  - for all sorts of reasons.  Writing is a good outlet for anyone. I love having a potential place for all those little thoughts that run through my head. I love the little release of creativity. And I like being forced to sit down and really think about things. It's not the easiest thing for me because I consider myself to be somewhat of a private person but I think pushing myself outside of my comfort zone is important right now.

Over the last few weeks I discovered that I don't feel like writing when I'm not in a great place. I know deep down that this is probably the best time to be writing but I just couldn't. As I'm reflecting on all of this, I'm thinking that I might try a different approach the next time I find myself in this spot. Those entries probably will be the ones reserved for my journal with the little key but at least I'll be writing and processing and hopefully learning.

Like writing, I also believe running is a great outlet for anyone. I know a lot of people don't like running but I think it is such a great way to clear your head and ultimately feel better about yourself. I don't care if you run a 7-minute mile or a 14-minute jog/walk; I think it's a good thing for anyone. So if I can inspire you in any way, get out there for even the briefest run today. I guarantee you'll feel better.

Ironically enough, and quite contrary to what I've just said above, I feel like my training for the marathon put me in a funk. The amount of running that was required with my training plan put too much pressure on me and it made me feel lonely. Very quickly into my training weeks,  I started to lose motivation and felt depressed at the thought of running. I wrote to a few runner bloggers who seem to never complain about going out the door each day for their runs and asked them where they got their motivation. The answers I received weren't necessarily comforting because nearly everyone said  it was the one part of the day that they had to themselves and they enjoyed that ME time.  These responses made me realize that, for my particular situation, I don't really need more ME time. Well actually I do, but I need a different sort of ME time. Life as a stay at home mom is fairly isolating and a solitary job and since the majority of my runs were alone it gave me this depressed feeling. If I could do all my runs with friends it wouldn't be a problem because I love to log the miles while chatting with friends. My current situation doesn't allow that sort of scenario every run.

So... after beating myself up I did two things; cut back on the running dramatically and started a running club one day a week. Initially, I was disappointed that I didn't stick to the training plan but I've worked through it. I really don't need to put more pressure on myself or feel guilty about another thing. I'm still training for the marathon,  I'll still be there on November 4th and I'm still going to have fun. And, really, that's all that matters. Oh, and also that I learn something.


PS: Thanks for the kick in the pants to get me back on here. You know who you are.

Where It All Started

I’ve been taking a walk down memory lane as I tackle my summer project of going through boxes of old photos.

I stumbled across the above photo of my childhood best friend, Kim, and I at one of my first road races. I thought it would be perfect for a post. I wish I could tell you where this was, the distance and give you my results but I don't have it recorded.  And since this is circa 1978, I can’t just google it for you.

What I can tell you is that I ran a handful of races starting around this age (my mom thinks I'm 10 or 11). I My Mom, who worked at various hospitals, used to ask me if I wanted to run the hospital's fundraising races. I wish I knew how I felt about running those races. Did I get excited or anxious? Did I have a goal? I'm sure it was just to finish and probably have fun. Hey, maybe that's how it should be now. ;-) Don't think about things so much. If you ask someone my age if they want to run a race, they'd probably get nervous about just doing a race, or think about how much weight they'd lose training for it, or maybe just think to themselves that they could never do that distance. I don't think any of those things would cross the mind of a ten year old. Again, I wish I had a better memory of these races so I can tell you more about how I felt, if I enjoyed it, etc. but alas, my memory is blank... but I do have these awesome photos to share!

Can you say fashionistas?!  Awesome sweatsuits! Kim is wearing the one from our swimming club. The sweatsuit I’m wearing was one of my first and I remember loving it!  It was a velour-like material with a trio of colors on the ankle and wrist cuffs. If my memory serves me well, on the back it had the letters RUN. It's an article of clothing that I can instantaneously look at and it brings back good memories. I wish I knew why we felt it necessary to take off our running shoes before the race. Now they tell you not to stretch before your workout - only after. I don't do either. Bad, bad, bad.

I like looking at these pictures and noticing how different things are today. No one has headphones. No packets of GU. No heart rate monitors to give you your calorie burn at the end of the race. There are no waist hydration packs. There is no chip timing. And there are no big fancy Garmin watches on runners wrists giving your precise mile per hour. And look at how big the numbers on our shirts are – written in someone’s handwriting. Awesome! I LOVE it.

I'm pretty  certain that's Kim's dad stretching against the tree behind us. He was a big runner. He probably still is. I remember him running all over town. My friend Lisa's dad was also a big runner. I feel like it was unusual for parent's in the 70's to be so active.  I don't remember anyone's mom being athletic. How different things are today.

I am assuming the above picture is right after the race - not sure. We don't look tired or sweaty but the man with the towel around his shoulders looks like he might have just run. I like the way we are posing. That's how everyone poses after a victory, right?  Aren't you just loving my tube socks? I’d like to think I was early to the trend of compression socks and not some nerd. But look at how the yellow in my socks matches my yellow t-shirt which is so nicely tucked into my running shorts. And those Nikes!! Royal blue suede with a bright yellow swoosh.  These were some of the first ones. Now Kim is sporting head to toe Adidas. She looks cool as usual.

I'm having fun going through all my old photos. So many memories. I wonder if my friend Kim is still running? She lives on Nantucket and since that's one of my favorite places, I'm thinking it might be fun to go visit her on a weekend the island has a running race. That would be a fun weekend!

Marathon Training Week 1

Week 1 Schedule: 
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 3 miles easy
Wednesday - 5 miles hills
Thursday - rest
Friday - 5 miles easy
Saturday - 3 miles easy
Sunday - 9 miles

I thought I'd give you quick update on my marathon training. I completed week ONE of my schedule. Only 15 more weeks to go and if they're anything like how this first week went, it's going to be tough. I can't even imagine running 26.2 miles.


On a positive note, I managed to get through all of the miles and scheduled workouts. In fact, I went over the scheduled miles and 'ran' 27.


I was doing pretty well with everything until we got to the weekend. Weekends are tough for me to work in a run. I know this already so really what I need to do is re-work this schedule so all the longer and tougher work outs are done during the week. I'll try to do that this week. 


The other thing that was really, really tough was my long run. Normally long runs are not a problem for me but  I haven't run long in a while and this 10 miler on Sunday was the worst. I did a couple of stupid things. First, I ran later in the morning than I planned. It was incredibly hot and it just zapped my energy. Additionally, don't ask me why but I chose a super hilly run for this first long run. I got to the first big hill and felt defeated. I walked up the hill and the next hill and the next hill. You get the gist. Oh well... I still got in the mileage and I guess I can use this as a baseline and try the same route again in 4-6 weeks.


On to week 2!

A-Z Summer

Let’s get away from running today. Quite honestly, it’s boring to write about it all the time and I’m sure the same goes for reading about it.

We're in full summer mode and I'm feeling nostalgic about past summers and particularly those from my childhood. So to celebrate all things summer  I've compiled list of summer things that make me happy. I'm starting with A and going all the way to Z. 

A – Arnold Palmer… the perfect summer thirst quencher. I was first introduced to this drink by my oldest brother during one of our many Florida vacations.

B – Bathing suits. When I was a kid, I lived in my bathing suit. I even slept in it from time to time. I don’t think you can have too many bathing suits. I probably had 14 one summer. I was a pool rat.

C – Clambake. That would be a lobster, steamers and corn on the cob for me - extra wipes and a bib please. 

E – Edgartown. I haven’t been back to Martha’s Vineyard in so long. I can’t wait to take my girls one day.  Some of the fun things I remember about trips to the Island are ice cream at Mad Martha's and many rides on the Flying Horses Carousel in Vineyard Haven.

F – Flip flops. One of the good things about living in the South is flip flop season is much longer. It's important to have more than one pair because inevitably you can't find them from time to time.

G – Grilling time! My family's special summer meal was always corn on the cob (that we picked right out of the field in our back yard) and shish kebobs on the grill. Yum.

H – Hydrangeas. This is one of my favorite flowers. The myriad of blues in the summer and the gorgeous greens and deep purples in the Fall. Here is a picture of my friend Sharon and I lost in the hydrangeas on Nantucket.

I – Ice cream! It seems like all we ever get is frozen yogurt these days. There is no comparison. I like coffee ice cream with jimmies (in a cup).

J – for Julie! My birthday is in the summer so it of course reminds me of all the birthday parties I had as a kid. 

K – Kites.  My Dad was a big fan. Flying a kite was one of the last few things I did with him.

L – Lobster rolls or Lobstah rolls as they say back in my neck of the woods. I actually had one the other day @ JCT Kitchen here in Atlanta. It was pretty good but I wish I could have eaten it near the beach. They need to work on their buns.

M – Margarita. On the rocks with salt please -preferably after a day at the beach.

N – Nantucket. I want to be there now! Actually my dream is to live there for an extended period of time. I don't know when this wall happen but I will definitely make this happen in this lifetime. I did live there for 6 weeks one summer when I took a leave from my corporate job to work at a flower shop. It was one of the best things I've ever done. I was so tired of my job and one day while riding the subway to work I came up with the idea that I would take a leave and see what the flower world was all about.

O – Ogunquit, Maine. Just another great summer destination.

P – Ponytail. Ok you’ll probably find me in a ponytail 365 days of the year but at least it seems fitting during the summertime.

R – Rocks. When I was little I always remember going to the beach and climbing on the rocks. I haven’t been to a beach with large rocks in such a long time. Watch out for the barnacles.

S – Seashells. One of my favorite things to do on the beach is to take a walk and look for beautiful shells.

T -  Travel companions. I have a couple extra special ones. 

V – Vacations.  Many of our summer vacations were driving destinations. I’d like to try to bring back some of those ‘old school’ vacations.

W – Water ballet or synchronized swimming as some of you may prefer. I did this for 8 summers with my friends at the pool. The grand performance was always a highlight of the summer.

X  - eXtra – I struggled with an X word so I’m going to go with Extra as in indulgence for the summer time…extra salt on my margarita, extra butter with my lobster and an extra scoop on my ice cream.

Y – York Beach, Maine. This was a place my family went to all the time. I have many happy memories here. After going to the beach you can walk into town and watch the salt-water taffy being made at The Goldenrod- my favorite is the peanut butter. And I still love playing skeet ball at the arcade. Definitely on my list of places to go back to in the next few years.

Z – Zeppolis. Fried dough with powdered sugar. Nothing better. Reminds me of all the festivals in the North End.

Hope you are having a happy summer. It’ll be fall before you know it!

I've Got A Plan!

After looking through a few sources for a good marathon training schedule, I've settled on the one they just published in Runner's World. I like this plan for a few reasons:

1. There are 2 rest days each week. I'll probably need them and if one of the planned run days doesn't happen, it gives me room to work it back into the schedule.
2. One day each week is dedicated to a hill workout. (I love hills and think my body really benefits from them.)
3. One day is a fairly long run with a good deal of those miles at marathon pace.

The  schedule starts next Monday. Awesome - first day is a rest day! I think I can work that in.

WEEK	MON	TUES	WED	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN
1	rest	3 miles easy	5 miles hills	rest	5 miles easy	3 miles easy	9 miles LSD	25 miles
2	rest	3 miles easy	6 miles hills	rest	6 miles easy	3 miles easy	9 miles LSD	27 miles
3	rest	4 miles easy	6 miles hills	rest	6 miles easy	3 miles easy	11 miles LSD	30 miles
4	rest	4 miles easy	6 miles hills	rest	6 miles easy	3 miles easy	10 miles LSD	29 miles
5	rest	4 miles easy	7 miles hills	rest	6 miles with 2 miles @ MP	3 miles easy	13 miles LSD	33 miles
6	rest	4 miles easy	7 miles hills	rest	6 miles with 3 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	14 miles LSD	35 miles
7	rest	4 miles easy	8 miles hills	rest	7 miles with 3 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	16 miles LSD	39 miles
8	rest	4 miles easy	Hill Repeats: 8 miles with 8 hill repeats	rest	7 miles with 4 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	14 miles LSD or half marathon	37 miles
9	rest	4 miles easy	Mile Repeats: 8 miles with 3x1 miles	rest	9 miles with 6 miles @ MP	3 miles easy	18 miles LSD	42 miles
10	rest	4 miles easy	Yassos 800s: 9 miles with 4x800	rest	10 miles with 7 miles @ MP	rest	20 miles LSD	43 miles
11	rest	4 miles easy	9 miles easy	rest	10 miles with 8 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	20 miles LSD	47 miles
12	rest	4 miles easy	Mile Repeats: 9 miles with 4x1 miles	rest	7 miles with 5 miles @ MP	8 miles easy	15 miles LSD	43 miles
13	rest	5 miles easy	Yassos 800s:  9 miles with 6x800	rest	10 miles with 8 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	22 miles LSD	51 miles
14	rest	5 miles easy	Mile Repeats: 9 miles with 3x1 miles	rest	9 miles with 4 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	16 miles LSD	43 miles
15	rest	4 miles easy	6 miles easy	rest	6 miles with 3 miles @ MP	4 miles easy	12 miles LSD	32 miles
16	rest	4 miles easy	rest	rest	rest	3 miles very easy	race day	33.2 miles

Runners World Streak is Over!

I’m done with Runners World Streak challenge. It was hard and I’m glad it’s over. 

Here’s the truth: I didn’t run 1 mile every day. I started a few days late and missed some days here and there – mostly because I couldn’t fit it in my schedule or I was sick or even just not up for it. However, I never let myself believe I failed and while of course I wouldn’t admit it to you (or anyone who knew I was doing this) during the streak, I also tried not to let myself believe I fell off course. If I did that, I would be admitting defeat and then it would be too tempting to stop all together. Those days that I missed the runs were sort of just erased from my memory bank.

Here are some of the lessons I learned:

1.  I like to challenge myself.
2. Having a definitive start and end date to any goal really helps me to keep on track.  I can see the finish line.
3. The streak helped me to start a new mantra: Just Keep Going. This is great for so many things in life. If you fall off the wagon, just get up and keep going. Don’t look back.  
4. Running every day is boring. And when you have to run every day,  I discovered that it’s hard to get in or feel motivated to do  the long runs. However, I think it did help with my speed work because I just wanted to get the runs over with as quickly as possible.
5. I think I would enjoy doing these type of challenges with a friend. More accountability and possibly more fun.  (Note: RW has this challenge again over the holidays. Who’s joining me?)

STATS:

I ran 28 days out of 38.

I ran a total of 92.27 miles. That’s an average of 3.3 miles/ workout.

DAILY RUN

Day 1: no run. started late

Day 2: no run. started late

 Day 3: 5 miles

Day 4: 5 miles

Day 5: 3 miles

Day 6:  3.05

Day 7: 1.32

Day 8: 5 miles

Day 9: 3.05

Day 10: 6.2 miles

Day 11: Blast Class + 1 mile

Day 12: 3.44 miles

Day 13: Blast Class

Day 14: no run. not sure what happened.

Day 15: 7 miles

Day 16: Blast Class  2 miles

Day 17: 3.13

Day 18: Blast class + 3 miles

Day 19: no run. not sure what happened.

Day 20: 7.11 miles

Day 21: 4.62 miles

Day 22: Crossfit class + 3.6 miles

Day 23: 3 miles

Day 24: 6.28 miles

Day 25: weekend relax

Day 26: Blast and 3.5

Day 27: 4.0 miles

Day 28: no run. not sure what happened.

Day 29: busy getting ready for vacation.

Day 30: 3.53

Day 31: 3.76

Day 32: vacation

Day 32: 3 miles

Day 33: vacation

Day 34: 1.25

Day 35: 2.3

Day 36: travel day

Day 37: sick

Day 38: 4.5 miles