Back to Racing

Exciting news - I signed up for a race! On Sunday, March 30th I will be running the inaugural Philadelphia Love Run, a half marathon. It will be my first big race since my horrible DNF at Lehigh Valley in September.

I know that I explicitly said in recent posts that I would not be racing or signing up for races anytime soon. However, something miraculous has happened in the past two weeks. I have had little to no pain on all of my runs! Something finally just clicked and I am feeling at about 95-98% most of the time.

That said, I am still being very cautious and as much as I want to jump right back into marathons, I don't think that would be very smart. So, this spring I will try out a few half marathons and maybe some 10-milers. I will save my marathon comeback for the fall.

I am unbelievably excited to be working toward a goal again, even if its just to make it to the finish line feeling okay. Plus, hopefully this will make the rest of winter fly right by and before I know it, it will be race day.

Happy running!
 

Looking Ahead: Lehigh Valley Marathon

Even though summer doesn't start until tomorrow, as usual, I am already thinking about the fall. Or actually, I have been thinking about the fall since about February. You kind of have to if you run races. The whole training thing, ya know.

Anyway, I am stunned to think that there is a mere 12 weeks between now and my first fall marathon, the Lehigh Valley Marathon on September 8th. In some ways, 12 weeks seems like a really long time. I mean, summer will be over by then and it has barely started! Then again, looking at my long run calendar, it seems like barely enough time to get things done.

I'm usually not one for fully drawn out training plans. I like to take each week as it comes. With only 12 weeks until race day, however, I figured setting up a long run schedule was probably a good idea to make sure I hit certain numbers. Since I had to back off the last month or so I am starting with just 10 miles this weekend and building from there. It's a pretty standard 3-week build/1-week cut back and repeat.

Hopefully all will go smoothly, I won't die in the summer humidity, and I will make it to the start line on September 8th. In all honestly, this is a race I want to PR. Not only did it have the 4th highest number of BQ-ers in 2012, but its average finish time that year was 4:02! So yeah, I'd like to race this one. A BQ would be great, but in lieu of chopping 11 whole minutes off my current PR, I'd be just as fine with any sort of PR. Baby steps, people.

This all depends, of course, on the summer weather. There's nothing like 90 degrees and 90% humidity to turn your 8 minute miles into 10 minutes miles.

And then you look like this after every run all summer

P.S. Lehigh Valley still has spots if anyone is still looking for an early fall marathon. Net downhill! Come on people!

Monster May - The Game Plan

Even though I've been running again for a full four months since my injury, I've only done one race between now and then. Though I would have liked to have raced more (so many good March and April races!), I decided to give my body ample rest and recovery time. I think it ended up being a good decision. Not only do my legs feel great, but mentally I am raring to go! I can't wait to toe the start lines and get race season into full gear.

I have three big events in the next 25 days (aka Monster May):

5/4 - River Towns Marathon
5/12 - Delaware Marathon
5/26 - Dirty German 50k

Ideally, I'd love to PR the 50k (my current PR is 6:10). I don't care so much about PR-ing in the marathons. That is what the fall season will be for. Really, I just want to have a lot of fun this month, practice my pacing, and get some new race bling.

As big as this month seems in terms of racing, I keep thinking about last October when I ran 270 miles, PR'd a marathon, ran back-to-back 20 milers, and did a 50 mile weekend. And I did all that without getting injured. So, I feel pretty confident going into this month with regards to staying healthy. Nevertheless, injury prevention is still a top priority.

Overall, I'm pretty good about keeping an injury prevention routine, but I will be tweaking some things this month:

- Right now, 5-6 nights a week, I foam roll, do a varied set of PT exercises and stretching, and complete 250-350 reps of core work. This month I am going to make sure these things are happening every single day, no exceptions.

- Last year I was all about high mileage all the time, even between and leading up to races. As nice as it is to say I've run such-and-such number of miles every month, I've realized I rather do the races and run less in between, than not even make it to the start line because I overdid it. The next few weeks will consist of a lot of short, slow runs leading up to race days and several forced recover days afterwards.

- I will also be adding in more cross training. Now that the cold weather has finally ceased, I can bike to work without my toes freezing off. The biking should also help take the edge off my calorie burning desires since I won't be running as much during the week. Who knows, maybe I will even get back to the pool.

What makes up your weekly injury prevention routine?
 

Change of Plans

Sorry for my absence the last week. I have been in a full on, end of semester flurry of activity. I do so enjoy working a full 8 hour day and heading straight to the library for a couple of hours afterwards to research Hellenistic philosophy (sarcasm, if you can't tell).

As I mentioned last week, my team was looking for another runner for our Ragnar Cape Cod ultra team. So far, I have yet to participate in a Ragnar with a full team. The last two Ragnars I did, PA and DC, we had less than 12 people. Between making up those miles and night time pacing, I ran 30+ at each event. Last November Mike and I decided we should just go ahead and start an ultra team since we had been running ultra miles anyway.

Two weeks ago, one of our teammates got injured. I was stressed about finding someone, but was mentally prepared to run 38-40 miles if I needed to. Luckily the team member had the shortest legs, so it would have been doable. But this week another team member dropped due to injury. As much as I love long runs, splitting 200 miles among 4 people just isn't feasible, especially since I'm running the Delaware Marathon the following weekend, and would prefer to be somewhat recovered by then.

Initially I was heartbroken. I was really excited about this event. I've never been to Cape Cod and I was excited to hang out with everyone in the van. We could join another team, but they will likely want another registration fee and honestly, since I've only ever run ultra distances at these relays, I can't justify a trip up there and even more money spent for a measily 15 miles of legs. On top of that, I totally did not bother looking at the academic calendar for next weekend back in November when we registered. I have a final exam due the following Monday and last week my professor informed the class that she wasn't even going to distribute it until next Wednesday. So I would have basically had to rush to write it as soon as I returned from Boston on Sunday morning, when I would probably just want to pass out from exhaustion.

So, long story short, we are not running Ragnar Cape Cod next weekend. I am however, still taking next Thursday and Friday off work. I can write my final and be done by the weekend, which means I have a few more days to enjoy freedom before my summer class starts in mid-May.

Of course, since I was really looking forward to running an event next weekend, I had to go find something to fill it with:

Next Saturday I will be running the River Towns Marathon in Danville, PA. It was cheap, local-ish (2 horus away), and well reviewed. It is a very small race, which is perfect because I'm not trying to PR or run ridiculously fast (which large crowds tend to make me do). Call it a training run for the Delaware Marathon.

On a last note, I don't know how any ultra team makes it to the start of a relay race with all their runners intact!! What is their secret!?!

A Rest Week and a Birthday Marathon

On Wednesday I got all four of my wisdom teeth out.

The first thing I asked was "when can I run again?" to which the dentist replied, "7 days."

WTF man? I reiterated my frustration again in sign language after they gave me the gas. P.S. Get the gas. It's awesome.

I'm still debating with myself on how long to actually hold off. The internet can be your best friend ("I ran the next day and was fine!") and your worst enemy ("I ran 5 days later and got the most horrible infection ever!"). Sometimes it's best not to even google it.

Luckily, right now, I don't have enough energy to run anyway. None of my teeth were impacted so they just pulled them right out, which left behind four lovely open sockets just waiting to get stuck with food. So, I've been sticking with smoothies, yogurt, applesauce, and chocolate pudding. No carbo loading going on over here.

OJ, greek yogurt, 2 bananas, mango, blueberries, and two spoonfuls of almond butter

While I'm loathing my running hiatus however, I've been busy making plans for future running. I really wanted to run a marathon this spring. I didn't want to run one in April (too soon!) and I couldn't find a good one in June, so that left May. May is already pretty busy. I am running Ragnar Cape Cod on May 3rd and 4th as an ultra team (31.5 miles for me) and running a local 50k on Memorial Day weekend.

After thinking long and hard I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Delaware Marathon on May 12th. Its only 8 days after Ragnar, but I think if I take it slow and consider doing a zero week in the days leading up to marathon, I will be fine. Plus, this race is within an hour's drive and my birthday is on the 11th. Frankly, there's nothing I rather do on my birthday weekend than run a marathon! Five years ago it would have been spent at the bar. Times sure do change.

Oh, and Alyssa is running it too. The last time/only time we hung out was miles 44-50 at JFK, which is obviously the perfect time to get to know someone after you've been running for 9+ hours straight.
 

Speedy Confessions and 2013 Plans

Confession: I would love to run a BQ (that's sub 3:35 for me). I would also love to run a sub-1:40 half. And a sub-5:30 50k. And on and on and on.

I want to be speedy. I also hate speed. Give me 50 slow miles any day.

I haven't really talked about what I want for 2013, but in two more weeks we will nearly be a fourth of the way through it (wow that was fast), so its as good a time as any to lay out the rest of the year.

While I am running pretty much back to normal post-injury, I am still feeling very anti-training. Training scares me. I much rather "wing it" and run when I want and when it feels right, than feel forced to run by what some number on a chart tells me.

My goals this year do not include a 50 mile race. Not that I'm done with them forever (and there is still a 100 miler somewhere in my future), but this year I just want to kick back and have fun. And fun to me means marathons. At this point I don't have any real intentions of gunning for a BQ, but it would be nice if it happened. I surprised myself in the fall by running a 24 minute PR of 3:46 that was both completely untapered and in the middle of JFK training. Is a sub-3:35 possible? Maybe.

So, going back to speed, I really dislike it, but it also makes me feel really good when I do it. And, while I do not set training plan at the moment, I can still mess around with speed workouts just because.

For me, the worst thing about going fast is the discomfort. My lungs and burning, my legs are burning, and I just want it to end. The longer you run fast, the more it hurts. So, yesterday, I decided to run some speedy treadmill intervals one minute at a time, because hey, you can do anything for a minute, right? This is what it looked like:

I did two sets in a row, running 4.75 miles in 40 minutes and finishing up the quarter miles for kicks at whatever pace I felt like. While 5 miles on the treadmill is usually boring as hell, this time it flew by. And, as I suspected, speding one minute at a time at each pace wasn't mentally devastating. Those 7:30 pace minutes felt a little rough the second time through, but overall I felt pretty strong.

Lastly, in case anyone is curious, I've already lined up my fall race schedule. Most resgistrations are opening within the next month, so as much as I'd just like to think about warmer weather and spring, you snooze and you lose with race registrations!

September 8 - Lehigh Valley Marathon - A flat, fast, potentially PR-friendly race that's also only an hour away from me. Sold.

October 27 - Marine Corps Marathon - Registration doesn't open until later this month and it sells out in hours, but if I can get in I hear this is one of the best races in the country.

November 17 - Philadelphia Marathon - A great race, right outside my doorstep, and also where I ran my first marathon.

What's on your fall race schedule?

On Being Back

Hello there! Nice to see you again. After taking a five week break from blogging and nearly an eight week break from running I'm happy to be back doing both again!

I won't go into all of the horrible details of the past two months. Suffice to say that while I almost (emphasis on the almost) enjoyed the first few weeks of my running break after JFK, as soon as my semester ended and I found myself with loads more free time and my inability to run put my mood in the dumps. What I thought was runner's knee ended up being a nasty case of ITBS. I start PT next week, but I'm already feeling better after I revisited many of the PT exercises I learned in the spring when I had shin splints. Apparently weak hips is just my thing. The road ahead is still long and I'm not running very far or very often, but baby steps will turn into big girl steps in no time at all.

I've done a lot of soul searching about what I want 2013 to bring. In 2011, my first full year of running (and my first year of racing) I signed up for and ran 12 races, peaking with my first marathon in November 2011. Last year, I signed up for 18 races, but only ended up running 10. A spring injury forced me to abandon my first 50 mile attempt in the spring among other races. While I did eventually make it 50 miles, I spent most of the year being overzealous and trying to take on too much, too fast. Hence the injuries.

So this year, while I really, really do want to tackle another 50, I'm giving myself a break. Or, rather, I'm giving myself a different sort of challenge. Instead of focusing on distance, I want to focus on speed. Particularly speed in the marathon and 50k. I want to PR both distances at least once if not twice during the year.

Ready to start adding more to my rack

My spring set up includes a March marathon and a May 50k. There will probably be more additions later on, but I'm trying to do a "less is more" kind of thing, so holding back is also a goal. Not signing up for a 50 miler was really difficult. I had been scoping out the Finger Lakes Fifties 50 Mile in July for quite some time. Afraid that I would actually commit to it once I was completed recovered from my injury (when my arrogance was back), I conveniently booked our annual summer vacation for the same weekend. If I still feel like I'm missing out on July 6th when I'm frolicking in Europe, then something must be really wrong with me.

I will revisit 50 miles in 2014. Until then, bring on the speed!

The 50 Mile Training Plan

"But Kristin how many times did you say you weren't using a training plan??"

I know, I know, and technically I didn't use a training plan, but that doesn't mean one didn't evolve on its own. Life tends to be a lot of pattern. Wake up, shower, go to work, go to class, go home, study, eat, sleep, repeat. So it was no surprise that even without a firm training plan I ended up doing a lot of the same things week by week.

This post is for anyone who was ever thinking about running 50 miles and wants to know what I did. I should also mention that even though I didn't use a prescribed plan that doesn't mean I completely made everything up. By the time July rolled around and I started training I had already read tons of blogs and books about how to train for a 50 mile run. So, here are the basics:

• 20 week training cycle: Prior to day one of training I was holding steady at about 45 mpw. 17 weeks of build, 3 weeks of taper. For the first month I tried to hit 50 mow, the second month 55, the third month 60, and the fourth month 65-75.

• Back-to-back long runs: The cornerstone of any ultra training plan. A typical weekend included a long run of 16-25 miles on Saturday and 10 miles on Sunday. I usually decided what my long runs would be the week of.

• Weekday runs: For the first two months I ran five days per week - three weekdays and both weekend days. Over the three weekdays I usually tried to hit 25 miles total. In my third month of training I decided to start running six days a week and made every Monday a rest day. I feel like my training really started in the third month and I felt much more focused. Since I added the extra day of running I now focused on hitting 30 miles during the week instead of 25. 

• Double days: Every week I had one double day with an AM and PM run that usually totaled between 10-13 miles.

• Cutback weeks: Every two to three weeks I tried to cut back my weekend mileage and give my legs a rest.

• Peak month: I went into my fourth month with a pretty good idea of how I wanted things to look. I knew I wanted to run a marathon and 10 miles the day afterwards (I ended up with a huge PR and was so sore I could only make it 6), back-to-back 20 milers the next weekend, and close out my peak week with a 50 mile weekend (20 Saturday/30 Sunday). Everything went really smoothly and I got through the fourth month according to plan, peaking at about 75 miles in the final week.

• Taper: I treated the 50 mile taper like the marathon taper - three weeks of slowly decreasing mileage and voila - race day!

The important thing to note is that while a pattern did evolve, not having anything firmly written down meant that I didn't stress over the exact numbers each week. If my goal was to run 30 miles between Tuesday and Friday I could get do it in whatever increments I felt like. And if I felt an injury coming on I could back off completely and skip mileage all together. I learned all too well last spring that having a training plan written down just doesn't work for me. My head gets too wrapped around on hitting the goals and I injure myself.

I was very nervous going into this training cycle without a plan. I am an OCD planner by nature so going blindly into this was a big step for me. Thankfully it worked out great and I plan to use the same strategy in the future!

How do you feel about training plans? Do you use one for every race you do? Or do you just "wing" it?

JFK 50: Staring Down the Beast

The countdown to race day has finally arrived. I'm officially off the clock at work until Monday and only have JFK-thoughts on my mind.

I'm getting more and more excited about this race as the hours pass. You can usually assume that ultras are smaller and quieter than your average road race, but being that this is both one of the largest ultras in the U.S. (about 1,000 runners) and its the 50th anniversary, I think it's going to be pretty lively start to end.

Cool article in the Wash Post last week about the 50th anniversary!

I've been thinking about my goals for this race for a few months now. I'd love to tell you that my goal is just to finish. After all, as my first 50 miler, any finish time would be a PR. But unfortunately (for my legs) I'm a competitive nut job and I always have a time goal no matter what. So, in what is a pretty large spread since I really don't have any clue how 50 miles can play out, here are my goals:

A Goal: sub 10 hours (9:xx:xx)
B Goal: sub 11 hours (10:xx:xx)
C Goal: sub 12 hours (11:xx:xx)

No matter what I will be meeting my C goal or DNF-ing because the whole race cut off is 12 hours. That is definitely motivation to keep my ass moving. In terms of predicting a finish time, I've read a few different places that you can get a good finish time estimate by doubling your marathon time and adding two hours (similar to how you can double your half marathon time and add 20 minutes to estimate your marathon finish). This would actually put me closer to a 9:30:xx finish with my 3:46 marathon PR, but who knows what will happen out there!

For now, my packing list is done and executed, my grocery shopping is complete, and I've got Unbreakable, the Western States 100 documentary, cued in my DVD player tonight ready to reap motivation from. I don't feel nervous at all. Just excited. I trust my training. I trust myself. And if one thing is for damn certain, I sure as hell don't quit. See you at the finish line!

The Taper Crazies

This week I ran 19 miles over the weekdays, 10 trail miles Saturday, and 11 road miles Sunday. I think 10 miles is my perfect running distance. I would run it every day if I didn't have to do those pesky things like work and study and commute.

The perfect Saturday: Me, the trail, and the sound of my feet hitting the dirt

After my run on Saturday I actually biked down to the university library and did about 5 hours of research. Its amazing what I have the energy to do when I'm not putting in 40 mile weekends.

In other news, I took it as a good sign when I found myself completely exhausted at the end of peak week. That's kind of the point of it, right? Beat your body into an inch of its life and then enjoy a well deserved three week taper? 

Well despite my exhaustion after peak week, I'm already feeling a major case of the taper crazies. This low-to-me weekly mileage is really starting to tick me off and I've still got another 5 full days until race day. Hard to believe I used to complain about fitting in all the miles and now I would give anything for a 60 mile week. 

Luckily I have a few things to keep my mind busy over the next few days. I've got a super busy week at work, reading to do for classes, paper research, not to mention all of the race day prep.

The first part of my race prep is already done. In true Type A fashion, I typed up a 15 page race day manual for my husband and sister who will be crewing/pacing me through the event. You can never be too prepared, right?

5:30 pm dinners are not just for pre-race day - we rock the early bird schedule on a weekly basis

I still have to write myself a packing list, hit up the grocery store for essentials, and figure out what we're doing for dinner in Boonsboro Friday night. I don't want to drive around for an hour and debate where to go. We've got a schedule to stick to people!

I'm also planning another post on race goals and strategies for later this week. Hopefully all this will be enough to distract me from the taper crazies and the extra two pounds of junk in the trunk that the last two weeks have brought. One thing is for sure: I will be ready to run come Saturday!

October 2012 in Review

This month couldn’t have played out better. I’ve had my fair share of crappy running months (umm hello March) in 2012 so I was due for a super good one.

Mileage Recap

A year ago - October 2011: 125.05

January: 181.21

February: 86.84

March: 6

April: 89.59

May: 128.43

June: 137.72

July: 200.1

August: 177.48

September: 230.85

October 2012: 270.09

I am astounded at that number. I really expected to hit something more around 250, so 270 is a freaking miracle. My highest month ever and a record that will likely stay for awhile (at least until the spring). Woo hoooooo!

Cross Training Recap

161.76 miles road cycling

Another month of no pool, no pilates, no yoga, and no boxing. I even cut back on the biking a lot in comparison to previous months, but it was a sacrifice well worth it. I wish I had time enough in the day to do everything, but little things like work and school lessen workout time considerably!

What went well

My training this month went just as I had hoped all the months of this training cycle had gone: three weeks of build and one week of cutback. I guess better late than never. I started the month with a cutback week and then had three weeks of excellent mileage. I had a surprise super huge PR at the Baltimore Marathon, ran my first back-to-back 20 milers, and peaked with a 50 mile weekend.

What didn’t go well

Despite the overall positivity of this month, it did have its downs. I have never had my physical and mental strength worn down so much and there were definitely times when I questioned my ability to run this race. The important thing to realize during these times of doubt is that if you don’t work through them they will eat you alive.

November 2012 Goals

The next few weeks are all about getting ready for race day, so here’s the plan:

- Taper, taper, taper!
- Drink lots of water
- Cut out the dessert and excess sugars 10 days leading up to the race
- 8 hours of sleep a night
- Continue ab work, foam rolling, icing, and stretching every night

17 days and counting until JFK. Bring. It. On.

Traintober

Welcome to October! AKA "peak month." AKA "the month where I run a race almost every weekend."

But, let's be honest. There is only one race I really care about. One race I've really been training for. My goal race, the JFK 50.

I knew I wanted to run another marathon this fall. I also knew that I wanted to tackle another 50k before attempting 50 miles. My previous two 50ks were in January and February, which at this point seems like a lifetime ago. In addition to those two distances, I added a 20 mile race to my calendar a few weeks ago. The addition was born purely out of boredom, as in "I'm so goddamn bored of coming up with new, creative 20 mile runs I'm going to die."

But while this month could be called "Racetober," the fact is that I really have no intention of "racing" any of these events. That's not to say I won't end up getting caught in the excitement of things during the run, but ideally I'm not pushing the pace and using the distances purely for training purposes.

Here is what "Traintober" holds:

October 13: Baltimore Marathon

I'm really excited to run another marathon. I love road races and there is certainly something special about the marathon regardless of what other distances I've run. Mike will be running it as his first actual marathon (he was registered for Philly last year, but got injured). Hopefully I will take it nice and slow because I'd like to get in at least 10 miles the day after and extreme soreness will certainly be a problem.

My first marathon last year

It is a little strange that this time last year 26.2 miles was the BIG one, and this year it's just a bump in the road. The difference a year makes, eh?

October 21: Delaware Canal 20 Miler

Not only is this race conveniently an hour's drive and somewhere I've never run before, but fall foliage should be in full swing (we hope). The plan is to run back-to-back 20 milers this weekend, which means I only need to creatively map one 20 mile run that weekend instead of two.

Will it actually look this gorgeous out in 11 more days? Based on the absurdly warm weather I doubt it, but hears to hoping!

October 28: Fire on the Mountain 50k

I'm a little scared of this race (ok maybe a lot scared). I've read a bunch of recaps and the elevation and trail terrain are intimidating me, especially since my trail runs have been almost nonexistent lately. The good thing is that this will be peak weekend, which means I can put it all out there and then look forward to a three week taper.

How is your October shaping up? Are you using other races as "training" for bigger ones?

September 2012 in Review

This was a super fantastic month so let's get right to it!

Mileage Recap

A year ago - September 2011: 193.05

January: 181.21

February: 86.84

March: 6

April: 89.59

May: 128.43

June: 137.72

July: 200.1

August: 177.48

September: 230.85

Booyah! Bam! Smash! Hello good-month-of-mileage, nice to see ya! Can you say August redemption??!

Cross Training Recap

176.94 miles road cycling

This month I decided to stop riding into work five days a week. With all of the running miles this month I've been exhausted (Ragnar didn't help either). I still enjoy biking and certainly want to keep it up at least three days a week for cross training purposes, but at this point in my training, as we reach into peak weeks, running miles matter more than cycling miles. I wish I could have gotten to the pool at least once though! Sigh...maybe I'll get my act together next month. 

What went well

I got in three long runs this month of 20, 18, and 25 miles. I think my body is starting to adjust to running long again. I felt like I lost endurance in August so this is very encouraging. I've been a little speedier too, though I credit that to the drop in temperature and humidity. 

What didn't go well

Some of my long runs have been very mentally challenging. This is worrying me a bit, because during JFK I will have to run more than twice the distance of some of the long runs I'm doing and do it without music and on monotonous terrain (can you say 26 miles of canal tow path?).

October 2012 Goals

I have some long races coming up in October, to be detailed more in a later post. My goal is to get through them and my weekly mileage plans from here on out. Seven weeks until race day. I'm breaking that down with a cutback week, three weeks of build, and then a three week taper. Can't believe during my next monthly recap I will be less than 21 days until race day! Eek!

August 2012 in Review

What a freaking crazy month. Broke my hand, got sun poisoning, and now I have a terrible case of contact dermatitis all over my right arm after swipping a tree on my ride to work Monday. I've got to tell you, I'm so ready for September and (hopefully) a fresh start.

Mileage Recap

A year ago - August 2011: 172.62
January: 181.21
February: 86.84
March: 6
April: 89.59
May: 128.43
June: 137.72
July: 200.1
August: 177.48

I'm kind of pissed at that number. I really should have been north of 200 like July, but things happen like terrible sun poisoning that keeps you from sweating at all for a few days. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Cross Training Recap

176.3 miles road cyling
1000 m swam
3 Pilates classes
2 Boxing classes

What went well

Despite all of the unhappy stuff that happened this month some pretty sweet stuff went on too like a 25 mile training run that wasn't really difficult at all. It makes me very optimistic and excited to push ahead with JFK training!
What didn't go well

Umm I think I mentioned all of the crappy things that happened. This poison whatever-I-have on my right arm is a real bitch and I can't even bend at the elbow. Not to mention it's freaking disgusting. I look forward to a month when I will have full use of both arms for the entire 30 days.

September 2012 Goals

I don't know that I'll continue doing Pilates on a regular basis because 1) it's expensive and 2) classes start next week and who knows if I'll have the time. What this means is that I really need to do my PT exercises on my own every other night since I won't be able to rely on Pilates to work those muscles for me.

After having to take the spring off from racing because of injury and opting to take the summer off as well, I'm absolutely stoked for fall racing season! I have 1-2 races every month through Thanksgiving so my calendar is laying out nicely. First up: Tough Mudder next Saturday!

Vacation is Over

The worst part of vacation is the end of vacation. After two weeks off of work, including the wedding, the honeymoon, and a few extra days doing some stuff around the house, it's back to the daily grind today. Le sigh...

I spent my last few days after we got back from Costa Rica doing a delightful amount of "whatever the hell I feel like doing because it's vacation." It would have been even merrier had the temperature not been scorching in the 100s.

Thank you Philadelphia fruit trucks, for making 100 degree weather all the more bearable

Despite the heat I still made it downtown to pick up some new kicks (as if that could ever keep me from purchasing new running shoes). I had 75 or so more miles left on my Kinvara 2s, but they got kind of torn up on the volcanos in Costa Rica. I took it as a sign to upgrade to the 3s, which I have been salivating for since they came out in the spring anyway.

First run = A-MAZING. Love.

And again, despite the heat, I spent the weekend frolicking in these beauties outside. No treadmills for this girl.

Watermelon is a must after hot sweaty runs

So, to the point of this post, yes, vacation is over, but what comes next could be just as good. Today I officially start JFK 50 training, which will also have wrapped into it Tough Mudder and Baltimore Marathon training. I don't have a plan drafted and I don't really plan to make one at the moment. The goal is to build mileage over the next two months of the summer. I finally made it back up to 46 mpw the week of my wedding. It felt fantastic. Up and onwards I say! And, as before, I'll keep up with the cycling to work and the pilates and probably one Xtend Barre or boxing class per week. Time to get cut!

Are you starting to train for your fall races yet? Got a plan?

A Decision

Saturday morning I woke up on my own around 5 am, checked Facebook (because I'm addicted like that), and spotted this right away:

Oh yeah. That's right. I was supposed to be among those crazy people, ready to tackle 50 muddy miles bright and early. Except then I got injured for 6 weeks. And then I had to start from scratch with one mile runs. And I had to give up my 50 mile debut that I had waited an entire year to run. And it certainly stung a little when I got this automated email later on in the day:


 Boo hiss.

Truth be told I didn't really care too much on Saturday about the fact that I wasn't trudging up and down hills and wading through stream crossings. Instead of sulking at that post at 5 am, I got my butt out of bed, hit up the river path near my house and had myself a nice little run. Then I got on a bus to New York and had another fitting for my wedding dress, and then I hung out with my sister all afternoon before catching a train back to Philly. A fair trade I'd say.

But this post is really not about how sort of sad I might have been to miss Saturday's race. This post is about the decision I made on Friday to NOT run the 20in24 Lone Ranger on July 14th. While a week ago I was all gung ho about it, I started to "notice" my shin on Thursday morning. I can't say it hurt or I was in pain, I just noticed it, versus the last month when it's not felt any different at all from my right shin or my knees or my quads.

At the reappearance of these feelings I sort of freaked out and got super sad. Not sad about the fact that I might need to take a few days off, but sad that this feeling might ruin my Lone Ranger race dreams. And then I thought about what exactly my Lone Ranger race dreams were. Long ago when I signed up they were to run for the whole 24 hours and to hit between 75-100 miles. Do I really think I could still pull that off in six weeks? Definitely no.

Secondarily, after I got injured I vowed not to follow a training plan for awhile. But truthfully I sort of have been. I don't really want to run 20 miles the day before my wedding. And I don't want to worry about fitting in a long run on my honeymoon. And I don't want to have to rest on Mondays on Fridays. I just want to run.

So what did I feel after I finally made the decision not to do Lone Ranger? Relief, actually. Sure, I will be sad on the day of the event, but even if I were running, it was never going to be the race I originally wanted it to be and that would be disappointing. And if I couldn't run it the way I wanted, there's no sense in re-injuring myself to try and train for something I'm just not ready for.
Instead on July 14th I will run Midnight Madness, part of the same event, and a race I ran last year.

And then I'll race in the fall, and hopefully be in tip top long run shape again. For now, I'm going to enjoy my run-when-I-want-to lifestyle. Which meant that I happily embraced 6 miles on Saturday and 8 on Sunday instead of 12 and 10 like I had originally planned. No disappointments, just happy miles. And which means today after work I'll go out for a nice jog. Even though it's Monday :)

May 2012 in Review

This month was so crazy that blogging had to take a back seat. What didn't take a back seat, however, was running! Yayyy.

Brussels Sprouts didn't take a back seat either. I think I ate them almost every day this month!

Mileage Recap

A year ago - May 2011: 96.99
This year -
January: 181.21
February: 86.84
March: 6
April: 89.59
May: 128.43

Cross Training Recap

117.35 miles road cycling
4000 m swam
2 spin classes
6 Pilates classes
6 Xtend Barre classes

What went well

All in all May was a pretty fantastic month. I felt great at my first big-ish comeback race since injury.
I solidified my fall race plans. I got through moving day and enjoyed some new routes. And I'm even starting to get a little more accustomed to my new commute!

What didn't go well

I would say that I'm still a little frustrated at my pace of my runs. They are slower than ever. I know that speed doesn't need to play a huge part in things, especially since I'm into ultras, but it would be nice to feel a little quicker sometimes!

June 2012 goals

With the Lone Ranger almost six weeks away it's time to get busy with the long runs (or as busy as I can without re-injuring myself). This means back-to-back long runs are in full swing. For the past month I've run 10 miles every Sunday and slowly started to add single digit miles on Saturdays. This weekend I hope to get in double digits both days and just continue on from there. At some point (err...possibly wedding weekend unfortunately), I need to get in a 20 mile/10 mile back-to-back.

Other things happening:

1) Finish all my wedding things
2) Prep for honeymoon
3) Get married on June 17th!
4) Enjoy my two weeks vacation!

Do you have a big summer race coming up?

Looking Ahead: Fall 2012 Race Plans

At the end of last year I posted a tentative 2012 race calendar that had all sorts of crazy stuff going on in the fall, like 2-3 marathons and 1-2 50 milers. Like I said, crazy. After my injury however, I'm realizing that less may be more...at least for now.

It's about that time of year when fall registrations open up (if they haven't already) and you've got to decide if you want to bite the bullet or miss getting your spot. After a few days of going back and forth, I decided to withdraw my name from the New York Marathon lottery. Let's face it, the odds were most likely not ever in my favor anyway. But if they were, then there were two things that I would be sacrificing:

1) 255 precious dollars
2) Running the JFK 50, which is two weeks later

Not to say that I couldn't run New York and JFK, but if I'm going to drop the big bucks on NYC then I want to race, not tiptoe along 26.2 miles because I should actually be one week into a three week taper for a 50 mile race.

So, all that aside, here's how the fall is shaping up:

September 8: Tough Mudder Mid-Atlantic
Mike's pick. I don't really care for purposefully excessive amounts of mud and obstacles that are strategically placed in the way of my 12 mile run, but he's really into it, and now we have seven people on the team, so it might be cool.

Who needs a Tough Mudder when you've got rainy day trails to run on?

September 22-23: Ragnar Relay DC
Still a work in progress. If anyone is interested in joining a team, please let me know! The last Ragnar I did knocked my socks off and I got to hang out with a bunch of assume strangers who became my friends. If you've never done one, I highly recommend!

October 13: Baltimore Marathon
I really wanted to do a road marathon this fall, but since the timing of New York was not ideal, I opted for Baltimore instead. We have lots of friends and family in the vicinity so travel wise it will be a cinch. The only con: the freaking hills!

At least miles 3-10 will be nice

November 17: JFK 50
Cost me $50 less than New York and it's twice the distance. A deal you cannot beat! It will also fall on the anniversary of my first marathon last year, so that's pretty nice too. I may have lost the opporunity to run 50 miles this spring, but come fall it's all mine!

I actually had to hand mail my entry for JFK and instead of an email confirmation I got this. So old fashioned!

Anyone else doing any of these races? Want to join my relay team?!

The Next Big Thing & The Non-Plan Training Plan

The Next Big Thing

For six weeks I completely stopped looking at any and all races and training plans. Frankly it was just too depressing to think about. But as I begin to transition from injured runner to actually-running runner, I am starting to look at my race schedule again. After scrapping my plans for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Miler on June 2nd I'm left to look ahead to the next big thing on my calendar: The 20in24 Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon.

At last year's 20in24 Midnight Madness

This race is something that I absolutely do not want to give up for three main reasons:

1) It's a 24-hour race, so really whether I can only run 10 miles by that point or 100 (ha!), I'm still going to do some portion of the race. The registration shall not  be wasted!

2) The 8.4 mile loop course is one that I run all the time. It's flat. It's on pavement. I could run it in my sleep (and most likely will during the night portion of the race). No steep hills or rocky trails to contend with. No surprises.

3) It's in mid-July, thereby giving me an extra 1.5 months past when the 50-miler was going to be. So, I now have 3.5 months to get in gear and prepare for "the next big thing."

The Non-Plan Training Plan

15 weeks. That's what I got. I have no idea how many miles I want to try and run during the race yet and I have absolutely no intention of writing any sort of training plan. Training plans are the whole reason I'm in this mess to begin with. Hopefully I have not lost too much running endurance in the last six weeks since I've been keeping up cross training 5-ish days a week. I'm just going to take it day by day and then week by week, maybe plotting things out just 7 days in advance. Who knows, maybe I will never use a training plan again!

The point is - until I can trust myself again to make ME the number one priority and not what it says on a piece of paper, I will not be using any sort of plan.

Tell me - Do you always have a training plan in place? Or do you run by feel?

Taking the Pressure Off

Yesterday it was 70 degrees out for the first time in months. The perfect, perfect day for a run. I wanted to run oh so badly, but I practiced self-disciplined. I didn't run.

Instead I went home after work, threw on shorts and my favorite Nike pullover, the one I would instinctively reach for in the dark for early morning runs, stepped out of my apartment building and walked 3 miles. In some ways I consider yesterday's walk to be more of an accomplishment than running the marathon. It required far more self-discipline. But you do have to walk before you can run I suppose.

I walked to the bike path, the same path I've cursed so many times for being so boring. Except this time it wasn't boring. It was fantastic. I've missed it so much.

I walked slowly and cautiously. Previous to yesterday the only walking I have really been doing for the past 3+ weeks has been from my living room to my bedroom or my office desk to the mail room. I have been trying not to put any pressure on my shins. The walk was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I experienced no pain other than a few minor blimps here and there at the beginning. I could feel my legs getting stonger with each step. Progress!

I also began to break in my new Kinvara 2s. They feel as good as they look.

But on to the main point of this post - taking the pressure off.

Really, taking the pressure off of myself. If there is one thing about myself that I am certain, it's that if it's on my calendar or on my training plan it may as well be etched in stone. I will do practically anything to hit my goal.

Knowing this, for now, in order to protect myself, I need to remove the goal. This means that I will not be running the North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Miler in DC on June 2nd. While I have mourned the loss of this over the past week or two as it began to sink in, at this point I am past it. Because the thing is that life doesn't end on June 2nd. There will be a June 3rd, and a June 4th, and then it will be July and August, and then the fall, and then 2013. Life goes on and so will I.

For now the June 2nd race is a "North Face Endurance Challenge Distance TBD." They have a marathon and 50k and I hope to be able to participate in one of those distances. Yes, a marathon is still a reasonably difficult distance, but it's half as much as I originally planned to do, so I think I could be okay.

I also emailed the race director for the Trail Triple Marathon at the end of April to see if I could switch to the half. I even held myself back from registering from Marine Corps this week (thank god it sold out in two hours to remove the temptation), which would be a problem if I did happen to get into NYCM. Some day I'd love to run two marathons in two weekends, but this year is not the year.

For now, the only goal is to get back to running. Races or no races, it doesn't matter. There is always the future.