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!

Is It Worth It?

I've been doing a lot of thinking since running JFK two and a half weeks ago. I'm still dealing with knee pain. I tried running 3 miles on Monday and it started to ache at mile 2.5. I biked to work on Monday and Tuesday, which I think was good and bad. Good because I felt like my quads were getting stronger. Bad because bending the knee that much doesn't help anything. This morning I tried to run again, felt pain around mile 2, gave up a half mile later and walked home sulking.

The thinking I have been doing is about whether or not I really want to continue running ultras. Well, I want to do them, but I'm just not sure I want to deal with the aftermath. On the one hand its nice to have a goal race to train for and who knows how many miles I would really put down every week if I didn't have a 50 mile race looming in the back of my mind. On the other hand, in exchange for running so many miles in one day I have to give up miles on other days.

I love to run. I would run at least 10 miles every day if I could. The problem with loving to run so much, however, is that when I have to back off of running because of that big goal race it makes me hate that big goal race.

Other than laying down 50 miles in a single day on November 17th, I feel like I haven't really run much since October. Between a three week taper, which I hated, and the almost three weeks I've spent recovering/injured, which was okay at first but now officially sucks, I've lost a month a half because of JFK.

What would I really prefer to have? 6 weeks of regular running back in my life? Or a challenging race completed and checked off my list? Truthfully I don't know. I love challenging myself with ultras, but right now, honestly, I just rather be running.

Sidenote: This post will probably be completely null and void as soon as I'm uninjured and start wanting to feel like a badass again who runs 50 miles.

November 2012 in Review

11 months down, one to go!

Mileage Recap

A year ago - November 2011: 148

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: 270.09

November 2012: 152.91

Interesting thing #1: I ran more miles this November than last November even though this month I only ran 17 times and last year I ran 21 times.

Interesting thing #2: A third of this month's mileage was done in a single day. Crazy.

Cross Training Recap

109.55 miles road cycling
1 boxing class

A pathetic month of cycling for sure but for good reason! For one, its not worth putting the extra strain on my knees. Secondly, its freaking cold out man! Do you know what you don't do when you cycle? Warm up. 30 degrees, no thank you.

I finally had the energy to go back to boxing. I went three days before JFK, which meant that I was monumentally sore the next day and even still a bit sore at the starting line. I think I needed the extra core strength though.

What went well

Um duh, I ran 50 freaking miles! Looking back JFK still seems so surreal, like an out of body experience. I wish I could ingrain it in my memory more, but when I think about the last five months I start thinking less of the actual race day and more about all of the training miles I put in. That's where the work comes in. Waking up early 6 days a week to run in the summer humidity or the crisp fall breeze. Trudging through 20+ miles every weekend. Sure, I'm proud to have crossed the finish line, btu I'm also proud of the 20 weeks leading up to it.

What didn't go well

The knee thing. Luckily I have actually "enjoyed" not running much in the past two weeks. I put that in quotes because I'm actually not sure if I really don't care about not running or if I'm just too busy to care. I have a feeling that next week after I turn in some of my papers and have a breather that I will be dying to run again and be super dramatic if I can't.

The rest has been good though, both mentally and physically. Imagine if I trained for two big races a year and put in five months of training for each. That's 10 months a year in training. So a break is nice every so often and I appreciate not feeling like I have to get up and run at 5 am before work.

That said, I did run one whole pain free mile this morning. I diligently rested my knees all week. I even stopped crossing my legs when I sat down to remove any stress on the knee cap. I iced, I stretched, and adding quad strengthening exercises. All in all the knees feel good. Running one mile probably isn't enough to tell whether they are really good to go, but its a start!

December 2012 Goals

I've got nothing planned for December. Its wide open, which I really think I will like. I think I am going to start a new training cycle in January so I want to relax this month as much as possible. Goals are to:

• Continue resting when I feel my body needs it
• Core work, stretching, and PT exercises every night
• No specific mileage goals
• Start finalizing spring 2013 racing schedule
• Enjoy many holiday treats
• Get to the pool
• Go to a yoga class

The Run When I Felt Invincible

It was exactly two years ago this Thanksgiving that I went out for a run in DC and ran 4.6 miles - the farthest I had ever run. At that time I had been running 2-3 miles a few days a week for two months. I was still a brand new runner. For whatever reason Thanksgiving Day seemed like the perfect time to try and break the 3 mile barrier. I remember feeling challenged, but even more so I remember feeling liberated. Like I was breaking through my own body's expectations. Going outside the box. Pushing my body and mind and enjoying the hell out of every second of it. A part of me felt like I could run forever.

Very few runs have left a smile on my face that big and on that day a very tiny seed was planted. A seed that a few days later lead me online looking for half marathons in the spring. Before that I had never had any desire to race or run any longer distances. I guess you could say that November 25, 2010 was the day the crazy started.

Last year a few days before Thanksgiving I ran my first marathon in Philly. This year, I entered the same holiday having just completed a 50 mile race. Lately its been easy for me to lose sight of the meaning a single mile can have. My perception has changed. The mileage bar has been increasing. But regardless of whether you're breaking through your 3 mile wall or your 50 mile wall, the overwhelming feeling of pride and satisfaction is the same. You did this. You succeeded. You finished.

I've got some big plans for 2013 and I look forward to this time next year when I can look back and remember where it all started.

Run long and be merry my friends!

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?

The Pattern Revealed: JFK 50 Recap

The Pattern:

A year and a half ago I was training for my first half marathon and it couldn't have gone better. On race day I was on target to meet my sub-2 hour goal until I hit the last 0.5 mile, which ended up being a monster hill and I just couldn't handle it. I finished, but behind schedule. Six months later I ran my first full marathon. Again, near perfect training, but that didn't stop me from developing an odd quad cramp at mile 7 (mile 7 man!) that again ruined my time goal. So I really shouldn't have been surprised when things didn't go exactly according to plan for my first 50 mile race. The first time is, apparently, never the charm.

The Recap:

My sister, husband, and I drove down to western Maryland from Philly on Friday afternoon, picked up my packet, checked into our hotel, and got dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant. Miso soup, avocado rolls, and salmon teriyaki is just what I needed.

I slept surprisingly well and woke up on my own around 4 am, feeling a little anxious, but still not nervous. I ate a banana and bagel with jam and we were out the door. My race day outfit had been pretty cemented, but when we walked outside the hotel and saw frost I was having second thoughts. We drove to Boonsboro High School for the pre-race meeting and I put on a warmer zip up with plans to change into my lighter long sleeve later in the day.

Me and Caitlin at the start line

We walked the half mile or so to the start line and then I began looking for Abbi and Alyssa. I found Abbi pretty quickly and we were mid-conversation when the starting gun went off and all of a sudden we were running.

Abbi and I starting the race

The race is split into three segments: 15.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail, 26.3 miles on the C&O, and 8.4 miles on the roads. We had a steady 2+ mile climb to get to the AT. The cold temperature kept me moving pretty steadily and I only walked once or twice near the top because I feared I was going out to fast. This is also about the time I lost Abbi in the crowd. It felt good to finally get on the trail and it didn't seem any rockier than the trail I had been running on near my house.

At mile 3 something we hit a paved section in the woods. If you want to see a picture of this hill check out Alyssa's recap. Not a single person was running this part and I was leaning over my things trying to catch my breath. After I reached the top and got back on the trail there was a lovely gentleman telling us that we were at mile 5.3, which may not seem like a big deal in a 50 mile race, but I remembered from the elevation map that we peaked around mile 5 so I was happy to know that the hilly part was pretty much over.

I was bounding through the woods at a pretty good pace, passing a lot of people, and feeling like a rock star. The 9.3 mile aid station came in no time at all and then it was just a 10k to the Weverton, where we would exit the trail and I would see Mike and Caitlin again. 6 miles didn't seem bad at all, but the course got rockier and rockier and after I tripped a few times I sufficiently scared all of the confidence out of myself. I probably wouldn't have had as many issues if I had done more training on trails, but it was what it was.

It was around mile 10 that I also began noticing my right knee hurting a bit. I had first noticed it around mile 8 as I was bounding over logs and leading with my right leg. It began to bother me more so I tried to slow my pace and not tweak it anymore. The last two miles on the AT I thought were a real killer. The rocks were so sharp that even in my trail shoes my feet were aching. I kept almost twisting my ankle and I was near tears a few times because I was so frustrated. Finally I reached the famous switchbacks and I could hear the crowd in Weverton. I was impatient to get to the bottom, but I had to keep it slow so I wouldn't break my neck.

If you love rocks, this trail is for you

I was so excited to see Mike and Caitlin. After a swig of Gatorade and some animal crackers I grabbed Mike and we were off to tackle the canal portion. I also took an Advil here, which is important to note because I never ever take pain medicine while running out of fear for my health. From here on out the plan was to just focus on getting to next aid station, which were spread 2.5-4 miles apart, and take something to eat and drink at every single one. It felt great to get on flat terrain and not have worry about constantly looking down to avoid the rocks.

We started going at a pretty decent pace. By mile 16 I realized how sore I actually was. How many 20 mile runs did I do in training and I'm sore by mile 16? What the hell!? We hit the next aid station at mile 18 and that's when I realized my knee might turn into a real problem. I had already been running about 10 miles on it with some discomfort, but it was clearly getting worse. We continued to run, stopping maybe every 10 minutes to walk for a minute, but I noticed that it starting hurting more to start running again, so I tried to keep running for as long as possible until I couldn't take it anymore. Mike was great about just talking my ear off and keeping me motivated, but around mile 23 I started to break down into tears a little bit. Soreness I can take, but the knee pain was becoming excruciating.

The next spectator/crew point was at mile 27. At that point I was feeling better since I knew I was over the halfway point and I had fewer hours of running left than I had already done. Mike and Caitlin were absolutely brilliant at this aid station. It was like Nascar. In 2 minutes they had my shoes switched along with my chip tag through my laces, my bib removed, my shirt changed, and my bib re-pinned.

Mike stopped pacing me here and Caitlin jumped on course. My spirits were immediately lifted since I hadn't seen my sister in a few months and I knew we had tons to catch up on. I told her about my knee and asked her to just talk to me. I felt much better for the next couple of miles, but by mile 34 I was deteriorating again. My mind was so wrapped around the physical pain that I felt much more exhausted than I think I should have been. I started slurring my words at one point and lost all energy to talk.

At mile 38 we saw Mike again and I took another Advil. My spirits were lifted slightly knowing that the canal portion was almost over. Oddly enough it wasn't the monotony of this section that killed me, but the focus on my knee. We reached mile 41.8 about 20 minutes after 3 pm, which meant we had to wear the so-called "vests of shame." It didn't really bother me to wear it. I rather not be hit by a car if I was going to be out after dark.

There was a good sized hill getting off the canal that we walked up, but after that so called "scary" rolling hills were a piece of cake and we ran all of them. Out of the entire race I felt my best during these last 8 miles. My knee pain was by no means gone, but knowing I had single digits left plus the fact that now my whole body was in pain which made the knee stand out less, made getting through it a little easier.

At mile 44 a girl caught up to Caitlin and I and it turned out to be Alyssa! I was so so happy to see her! I knew we had similar time goals going into this race, but since I hadn't seen her on the canal I figured we wouldn't end up getting together. Caitlin left me at the last crew access point at mile 46. I gave her and Mike a hug and then Alyssa and I headed off for the finish line. I think I would have been okay doing these last 4 miles on my own, but I wouldn't have turned down Alyssa's company in a million years. 30 minutes flew by and all of a sudden we saw the 1 mile marker. As we made the last right turn and heard the finish line crowd it was so surreal. Somehow I managed to sprint the last .1 miles and I flew across the finish line.

Final Stats: 9:53:15 - "A" goal success!

Alyssa and I flashing our gold medals - we also came in top 10 in our AG, which is pretty cool!

OMG I'm never getting up again

Before I wrap this thing all up let me just take a moment to say that Mike and Caitlin were by far the best crew/pacers I could have ever asked for. Without them I seriously question whether or not I would have even finished. I am forever grateful for their support.

I shed a lot of tears during this race, both happy and sad. I definitely did not expect to feel so physically challenged and it remains to be seen if I have caused any long term damage to my knee or if it will subside in a few days. What I do know is that I ran 40+ miles with what ranged from manageable to excruciating amounts of pain far worse than I've ever encountered over such long period of time. Truth be told I was hoping to come in with a sub-9:30 finish time and while I should be no means be disappointed (after all I did run 50 freaking miles) it was definitely not a perfect race day. 

And what does this mean? It means that the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to open up my computer and start looking at 50 mile races for the spring, because now I have something to beat. Bring. It. On. 

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!

JFK Taper: I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

I have not been using a training plan for JFK and most weeks have been made up on the spot. So far so good, until taper that is. Building up mileage is one thing, but figuring out how best to taper yourself so that 1) you haven't completely lost your endruance by race day and 2) you're raring to race and feel refreshed by race day - this is tough.

I started looking up training plans, reading books, stalking other bloggers, all in search of some sort of taper system that matches the rest of my training cycle. In the end I think I decided to do the following:

Week 1: Cut peak mileage by 30% = ~52 miles
Week 2: Cut week 1's mileage by 20% = ~41 miles
Week 3: Keep weekly mileage at 12 miles or less before race day

Now having completed week one I pretty much stuck with the plan. I ended up with 53.3 miles. Oops, a little over. I ran 10 trail miles on Saturday (terrifying by the way) and 15 regular old road miles on Sunday.

Every "training race" I had signed up for October actually had a direct connection to some part of the JFK course. The Baltimore Marathon was my rolling road hills (aka the last ~8 miles of JFK). The Delaware Canal 20-Miler was my monotonous long canal run (aka the middle ~26 miles of JFK on the C&O). And the FOTM 50k was supposed to be my trail practice (aka the first ~15 miles of JFK on the AT). Of course the one race I end up bailing on is the one I probably needed the most. I really want to love trails, but they just really don't love me.

I decided I needed to hit the trails at least once before JFK. I think the last time I ran them was July. Really not good considering 30% of JFK is trail terrain. It was weird to be back and they looked so different from the summer.



Yellow Trail - November

Yellow Trail - May

I had a terribly hard time navigating over slippery leaves and hidden rocks. I almost tripped twice and it freaked me out so much that I needed to pull over to the side of the trail and calm myself down (not surprising considering my recent history with tripping during a run - and that was on sidewalk!). All in all it was a good run, but I think I need to go back once more before race day. Otherwise I fear I will be complete basketcase on the AT.


I treated this week more like a cutback week and not a taper week. The next two weeks is where the taper will really heat up. I'm already sad that I'm only going to run around 40 miles this week. Hopefully that means at 7 am on November 17th I will be so siked to run that 50 miles will just fly right by (HA!).

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.

JFK Training: Week 17

The last big week! Can't believe its actually over. I went into this week thinking I would shoot for about 25 miles during the weekdays because I knew I had a 50 mile weekend. It turned out to be a good call, because I was super lazy and barely made 25 anyway. If I had been expecting more out of myself I would have been very disappointed.

Monday 10/22:

REST

After back-to-back 20s I was more than happy to take it easy. I made sure to eat as many bagels as possible to aid in faster recovery :)

Tuesday 10/23:

5.08 mile run
7.83 mile bike

I was happy to get on my bike Tuesday morning, but was also more than willing to take a ride home in the car with Mike. I waited until the evening to run to give myself that extra 12 hours of recovery time. My legs felt like I hadn't run in weeks. Score one for bouncing back!

Wednesday 10/24:

5.08 mile run
15.65 mile bike

Blah blah blah another 5 miles. Why is it so humid out?!

Thursday 10/25:

5.09 mile run AM
3.03 mile run PM

I ran 5 at lunch and only made out with 3 in the evening. My weakest double runs to date this training cycle. I just could not get the mental energy together this week.

Friday 10/26:

7.28 mile run
13.08 mile bike

I always end up pushing extra miles to Friday's run and I HATE it! I'm sure the last thing my body wants is a longer run on Friday right before a big mileage weekend, but since I just couldn't get it together earlier in the week I ended up with 7 miles on Friday morning.

After work Friday I rode downtown to my hair stylist's new salon. I would follow this woman anywhere. She is a rockstar. I was eager to chop a few inches off (who knows maybe it will make me run faster).

Saturday 10/27:

20.01 mile run

This was a weird weekend. Usually I start on Saturday feeling great and my body and mind slowly deteriorate so that Sunday's run is always less pleasant. This weekend I felt the opposite. I had no desire to run 20 miles on Saturday morning. Even though Mike and I had decided not to run FOTM on Sunday, that didn't mean I was getting a pass on my 30 miles. I think mentally knowing I still had to run 30 on Sunday made Saturday that much harder.

I had a route all planned out, but about 4 miles in I decided to scrap it and just make one up to give it some more spice. After what felt like forever I returned home to find that I only ran 15 miles. Color me pissed! I refueled and unhappily headed out for 5 more. Then I drowned my sorrows in cupcakes and tried not to think about Sunday.

Sunday 10/28:

30.07 mile run

Despite my craptastic Saturday run, I woke up feeling slightly more positive about Sunday's. Perhaps it was knowing that in 12 hours or less I would officially be tapering and the hard work would be done. It always helps when you have the finish line in sight, right?

In order to make 30 local miles more bearable Mike and I decided to journey to the new-to-us Pennypack Park about 30 minutes away. I was thrilled that Mike still wanted to run with me even though we wouldn't be racing and he ran a marathon two weeks ago. I freaking love that man.

A match made in heaven crazy town 

When we arrived at the park a half marathon was just beginning. We ended up running with them on the bike path for the first 6.5 miles. It was kind of nice to have others around, but I also felt like I was getting caught up with the "racing vibe." So NOT what my body needed considering my mileage expectations for the day. The run went much better than Saturday mentally and physically. Its a wonder what new scenery can do.

When I first mapped the run it was about 22 miles and then I knew I'd do the other 8 around my house afterwards. Everything was going according to plan until we neared the Delaware and found the gate on the bike path locked! I had no idea how many miles just got unintentionally cut out of our run, but I was not happy about it.

Well I guess that part is out. Thanks a lot Philadelphia park system!

By the time we got back to the car I was feeling pretty sore, but I felt confident that I only had another 9 or so miles to get through. Like a bad dream from Saturday, I returned home to find we had only run 19 miles. I was nearly in tears. I had no desire to run 11 more miles. Double digits seemed impossible. But I bucked up, refueled, mapped a new run, grabbed my music, and hit the road.

Amazingly, and in accordance with this weekend's ongoing trend, my last run was even better than the previous one. Maybe it was knowing that I was nearing the end. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the rain. Whatever it was, I felt pretty zen and my legs felt great until the last mile or two.

Week 17 Totals

75.64 miles running

36.56 miles biking

I'm thrilled to be closing out this training cycle with 75 mpw, numbers I honestly never thought I'd see. I had already planned to take Monday off of work to recover, but fate decided I should get two days off and sent a hurricane to cancel work and classes through Tuesday. 

Stay safe everyone and happy training! :)

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?

Ragnar Relay DC Recap

How do you sum up a 30 hour race? With a ridiculously long post!

There are few times in my life when I think I've actually not slept multiple days in a row. I got some sleep at Ragnar PA last year, but this year's DC race takes the cake for least sleep ever.

Thursday morning we were up at 5 am to take the dogs to the boarders and head to work. Fast forward to Thursday evening. The van has been rented, the bags are packed, three teammates have been picked up and we are on the road at 9 pm headed to Rocky Gap State Park in Cumberland, MD.

Now being in van #2 we totally could have slept at home Thursday night, woke up at a decent hour, and headed right for exchange 6 on Friday morning, but as captain I wanted to be at the start line. Also, we had one person with us in van #1, so they kind of needed to be at the start line too.

As would be the theme of the next two days, I felt compeled to stay awake in the passenger seat while Mike drove. We pulled into the campsite at 1 am, popped open the tent, and attempted to sleep six hours or so. Unfortunately it was freezing cold, and Mike and I were awkwardly trying to share one sleeping bag. No deal.

*Sleep count: ~3 hours

Foggy morning start line

The team

At 8 am we met our fellow teammates at the start line, conveniently in the same park we camped in, decorated vans, cheered our first runner on, and then it was time to go!

Pay attention to our parrot..

Pirates of the Caravan! Argh!

Start line

Would totally come back to this park to camp again...if it wasn't a 4 hour drive

What remained of our parrot friend after not more than five minutes of driving on the highway :(

We had a few hours to kill before our van was up, so we got breakfast, hit up a Walmart for supplies, and eventually made our way to exchange 6. Around 2:30 pm our first van #2 runner finally got going.

Van #1 hands off to van #2

Using the flags like a pro



Leg #1: 9.4 miles, Very Hard, 445 ft gain

Finally around 6:30 pm it came my turn to run and I was amped up and ready to go. Our team had been amazingly keeping pace with our orginally projected goal time, so I felt a lot of pressure to be speedy. On our leg breakdown I was listed as finishing this 9.4 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes. Umm, way faster than I've been running lately.



Waiting to run and foam rolling

Runner #10 handed off the slap bracelet I took off. Fortunately the weather was quite pleasant by that time of day; cool and just a bit humid. My entire leg was on the Western Rail Trail and the C&O Canal, which meant I wouldn't be seeing my van again until the exchange.

Within 3 minutes of running the girl behind me told me that my LED wasn't on. Turns out the batteries had died. Awesome. Not even a mile into my first leg and I'm already breaking rules. After a mile I made it to the Western Rail Trail. I had been really excited for this leg because it sounded beautiful. Turns out its a paved bike path, not a trail, and its on the side of the highway with a thin/sometimes-not-even-there tree line. I just love hearing and seeing tractor trailers driving by on my run.

There were mile markers on the bike path and I realized I was actually running an 8:30 pace, right on target. It felt challenging, but comfortable. Around mile 6.5 the route switched onto the C&O Canal. It was really pretty and the highway disappeared and gave way to the canal. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it too much because the sun also set at this time. The trail felt good under my feet, but I was terrified on tripping. Luckily there were two runners ahead of me and I tried to use them as a guide.

Finally the C&O ended and I saw the "One Mile to Go" sign. I was immediately disappointed because according to my watch I was more than a few minutes behind goal time even though I had appeared to be keeping pace. Luckily (or frustratingly), I did not have one mile to go, but much less. They probably just threw that sign there because it was on a corner and more convenient then treking down the C&O.

Leg #1 final time: 1:21:31. Right on schedule!

Our first van rotation finished up by 9 pm. We decided to head right for the next big exchange to see if we could get some shut eye. One of the major contributers to my lack of sleep was the fact that for each rotation Van #1 consistantly ran about 30 miles total, and our van was running about 40 miles total. Hence, they were out running for much less time than us, meaning we had less time to sleep. I tried to curl into the sleeping bag around 11 pm and sleep for two hours. Again, cold, uncomfortable, and pretty unsuccessful.

*Sleep count: ~4 hours

Leg #2: 9.1 miles, Very Hard, 978 ft gain
Leg #3: 9.6 miles, Very Hard, 542 ft gain

At 1 am it was our van's turn again. At 5 am, coincidentally when I would normally be running on a Saturday, my leg was up. Sally and I decided to pace each other like we did last year in PA. The benefits of this are threefold: 1) Rack up more miles (good for JFK training), 2) Don't have to run in the dark alone, 3) Time/miles fly by when you're chatting.

Waiting to go

The first leg of our double was through Sugar Loaf Mountain. It ended up being on a fine gravel trail. The road was super thin and the vans had to drive by us so that we often ended up walking (out of fear of twisting an ankle) through the ditch on the side of the road in order not to get hit. It was frustrating because we ended up taking much longer than I would have liked.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, we reached the next exchange. I chugged some Gatorade, ate two Fig Newtons, and headed out with Sally again. By this time the sun was coming up and we had rolling hills and beautiful views. Sally started experiencing some terrible GI issues so at mile 4.5 of this leg she hopped into our van. I was more than happy to continue on and finish up on my own. I really tried to push the pace at this point. That worked for about 2 miles and then my legs remembered that they had already run 15 miles this morning plus 10 last night and they were not having it.

OMG pain

Leg #2 and Leg #3 final time: Eternity

We had another few hours to kill, but now that the sun was up I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep. We headed to the next big exchange, which was right outside of DC. My mom came to meet us and we had bagels. It was great to see her and she kept my mind busy until it was time for us to go again around 1 pm.

Leg #4: 3.7 miles, Easy, 82 ft gain

You know what feels good? Seeing a "One Mile to Go" sign after 2 something miles instead of 8 something miles (as I did for my first three legs). I was blowing kisses at it.

Off I go

First thoughts as I took off on my last leg: OMG my quads are killing me! Exhaustion and soreness were setting in. I don't have any idea how I kept going. Somehow I bested a 10 minute mile.

Leg #4 final time: 35:43

Final Ragnar mileage: 31.8

Our team finally finished around 5:30 pm, two hours after projected finish time. Oh well. I'm never in these relays to race anyway. They are all about fun!

Mike, myself, Sally, and our other Philly runner Chris left right away to head home. I felt bad not to hang out with the rest of the team, but I was running on 4 hours of sleep over 60 hours. If I didn't get home soon I thought I might lose it. We stopped for a quick dinner and got on the road. I offered to drive, which was good because Mike started slurring actual nonsense and drifting in and out of sleep. I actually had to stop for some candy and a 5 hour energy drink because I thought I was going to fall asleep at the wheel. We finally dropped everyone off and crawled into bed around 1 am. I don't think I've ever fallen asleep so fast in my life!

JFK Training: Week 1

I probably won't recap every week of training, but since it was an especially good week and this is the beginning of what I hope will be an especially challenging, but rewarding training cycle, I thought why not!

When I last left you I was coming off of a two week Honeymoon. While vacation is great, after 14 days of much less exercise than normal and much more food intake, I was more than ready to hit the sweat and start working out again last Monday. No better time to start a training cycle I guess. Here is how the week played out:

Monday 7/2:

17 mile bike
1000 m swim
55 minutes Xtend Barre DVD

I was a little surprised at how much I missed biking to work and I could hardly contain my excitement Monday morning. I've really come to enjoy my 30 minute rides. It's my own personal zen time right before and after work.

Source

After work I tried out my new Xtend Barre DVD. I was doing a lot of Xtend Barre leading up to my wedding, but my intro package is now over and I don't know if I really want to throw down $20+ a class. The DVD includes a lot of the same workouts as the class. There were a few that I thought weren't very effective for me, but overall it's not a bad workout. And you definitely can't beat the price!

Tuesday 7/3:

6 mile run
17 mile bike
45 minutes Mixed Mat Pilates

I woke up feeling relatively sore from Xtend Barre the day before, which is a good sign (and makes me want to do the DVD again). I headed out for a quick run and then signed up for a last minute Mat Pilates class. It's amazing how much core strength I lost in just the two and a half weeks since my last class. Super tough, but super great feeling afterwards!

Wednesday 7/4:

10 mile run

Mike and I started 4th of July with a 10 mile run. We didn't end up leaving until 9 am. which was a huge mistake as it was already boiling hot outside. To make the run seem shorter I split it up into a 6 mile loop on the trails and a 4 mile loop on the tow path, passing by our house in between. That way it would only feel like 3 miles out and back and then 2 miles out and back.

6 on the trails, 4 on the tow path

Despite these efforts, however, it was still a positively awful run. I seriously did not enjoy a single second of it, and the whole time it had me questioning my ability to run 50 miles in the fall. But, hey, those runs happen, and you just have to realize that they won't all be good. So suck it up and push through!


So happy that damn run is over! Now let's celebrate!

Thursday 7/5:

16 mile bike
60 minute boxing class

Thursday morning I did something that I haven't done since September: boxing!!

Mike and I feel in love with boxing in January 2011, but we stopped going in September because commuting up to the studio became inconvenient once graduate school started. Now that we are much closer, we were stoked to start going again after vacation. I was absolutely terrified that I wouldn't remember all of the moves and wasn't physically fit enough to get through the class. Fortunately muscle memory is a beautiful thing and I shadow boxed my way through the warm up with no problem. It was a tough, tough class that left me sore until Saturday, but I loved every second of it. Can't wait to go back this week!

Friday 7/6:

6 mile run
16 mile bike

After work on Friday Mike and I went to our local bike store and I finally bought clip in shoes. Mike has been praising his, and I was eager to get some to make my commute feel a little easier. By the time we got home I was completely addicted to them and thought about them for the rest of the weekened.

Saturday 7/7:

15 mile run

I don't think I successfully got up early a single time last summer for any of my long runs, which is why Saturday was particularly amazing, since I was out of bed and brushing my teeth by 4:30 am. With tempertures expected to hit the 100s, I was not gonig to take a chance and leave 15 miles for 9 am. Even though I was out the door by 4:50, however, it was still really hot and humid out!

81 degrees should be the HIGH, not the low!

It was sort of miserable, but far better than it would have been had I waited. After all, I was done and back home by 7:30.

Poor Sophie could barely make it through her walks on Saturday with the heat

Sunday 7/8:

8 mile run
21 mile bike

I really had no intention of biking on Sunday, but my clip ins were calling to me, so I convinced Mike to try out a route we tried in the fall (posted about here). This route is ever so politely referred to as the "F*cked Up Hills" route in my mapmyrun catalog.

In the fall I managed to get through it on my hybrid with quite a bit of defeat and walking. Happily, between the road bike, the clip ins, and some certainly stronger "bike legs" I made it up every hill with the exception of the beast around mile 5.


The picture really does not do it justice


Five hours after the ride we both managed to get out the door for an 8 mile run. My legs felt surprisingly fresh after all of the miles I put them through during the weekend.

Week 1 Totals:

45 miles running

87 miles biking

1000 m swimming

3 fitness classses

I think it's safe to say I feel back to normal after vacation!

Did you start training for your fall races yet? How was your week?!