First day of marathon training

I would definitely consider today, my first day of marathon training, a success.  Mainly because it actually happened.  I got up when my alarm went off and actually went running.  Granted, it was at the gym on a treadmill because the thought of running in the dark, cold, and rain was quite unappealing, but I ran 3 miles. 

My recent running has been limited to Saturdays only due to my major reluctance to do anything besides turn off my alarm and go back to sleep on Monday through Friday.

So realizing my biggest challenge is going to be my daily battle with the alarm clock, today was a triumph! 

March Half?

Do you have a ½ scheduled for March yet?  According to my marathon training plan, I should do one the weekend of 3/23 so I Googled, and there is one called the Dizzy Daze (also a full marathon, 50k and 100k).  The slogan is “all the pain and suffering of an ultra, without the annoying change in scenery!”  The course is the outer running loop around Green Lake in Seattle, so for the ½ marathon, you run 4 loops plus a short out-and-back.  (FYI, for the 100k you run 19 laps...)

I like how this race is very local and loco at the same time.  J

North Olympic Discovery Marathon

North Olympic Discovery Marathon 

Officially registered for the full marathon.  Excited and slighty sick to my stomach at the same time...  No backing out now!  :-)

Need a little boost?

Since I started running on a regular basis, I began looking at things a little differently.  Shoes, clothes, the streets I drive on daily basis and of course the food I eat.  Running was a great start to a healthier life, but I knew that I would need to be just as disciplined about the foods that I eat.

Including more vegetables and salads in my lunches and dinners was the easy part.  It was the snacks that I would reach for throughout the day that seemed to be my downfall.  I needed something better tasting and more nutritious than the store bought granola bars that filled the cupboards of the break room in my office.  It wasn’t until my wife told me for the 100^th time, maybe even the 1000^th time, how great this website “Pinterest” is.  ‘You can find anything” she would tell me.  To me, that was a challenge.  I explained to her my dilemma of the of my mid day hunger games and told her that if this “pin something or other” website was so good, then this should be the place to find the solution for dilemma.  As she usually does, my wonderful wife of 9+ years comes through once again.  Alas, a delectable, no bake energy bite that is simple to make and hard to stop eating.  Packed with flavor and natural ingredients, how could this go wrong?  It can’t!  Try it for yourself.

·         1 cup (dry) oatmeal 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup ground flaxseed 1/3 cup honey 1 tsp. Vanilla

·         Mix ingredients in a large bowl.  Add more honey if needed to make ingredients stick together better

·         Chill for at least 2 hours in refrigerator

·         Pull from fridge and roll a spoonful of the mix in your hands to shape

This is also a recipe that is fun to experiment with too.  Swap out the chocolate chips for raisins or dried cranberries.  Instead of rolling the bites into golf ball shapes, pack the ingredients into a square dish after mixing, chill, then cut into bite sized squares.

I can’t say that eating a couple of these peanut butter bites will give you the energy equal to a cup of coffee or that by eating one of these, you will be able to set new world records.  I can tell you however, these bites are tasty and for me, they are the perfect solution to that rumble in my tum tum.

Enjoy!

Joiners!

My neighbor, Dolly, was leaving for work as I got home from work today.  I told her about the Seattle 1/2 and the Resolution Run 1/2 and she said "Count me in for both!!!" 

Another running monster has been created!  Mwaaaahaaaahaaaa!!!  <maniacle laughter>  :-)

I think Jessica said she's running the Seattle Half.  She has run it maybe 5 or 6 times now and says it is her nemesis.  All she wants is to run it and feel GOOD afterwards, just once.  (She said she's usually miserable because of cold, rain, etc, etc, etc...)  Doesn't make me feel any better about running it, but it gives me my next event to train for!   

Running Tomorrow

Running clothes - check
Head lamp - check
Reflective jacket - check
Gloves & ear warmers - check
Weather forecast - check
3 mile course - check
Pepper spray - double check!

It's 9pm and I'm in bed, ready for sleep.  My alarm is set for 5:50am.  I have no excuses now!!!  :-)

In a Fog

Still on a high from my successful finish in Denver, it’s back to the training plan in preparation for Poulsbo.  The race is less than 2 weeks away!

With a brighter headlamp and the normal reflective vest & can of pepper spray, I headed out for an early morning run.  Still with the startling image of the stranger covered up on the park bench, I left the IPod home this time.  Even though the skies were pitch black dark, they were surprisingly clear.  The stars and the moon were shining bright.

Changing up my route a bit, I went through the east end of my neighborhood to a different trailhead that connects to the lake trail.  Surrounded by the local industrial park and a large drainage ditch, my run started off with a half mile sprint.  Finally “out of the dark” and on the lake trail, it was smooth three-quarter mile run to the north end of the lake, skies still clear.  The return however……..

In a matter of just a couple of minutes, the fog rolled through socking my once clear path in the thick of it.  The fog being dense enough to make my visibility less than 5 feet and even worse, it reflected the light from my lamp back at me making my visibility that much more intense.  My heart rate was up not just from hitting mile 3, but also from not knowing who or what may be lurking just a few feet away from me.  Images of the stranger in the bench kept flashing through my mind.  

Sprinting the two miles through the fog, I was back in the clear skies and in the comfort of my neighborhood, completing a quick 6 mile run before 6am.  Not intending to do speed work this morning, it was still not a bad way to start of a Tuesday!  If there were loonies lurking in the fog, its best I didn’t know.

New Year's Resolutions

So while reading about the Resolution Run - which, by the way, sounds GREAT, so I'm totally in - I read a post from a guy who decided that he would run 365 miles in a year.  I thought to myself "What a neat idea.  I wonder how many miles that would be per week?" and proceeded to calculate them.  I will use the excuse that it is currently 3:22am, which explains my densely idiotic question...  365 days in a year...  7 days in a week...  DUHHHHHHH....  

Are You High?

Are you high?  Are you crazy? 

Those were the two most common questions I had been asked over the last several months when I would tell people that I am preparing for my first half marathon that will be in Denver.  For the most part, I would just laugh them off or simply answer with “YES!”

Four days since crossing the line of the Denver Rock & Roll Half Marathon, I guess you can say that I am still on a high.  With a respectable time of 2 hours and 19 minutes, an official PR has been set and my first running medal is proudly displayed.

Denver is an amazing city that is home to so much including teams in all four major sports and of course the unique mile high elevation.  The course was simply a tour of this wonderful city that was relatively flat with the exception of a climb early in the race that seemed daunting to the eye, but was smooth and steady taking runners from downtown proper west to one of the city’s largest parks.  The only other noticeable climb came at about mile 11.  It wasn’t until I realized my running had slowed to a stagger that I realized I was climbing.  It was enough to really separate the runners from the runner “wanna-be’s”.  The course took us through neighborhoods of old and new before passing the sparkling steps of the states capitol building and ending back where it all got started.

With one half marathon under my belt and time to beat, there is no time to sit too long.  The Poulsbo half is less than three weeks away.  Don’t worry Denver, you will always be my first and no one ever forgets their first time.

Speed Work of a Snail

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with my friend Jessica who is training for the NY Marathon, along with her sister, Amy, who is also the god-mother of my children.  We will be doing speed work at the local high school track, which in my case is an attempt at increasing my pace from that of a snail to that of a turtle. 

Having never done speed work before, I'm looking forward to this experience, and am relying on Jessica's knowledge to lead me through this first of what will hopefully be many-to-come speed work sessions (considering both Jessica and Jeff swear by them).  I expect at the end of an hour's training session to be as limp as a dishrag, and hope to have incurred a few battle wounds along the way over my newly discovered lightening speed, to which my legs will be entirely unaccustomed.

Watch out 2016 Olympics!  Here I come!  

Run Safe

With less than 2 weeks to go before my big race in Denver, the taper down has started.  Coming off a week that was finished with a strong run, one would think that this week would be a breeze in comparison.  Well, let’s say it’s been an interesting breeze week.
I’ve come to be known among my friends as the “one that runs with head lamp”.  Along with my reflective vest and the hand sized vile of pepper spray I carry, the head lamp is more of a sense of security as opposed to a way to see in the dark of 4:30am.  Not really feeling ambitious to start my taper week in the rain, I moved my early run from Monday to Tuesday.  As I started to find my rhythm that Tuesday morning, the strobe light attached to my hat picked something out of the darkness of the morning. 

On a park bench along the trail, I saw a pair of white heeled shoes attached to a small heap covered in a green poncho.  After a quick hesitation, a full on half mile sprint in the opposite direction ensued.  If I normally kept track of the time it took me to run to the gym, this run would have been rewarded with a new PR.  Not all was lost from this startling experience.  I ran a mile on the treadmill until I remembered why I hate treadmills.  I ultimately completed my run for the day by running circles in the gym. 

I always knew that a day like this may come.  It was bound to happen right.  So what’s next?  Continue what I do?  Maybe with a brighter light, a whistle in my sneakers that is sure to wake the neighbors?  Or maybe it’s time to take my running indoors.  To a treadmill?  No way!! If I must go inside, I’ll just have to wear an oval path around the gym.  I suppose there is the option of running in the evenings as my wife suggested.  A change in routine may not be a bad thing, but then again, why change from something that works already?

Whoever was on that park bench on Tuesday was still sitting there when I cautiously made my run home from the gym that morning.  I’m sure they had no intentions to harm anyone or anything, but I was not about to find out.  As for my routine, the good news is that I now have a couple of weeks to think about it and will see what it looks like after Denver. 

Here’s to running safe!

Time to Train

Over the last six months, I have been aggressively training for my first half marathon which will be later this month in Denver.  As with most people that start training for something, human nature kicked in and I have become a creature of habit when it comes to my training schedule.  Sunday is a rest day, Monday is an easy mid/long run (8-10 miles) at a slightly slower pace, Thursdays are for speed drills, Saturday s are the for the long distances (13+ miles) and the days in between are for strength training.

So what happens when the schedule gets interrupted?  Let’s face it, life happens right?  This last weekend, I surprised myself by taking the Labor Day weekend off from training.  For three days straight, my exercise consisted of walking from my hotel room, 100 feet through the sandy beach on the Oregon Coast, to my spot under the shady umbrella.  My normal hydration replaced by frosty ales as well.  No running, no weights, no huffing and puffing.  Needless to say that when I came back to reality on Tuesday, I knew I had some ground to make up and today it clicked.

I have made speed drills as part of my training for the last three months.  They help me with my endurance so that I can finish my runs stronger and also help me with my form.  This morning while I was in my resting jog between the first and second set, I realized that these are a great way to help either make up for lost time, or if you are in a pinch for time.

My sets consist of running ½ mile at a 5k pace 5 times with a 1 minute walk/jog in between each set (each ½ mile being 1 set).  By the time it’s all said and done, I’ve just run 2 ½ miles in less than 30 minutes and at a more exhausting energy rate than I get out of my Monday runs.  In the case of this morning’s workout, I still had time to run to the gym for a quick strength training session.  Essentially, I just made up for two lost days!

If you’ve been using the lack of time as an excuse to forego your training for the day, now there is no excuse.  Just go run!

Marathoning Dreams

Ahhh...  To run or not to run; that is the question.  Not really though, since a Marathon is not only on my bucket list, but it has a "to do" date of "before I turn 40" which is July of next year, so my options are limited as is my time to accomplish said goal. 

So I started working my training calendar backwards from the SeaFair Triathlon next summer (which is another baby step toward my bucket list item of "finish an Ironman without losing consciousness"), and decided that a realistic marathon date would be in April of 2013 if I give myself 12 weeks of training time for the Tri.  So after a quick Google search, I narrowed my options down to:
     1. The Nashville Rock & Roll Marathon, Nashville TN - my sister lives in Knoxville, TN
     2. The Eugene Marathon, Eugene OR - my sister-in-law lives in Eugene, OR
     3. The Widbey Island Marathon, Widbey Island WA - one of my best friends lives on Widbey Island

From there it became a question of finances. 
Option #1 would probably be most fun, but also most expensive, since it would include airfare, plus a hotel (since Knoxville is a 3 hour drive...), plus the R&R registration fee which is higher than most. 

Option #2 would be less costly since I could stay with my sister-in-law, but it would involve a very lengthy drive down and back (gas money + exhaustion).  Additionally, Eugene is famous for being home to some world class athletes so the thought of running with in their long-settled dust is intimidating, to say the least.

That brings me to Option #3.  It is basically local, I could stay overnight with my friend, and maybe, just maybe, I could see if Jeff wants to run the 1/2 marathon as part of his CRAZY "run a 1/2 every month for a year" scheme.  Granted, by the time I cross the finish line, he will have been able to take a shower, get a massage, drink 5 beers, and go karaoke.  But it would be fun to celebrate together his 8th consecutive month of "Halving" along with the completion of my first marathon.  I will stagger across the finish line and drink a beer, while he staggers from drinking his 6th beer after waiting so long for me to finish...

Half Marathoning...again

Today I ran the Labor Day 1/2 Marathon after having only trained for 5 weeks since my sprint distance Triathlon.  I set a PR at 2:13:01 - a hair over a consistent 10 minute mile pace.  My neighbor ran it also, this being her first ever 1/2 Marathon, and beat me by 5 minutes.  My friend Jessica also ran (she's training for the NY Marathon) and ran it in 1:40 or so.  She was at the finish line to cheer me on to the end, but her comment after I was done was "Ann, you shuffle!" 

I will admit that I have known I'm a "shuffler" if you will, but it had never crossed my mind that I could change that.  I started Googling "shuffling" and found out that many Ultra-marathoners use that method due to the fact that it is very efficient in conserving energy.  That makes sense if you're running 50+ miles, but my problem is that I shuffle even when running a 5k.  Argh. 

Time for more research to see if strength training, speed work, yoga, anything really, will help lengthen my gait and make me a faster yet still efficient runner.  The problem being that despite my shuffling, I'm still sore like you would not believe, and SUPER tired... 

My Maiden Voyage

So sad...  So very sad...  I put on my headlamp this morning in anticipation of the darkness, excited to be a dork running with headgear.  Walked out the door at 6:10am and realized there was no need for the extra illumination so I sadly removed it from my head and started out feeling a little deflated on not getting to emulate the great Jeffro in my AM running attire.  I made it about a quarter mile down the road when my left knee started yelling at me, reminding me that in my headlamp debate I had forgotten to put on my knee strap.  I quickly came to a limping halt, tried stretching (which really doesn't work on the knee issue, but hey, I was doing something) and ended up turning back around and limping home. 

I had enough time to put on the knee strap and head out again, but knowing I'm running the 1/2 on Monday, I thougth it wiser to just lay low for today. 

Short story made entirely too long, my "pop-the-cherry" (for wearing the headlamp) run was a major fiasco.  Nonetheless, I will attempt it again next week after the 1/2 marathon.  I shall prevail!!!   Mwaahahaaaa!!!

Losing my virginity

What just happened to my first ever post?  Clearly I'm new to this blogging thing!

Anyhoo...  What I was saying was that I'm planning a quick little 2 miler for tomorrow since I need to take it easy until the 1/2 marathon on Monday.  Unlike Jeff, I've never ran in the dark with a headlamp, so this will by my "pop-the-cherry" run.  He he he...