Week 18 - Holy moly, we are getting close

I'm a little freaked out that when I look at my training plan on the screen, I don't have to scroll to see 26.2. This means this marathon will be here before I know it.

Source

Training was overall good for the week, with a few modifications. Hubby's work schedule has gone haywire, so I fit in what I can. Overall, I gave up a cross-training day for sleep. 7 miles on the bike on Monday did feel great after 20 on Saturday. The plan called for 10 for the mid-week run. I stopped at 8 because the hip and knee started talking to me. (I am starting to listen to my body, finally). I also missed the speedwork due to hubby's schedule but squeezed in a quick 3 around my son's school before pickup AND I did runner's core workout when I got home. It's all about compromise sometimes.

The long run being 12 was a welcome relief. I had about 1.5 miles where I was by myself and purposefully did not catch up with the group in front of me. I was trying to stick to the slower pace on the plan (give myself a B- on that), so I spent some time thinking about what mental tricks I needed in my toolkit. I have to say that I relaxed, went MY pace and enjoyed the quiet. When I got to the SAG, I got a great compliment from one of the coaches on how relaxed and refreshed I looked. Exactly what I needed to here on a rollback week.

So all in all, a good relaxed week before another 20 miler. Oh boy and a foam roller! Hurts so good.

And we wrapped up the rest of my recovery week with a trip to Busch Gardens. Easy peasy walking and seeing the scary sites. Made this little guy happy.

I finally created a Facebook fan page but haven't had the time (or brain power) to figure out how to get it linked to my blog. I'm thinking it might be time to switch blog layouts to something more user friendly. So in the meantime, here's the link to Run Jilly Bean. Hint, hint, go there now and like my page. Pretty please!

 

Any advice on blog layouts/design? I'm still on blogger, and hate to convert since I don't have a lot of time to devote to it? What's easy and works for you?

Do you have a Facebook fan page? If so, leave me a comment so I can check it out.

Do you love or hate your foam roller?

 

Jilly Bean

Marathon Training - Week 13

Theme for the week: back in the groove. Almost!

Running miles: 20.5

Biking miles: 7 (hoping to get two sessions in next week, up for none the previous two weeks)

Core or yoga: Goose egg

This week's long run was much better than previous ones. Even if it was only 10 miles. I needed a good long run to mentally prep for next week's 18 miler. I need all the good mojo I can get.

All smiles, even if a lot sweaty. Because right after I showered, it was time for lunch, pedicures, and shopping as a pre-birthday celebration.

More to come on the birthday next.

 

Jilly Bean

A Virtual Half and Marathon Training - Week 9

The only thing worse than coming back from vacation is getting ready for vacation. I feel like I am running two weeks behind, and guess what, I am on anything that I didn't have to do before vacation.

So here goes.

The core workouts have become non-existent. And I miss them. Gotta figure out how to make it happen.

Cycling as cross-training has continued to be great.

And then I was scared to run 14 after last week's awesome run. Luckily, I met up with Emma from A Mom Runs This Town who is our local Moms Run This Town Chapter Leader. She coordinated the Running Mad Virtual Half/10k/5k for us. And she slowed down to run with me and two other girls for the half. Thanks Emma! I got there a little early to try to add up to 14 (ended up with 13.6, longest run to date). It was hot but doable, and we had Baker's Crust for breakfast.

I had to steal this photo from Emma of part of our crew.

And here's the cool stuff we got.

So glad to meet some new runners and have time to chat with friends while working out. Double bonus.

 

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Cherry Blossom Race

So, better late than never.

Do I look ready? I felt ready except I still didn't have a race strategy. And it was colder than I expected it to be.

 

Can you feel the cold? This was one of the few blooming trees we saw. I did see one cherry tree in bloom on the course, but I didn't stop to take a photo. Maybe a few more blooms would have distracted me a little more on the LONG second half.

But I digress. The race start was crowded beyond belief. I couldn't even get into my corral without considerable effort. I could see the 9:00 pacers but couldn't reach them. I thought I would catch up with them, but that didn't happen. They started all the corrals one right after another, so there was quite a bit of weaving and jumping over curbs for the first two miles. The scenery was gorgeous once we got going.

The back of the course along Hain's Point was windy and LONG. Are you hearing the theme? I didn't think I was ever going to see the turn-around point. But it finally came. I did like the extra touch of having the half mile markers at the end.

Oh, and the pacers, I passed them because they didn't carry the signs with them. Are you kidding me? I guess I was spoiled from the phenomenal pacers at Shamrock. So this race was much harder because I was doing the hard work of running and pacing. Oh, but I guess that's why I run races. No one promised it would be easy.

I did manage to have pretty consistent splits except for mile 2 where I was trying to get around people and find the pacers. Overall, I was very happy with my time. And yes, it was a cool morning.

All smiles at the end.

I had to throw this one in because the girl's face beside me cracks me up.

Loved the flags coming to the uphill finish. Have no idea what I was doing with my arms.

I will admit that the ITB was not happy with me, so I did find some ice and a new friend. Pam a teammate from Team Tough Chik, hence the fun team clothes.

And stick with me just a little bit longer. One of the cools things was the extra analysis they posted of your race. This was very cool for a tech nerd like me.

Overall, I'm glad I did this one, but can't say that I will be back any time soon to do it again.

 

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Long run catch up

My first 11 mile run weekend was a little chaotic thanks to a winter storm that blew through the mid-Atlantic. Thankfully the run was cancelled early Saturday morning due to snow and icy sidewalks. Very little off the beaten path gets cleared in our town. Not enough bad weather to need lots of snow equipment. Everyone usually waits for it to melt.

We the long run postponed until Sunday, a friend and I ventured out later on Saturday for our 4 mile recovery run a day early. The roads were fine, sidewalks were still iffy. The route was nuts, but good chatting time with a friend and 4 miles done. It takes out and back to a whole new level.

Fast forward to 9:30 on Sunday morning, and we were off to conquer 11 miles. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it was a tough run. It was an out with a loop and back down a long road where we were on sidewalks (not my favorite surface). The loop was through a park which had a great frozen pond, but I didn't think my running partners would appreciate the photo stop. I also forgot to restart my watch after a brief map checking stop, so I lost about 0.4 mile. And I want that 0.4 on the record.

I wasn't worried about pace. I just wanted to get it done, so I was pleasantly surprised on how close I was to a consistent pace. And I finished strong at the end. When we stopped, my first thought was "Snapalicious" to describe how my hamstrings felt. Glad it was done, and I knew I could have gone longer.

The next week is a roll-back week so I could rest a bit before ramping up to 12. Tell me why I want to do this again.

Oh yeah, to accomplish something new. And to push myself out of a comfort zone. Definitely pushed on this one.

 

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Things I love on or about a run

Janet Jackson old school music

2 black cats crossing my path (or maybe I don't really love that one)

Trees turning color

Amazing clouds

Finishing a run before it's dark


Ear buds that stay in place. Love the new Inspire by Yurbuds. (more detail later on those)

No rain

Husband whose first thought is for me to run

3.5/34:41/9:54 pace

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So tonight was supposed to be ...

a 2.5 mile walk or slow jog, but I just couldn't convince my legs or my brain. I was able to sneak out a few minutes early so I could squeeze in a run before needing to pick up Little Dude.

2.5 miles in 23:47. My fastest pace I think I've recorded yet. I finished right at Little Dude's school, so I picked him up and we walked home.

Love that kid's energy. But I gotta slow down.

 

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Longer run

Today's schedule called for 4 miles with "my ladies." Well that's what my 4 year old calls them. This was my first run with my running group for this training cycle.

It was a smaller group than normal and we quickly spread out across our different paces. One speedy girl took off with a coach on her heels. I fell in with a girl normally in our half-marathon group, but she has been out sick for over a week so she scaled back this week.

The pace was a little slower than I am used to, and it was good for me a little bit but I couldn't keep my cadence up at this pace. The first two miles were a minute slower than my regular pace.

One of the coaches caught up with my partner who was struggling at over two miles with a stuffy head. I went ahead at that point to get my cadence back on track. I finished strong with an uphill, and then some zig-zagging through the parking lot to get 4 miles (somehow the course was short or maybe I missed a turn). Wish I wasn't so OCD about exact mileage.

After some stretching and chit chat with the ladies, I headed to Starbucks to redeem my birthday drink. I splurged on an iced salted caramel mocha (skim milk with no whipped cream because even I couldn't take that much). Yum, but too sweet overall.

Then, my bestie took me to redeem a groupon for a massage (more delayed birthday celebrations). The massage was relaxing, but wish they room was warmer and he did more trigger point work. Next time!

We ended the morning/early afternoon with a pedicure. Spoiled, I know. Meanwhile, my boys were out on the trail. Hubby took little dude on his first mountain biking ride, and they had a blast.

I raced home to grab some fish tacos and watch some football. Unfortunately, both of my teams lost. Better luck next week for the Tar Heels and the Auburn Tigers. Hubby then sent me upstairs for a little nap during the rainstorm. Overall, a great low key day with lots of pampering.

And one more day in the weekend. Yay!

 

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Liquid Awesome

I have gotten up early two mornings in a row - while we are on vacation. What has gotten in to me? Well, other than trying to escape the heat in any way we can.

Yesterday, I did 10 miles with the hubs on the bike. He went back out to ride a few more miles while I headed back to practice riding through cul-de-sac. They freak me out, and I can't believe I'm contemplating doing a triathlon through too many short neighborhoods. I survived the turnarounds and some gravel in about 48 minutes.

So today I planned a 3 mile out and back while the hubs planned on biking again. It was 81 degrees when I headed out. Ugh. 3 miles in just under 30 minutes. I think I ran faster just so I could get to the shade. Average steps per minute = 176 in my new Brooks

 

Can you feel the liquid awesome? My hubs said this is the first time he really saw sweat on me in 12 years. Again hubs, it's not sweat.

 

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And then I struggled

After having a terrific run/yoga combo on Saturday, the run on Monday sucked.

I can't belief this is all I walked.  At several points, I actually just thought I will give up and walk the rest of the way home.  I couldn't get my cadence right to save my life. I kept starting and stopping until I was so close to home, I thought what the heck.  I was able to pull out the last three minutes to finish.  


I'm glad I didn't give up, but this run side-tracked me the rest of the week.  I let work become the priority or the excuse so much that I didn't even strength train or cross train except for a measly 20 minutes on the bike trainer.


I did get up on run Saturday morning before hubby left for work.  He had to work both days this weekend, so I knew this was my shot.  And so glad I went.  The next neighborhood over was having a yard sale, and it happened this was the weekend I decided I needed a different route.  

Much better.  Had to dodge a number of people and cars but hopefully this slowed me down a bit.  I don't know where this need to be faster has come from.  I try to slow myself up so I can focus on the cadence, but it's not working so well.


There's always this week.  


The plan is:
Monday - Strength training
Tuesday - Run 3 miles
Wednesday - Strength train, 20' on bike trainer
Thursday - Run 3 miles
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run 4 miles