Making it through the week

It's been a good training week so far. It started out a little iffy with a weird upper calf tightness/strain. I don't even know what I did other than sit on a bar stool Saturday night for too long. I promise I wasn't doing anything wrong. Just hydrating, yes, that's what they call it.

Icing, rolling and stretching helped very little Sunday. I waited until Monday evening to bike. Look at those amazing quads over my knees. Squint really hard, I promise they are there. No calf pain, but still tight after the ride. And yes, my feet are really long.

I got the bright idea to wear my Pro Compression socks to work on Tuesday, and bingo, calf pain almost entirely gone. I had a great tempo run on the treadmill. More treadmill runs than I like, but thanks to monsoon like conditions on the East Coast, I'm grateful to have the option.

I'm really trying to follow the Run Less, Run Faster plan. I did pause a couple of times to check my calf, but it felt great during and after the run.

A little more time on the bike Wednesday morning before hitting the road to visit my little guy at my in-laws and celebrate the 4th. I'm working on riding for time at specific cadences on the bike. Hopefully this will give me some better turnover for running.

I got up early on the 4th to try to beat the heat. Guess I should have gotten up at 4:00 am instead of 6. Days like this make me wish for the snow. I had 5 miles mapped out on a double out and back course (determined to find as much shade as I could). My plans were waylaid by two roaming dogs that scared that #%?$ out of me, and I later found out that they wouldn't hurt a flea. I stopped to let them sniff me a little because I knew I couldn't outrun them and I was right in front of their house. I figured I could scream if I needed to. They followed me when I started walking away, so a little yelling at them to go home finally worked. I ended up being a little short, but I figured my elevated heart rate made up for the distance.

Little guy wanted a picture of me wearing my necklace he picked out.

A sweaty smile at the finish before a quick shower. We headed into historic Edenton for a reading of the Declaration of Independence. It was a gorgeous day with no rain.

We continued our celebration with this when we got home. A great refreshing, reward.

Ever been stopped short in your tracks by a dog?

How did you handle it?

Did you have a happy Fourth of July?

 

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First half of 2013

Jan-Jun 2013 2012

Runs 84 135

Miles 467.5 425.9

Avg Speed 6.3 5.8

Avg SPM 174 172

I think half-marathon, and maybe even marathon training, have agreed with me. I've already hit 40 more miles in the first 6 months of this year than I did all of last year.

Considering my first speedier run wasn't until November of 2012, I'm not surprised I've sped up. Not that I'm looking to get any faster as marathon training ramps up, it about getting the miles in at whatever pace happens.

Because the most important thing is to watch my cadence. I love my trusty Garmin because it beeps at me when I get sloppy with the cadence. This instant feedback is what has kept my ITB healthy and happy this last year.

If all goes well, I'm well on track to pass my goal of 800 miles for the year.

I've done well cross-training on the bike two days a week this last month. The strength training needs some extra mojo to happen. I'm getting up earlier to get the bike or run in, but not early enough for more. Gotta work on this one.

And because I needed at least one picture. This was a great afternoon snack.

How is your 2013 shaping up?

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My pants are snug

There, I said it.

I'm in the best running shape of my three year adventure, but I've gotten lazy. That is with my eating habits and strengthening.

So it's on to My Fitness Pal. I don't want to lose weight because I'm only a pound above my normal weight. This is about eating healthier than my recent choices, gaining some muscle (back), and staying strong for this stinking marathon.

I need to make sure I'm getting enough of the right calories.

What do you do to keep your weight in check while training?

How do you make sure you are getting enough calories while training?

 

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Mentally tough morning

Tuesday morning was a struggle to get out of the bed. This heat and humidity makes me think of pea soup. I finally drug myself out of bed, and now getting the running before work was going to be a challenge. Procrastination is not my friend.

The plan was for 5 miles, 2 easy, 2 at tempo, and 1 easy for cool down. The goal pace for tempo was 8:39 but my legs just wouldn't quite turn over like I wanted.

So, what do you do when you need inspiration? You dig deep, and I thought of Dimity (@dimityontherun) from Another Mother Runner who rocked her first IronMom this past weekend. If she can finish strong after that, this run is a piece of cake.

I ended up being a little short on the distance (needed to get to work). But very happy with how it ended up.

The face shot was horrible, so the shoes will have to do. Definitely a #realrun.

 

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What's happening?

So, I've been really slack at blogging. Summer is in full swing with pool time, baseball games, a work conference, some mindless reading, and oh, I signed up for another race.

But not just any race, a stinking marathon. I made my best friend K promise me at she would never let me do this after we saw the Shamrock marathoners with such pained looks on their faces in the home stretch. But somehow she failed me, or maybe it was hubby when I casually mentioned that the training team signs up were ending soon and he said to go for it. I mean what is wrong with my support network supporting me right into this insanity.

Thank goodness for new found friends who help with training plans because I signed up for the intermediate rather than novice team. Again, what was I thinking? Kathryn from Run, Eat, Play RVA convinced me that Run Less, Run Faster would be an awesome compromise for the intermediate mileage with cross-training.

So we have finished week three. I managed two sessions on the indoor trainer last week and even got up early before a conference to run.

Just a few glorious sites on my five mile run through the Mall. I was not happy at myself for staying up too late the night before, but this run was amazing.

Not bad for the week, 3 runs (2 at tempo, curses to RLRF for this faster pace) and 2 cycling sessions. I didn't manage to get in a strength session, but that is on the plan for this week. Baby steps.

I'm still scared to put this on my car. Sticking in to the car somehow makes it really real.

 

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ZOOMA Annapolis - Part 2

Or otherwise known as the bad and the ugly.

We were all smiles at the start even though we knew the hills and heat were ahead of us.

For some reason, I seem to attract Brooks fans. Maybe one of these days Brooks will pick me to spread their Brooks love instead of working my normal day job. Please, please, please!

Two of those four pair of Brooks belong to Lisa and her awesome husband. He cracked me up wearing his Princess Half Marathon shirt at another predominantly women's race. Lisa's blog is Lisa Runs for Cupcakes and she is a fellow Tough Chik, hence the matching outfits. It was great to meet her.

The Lululemon cheer station at the top of this hideous bridge was helpful with all their energy. I "borrowed" the picture below from Emma's blog. Check out the link a little later on. This bridge doesn't look too bad ... until you are running over it ... twice.

This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt was at the 8 mile marker. I think ... Things were starting to get a little hazy with the hills in the dang heat which I had all of three runs in before this day. All I could think of when I saw that quote was, "I feel like I'm running in hot water. Get this thing over." I finally found hubby after we crossed the bridge the second time (he was riding his bike) and he passed off some cold Nuun. The electrolyte drink on the course had artificial sweetener in it, which I can't drink. Boo!

And then it was done. After a lot of walk breaks. I would walk up the hills if they were in the shade, and try to run down or in the sun. I can tell you around mile 11 with a gentle incline, I had some serious self-doubt if I was going to finish this thing. My stomach started gurgling from the lack of heat acclimation. Thank goodness I was able to will it away. I kept saying "I got this." I really should have bought this shirt at the end.

I have no idea why we were smiling so big, but E said it so well. I'm going to paraphrase but it was something to the effect of how proud she was of herself because it was a mentally and physically race. And she was exactly right. We did it and lived to smile about it.

Muscle Milk did have this awesome shaded area with mats and foam rollers. But we missed out on the wine (we didn't bring our IDs and didn't want to stand in a line for them to check us), there were not enough massage tables, we never did see the yoga, and we got the bottom of the barrel for food (carrots and potato salad). No thank you after a hot race. I did like the necklace instead of the medal.

And to top it all off the course was a quarter mile short. See the arrow below and the little green part at the tip. There was no one to direct us to go that way. But this wasn't the worst part, because we ran with the 10k group, the leaders were mis-directed and were two miles short at the finish. Emma was one of these girls and I felt so bad for her. She was having an amazing race. Check out her story at A Mom Runs This Town.

I swear the hills were worse than this elevation looks, and they just never stopped. Even the finish was uphill.

So here are the stats. I have to say for all the walk breaks, I did okay. I was expecting closer to 2:15 when factoring in the heat.

Would I do this race again, probably not. Too many glitches on top of the hilly heat.

So, to end on a positive note. The good things: meeting lots of new and not so new friends; awesome support from the hubby; great friends to watch the kiddo for us so we could both go; and conquering a second half marathon this year with NO knee pain.

And the only thing missing from this breakfast was a mimosa.

 

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Zooma Annapolis - Part 1

Hubby and I headed North on Friday. Well we went South for a split second until I yelled out, "Hey, why are we going South?" Poor hubby was on autopilot. We made it to Annapolis without any trouble, and we had the great idea to drive the course before rush hour hit. Little did we know how nuts Annapolis is on Friday afternoon. Also, the prime comment from the hubs was, "Did a drunk guy lay out this town." Crazy side streets, narrow passages, and odd one ways. It was a little tense in the car trying to follow the crazy map and no Verizon reception.

Not sure about the crazy birds that were all over the sidewalks. The town is cute, but I can't say that I got to enjoy more than a small bit of it. We did make a stop at the Navy Campus Store to buy a present for our good friend who was watching the little monster guy.

I failed to take a single picture of the expo, but I did buy some really cute shirts. And caught up with some awesome Tough Chiks: Katye, Tonia, and Katie.

Hubby bought me the Wonder Woman bike jersey after the race. He is awesome.

I caught up with a Mom"s Run This Town buddy and we caught up with Emma. She has a picture of us at dinner at an awesome restaurant and the hideous bridge (foreboding music here). I highly recommend Osteria 177, and they have a $200 cocktail. Not that I will ever spend that kind of a money of a drink.

Then it was Flat Momma time, and wind down time to get ready for the early time ... In the heat.

Taken before we left because I'm OCD.

 

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