Marathon Training - Week 10

The number 10 was not a good one for me. The week was humming along (still no core workouts), and I started thinking that "Oh, it's only 10 miles this week. Piece of cake considering the last two great long runs I've had." Cue the Jaws music in honor of Shark Week.

That long run chewed me up, and thank goodness, spit me out. It was hot, humid, muggy, and overall CRAPTASTIC! And I wasn't the only one in my group that felt that way. I'm lucky I fell into stride with another girl around mile 5 and we finished up almost together. Right before we got back to the finish, I had to stop to walk and drink because I started feeling chills. Let the dehydration begin.

And I kept feeling bad for a while. We needed to finish packing for vacation when I got back, and I could hardly move. Everything was just tired. Some food, foam rolling with a brief siesta on the floor, a shower, and I could finally move again. Thank goodness for compression socks, but I needed a compression body suit.

The rest of the week went well. Speed work is humming along. The goal was 4x800 at 3:47. I hit the first one at 3:39 (whoops, too fast), then the next two at 3:49, and finally finishing up at 3:47. Thank goodness for treadmills because I'm not savy enough to hit those on a track yet.

Can you tackle speed work on the track?

How do you recover from a CRAPTASTIC run?

 

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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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Marathon Training Week 8

And all is going awesome. I missed out on the core workouts for the week, and struggled to get the mileage in due to work. Missing a mile or two is better than missing the entire run. I'm getting better with acknowledging the work/life/run balance.

AND I had a great 13 mile run on Saturday. Yes I said great and 13 in the same sentence.

The run had some crazy hills right in the middle. I mistakenly got to the top of the first one and thought we were done with climbing. Whoops for not reading the map closely enough, but maybe it was better that I didn't know.

I have to give it to them, the MTT program is run very well (even though we had to change our starting location because of Redskins Training Camp). Gummy bears, pretzels, powerade and smiling volunteers at every SAG make this go so much easier. And they know how to plan some crazy routes. I'm definitely seeing parts of the city I have never seen.

And I had a great group of people to run with and another to chase at the end. And a shot block did wonders at mile 9.

I have to say this run made this whole thing (marathon) seem attainable.

 

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Marathon Training Week 7

Yes, I know I'm behind. I'm over it.

I headed to NC for the weekend to pick up Little Dude and help celebrate my Mom's 70th birthday. We sort of surprised her we me coming in and a small party at my little sis's house. And I got to spend some time trying to snuggle the little man B in the helmet (if I could steal him from my sister or Dad).

Overall, for the week, I did well with getting everything in, but I was just tired so most workouts happened in the evening. I also got in some core workouts and push-ups, because everything is just weak.

I'm not gonna sugar coat it, another long solo run just sucked. It was only 8 miles but I struggle with these. Let's blame the humidity, 89% again.

At least the scenery was great. I stopped to take a few pictures, and even saw a few things that I had never seen before. Like this great path that connects Reynolda Village to Wake Forest University. The campus was moved from Wake Forest, NC to Winston-Salem greatly in part to influence by the Reynolds Family, hence the close proximity of the two. And that's enough random history for the day.

As a high school student, I spent many hours on this campus studying in the library, because let's just face it. It's much cooler to be on a college campus than anywhere else if you have to study and you are 17.

The above picture is Wait Chapel and tons of construction. I can't believe how much the campus has grown. And below are the front and back of the library I spent many hours in ... I promise Mom.

And below are shots from Graylyn International Conference Center, an estate built in the 20s for the Bowman Gray family. The Grays were famous for Bowman Gray Hospital, Bowman Gray Stadium (NASCAR short track), and leadership within RJ Reynolds Tobacco. I promise, I'll stop with the history.

The pool I so wanted to jump into on the estate.

And finally back to Reynolda House & Gardens.

I love that going back to these places made me revisit some of their history ... even though the run stunk.

 

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11 Hilly Miles

After last week's crazy long run, I thought this one would be worse. A mile longer and the dreaded Riverside Drive.

How's that for a little vertical climbing in the city? The first peak is up one side from a bridge near my house. Yes, I thought briefly of peeling off and leaving my group for a split second.

This photo is looking away from the massive hill. It's a heck of a climb that makes you say "I think I can." in your best Little Engine that Could voice.

The rest of the rolling hills ticked off quickly as my group joked a lot. My favorite banter happened up the last hill as we all were saying what our various body parts were thinking.

Mine - my gluts were screaming "Help me!"

My partner for the day - my calves are squeaking like old hinges.

But we did. Thanks to 3 great water stops, an overcast sky, and thankfully cooler temps.

I thought we even hit 10s for one of the miles, but I guess we sped up enough the rest of that mile. And that last half of the run was much faster than I thought.

The best part, I felt great after the run. Why can't they all be that easy?

I just wish I looked as good as I felt. My new running bud. We bonded over the Ghost 6, and clicked together the entire route.

And what's even better than the best part, the end.

Kathryn and Greg introduced me to the goodness of the Dairy Bar, specifically, the Griff! Yes, I ate a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit, and washed it down with a Chocolate Peanut Butter shake. It was worth every calorie ... or hill I ran.

And because I couldn't resist ...

 

Here's to many more long runs ending in milkshakes.

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Long, solo run

I made it. It wasn't pretty. But 10 solo miles are done.

I mapped out this crazy course because there aren't many spots in the shade, and I wanted to be close to the car for water. I'm also super paranoid about running in the safest spots possible. My father-in-law drove me around the other day to map out the safe area, and he even got up this morning to see me off. I did see two runners this morning, but my normal group has 80 members just for our team. I guess not too many runners around these parts.

Lots of loops. I stopped at the car around five miles to get some more water, cool off a bit, add my visor, and call my in-laws to let them know I was okay. They are so cute. I ended up stopping a few more times at stoplights to drink. The humidity reading was 100% when I finished. Please tell me it was wrong, but it felt tough enough. And I was too fast for most of the miles. My goal pace was 9:30 for this distance and heat.

My SAG was terrific, just wish I had some company. And thank goodness for iPods.

This was my view at the end.

One hot, sweaty mess. All smiles because I was DONE!

And this was one of the cute sites along the way. Another reason I'm glad we don't have a girl. I would spend way too much money on this cuteness.

My in-laws took me and little guy to a restaurant in an old Victorian house for a delicious chicken wrap. Then the strangest thing happened. My normally nap-free kid took over an hour nap with me. Love him, most of the time.

What's your longest solo run?

What safety measures do you take running in a different area?

What's your favorite way to recover after a long run?

 

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I'm doing what in the AM!

10 miles in the morning ... by myself.

I have created the most circuitous route so I can be near my car and in the shade as much as possible.

Send me good vibes because I'm gonna need them.

My mantra for the run.

 

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