Three Things Thursday

ONE

We’re sub-200 days until the marathon. Woohoo! My training (and pre-training) plan is all laid out, I just have to get back in to the mentality and stride of exercising almost every day again. I think I rode out my recovery time too much! :) Things I’m going to try to do to make the transition back in to running easier:

• Pack my lunch at night instead of rushing to do it in the morning (I sometimes make bad food choices because of that rush)
• Pack my duffel bag at night if I’m running at work the next day
• Lay out my clothes if I’m running or going to the gym in the morning
• Create a checklist of stretches and strength exercises to do so I don’t feel lost and throw in the towel

Any other tips? Let me know, please :)

TWO

I did a lunchrun to go along with my lunchblog today! It was approximately 2.5 miles and I have no idea what my pace was (no technology with me again). I had a rough time. 2.5 miles and I had a rough time. Sheesh. Definitely a motivator to amp up the cross and strength training.

THREE

Speaking of motivation, I have a new motivational “poster” to get me going:

Autographed photo of Kara Goucher <3. I also have a copy of Runner’s World she signed, but since the background is dark it’s hard to see the signature. Also, can I have her muscles please and thank you?

Ok now get back to work! :)

On the road again

Aww yeah, time to get back in to the swing of things.

I went for my first lunchtime run at work today, and I felt pretty good for the first quarter mile before my left knee started bothering me again. So… change of plans for the next few weeks. Rather than focus mostly on building up my running base, I’m going to focus on building a better strength and flexibility base. I think a lot of my knee problems have to do with weak adductors and a tight IT band; not a fun combination. I’m going to incorporate yoga into my routine, and hopefully work up to doing about 30 minutes per day. I’ve also started tracking my nutrition again. I felt much more in control over my training and why I felt how I did when I could look back on what I had eaten recently.

Aside from the bit of pain, I still had a great short run! They (who is “they,” anyway?) say that for every mile you ran in a race, rest for that many days. It hasn’t been 13 days, so maybe I’m still in recovery mode? Whatever, I’m impatient. < 2 milers won't kill me.

Distance: 1.68 miles
Time: ~14-15 minutes
Pace: Somewhere around 8:40?

I didn't bring my Garmin with me because… well let's face it, it's a little silly to bring such a chunky device on a run you know will be less than 3 miles. I didn't care about time, I just wanted to get back out there. And honestly, it was pretty awesome not being tempted to look down and see how long it had been or how far I'd gone. (Don't worry Garmin, I still love you). And I just measured the distance with MapMyRun.

I also found a decently-priced-per-visit lap pool in my area. I still don’t think I can afford to go once every week, but maybe once every two weeks for a cross training/recovery alternative.

Finally, I plan on posting my marathon training plan once I have it set up and finalized. I have to do a bit of overhauling on my blog… updating my About page, adding an awesome official race photo, new training, etc. It’s all so fresh and exciting!

Let the Taper Begin

Yes, I skipped Motivational Monday today. No, I’m not proud. In my defense, I went on a Red Sox pub crawl this weekend, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to research today’s motivational figure ;)

ahhh I'm floating

This week is the start of my pre-race taper. I had my final long run scheduled for yesterday, but some IT band problems delayed that (indefinitely?). Unf. It’s RICE time for me and my knee.

However, I was able to drag my butt out of bed at 4:45 this morning to do a 3.5 miler on the elliptical. It’s no running/treadmill, but I’m still moving. I’m afraid to push myself because I don’t want to be hurt on race day. I know I won’t have a spectacular finishing time, but I want to complete this running. I’m sticking with 3-4 milers this week, a 6 miler this weekend, then 2-3 milers next week. Then… 13.1! GAH! I’ve completed 10 miles, so I’m not too concerned about not having done the 12 miles. It’s not my ideal scenario, but I can make it work.

Also, it’s supposed to snow/rain alllll week long here, so I’m getting very excited for Floridian weather.

ew gross

Tonight I’m going to the first in a series of free running seminars in the area, and fortunately this one is about injuries and how to prevent and deal with them. The speaker is a physical therapist, so I’m hoping she’ll be able to give me a few pointers on rushing along this IT band stuff. Saying “shoo, go away!” isn’t working as well as I’d hoped.

Social Life vs. Training Life

How the heck do you manage it? Seriously. This week has been one giant choice between being social and sticking to my training, all while not becoming sleep deprived.

If the plans were with people I could see at any time, then whatever. But one night I went out with my cousin, who was visiting from Florida. Another night I was trapped in the house because of snow. Last night I was at work until 7pm, saw a friend, and got home at 11pm.

Every day on my way to work I see people running, and I WISH I had the time to run without getting up before 5am.

How do you guys balance training and socializing? I don’t have many runner friends, as I know many of you do. So I can’t do the whole “combining socializing and training” thing.

And to those of you that run at lunch: do you have a shower at work? If not, how do you de-gross-ify? I work in an absolutely amazing running area (a long tree-lined mall a block away, and the Charles River/Esplanade about a quarter of a mile away), so I want to take advantage of that when the ice clears.

Giveaway Rundown

Marlene is giving away some totally sweet Red Olympic Mittens. It’s only open until the 22nd, so go go go!

Tall Mom‘s Running Essentials Giveaway is open until the 24th, and there’s a hefty amount of items up for grabs!

YOUBARS. (shameless self-promotion, what?)

IT’S FRIDAY!

Tomorrow I’m running 12 miles before going on my friend’s 2nd annual Red Sox-themed pub crawl that I helped plan. I am using both of those events as an excuse to eat whatever the heck I want in the next 24 hours. And I’ll be consuming copious amounts of salt in order to not cramp up once more.

mmmm 60% of my daily sodium in one can <3

Double or Nothing

I’m doing double gym days this week. Why? Because I was a solid slacker last week and I have some catching up to do.

I hit a wall in my training on Sunday. As I ran down the street to start my 10 mile long run, I couldn’t do it. I was a quarter mile in and I never felt worse while running. I convinced myself that I’d break through, but by the time a half mile rolled by, I knew not to push it. I’d had a hard time with getting started before, but this was different. This was my body giving me a definite NO. I listened, and went to the gym for an easy go on the spin bike and some weights instead.

“You skipped a long run day? Seriously?”

Yup. You do what you have to do.

I remember the first day of my training, when I didn’t step on the treadmill until 9pm because I had such a busy day. I told myself that slacking was not an option, and I had to stick to my plan. But that’s not realistic. Life happens. Tiredness happens (and I don’t mean “hit snooze for another 10 minutes” tired). If I miss a long run for a good reason, c’est la vie. I just acknowledge it and move forward with the intent to improve.

So that brings me to today. I woke up at the lovely time of 4:45am, put on my sweeeeet new pink running shorts and (stupidly) a long sleeve black top, and hit the gym for some speed work.

• 0.25 mi warm up at 6.0
• 3×800 at 6.8 with 0.25 mi in between at 6.0
• another 800 at 7.0

Tonight I’m heading back for round 2: more strength training. I need to work on my arms and abs for core balance as well as a way to even things out with my Amazon Woman thighs (I say that lovingly). I have another double planned for tomorrow, mostly because my mid-week tempo run is scheduled to be 8 miles, and there’s no way I can reasonably fit that in before or after work (and I’ll go insane if I do a solid 8 on the ‘mill). So it’s being broken up into 4 and 4. That I can handle.

I have some recipes to share with you all, but I’m going to hold off until tomorrow. Until then, here’s a photo of my awesome, colorful getup and my game face before my failed Sunday run:

See you tomorrow with plenty of goodies!