Race Planning

Here's a list of races I'm considering for this year. Not very interesting, I know, but I wanted to lay it out for myself.

March 15th - Shamrock Marathon - VA Beach, VA
April 5th - Monument Ave. 10k - Richmond, VA ($30-35)
April 19th - Charlottesville Marathon - Charlottesville, VA ($75-80)
April 28th - Promise Land 50k - Lynchburg, VA ($65)
May 4th - Potomac River Run Marathon - Alexandria, VA ($70-80)
May 10th - Capon Valley 50k - Yellow Spring, WV($70)
June 14th - Xterra 10k/21k - Richmond, VA (?)
July 12th - Grandfather Mountain Marathon - Boone, NC ($65)
July 12th - Rattlesnake Trail 50k - Charleston, WV ($50)
August 2nd - Catoctin 50k - Frederick, MD ($25)
September 27th - Great Eastern Endurance Run 50k - Waynesboro($85)
October 11th- New River Trail 50k - Fries, VA ($50)
November 22nd - JFK 50 mile - (?)

This shit's expensive!

Tapering is Harder than Running

While I'm more than two weeks away from the big race, my race plan calls for me to begin reducing milage. I'm going crazy only running 35-40 miles a week ("only"). But after doing 50-mile weeks, I feel as though I'm not running at all now. Don't tell Jack Daniels (my coach on the page) that I'm cheating, running more than I should. My excuse: I can't cross-train because I don't belong to a gym. I am, however, doing a little more yoga than usual.

Yesterday's workout:
3 miles
3 x (12 push-ups, 15 curls, 12 shoulder raises, 12 squats)
150 crunches
back exercises

Today's workout:
20 minutes easy
15 minutes at tempo pace
20 minutes easy
15 minutes at tempo pace
2 miles easy

Walking Like a Cowgirl

Normally I'm not sore after my long runs, but yesterday was an exception. It must have been the lunges and squats I did the day before. I thought they wouldn't make a difference. Ooops.

The run itself was fine, except I started noticing hotspots on my toes around mile 15. Then, when I stopped, the lactic acid hit. It felt like it did after the marathon last year. During a brief, pathetic stretch I shouted to Dave, "Please start filling the bathtub with cold water." He gave me The Look and did as I asked. I think he mumbled something about me being "loco". Ten minutes in cold water (only two of which were excrutiating) and I was numb and feeling good. I tried to move around the rest of the day to keep things loose.

Today I did the unthinkable. I took the morning off from running AND tried not to beat myself up about it. I know it's the best thing because I'm still sore and blistered (and running would only make it worse, especially less than three weeks from the race), but it's HAAARD!

Today's workout:
Not much of anything

Yesterday's workout:
2 miles easy
15 miles at 8:15 min/mi pace
2 miles easy

Also, I am desperately in search of interesting snack mix. I'm getting sick of trail mix, etc.

"Oh, so I have to set the alarm clock?"

Ooops. Yesterday, for the third time this week, I forgot to turn the alarm part of the clock on. I woke up, realized (eeek!), and raced through my morning routine: get dressed, feed the cats, eat, check the weather channel, try to stop the cats from whining, run out the door. Luckily, it didn't freak me out as it once would have (props to my live-in zen master). I fit in 13 or 14 miles and wasn't even late for work. Boo-yah.

Yesterday's workout:

35 minutes easy
15 minutes at tempo pace
35 minutes easy
15 minutes at tempo pace
2 miles easy

Today was a rest day.

She's Also a Tease

We got a hint of spring yesterday: it was 60 degrees in the morning (no gloves!) and 70 by the evening. It helped me get over my short-term, warm-weather memory loss. If only I could share the love with those of you in colder climates. If it makes you feel any better, the temps this morning were down in the 30s.

While the race is less than a month away, I'm finding myself wondering if I'll really reach my goal. Today's run (a jog, really) was kind of hard. My legs were heavy, and it was hard to motivate myself to do weights afterward. I say this not as a complaint but as an observation. What is it that makes us leap out of bed for a run one day and slog through one the next? Does everyone have ups and downs like this? I would think that the answer is "yes", but some people - namely the really fast ones - don't seem like they ever have a hiccup.

The only way to get beyond it, for me at least, is to just do it. And to reward myself for doing it later with a mental (or chocolate) pat on the back. What do you you all do for motivation on these tough days?

Saturday's workout:
3 miles
weight routine (can't remember what I did!)

Sunday's workout:
2 1/2 hour run

Monday's workout:
3 miles
6 x 20 second strides

Tuesday's workout:
3 miles
3 x (12 pushups, 15 curls, 15 shoulder raises)
plank series
75 crunches

Thirteen Miles Before Work Equals an Un-Ending Appetite

It's embarrassing at work when everyone knows your life is driven by food. Some days, like Wednesday, I just can't seem to eat enough. I had bread with peanut butter, trail mix, a banana, cereal with soymilk, blueberries, a hard boiled egg, Kashi crackers, one half of a deviled egg, and samples from the grocery store. And that was all before lunch!! Oh well.

Yesterday I got a call from my local running shop: the two pairs of shoes I ordered were in stock. Also, the sweet girl who works there told me that Thom (the owner) was wondering if I'd like to pick up some hours. I worked there the summer after college and have actually been thinking about returning, if only to fund my addiction to running. So maybe I will do just that - take a shift or two for the discount, the money, and the connections.

Tuesday's workout:
3 miles easy
6 x 20 second strides

Wednesday's workout:
one hour easy
6 x 5 minutes at tempo pace with one minute's rest
15 minutes easy

Thursday's workout:
3 miles easy
6 x 20 second strides

Today is a rest day

Mother Nature is a Hard F***ing Teacher

Mother Nature knows my workout schedule AND she can read my mind. She knows when I have a track workout planned because while it always seems nice outside ("Oh, look - the sun's out") it ends up being incredibly windy, cold, or both. Yesterday it was the former, with winds gusting above 30 miles per hour.

Part of my 18.5 miles was on the track. A few intervals in, I started thinking to myself, "This isn't that bad. Maybe this workout will be a breeze." The pun wasn't intended, but apparently Ms. M. Nature thought it was a challenge. The wind was strong. And - although this doesn't seem possible - I had a headwind on the front and back stretches. It caused me to do more than swallow a little pride - I was kicking myself, veering off of the track, and leaving long strings of snot and drool flowing in the gusts. Lovely.

But there was an upside. On my two mile cool down, I had a 30 mph pat on the back.

Yesterday's workout:

2 mile warm-up
4 x 5 minutes at tempo pace with one minute rests
80 minutes easy
4 x 5 minutes at tempo pace with one minute rests
2 mile cool-down

Today's workout:

3 miles
3 x (12 pushups, 10 military presses, 15 curls)
lots of abs and back stuff

Eat Like a Yogi

In an old issue of Yoga Journal, there is an article titled "Choice Eats: the first step toward changing your eating habits is to become aware of what and why you eat. Then your plate, like you life, can be delightfully full."

The article begins by introducing the concept of samskara, defined in this context as "a pattern that is reinforced by repitition", like eating. It says that we can overcome our negative food habits (samskaras) by replacing them with positive ones. The article suggests that when you have a desire to chow down, you should ask yourself a series of questions, such as "Am I really hungry?" and "If I am hungry, what is my body really hungry for?" Then, it says, "by pausing and bringing consciousness to your physiological hunger and examining the source of your desire, rather than eating impulsively out of habit, you're on your way to creating a new, positive samskara".

I was amazed when I read all of this because a recent blog post of mine was so similar. Now if only I could remember to think about my samskaras.

Thursday was my day off.

Friday's workout:
4 miles
6 x 20 second strides

Spring Has Sprung (at least for now)

The warm weather has put some pep in my step. Hooray! I would also like to dedicate my glass-half-full workouts to my online friend Chia Runner .

This is a short post because I really should be working right now.

Yesterday's workout:
6 mile run
3 x (12 push-ups and 12 military presses)
plank series
150 crunches

Today's workout:
20 minute warm-up
20 minutes at tempo pace
20 minutes at easy pace
20 minutes at tempo pace
2 mile cool-down

Birthday Girl

February 3rd was my 24th birthday. Hooray! I celebrated in the morning by going on a 2.5 hour run on the single track trails that run along the James River. It was great. Even better was the massage that Dave surprised me with afterward! If you haven't tried ashiatsu massage, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's life changing. Really. Then I stuffed myself first with a lunch at my favorite vegetarian coffee shop in Richmond and second with a homemade dinner that was delish (thanks again, Dave). Ice cream was a bad idea, though. I paid for that lactose indulgence this morning. Ugh. All in all, a great birthday (even if Mom has tuberculosis or Ebola or leprosy - we're not sure which - poor baby). I got all of my favorite things: people I love, running, food, Harney and Sons tea, the Okkervil River CD, and a t-shirt with Shakespeare on it that reads "Prose before Hos".

Today's workout:

6 miles in 52 minutes (I was late getting out, so I had to hustle).
6 x 20 second strides

Support Crew

In a back issue of Runner's World there is an article about secrets to lifelong running. (There is also a great NYTimes article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/health/nutrition/31BEST.html?em&ex=1202014800&en=68860ef425fb2ad3&ei=5087%0A.) One of the tips the great, now older runners give is having a group of supportive people who motivate you to run. They don't have to be runners themselves; they just have to be there for you.

I can attest to this firsthand. My support group, while small, is the best a girl could have. On one hand there's my mom. She's been to almost every sporting event, dance recital, and play I've ever been in (as a good mom should). She yells so loudly during races that I can always hear her - once I could pick out her voice from the middle of the Carnegie River at Princeton. More importantly, though, she takes interest in my training, asking about my hard runs and making good "oohhhh" noises. While she doesn't run herself, she knows more about the sport than people I know who've done several half marathons.

On the other hand, I have my "life partner" Dave. He is a runner in his own right, although he's taking a long (permanent?) break. We've done many training runs together in all kinds of bad weather, and whether he's slower or faster than me (with a little training he will always be faster), he's the best "running partner" I've ever had the pleasure of hoofing it with. But Dave's my support crew even when he sleeps in. He's good at it for one simple reason: he lets me do it with no questions asked. Sometimes he may look at me funny (when I run in 30 degree rain, whine about a missed workout, or show him a bloody ankle), but he always just goes with it. He doesn't get mad at me for going to bed early or waking him up at 5am. He lets me be me.

Here's to the support crews all over the world!!

Wednesday's workout:
2 mile warm-up
4 x (10 mins at tempo pace with 2 minutes rest)
2 mile cool down

Thursday was a day off

Friday's workout:
3 miles easy in nasty weather
6 x 20 second strides