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!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
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
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
Monday, February 25, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
"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.
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.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
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
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
Friday, February 15, 2008
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
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
Monday, February 11, 2008
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
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
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