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Colorado Fall Classic Marathon Training: Week 6

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Wow, I can’t believe Week 6 of marathon training has already come and gone. And I can’t believe that race day is two months from TODAY. Time is flying!

Here’s how last week’s training looked:

Monday:
AM: 12.1 miles with 8 at goal pace. Goal pace was still hard, but it went a ton better than the last GP run I attempted, so that was encouraging.
photo 1PM: About an hour of full-body strength training 

Tuesday:
AM: 9 miles easy
PM: 30 or so minutes of core,  stretching, and foam rolling
photo 2Just planking. And sweating.

Wednesday:
AM: Downhill cruise intervals. I did a 2-ish mile warm-up outside, then hit the incline trainer at the gym for 10x1000m with 200m recoveries, then cooled down outside. 10.5 miles total

PM: Another short core/stretching/rolling session

Thursday:
AM: 8.2 easy miles over the river at sunrise with a billion birdies (that’s what the black spots are, not dirt on my phone)
photo 3PM: 45 minutes of full-body strength, in my basement this time because I could not get myself motivated to hit the gym.

Friday:
AM: 5 miles, slow and easy, just to loosen up before that night’s Chase the Moon relay

PM: Lap 1 at Chase the Moon, 10.3 milesI started too far back. This is my "Get out the way" face. I started too far back. This is my “Get out the way” face.

Saturday: 
AM: And I do mean “A.M.” I started running at 3:30 or so and did my second 10.3-mile lap. I was really tempted to do another lap but decided that was stupid, since my stomach was upset and I’d run 25.6 miles in less than 24 hours
photo 4Team Cereal Killers: Logan, Brooke, Amy, me, and Aimee. I promise I will write a recap soon; I’m waiting to get the official race pictures. But Amy’s is up, so you can read hers!

Sunday: Rest. J and I took a nice long walk, which felt incredible on my tight legs, but otherwise, I just chilled. And it was glorious.

Totals: 65.4 miles, some strength/stretch/etc., too little sleep

This week is a recovery week. I have one tough workout and a 18-20 miler scheduled. The rest are slow, easy, and shorter-than-usual runs.

How was your training week? What’s next on your calendar?

Training, Uncategorized

Colorado Fall Classic Marathon Training: Week 5

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It’s Monday, and I’m another week closer to the Colorado Fall Classic Marathon (and hopefully a PR). Last week was pretty solid workout-wise, and since I’m doing the #movehappy challenge with Heather and Laura, I actually made a point of bringing my phone and taking pictures on most runs. Of course, the pictures are almost all identical (feet + Garmin), and if you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen them, but at least I have pictures in this post. Baby steps.

Monday:
AM: 8.6 miles of fartleks.
photo 2 (7)PM: 45 minutes full-body strength

Tuesday:
AM: 9.1 easy miles (I almost left out the decimal. Rest assured, I did not run 91 easy miles. I don’t think that even exists).

PM: 30 or so minutes of core, stretching, and foam rolling

Wednesday:
AM: 8 miles easy. Today was supposed to be speedwork, but my stomach was having none of that, so I switched it with tomorrow’s easy run. I also got to enjoy a pretty sunrise, which I didn’t think to photograph until it was almost over. I think the construction fence really adds something, don't you?

I think the construction fence really adds something, don’t you?

PM: More core, etc.

Thursday:
AM: Yasso 800s x 7. There’s a nice little downhill stretch that’s almost exactly a half-mile long and not far from my house, so that’s where I did my Yassos. I hit the pace on all but #6, so that’s a good sign. 10.5 miles total, including warm-up and cool-down.
photo (15)

PM: 45 minutes full-body strength

Friday:
7.6 easy miles followed by some quick core work. I also tried to waterski…. “tried” being the operative word. No pictures of that… thank goodness.

Saturday:
20 miles. I hadn’t run this far since October. My legs were tired and grumpy, and it took me an hour to feel warmed up and in the groove. Once I got there, though, I felt good and strong for the remainder of the run.
photo 4 (3)I also did a quick and fairly wimpy core workout in the afternoon.

Sunday:
Rest. J and I went for an easy little bike ride, and I did a quick core workout and a not-so-quick stretching and foam rolling session. My right hip has been super tight lately, so I gave it a lot of stretching/roller/tennis ball attention.

Totals: 63.8 miles running (I wish I had known that. I would’ve run another .2), 3ish hours strength/stretch/etc.

This week should be a fun week of training: a couple of speed days, and the Chase the Moon relay on Friday/Saturday night. Woot!

Can you waterski? If you can, tell me how!

Do all your post-run pictures look the same, too?

What did you do for the 4th of July?

Training, Uncategorized

Colorado Fall Classic Marathon Training: Week 3

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Another week of training is in the books! I call this week “The Week of Thunderstorms and Denver Trips.” I am sick of the rain and wishing I-76 was a little shorter, but otherwise, it was not a bad week. Here’s how the training happened:

Monday:
AM: 12.3 miles of hills. I also made two new friends — a couple of dogs who decided that we were BFFs and should run together. They ran with me for about 4 miles — in spite of my constant, “GO HOME, DOGS!” and the glares from drivers who I’m sure were wondering why the heck “my dogs” weren’t on a leash.
Also, though I’ve had major trail envy lately, this run reminded me that the plains can be pretty, too.
photo (7)

PM: 45 minutes of full-body strength training

Tuesday:
AM: 12.5 miles. I should have gotten up just a little bit earlier, as I was supposed to run 14 and ran out of time… although I probably should have just done it, since none of my students feel the need to show up on time. Grumble grumble.

PM: Core, stretching, and foam rolling. Blah.

Wednesday:
AM: 4 recovery miles, followed by core, stretching, and foam rolling

PM: The foiled trail run I talked about in Thursday’s post. Whomp whomp.

Thursday:
AM: 10 miles with 5 at tempo. Why are tempo runs always so hard? Theoretically, I was running at half-marathon pace… and yet I felt like death after 5 miles. Explain that, please.

PM: 45 minutes full-body strength, plus a short bike ride with the hubby

Friday: 
AM: 5 recovery miles. My watch was completely dead, so I ran “naked,” and it was kinda nice.  I should do that more often.
photo 1 (4)Later, I did a quick core workout in the midst of cleaning my house. I’m cool.

Saturday:
18 miles. It was supposed to be 18 miles with 10 at goal pace, but I had a tough time hitting the pace. I was not happy.
photo 2 (5)It was hot, but not that hot, and humid, but not that humid (especially compared to what you Southerners/East Coasters deal with), so I don’t know what the deal was. I’m hoping it was just a crummy run, and I’m not ready to adjust my goals just yet… but I hope the next goal pace run gets a little easier!

Also, after six marathons fueled by GU, my stomach has suddenly decided that it hates GU. So I also spent half the run trying to keep the GU down. Not cool, body.

We spent the rest of Saturday walking around the Denver Botanical Gardens with my family. That was considerably less painful and more fun than my run.
photo (6)Holy cow, I look like my mom in that picture.

Sunday: 
Rest. I did 35 minutes of yoga to try to loosen up my stupid-tight legs and my workout for the Lyons Share Ab Challenge, but that was it. And I went to Denver again, this time for brunch with my girlfriends. I didn’t take any pictures because I was busy getting caught up on their lives.

Totals: 62.8 miles, 2.5 or so hours strength/stretch

And that’s that. This week is a bit of a cutback, so that should be nice.

How did your week go?

Training, Uncategorized

Colorado Fall Classic Marathon Training: Week 2

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So, June is halfway over. Let that sink in for a minute. That means school starts again in less than two months. Summer is going crazy-fast, but at least it’s been enjoyable so far!

Training went well this week. We’ve had some cooler weather for mid-June — I was actually a little chilly on a few runs — which makes for great training weather. Here’s how the training went this week:

Monday:

AM: 9 miles easy
PM: 45 minutes full-body strength, including the core work from Megan’s The Lyons Share Ab Challenge mixed with some of the moves from Greg McMillan’s core workout. Every time I say “core work” for the next month, it’s probably safe to assume that I’m doing some combination of these moves.

Tuesday:

AM: 10.2 miles easy
PM: 30 minutes core work and stretching while watching The Bachelorette. Since I only watch 30 minutes at a time, I’m way behind, so don’t spoil it for me. 🙂 Here’s a way-too-close photo of my plank face. I get bored planking.
photo 3 (1)
Wednesday:

AM: 6.1 recovery miles. Sometimes I am as proud of myself for keeping recovery miles slow as I am for hitting my speedwork paces. And I took a picture of my feet post-run, because that’s what running bloggers do.
photo 2 (1)
PM: The same as Tuesday: core and stretching and Bachelorette-ing.

Thursday: 

AM: I needed to run cruise intervals, which means longish intervals fairly fast with short recoveries. I also wanted to run the interval portions downhill to prep for this downhill race. I debated my options: Drive out to the hills (but I was short on time since my summer course started this week), run on a long-enough-but-not-steep decline closer to home (but I’d have to have equal recoveries so the intervals could be all downhill), or use the incline trainer at the gym (which only goes to -3% decline, but would allow for appropriately short recoveries). I chose the incline trainer, so I ran to the gym as a warm-up, did 7.5 miles of downhill cruise intervals, and ran home as a cool-down for a total of 10 miles. I could definitely feel the decline’s effect in my quads the next day, which I’m taking as a good sign.

PM: Back to the gym for 45 minutes of strength training.

Friday: 

AM: 5.2 recovery miles

PM: Again with the core and stretching. I also spent some QT with the foam roller. I did not like it. Ouch.

Ouch.

Saturday: 

18-mile long run. I ran the hilliest route I can run from my house… which is clearly not that hilly compared to what I’d like to be running, but sometimes you’ve just got to do the best you can with what you have.
18milerelevationI enjoyed this run quite a bit. It was nice out — actually getting hot by the time I finished, but the sun felt good!

Sunday:

Rest day. I did Megan’s Five Minutes to Flat Abs workout as part of the abs challenge, and that was it. We went to a wedding last night and I was up way past my usual bedtime, so I didn’t mind taking a rest day today. I also did not take any pictures of J and me all dressed up, so you’ll just have to take my word that I do occasionally wear a dress and make-up despite what the pictures on this blog suggest.

Totals: 58.6 miles running, 3ish hours strength/stretching

Now that the second week of training is in the books, I feel like I’m getting my marathon mojo back. I realize how dumb that sounds, but I don’t really care. Have a great week, friends!

How was your week?

Been to any cool weddings lately?

Training, Uncategorized

Colorado Fall Classic Marathon Training: Week 1 (Actually)

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The week before we left on vacation, I titled my weekly workout recap post “Week 1 (Sorta),” because I didn’t want to “officially” start training until after vacation, so this one is “Week 1 (Actually).” It was a tough week — the first time I’ve topped 60 miles since October — but a great one. I had some solid training runs and some beautiful training runs with pretty flowers, so it was a win, all around.
photo 5

Monday:

AM: 11. miles easy

PM: 45ish minutes full-body strength, along with Greg McMillan’s Runner’s Core workout. I was at the gym for more than an hour, but I spent at least 15 minutes jabbering and not working out, since I’d been on gym hiatus for couple of months and had people to catch up with.

Tuesday:

AM: 13.1-mile hill run…although it’s four miles from my house to the hills, so it was more like a 5-mile hill run sandwiched between 8 miles of flat. I’m going to have to start driving or biking out there for hill runs. It was a beautiful morning, either way, and the top of my favorite/least favorite hill has a pretty view:
photo (3)I need to find out who owns this property so I can get permission to run out there.

PM: 30ish minutes of core and stretching. Having The Bachelorette back makes it easier to make myself do these things. I tell myself I can only watch trashy TV if I’m also stretching and/or doing core.

Wednesday (National Running Day)

AM: 5.2 recovery miles. J rode his bike as I ran, which I loved. We need to find a better route, though; this isn’t exactly a bike-friendly town, so I think we’ll have to stick to the park when he comes along.
photo 1PM: Basically the exact same as Tuesday.

Thursday: 

AM: 9 miles with 4 at tempo. Tempo runs are always hard for me, and I was tired, sore (still, from Monday… clearly it had been a while since I’d lifted), and hot. I told myself to run what felt like tempo pace and not focus on the actual pace. I was pleased, when I did check, to see that I was hitting the right pace. So that was good.

PM: 45 minutes of full-body strength and McMillan core again.

Friday

Friday was my favorite running day ever. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not by much. J had meetings in Denver (he’s kind of a big deal), and we figured there was no sense in letting the other half of his paid-for king-size hotel bed go to waste. So I left home bright and early and drove down to Green Mountain in Lakewood. I wonder why they named it that.
photo 3I got in some solid trail running, which I desperately need before the Chase the Moon relay in July, and some good downhill training to prep for my marathon in September. I wanted to just go forever, but I made myself stop at 6.2 so I wouldn’t be too sore for Saturday’s long run. And I took a selfie, because that’s what bloggers do, right?
photo 4

Then, I found J and borrowed his hotel key, cleaned up, and went to Athleta and bought some new shorts with a gift card I’d had since Christmas. It was pretty much the best day ever.

Saturday

I was excited to do my long run in Denver and get a change of scenery. Since J needed to check out of the hotel before his meeting started (i.e. before I was done running), I drove to my brother’s house and ran from there. He lives by a lake, so I did a couple of lake laps, then hopped on the Platte River Trail, which goes through downtown Denver. I didn’t take any pictures because I was too lazy to dig my phone of its pocket on my Camelback. I am a good blogger, remember?  You can go look at Amy’s blog; she lives near my brother and runs around that lake all the time. And she is a better blogger than I am, so she has pictures. Too bad she was running Ragnar Snowmass this weekend, or we could’ve run together.

Anyway, I ran 17 miles (it was supposed to be 16, but math is hard), then went to brunch with my brother, which was nice. I’m not sure why, but that 17-miler really took it out of me. I was beat. I guess it was a combo of the high-mileage week, the trails and mediocre sleep Friday, and the slowness of the brunch restaurant, which made me miss that 45-minute refueling window by a long shot (but they comped one of our meals, so it wasn’t all bad).

Sunday

30 minutes easy yoga. It felt amazing on my tight hips.

Totals: 61.6 miles running, 3ish hours strength/stretch/yoga

So overall, not a bad week at all. It feels good to be training hard again!

How was your week? Are you training for anything right now?

Do you ever get to tag along with your spouse on work-related trips? What do you do while he/she is working?

Training, Uncategorized

The Training Begins: Goals for This Training Cycle

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Hi friends! We’re back from vacation (recap coming soon, I promise) and settling into the summer routine (it’s an awesome routine, for now, since it’s 9:45 a.m. and I’m chilling at home with some coffee). Did you enjoy the three guest posts while I was gone? Thanks again to Logan, Tina, and Rachel for filling in with your awesomeness!

Vacation was a blast and provided some needed rest for my body (I ran almost every day, but only 5-7 miles. Also, humidity is evil). Now I’ve got 15 weeks until the Colorado Fall Classic Marathon, so it’s time to kick my training into high gear. Though I’d been building mileage and incorporating some marathon-specific workouts for a few weeks pre-vacation, today was the first on-the-schedule run, so it feels like the “official” start of training.

Now that it’s official, I want to lay out my goals and plans for this training cycle. I’m really mostly writing this post for accountability for myself, so if you don’t really care, I won’t be offended… come back later this week for lots of beach and flower pictures like this:

photo 3 (2) photo 2 (8)

Here are my goals:

  • Train on downhills and trails. This race is all downhill. Check out this elevation chart (from the race’s website):
    If I don’t specifically train downhill, my quads are going to burn out way too fast, and I will gimp my way to the finish instead of finishing strong. I’d really like to run the Slacker Half Marathon this month to gauge how the steady downhill will feel and give me an idea of a suitable marathon goal time, but I’m not sure if it’s going to work out. It’s on our anniversary, and also I’m broke because we just took an awesome vacation.
    I also need to run some trails. The marathon is not a trail race, but I have this crazy relay coming up in July, so I need to get my trail skills at least kind of up to par. (Colorado friends: Who wants to run some trails with me? Or some long downhills?)
  • Strength train, stretch, and foam roll. I enjoyed the Nike Training Club program I did last month, and it was really convenient to do my strength workouts at home during those last few busy busy weeks of school. But I’m ready to get back into the gym (believe it or not). My goal for each week is to do two full-body, in-the-gym strength workouts and three core, stretching, and foam rolling workouts at home. Next week, the 8 a.m. summer course I’m teaching at the local community college begins, which means I probably won’t have time to do the core and stretching stuff right after runs on those days. That’s not ideal, but I figure that doing it later is better than not doing it at all.
  • Figure out nutrition and hydration for during the race. As this will be my seventh marathon, you might think I had the nutrition and hydration thing figured out. I do not, and it’s definitely affected my performances. Since this race is in September, too, it might still be toasty out, which will also affect my hydration and electrolyte needs.
  • Recover smart. If you read Tina’s guest post last week, you know why this is so important. But I’m really bad about proper post-workout nutrition. And stretching. And foam rolling. But if I want to get faster and stay healthy, I’ve got to recover properly, so that’s a major goal this time.
  • Eat smart in general. I’m going to start using my LoseIt app again to make sure I’m eating enough calories and the right macronutrient ratios (carb needs increase as mileage increases). It’s also important that those calories are coming from high-quality sources — whole grains, veggies and fruits, nuts, and lean proteins, not sugary desserts, cheesy appetizers, and wine (all of which I indulged in on vacation).
    Yep, that's a wine slushy beside me... I'm pretty sure it was equal parts wine and sugar... obviously a nutritionally sound snack choice.
    Yep, that’s a wine slushy beside me… I’m pretty sure it was equal parts wine and sugar… obviously a nutritionally sound snack choice.

    So those are my goals and priorities this training cycle. Keep me accountable, friends, okay?

What’s your favorite indulgence?

Any tips for downhill running? 

Anything important in your life that I missed while I was gone? I’ve tried to read up on the blogs I missed, but there are just too many posts!