This week, so far

Things are moving right along :).

Training is going well.

Joints/muscles/body...all feeling pretty good :).

Monday: Ran 3.5 outside with Jamie (Hal Higdon plan called for 3)

Tuesday (tonight): Ran 7 outside, solo, withOUT music/iPod! It was actually refreshing....it was a beautiful night and a really great run. Average of 8:59/mi pace....with the last half mile at a 7:00/mile pace. I ran negative splits (each mile faster than the previous). It felt fantastic!

Plan says tomorrow calls for 3. We'll see what happens :).

Have a great day, all! Happy running! :)

Another Milestone!

Today I ran 14.25 miles....which was the most I'd run in 1 day since the marathon 3 weeks ago...

AND...

It brought my mileage for this past week (Monday-Sunday) to 39 miles, which I am pretty sure is the MOST miles I have EVER run in one week before (even in a week during which I ran a marathon!). WHOO HOO!

Yup, I am tired :).

And, no it wasn't easy ;).

I started running around 11:30 this morning, meaning I ran through the HOTTEST part of the day. Probably not the wisest choice :).

Oh well ;). Live and learn. It felt great, and I feel very accomplished now :).

Ah, I love running.

I survived week 5 of Hal Higdon's Advanced I plan....13 weeks til the Quad Cities Marathon!

Weird...my right foot has been bothering me for about two weeks now. I know nothing about stress fractures, but that term has been swimming around in my head...as in "I wonder if I have some sort of stress fracture." I hate to be overly, unnecessarily dramatic...and it's not as if it is keeping me from training or doing anything I would like to be doing, but it is just annoying. Honestly, it doesn't even really bother me while I am running. It is AFTER...when my shoes are off and I am just walking around the house.

Hm...

Oh well.

Have a great day, all! :)

1st LRC training run of the season!

So i got back about an hour ago from my first training run of the season with the Lake Run Club marathon training group.  It was great!  It's fun, because now that it's my second season with the group i know at least a few people and feel "legitimate" now ;).  The people there today were running five miles, but my training program called for seven today.  So, i ran the first 2.5 miles with 3 other people in the group, but when they turned around, I continued on for one more mile before turning around to make it a total of seven miles.  When i was about 1.33 miles from the end...I saw Merlin, an awesome runner.  He had been running with me for the first portion, but turned around to finish with the other two in our part of the group.  Well, after they finished...he turned back and came to find me :).  That last 1.33 miles was great!  He really pushed me and we did the last mile in under 8.  Overall, I ran the 7 miles in 1:01, which breaks down to an approximate 8:43/mile pace.

It was a great run! It's so much fun to get a chance to run with other "serious" runners.  Merlin also gave me lots of advice as we ran together...which was fabulous :).

Tomorrow am I am going to go early again to run with the group....but i need to do 14 tomorrow.

Have a great day all!

Rlb

13 weeks

13 weeks (+ 1 day) til the Quad Cities Marathon!

This week:

Saturday, June 19: Warrior Dash; 3.17 miles with 12 "extreme" obstacles; 28:34:20/ 9:13/mi pace

Sunday, June 20: 5 mile run outside; pace of 8:40/mile

***I jumped back onto the Hal Higdon training plan here; Using the Advanced I plan; the following is week 5

Monday, June 21: 4 mile run outside; pace of 8:40/mile (Hal called for 3 miles, but I wanted to do 4)

Tuesday, June 22: 7 mile run outside

Wednesday, June 23: 3 mile run outside

Thursday, June 24: 35 minute tempo run (3.75 miles is what it ended up being...ran 15 minutes at a 10 min/mi pace, 10 minutes at an 8 min/mi pace, and then 10 minutes at a 10 min/mi pace)

Friday (Today!): Supposed to be a rest day...but I don't really want to! We'll see ;)

14 weeks....

Just 14 weeks til Marathon Three!

Quad Cities, Here I COME!! :)

I think my little sister, Megan, will be joining me for this one...and I can't wait!

This week I am getting back on a Hal Higdon training plan bandwagon. The past two weeks since the Minneapolis Marathon, I've been taking it kinda easy. Last week I did NOTHING. Nothing at all athletic, unless you count sand volley ball on Thursday (HAHAHA!!!!!). My first day back at it was this past Monday, June 14th. Monday and Tuesday, I visited the gym and ran on the treadmill (sorry, Mr. Anon...I know you told me to ditch the treadmill...but the weather was bad, and one of the nights it was really late and I didn't want to run in the dark!). Wednesday I did 6 miles outside with my friend Jamie. It was great! Thursday and Friday I took off...and Saturday I did the Warrior Dash in Joliet! It was a 3.17-mile race with twelve crazy obstacles! It was a great time. Today I ran 5 miles at an 8:40 pace. It was swelteringly hot out, but I muscled through it! :)

I think I am gonna majorly amp up my training and try for the Hal Higdon Advanced I plan this time around...we'll see. I am jumping in this week at week 5. That means that this week I need to:
Monday--3 miles
Tuesday--7 miles
Wednesday--3 miles
Thursday--35 tem (have no idea what that means, need to look it up. Assume it stands for "tempo", but again...no real clue what that refers to)
Friday--Rest
Saturday--7 miles
Sunday--14 miles

Uh, just read this on Hal's website:
"The advanced schedules are designed only for the hard core, those willing to take it to the limit. Only a small percentage of today's runners classify themselves as Advanced or want to follow this demanding a schedule."
Haha, am I "hard core" enough for this?! We shall see...

Hm, ok, thank's Hal...just found what he means by "tempo run". Seems straight-forward enough!!

"Tempo Runs: A tempo run is a continuous run with a buildup in the middle to near 10-K race pace. Notice I said "near" 10-K race pace. Coach Jack Daniels defines the peak pace for tempo runs at the pace you might run if racing flat-out for about an hour. That's fairly fast, particularly if the tempo run is 45 minutes long, but you're only going to be near peak pace for 3-6 minutes in the middle of the run. In the Advanced programs, tempo runs are scheduled for Tuesdays or Thursdays. Here's how to do this workout. A tempo run of 30 to 40 minutes would begin with 10-15 minutes easy running, build to peak speed during the next 10-20 minutes, then finish with 5-10 minutes easy running. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout and only for those few minutes mentioned above. You can do tempo runs almost anywhere: on the road, on trails or even on a track. Tempo runs should not be punishing. You should finish refreshed, which will happen if you don't push the pace too hard or too long. It helps also to pick a scenic course for your tempo runs. You can do your tempo run with another runner, but usually it works better to run solo. There's less danger of going too slow or (more the problem) too fast if you choose his pace, not yours."

Now, I am excited to begin!! :)

I am also going to keep up the cross-training (I've been very good about pool jogging 1x/week, which I truly feel has saved my knees...I was injury-free during my training for this second marathon!)....but will do that on the low-mileage days either instead of say the 3-4 miles prescribed, or in addition to.

Bring it on! :)

Can't wait for number three! :)

Surviving Minneapolis...et al

Well, I survived it! :) My second marathon is now "under my belt." I feel like I can legitimately get one of those "26.2" stickers for my car and get my little "26.2" tattoo on my foot (uh, more on that later). HA! I feel like I am officially "a marathoner." Ok, so I know that not many people ever run a race....much less a marathon (speaking of which....I know I mentioned this last fall as well when I was training for Chicago, but when I've talked about the marathon this spring/summer as well...I've been asked about a gazillion times "So how long was this marathon?" etc. Uh....and I am NOT trying to be disrespectful here...but EVERY marathon is 26.2 miles! ;)). AND, of those that run a marathon, many run one just to say they ran one....and just leave it at ONE.
Well, unfortunately I've caught the bug and couldn't leave it with just one. And I can't leave it with just TWO, either :). I've already got my sights set on the Quad Cities Marathon at the end of September :).
I had a blast on Sunday. An absolute, absolute blast. I commented to more than one person...there is just something about pushing your body precisely to the brink of what you can handle that makes you feel so alive. It is the best high I've ever experienced (ok, that's not saying a whole lot...since I've definitely never done drugs ;))....and I am definitely addicted. I had to fight, fight, fight for much of that race. For any non-runners, that probably sounds super dramatic and strange...but it's exactly how I felt. I had to stay mentally TOUGHER than I ever had in my entire life. I had a few shadows/glimmers of doubts about myself and my training as I carried on through that beast of a race....but for the most part, I was confident that I would finish. Quitting wasn't a real option for me.
The mental games I had to play with myself were many and varied....there was the basic runner's game of just thinking about the race in little chunks of a few miles. There was the predictable game of "ok, I will slow my pace for 30 seconds on my watch, and then I will catch back up to runner X wearing X ahead of me." There was the "I need to pass more people than pass me."
I started with the 3:40 pace group (8:24 min/mile pace), which was, quite frankly, not a good decision. I stayed with that group for 8 miles....and then knew I had to scale back my pace significantly or I wouldn't be able to finish. The temperature was hotter than I had expected (but it really was a beautiful day)...and the course was exponentially more difficult and hillier than anything I had ever experienced before in my life. Seriously.
So....I came to terms with the fact that 3:40 was not to be, but perhaps I could get 3:50. Soon, it was obvious that I just couldn't do that either....my finish time ended up being 4 hours, 4 minutes, and 7 seconds. This was NOT what I was hoping for, not what I thought my training had made me capable of getting....but really, in the grand scheme, a decent time. I got 17th out of my division of 116 female runners ages 25-29. Nothing to be ashamed of. I have to keep reminding myself of that...because I really really really wish I had done better :). It was 3 minutes and 3 seconds slower than my time in Chicago in October...so not even a PR.
*Sigh...*
But did I mention how hilly that darn course was?! ;)
A good portion of the course was through an old military base...which was FREAKING HILLY! It was also muddy...parts of the course through the base/fort were unpaved and quite muddy from all of the rain lately. My wussy self was paranoid about rolling an ankle, so I slowed down significantly through the mud.
While I was running, my mind was filled with the many things that I was "running for"...my brother Dan who is at Quantico right now for Marine Officer Candidacy School training, my family who has done so much for me, my wonderful hubby (who unfortunately wasn't able to come, due to being sick and due to his work schedule), my Easter Seals kiddos...all of the awesome, awesome people I am so blessed to know.
Ok, again, if you are a non-runner, it sounds totally lame to read that I am sure....that I am "running for" things :). Maybe I'll elaborate later.

***********************************************
So, I've tried to keep my blogs separate...my "general life/contemplations/ranting" blog, my "gluten free" blog, and my "marathon training" blog (which would be this one)....ok, I recognize that it is somewhat lame to blog at all, much less have more than one blog ;). BUT, I do enjoy writing...I find it relaxing/therapeutic for me (I can't use running for de-stressing ALL of the time! ;)) and, if you know me, you know I definitely have some OCD tendencies ;), which would necessitate the need for organization in all aspects of my life, including my blogging. Ha!
SO, anyway, I'd been writing about some of my emotions regarding the most recent marathon training on my general blog...like HERE: "Four More Sleeps"
So, some lovely Anonymous poster has started responding to my running posts with some really nice, useful-sounding advice.....I responded to him with this post: Dear Mr. (Mrs.?) Anonymous, as well as this post: Here's Your Sign
I have no idea who this person is....much less why they feel the need to offer me advice (which, as I said, appears to be helpful :))...but it has given me some good running-related things to think about.
*************************************
So, as of 11:04 this morning, it has officially been ONE WEEK since I've run a single step (ok, I probably ran up the stairs at work a few times ;)).....and I am going on a run this afternoon! Not sure yet how that is going to go or how long I will go for (it's hot!), but I am going! I am going to run some errands and then get out there.............uh........as soon as I typed that it started down pouring! HAHA! Maybe I'll go run on the track at the gym. According to Mr. Anonymous, treadmill running is not a good plan.
Speaking of which...I am somewhat self conscious about getting out there and running again. Whomever Mr. Anon is, he has seen me run...and apparently my stride leaves something to be desired. Uh oh. Makes me feel kinda like a big dorky loser out there running with all of the "real" runners!
Oh well.
Just means I have work to do, I guess!! :)

Have a wonderful day!

Rachel

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the big day!

Oh boy.....

I need to get some sleep :)

I wonder what tomorrow holds??!!

Great Run

I had an awesome run tonight....and totally came into the house at the end feeling as if I was on top of the world :). Just ask my husband...he was all, "What got into you?!" HA!

I just posted over on my "general" blog....thoughts about the marathon that is in just THREE AND A HALF MORE DAYS....in just FOUR MORE SLEEPS ;)

Ok, time for bed.

Bring it on, Minneapolis!!!!!!!

p.s. Workouts this week: Tonight, ran 5 miles outside; Yesterday, ran 30 minutes of pool jogging....yahooooo for tapering down, down, down ;)

AND.....in more exciting news...I think I am getting healthier :) :). Illness, beGONE! :)