Getting in the Groove and Marathon Training Week 3

This was a "cutback" week for me and boy was it necessary! I know you've been reading this, but I've been dealing with a lot of soreness and plantar fasciitis and just general run-downness. I totally admit to upping my mileage too quickly, but I've been waiting for my body to catch up with me. Good news-I think I'm on the mend!

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 3 mile treadmill run followed by Cycle Hip Hop and strength session

Wednesday: 4 mile treadmill run

Thursday: Skipped my run today to try to give my muscles a break

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 5 mile run (at a much more decent pace) followed by personal training.

Sunday: 20 min yoga

I have learned that even though the cold is very unpleasant for my long runs, my average pace went up by :40. I really just wanted to get back in the car and blast the heat, so I ran faster!

I don't think I've ever shared this, but this is my favorite running quote and it keeps me going even when I'm sore and tired and feel like I'm dying.

And here's a picture of my trusty Blue Beauties because I love them and want to give them more press coverage in the blog. 

Winter Running

I want to preface this post by saying that yes, I live in the South. Yes, it is much warmer here than most areas of the country. However, I can appreciate the super cold because I grew up in Chicago. That is why I now live in the South. I made the smart choice :)

I have never really been tough enough to even try running outside during the winter until this year. I have found that I don't totally hate it, but here are several random thoughts about it.

1. I like the fact that I don't overheat. The cold weather encourages me to run because, well, it's cold if you don't.

2. I like having to wear a coat because that = more pockets! I don't have to figure out where to put my keys, gels, phone, etc...

3. There are less people on the trails. This is both a like and dislike. I love running alone because I can zone out and not worry about running into anyone. However, I also like having other runners because it is kind of motivating. Not that I get real competitive, but it just feels like a cool club that I'm a part of.

4. I don't like it that I have to work AND run in the winter. That means that I'm sitting inside during all the daylight hours and I have to try to run in the dark. Not a fan of that AT ALL 

5. I like that running in the cold makes me feel really tough. 

Finally, here's some encouragement to all the runners dealing with cold right now. I read an advertisement (can't remember where): "A strong spring is earned in the winter".

After all my tough winter running stuff, I ran 4 miles on the treadmill after work yesterday. It was cold! 

Beast

So I don't have any cool pictures to show, but I felt soooooooo good last night!

I started my workout with 10x 1 minute intervals at 5k pace with a 1 minute break in between. Kicked my butt, but it felt really good!

Then I went to Cycle Hip Hop where I haven't been in a while. That also felt awesome! I think my muscles just needed to get shaken out.

Then I did a strength training session and was kind of tired for that, but glad I did it.

In summary, I'm still kind of sore but I feel good now instead of "I want to die". I feel like I could maybe be ready to run 26.2 miles in a couple months!

I'd also like to give a shout out to Naperville Running Company. They are back home in Chicago near where I grew up. They got an awesome spotlight on Runner's World website for working with the city to plow some of the path during the winter. 

http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/running-store-pays-to-have-path-plowed

I think that it really shows how they support runners in the area! Even though I don't really run around there anymore (especially in the winter) I appreciate their efforts. 

Have a great Wednesday!

Reality Strikes and Marathon Training Wk 2

I greet this morning with sore legs, back, abs, feet, and neck. Yup, I hurt a full 48 hours after a 7 mile run. More on that later.

Marathon Training Week 2


Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 3 mile run at Moss Wright Park

Wednesday: 3 mile run at Moss Wright Park

Thursday: 2 mile run at Moss Wright Park

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 7 mile run at the Greenway

Sunday: No moving/stretching

I've been dealing with some plantar fascitis all week so when I'm not running it's painful, however I can still run just fine. My times are still not anywhere near where I want them to be so I'm not sharing that yet :)
I've come to realize that in reality, I haven't run seriously since September. That means that trying to maintain this high-mileage without much of a base is going to = soreness. It's not bad enough to cut back though. I am going to continue to push through and just be nice to my body when I'm not running. On Sunday I did an ice bath, rolled out my muscles, and stretched all day. Today I feel slightly better, but I can't expect miracles when I haven't built the base yet. Next week is a cut-back in mileage so hopefully that will help.

Greenway where I did my 7 mile run. Beautiful!

Wrigley needed to roll out his tummy muscles. He works hard.

If you see someone hobbling around Nashville like an 80 year old, but she's really 23, it's a good chance it's me. Just fyi.

Have a great Monday!

2015: The Year of the Marathon

Everyone else is posting 2015 goals, so I had to jump on the bandwagon.

As I'm sure most of us are, I'm not very good at even remembering resolutions, let alone achieving them.

Plus, I like to call them goals because then it doesn't sound as cliche. I'm sure we've all heard the "parameters" we're supposed to put on goals. The "SMART" thing:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time-related

While all of this is great and helpful, I think we've all heard it one too many times. That being said, I'm not bashing New Year's Resolutions at all! I plan on this being a very big year and I want to set goals so that I can look back and be proud of what I will have accomplished. 

So here are my goals for 2015:

1. Finish the 2015 St. Jude Country Music Marathon. This is my major one and the rest will kind of be because of this goal. Heck, I've got a whole blog devoted to it! I want to finish because it will give me pride in myself and my running ability. I have never been what you consider an "athlete" but I have always wanted to be! This is a natural progression in my running "career" and something that I am ready for and ready to be able to say that I've done it!

2. Clean up my nutrition during marathon training. I am not very good at eating healthy. But because my number one goal this year is (see above) and I know that eating healthy will help get me there, this is necessary. I seem to be all or nothing when it comes to food, so during the first four months of the year (training) I'm going to try to eliminate certain "trigger" foods for me. These will include: pizza from anywhere but my own kitchen (also not frozen), ice cream (froyo and sorbet will be ok), and Cheetos. These are foods that if I start eating, I can't stop. So I just won't start! And plus, they will make wonderful rewards once I'm done with the marathon.

3. Continue to focus on strength training. I know this isn't "measurable" but I don't think it needs to be. Again, this will help me achieve goal numero uno so that will be the measure of it. 

4. (unrelated to marathon!) Continue to pay as much as possible into student loans. I'd love it if we could pay them off in 2015, but since I'm not sure that is entirely attainable, I'd like to make as big of a dent as possible! 

I put these goals here so that I can be held accountable. I give permission to anyone who reads this to call me out! And please do. Also- I may need to make more goals after the marathon considering 3/4 of them are about it. So look forward to some mid-year goals! 

And just a warning to everyone who goes to the gym regularly, this is a real occurrence that I dread:

And one more for your viewing pleasure, because this is the most accurate:

What are you goals for the new year?

What goals have you achieved this year?

Christmas Week and Marathon Training Wk 1

Sorry I've been MIA, I've had a very great week with family while in Chicago!

Saturday 12/20: We braved the long drive from Nashville to the Chicago area. 8.5 hours later, we were pooped out.

Sunday 12/21: We went to our home church and it was fun to see all of our old friends! We met, got engaged, and got married at this church so it's fun to come home to.

Monday 12/22: We went downtown Chicago (our family actually lives about 45 miles outside the city). We did all the Chicago Christmas things like the German market and we went to see the Macy's (still Marshall Fields in my book) windows and the tree. Of course that included a trip to the Italian Village for lunch.

Got some extra running in by re-creating the marathon poster

We also re-created this ad for fun

Tuesday: 12/23: My first day of marathon training! Woot! I ran the Fox River Trail for 3 miles. I'm not going to talk about times yet because mine still kind of suck.

Wednesday 12/24: Second day of marathon training. Same trail, different direction for 3 very tough miles. Let's just say I haven't run very regularly since September. Woops. But we got together with my side of the family for church and Christmas Eve fondue (we do that every year). We also did a gift exchange which got me some super cool wall sconces! (crap, if I'm excited about that it must mean I'm an adult) 

Fondue-ing

Thursday 12/25: Christmas! But first my third day of marathon training. I was completely drained so I just did 2 miles. But I was very proud of myself for doing it! Then we started Christmas. I'm always so excited to see if people like what I got them and I think this year was a winner! I got some pretty cool stuff too because my family is the best. I think my husband got the best gift from me though (I'm biased): Lego slippers!

Friday 12/26: We got together with the Bork side of the family for brunch. We had a fun time catching up with everyone we don't get to see very often! We also got to go test out the husband's new bowling ball. I think he likes it :)

Saturday 12/27: We braved the long drive back to Nashville with my brother and dad in tow. We learned an important key to travel though. When you don't have cruise control on your car, follow your dad who does!

Sunday 12/28: All four of us went to the Colts/Titans game (it was my dad and brother's Christmas gift). We had a really fun time even though it was cold and rainy. It  was my bro's first NFL game! It was also my first long run for marathon training. I ran 6 miles and felt fairly great about it! It was encouraging to see that even though my running fitness has gone away a little, my mental energy is still there!

That about sums it up! We were busy, but very happy. Now it's time to get back into the routine and delve further into marathon training. 

PS-someone should really count how many times I say "marathon training" in the next few months. It's going to be pretty high.

Hope y'all had a great Christmas week!

2014: The Year of the Half

Before I outline all of my New Year's goals, I want to take a second and look at what I have done in 2014. I forget that part of the deal sometimes. Here are my proud accomplishments of 2014:

1. Finishing 2 half marathons. Country Music Half Marathon on April 26, 2014 and the Women's Running Series Half Marathon on September 27, 2014. I dropped my PR by 8 minutes between the two races.

2. Starting a blog! I've always had lots of thoughts and I'm always real good about sharing them. Plus, I can ramble about running stuff and no one gets annoyed! I'm proud of this because it has helped me to not only pay attention to what I'm doing and how I can change, but I've been blessed to meet people who are encouraging and improving me! 

3. Got a dog. I never really thought I'd be getting a dog until we had kids because I'm not a self proclaimed "dog person". But we found Wrigley and I think he's pretty cool. Still not a "dog person", but I guess I can be a Wrigley person! 

4. Celebrated our one year anniversary in July with a trip to Gatlinburg, TN. I love my husband so much and am blessed by him daily. (On a side note, it'll be 9 years in January since he asked me out)

I think it was pretty good year! Looking forward to the new year and new challenges that are waiting for me! 

What were your highlights from 2014?