Week(end) Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon, Running, Uncategorized and tagged with Fun Run, Humidity, Marathon Training, Marine Corps Marathon, Running, Weekend Recap July 7, 2014

I had written last week how I’d given myself a marathon training pre-season before I get down to business. Well, business has arrived and today is my first official day of training!! Woohoo!! I have 6 miles on the agenda and we’ll see how they go.

Last week was a busy week with preparation for the holiday on Friday (Independence Day here in the States) but I still managed to get quite a few runs in–

On Monday, my pre-season schedule had me running 4 miles, one warm-up, two tempo, and one cool down. Despite once again venturing out in 106 degree heat, it went far better than the previous Monday as my splits went like this:

Mile 1-9:21
Mile 2-8:44
Mile 3-8:41
Mile 4-8:53

The last cool down mile was a little too fast but I had begun Lebronning (cramping) and just wanted to get the run over with. I was happy to see that I was keeping my splits consistent again as it’s something I’ve been trying really hard to work on.

Tuesday according to my plan is a cross training day and I know this is where I might be cheating with Run Less, Run Faster. Tuesdays are group runs with my running group and I really like meeting up with them. It’ll be hard to give this day up to a day in the gym as I’d much rather hang out with them–I’m thinking if I did an easy-less than 4 miles-run followed up with the bike or something that it might work.

So the plan was to do some easy running but I ended up running and chatting with a girl who’s pretty fast. You can tell that I couldn’t keep up as my splits looked liked the hot mess that I was

Mile 1-9:06
Mile 2-9:17
Mile 3-9:27
Mile 4-9:47

Another what I was I thinking….

Wednesday was speed work at the track but like previous session, there wasn’t much speed happening. Unless you count me trying to eat my ice pop as fast as I could before it melted lol! Anyway, three miles done.

Cross training as planned for Thursday but because I knew I’d be running the following day for the holiday (Fridays are typically rest days) I made Thursday my day of rest.

Friday we were all up bright and early for a fun 5k with my run club. They had a splash mob-bish run planned so it was going to be some wet and wild fun!

Little did I know that the wet would really be sweat from the humidity going on that morning–holy cow!

This was at 6:50 in the morning!

The race itself was really fun as my running group always finds unique ways to make these get togethers interesting. We were told to arrive on time as the race would be chip timed and we needed to pick them up early before the race started.

My race chip 😀

We all do these in fun so it wasn’t a competitive 5k. I kept a decent pace (although difficult because I could really feel the humidity!) and finished in 28:45 (9:01/mile).

I had an 8 mile long run planned for Saturday and I was up at crazy 0’clock to get started. The humidity had carried over at at 5 in the morning and we were running in 82 degrees weather with 51% humidity. It was pretty awful and I could feel it the entire way. Luckily my plan’s long run pace was manageable and I stuck to it the entrée way: 8 miles (9:50/mile). I was actually really excited about this as I hadn’t run this far in a while (not counting the 27k trail run).

Working up some nice leg sweat.

Sunday was rest day with stretching and foam rolling.

Overall, a very productive week at just over 22 miles. I’m looking forward to the official first day of training today 🙂 16 weeks til Marine Corps Marathon!!

I’m Jesse Spano excited about this!!!

–How was your running week?

–Did you run/race this weekend?

–Get my Jesse Spano reference? 🙂

Very Inspiring Blogger {An Award}

Posted by hellyontherun in About Me, Award, Bloggers, Running and tagged with About Me, Blog, Inspiration, Man vs. Horse, Random Facts, Running, WWE July 3, 2014

One of the things I’ve been loving about blogging is finding other blogs to read. I’m not sure if it was because Colby and Tina commented on a post I wrote or if they commented on my fave, Salt’s blog at one point, but the girls that are It’s A Marathon AND A Sprint are one of my favorite finds.

Last week when I wrote about the awesomeness that is Janji, it was because I had discovered the company through their blog. I love blogs that are informative, honest, humorous, and written by people who care about what they write. You see this in every post Tina and Colby publish.

So it was such a great surprise to find out they nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Surprising because they’re the ones that inspire—not only with their running talents but with the way they write. I’m an English teacher and writing is my thing, so when I read good stuff from good people it makes me want to be a better writer. Thank you Colby and Tina for being such awesome people and considering me for this award.

The Rules:

Thank and link to the person who nominated you
List the rules and display the award
Share seven facts about yourself (I know, I know. MORE stuff about Helly???)
Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated
Optional: display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you

Alright, I’ll try and make this short and sweet 🙂

1. I don’t like the distance number stickers people put on cars. Nothing against people who do, it’s just not my style. And it’s not just the distance stickers, I’m not a fan of putting any type of bumper sticker thing on my car. You won’t find a stick figure family on the back of my Chevy.

2. I also don’t snot rocket. Again, it’s just not style. Most of the time, I carry a small hand towel or a Runningluv type thing to wipe snot from nose and if all else fails, I’m okay with using my shirt. Gross maybe, but I think snot rockets are grosser.

3. I loved wrestling growing up. My brother and I were huge fans of the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWEntertainment). I grew up watching Ravishing Rick Rude, The Million Dollar Man, The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels, Bret the Hitman Hart, the Ulimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect, and of course Hulk Hogan. I even went to a few live ones and let me tell you, it was pretty amazing.

I stopped watching shortly after the Stone Cold Steve Austin era ended and when I no longer could smell what The Rock was cooking.

4. My high school job was working at a saddle shop. I wore boots and Wranglers and sold western clothing and cowboy hats. I listened to country music all day and hung out with the the guy who made saddles. It was so cool to see something beautifully handmade begin from just a scrap of leather.

If I ever do a 50 mile race it would be this one only because of the awesome buckle you get when/if you finish.

5. I don’t like soft ice cream. Ice cream from Dairy Queen just doesn’t do it for me. I’m more of a Baskin Robins or Cold Stone type of gal. My favorite flavors are chocolate, chocolate chip, and sherbet. I may even get all three together 🙂

6. Getting lost is my thing. When I was young, I’d always somehow stray away. On summer vacations, it became a running joke that my family would lose me. I got lost at Disneyland one year, at the beach another year, and at our State Fair one October. Luckily all three times I was found pretty quickly.

One time, in my sleep, I rolled off the bed and then somehow ended underneath it! All while still asleep! My parents freaked and even called the police but there I was, snoozing under my bed.

7. I love American history. I know that a lot of people like traveling abroad because of so many historical attractions and don’t get me wrong, I love to do that too, but I love learning about our own country’s beginnings. I’m so pumped for the Marine Corps Marathon because it will be my first time in D.C.

As a teacher, I teach freshman, sophomores, and juniors and I love teaching juniors the best because it’s all American literature. I get to read the The Crucible, Edgar Allan Poe, and The Great Gatsby all day. Heaven.

My nominees (in no particular order):

1. Confessions of an Amateur Athlete
2. The Running Schlub
3. Blog About Running
4. Run Away With Me
5. So Very Slightly Mad
6. This Mama Runs For Cupcakes
7. Black Dog Runs Disney
8. PB&PRs
9. Little Green Running Shoes
10. The Little GSP
11. Life Between the Miles
12. Piper’s Run
13. Running on Healthy
14. Slacker Runner
15. Running Vegetarian

Please check out these awesome blogs!

–What are some good blogs you’re following nowadays?

–Thoughts on my random facts? Wanna share one?

If you’re in the states, I hope you have a great 4th of July tomorrow!!

Helloooo July!! Mid-Year Review

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with Family, Half Marathon, Marathon, Mid Year Review, Personal Record, Reflecting, Running, Travel July 1, 2014

It’s crazy to think half the year is gone! Is it me, or did it fly by??

I love new months. I know that we shouldn’t wait for a new month or a new week to start anything, that we should start whenever we have the urge or desire or want to, but there’s something about the beginning of a new month that gets me excited about what’s to come. Usually this is when I’m the most motivated.

I uploaded last night’s run (I somehow didn’t learn and went out again in 104 degree weather–106 according to my Garmin info) and looked at my total miles for the month. It was my lowest to date.

There’s nothing wrong with that and honestly I needed a low mileage month. Leading into marathon training, I purposefully wanted to lessen my mileage and rest the legs.

Looking at June’s miles made me want to look at the rest of the year. I had set a goal back in January to run 1000 miles in 2014–a goal that I didn’t care if I met or not but was interested to see how close I got.

Then I started looking at all I’ve done up to this point. I was busy!

Here’s January-June Mid Year Review:

January
Total Miles: 93.75

I ran my sub 2 hour goal half marathon this month and rocked it! I was also pretty deep into marathon training at this point.

February
Total Miles: 77.46

This month was taper month. I ran a great 10k where I placed in my age group and got my first double medal 🙂

March
Total Miles: 93.58

March Marathon Madness!!! My first marathon!!! Unforgettable. Hard. Life-changing.

I learned so much from my first. I love that I don’t have anything to compare it to yet–right now, it’s my best one 🙂 And you never really forget your first.

April
Total Miles: 85.3

Hello Europe!! I was still running pretty consistently here as I prepared for Rock n Roll Madrid, Spain. Another remarkable, unforgettable moment in my life. Traveling through Spain, Italy, and France with my husband was just the best ever.

This was also the month my brother, sister, and I ran our first race together–a family 5k 🙂 (I PR’d in the rain!)

May
Total Miles: 62.95

Oh this is the month I crossed the Grand Canyon twice, no big deal. 😀

June
Total Miles: 47.19

REST!!! You can tell from how busy I’ve been that I needed a good ‘ol month of rest. And even then I had to spice things up by doing my first trail race (and first night race)!

I can’t even explain how excited I am for the rest of the year. I have so much to look forward to (my son turns 1!) and am already so blessed. I’m especially glad I have this outlet where I can document my experiences–sometimes I go back and look at old posts, it’s like sifting through a memory album 🙂

Thank you for being a part of my journey! Here’s to the rest of 2014!
–Do new months motivate you?

–How has your year been so far? Running and life-wise??