Marathon training week 5 in the books

Posted by hellyontherun in Family, Running and tagged with Long Run, Marathon Training, Running July 28, 2014

Another week of training done. It’s been a hectic past couple of weeks as my kids both started daycare and the transition has been tough. Funny because the tough part isn’t them not liking it; they actually love it! The school director told me how surprised she was at how well they’ve adapted–In my head I’m thinking, “Yeah, they were probably bored hanging out with me all day.”

The tough part has really been more trying to get them ready in the morning. And the other tough part are the sicknesses. I’ve had to re-schedule or miss a few runs to stay home with them but luckily it’s still early in the training and because I haven’t really had an off season, I’m comfortable in my abilities so far to miss a run here and there.

I was able to get out there a few times last week though:

Monday I took my new shoes for a ride on the treadmill–

Tuesday I did a 4 mile furnace run with my run club; excessive heat warning be damned..

Wednesday was track day but I was home with my sick little one 😦 This was his actual birthday too, poor guy. We decided to celebrate anyway though with a ONE pizza 🙂

Thursday was a cross training day but I was still home with my son. When my husband came home from work, I was so exhausted I couldn’t muster up the energy to go to the gym. I made myself feel better about it by doing an abs video at home.

Fridays are typically rest days but I was desperate need of a run. It had been a pretty stressful week with my sick kids, party planning, and just life–I knew a run would be a great pick me upper. And it totally was.

I tried out a new treadmill (not by choice. My treadmill was taken lol) and it had a cool techy screen that I couldn’t really figure out. Sometimes I like the older models of things because I feel they’re simpler to use. I’m also just not tech savvy at all Anyway, I decided to mix things up and do some treadhills. Before I knew it, I had 5 miles in the bag. I was a sweaty mess and it. felt. great. 🙂

My son’s birthday party was on Saturday but it was also long run day so I woke up at crazy o’clock and headed out for my scheduled 10 miler. I wasn’t sure how it would go since my husband and I had been up til midnight party preparing. I didn’t feel like a complete zombie so I was hopeful things would go well.

It went amazing.

My buddy The Running Schlub was there again and he was kind enough to keep me company the first 4 miles. We were running at a really good pace for me, slow and steady, and the whole time we chatted–mostly about basketball, so I was pretty much having a blast.

He was going 8 so at mile four, he turned around. I kept going and convinced myself to pick up the pace a little and try and negative split the second half of my run.

success!

I still can’t believe how well that run went! I felt so good at the end and even my cool down mile was faster than my start. I totally felt like I could have kept on going.

I definitely think the slow start helped me not burn out. While I don’t want to always have a 4 mile warm up, I do hope to continue to stay disciplined and start my runs with a legit warm-up. ~~Sometimes~~ Often, I get overzealous and start out too fast. With shorter runs I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, but with long runs, I need all the conserving of energy as possible.

After my run, we got the house party ready! My little guy was feeling much better and did so great with all the people. He really is a chill dude so I wasn’t surprised that he handled everything with ease.

Big sister helping blow out the candle

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Birthday cake!!! I thought he’d dig in and go at it but he was very well mannered 🙂

Overall, a good running week with a great long run. Monday-Sunday total mileage: 25.02 miles

This is my last week of freedom before I return to work. The calm before the storm………

How was your weekend?

Are you a chocolate cake fan?

An offer too good to refuse…except I had to

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with Coaching, Cross Country, Opportunities, Running, Saying No July 24, 2014

Way back when, seven years ago lol!, I started my teaching career. My first year I was so scared and intimidated by everything and everyone, especially the veteran teachers. Here I was, 22 years old, fresh out of college, wanting to teach high school juniors American literature–what the heck did I know about what I was doing??

The school that hired me had an absolutely amazing English department so I knew I was in good hands. (It still does despite many teachers retiring or moving on)

One of those teachers was a man named John–he worked there my first two years and his wife, also an English teacher, was actually my student/teacher mentor. John has a no nonsense aura about him; he doesn’t mince words and is super, super smart. Like you’re afraid to say something stupid in front him smart. I remember the first time I met him, I called him Mr. Prather, like if I was a student! He quickly said it was okay for me to call him by his first name, after all, we were co-workers. (eek!)

John was known for being a top teacher. All the students liked him and not because his classes were easy–in fact, his classes challenged the students and they loved it. At the time, he taught the same subject I did and yes, I felt like I was way out of my league compared to him.

In addition to being known as a fabulous teacher, John is an accomplished runner. He currently coaches our high school’s cross country team. He has the same success with his athletes that he does with his students in that they love his coaching style, respect him, and take on the challenges he gives them.

So when I got an e-mail from him last month offering me an assistant coaching position, I FREAKED OUT. I mean, I screamed out loud after reading.

This is a man whose intelligence I’d admired and respected, who I’ve always (even now) been kind of afraid to even talk to, asking ME to work beside him!

I didn’t know what to say.

A million things went through my head–yet, the main question was, could I do it?

I already knew the answer to that.

No.

😦

The high school I work at is a 40 minute drive from where I live. I have to leave at 6:30 in the morning to make it there on time and I drive against traffic both ways. With practices, I wouldn’t be getting home til past my kids’ bedtimes. Traveling would further keep me away from home. I couldn’t do it to my kids or my husband.

And oh yeah, I’m currently training for a marathon.

It just wouldn’t work. So, I e-mailed back a sad no.

I let him know that I was extremely honored to even be considered and that it would have been a dream to work with him. I know that I could have learned so much–with my own running and especially working with student athletes, something I’ve always wanted to do.

It was such a great opportunity, one that I hope I’ll get another chance at in the future when the time is right. I just know that that time is not now.

I made sure the e-mail went into the Saved folder so that I could go back and look at it every once and a while–I know that it’ll always be a good pick-me-upper when I need one 🙂

Have you ever had to say no to something you really wanted to say yes to?

Do you always have a lot of things going on because you don’t want to say no? (For some reason, this is me. But I’m learning.)

Ultimate Direction Wink Hydration Pack {Review}

Posted by hellyontherun in Product Review, Running and tagged with Hiking, Hydration, Hydration Pack, Product Review, Rim to Rim to Rim, Running, Trail Running, Ultimate Direction, Water, Wink July 22, 2014

I’ve been complimented and asked several questions on the type of hydration pack I use. I’ve been meaning to write a full review on it for quite some time and today is finally the day. If you’re in the market for a hydration pack, or just like reading about them, here you go!

The hydration pack you’ve seen me use in my pictures is the Ultimate Direction Wink (the Wink is the women’s version, the Wasp is the men’s).

Wink Hydration Pack

I bought the pack when I was in the middle of training for my first marathon. A lot of my girl friends in my running club have the Wink and raved about it–knowing I’d also be trekking the Canyon, I figured it’d be a great purchase.

When my marathon came, I went back and forth a million times on whether or not I should run with it. I had trained all the way leading up to the big day and many of my running buddies said I should stick with what I had trained with, so I did. In retrospect, I think I would have done things differently. By mile 18, my shoulders ached and were slumping forward (of course, this isn’t only because of the pack but because I was dying of exhaustion) and all I wanted to do was rip the pack off. When my husband reached me at mile 20, I unclipped it and handed it over. I did feel a lot lighter.

What I recommend: If you want to run your marathon with a pack, I suggest a lighter one with a smaller bladder.

However, I absolutely LOVED the pack when I did the double crossing of the Canyon. Like, I thank all the heavens above I had the Wink.

One of the things we were told in preparation for Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim was that we had to have ample space in our packs for all our gear (food, flashlight, sunscreen, poles, etc. and of course water). The Wink has amazing space. AMAZING.

Canyon ready!

When I was training, I’d practice weighing it (by that I mean making it heavy to mimic how it’d be when I crossed the Canyon). Despite it’s weight, it was super comfortable. The straps do not dig in to my shoulders, the pack does not bounce, and it is super easy to refill the water–which I had to do multiple times.

When I crossed the Canyon, I had an orange, four rolled up tortillas, a bag of pecans, a bag of beef jerky, 1 Honey Stinger waffle, a bag of Oreo cookies, 2 Gu packs, a bag of salt tablets, sunscreen, a flashlight, Chapstick, my phone, hair ties, bobby pins, band aids, my EPI pen, a towel, a jacket, a walkie talkie, and my poles. Oh, and with the reservoir filled up to the 70 oz mark.

Whew! But everything fit perfectly and I was actually super comfortable!

With my poles attached to my pack

at the finish line of the Canyon 🙂 45 hours of wearing the pack

I used it for when I did the Adrenaline 27k Night Run and it worked perfect for that race. I was really glad I had it then too.

Adrenaline 27k

And I also used it this past Sunday for our under 3 mile hike up Camelback Mountain. In this instance, since it was a strict hike and no running, I didn’t mind using it at all for this short of distance. Loved it!

Sunday’s #RunEatTweetAZ hike

In short, here’s a PRO/CON rundown:

Pros:

Large reservoir of 70 oz/2 L
Very, very comfortable (designed for the women’s body)
4 front pockets for easy access (this was a big plus for me because I didn’t have to keep taking it off for items I needed often)
Simple refuel process (another major plus)
Does not bounce
A lot of storage space (there are 3 main zippers–a small one for an ID and money, a large one that holds the bulk of your stuff, and side zipper for extra storage)
Easy to maintain care

Possible Cons:

I think it’s best for longer runs where there might be a shortage of fueling stations. A smaller pack is ideal for distances shorter than 15 miles in my opinion.
The velcro clip that attaches to the tube fell off relatively quickly. I just tucked the tube under one of the front straps and went about my way with zero problems (like in the last pic).

I hope you’ve found this review helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions about it 🙂

Do you/have you run with a hydration pack?

Ultimate Direction did not compensate me in any way for the write up of this review. I purchased the Wink and opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.