Marathon Training Recap Week 12

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with Giveaway, Goals, Marathon Training, Running February 2, 2014

Here are the details of last week : )

Sunday, January 26th–Rest Day. I was basically in recovery mode from the previous day’s long run (my 18 miler!)

Monday, January 27th–Cross Train. 10 miles on the bike and some core work. This was tough as I was still feeling the effects from Saturday but I mustered through it.

Tuesday, January 28th–6.2 miles. I wanted to challenge myself with this one. My legs were still tired so I wanted to see how I’d do running on tired legs. Also, I’m trying to see how I can start increasing my distance going a little faster. The results:

It was hard. Very hard. But I’m glad I did it as I wanted to really push myself.

Wednesday, January 29th–Track Day/Speed Work. We did 200m surges drill which I discussed in this post. I love doing speed work. This is a surprise to me as I consider myself more of a long distance/endurance runner but I’ve been having so much fun challenging myself on track days.

Thursday, January 30th–Unintentional Rest Day. Aaaaand then fatigue set it in. This was supposed to be another cross training day but by the time my husband got home, I was just absolutely exhausted. I handed the kids over to him and called it a night at 7 p.m. Much needed rest.

Friday, January 31st–Rest Day but not really. I did a Blogilates video and some planking. Plus, I got these in the mail

and was SO pumped to use them as soon as I could! I had a virtual half marathon scheduled the next day so it was perfect to break out my new Ultimate Direction Hydrapack. Absolutely love it. Love, love, love it.

Saturday, February 1st–12.75 miles. Yeah, I said I had a virtual half scheduled. That didn’t quite come out the way I’d hope. I started the first 6 miles with a buddy who was recovering from a cold but also had the same mileage on her plan. She clearly was not feeling well and had to stop often to catch her breath. I decided to nix the virtual and run/walk with her to make sure she was okay. I was a little bummed I couldn’t complete the run the way I’d have liked, but I knew that there’d be other days where circumstances would be better.

Totals for the month of January…drumroll… 93.75 miles.

Yes, the .25 kinda bothers me (and really, being so close to 100) but I didn’t realize this until Saturday when January was already over lol. Oh well : )

Overall this was a very productive, exciting month! New 1/2 marathon PR, longest distance run to date (18 miles), and most cumulative monthly total miles. I think it’s safe to say I’ve started 2014 on the right foot 😀

***Don’t forget we’re celebrating my upcoming marathon with an awesome giveaway! Click here to enter for $35 towards a Road ID purchase!!! Giveaway ends Friday at midnight.

The One Month Countdown Begins {and a giveaway!!}

Posted by hellyontherun in Giveaway, Running and tagged with Countdown, Giveaway, Marathon Training, Party, Phoenix Marathon, Road ID, Running, Safety February 1, 2014

You guys…I’m running a marathon in a month!!

It’s really gonna happen!

It’s so crazy; even after months of training I still can’t believe I’m doing this!

So, because this is the last month and I’m beyond excited about this, I’ll be doing a couple of giveaways to get the party started leading up to March 1st–THE BIG DAY!

One of my favorite products I’ve purchased have been my Road ID bracelets. The first one I bought is the the Wrist ID Slim. This bracelet is a silicone stretchy band and the ID allows for 5 lines of information.

I ended up ordering a too small size so when I went to the website to order just the bracelet in a bigger size (you can interchange the bracelet and use the same ID–a really cool feature!), I decided to go with the Wrist ID Sport. I like that the Sport is hydrophilic–good with water–and considering I sweat like a horse when I run, this was a definite plus. It doesn’t irritate my skin at all.

This bracelet allows for six lines of information on the ID plate. I like that you can include a quote if you want. Mine is my running mantra, “My race. My pace.”

There are so many cool colors to choose from too; of course I went with purple 🙂

The Road ID is probably the #1 running accessory I recommend to people. You never know what can happen where ever you might be. If you’re biking, swimming, running, hiking, or just going out for a walk, this simple bracelet could be extremely helpful in an emergency situation.

Another reason Road ID is so awesome is that it’s implemented a new new mobile app which is meant to supplement the physical Road ID wrist band. It allows your friends and family to track your running, cycling, hiking, walking and basically any outdoor adventures in real time and has a stationary alert system. How cool is that??

So, because I’m super pumped about my upcoming marathon and because I love my own Road ID, I’m giving away $35 of credit to use towards YOUR OWN ROAD ID. Yes, whatever you want from their website!! They have other products too besides bracelets–take a tour and look around! What would you do with $35?? 😀

The not-so-fine-print:

To enter, leave a comment telling me what color you’d want your Road ID bracelet (if that’s what you’d choose) and what your favorite running inspirational quote is. Giveaway ends Friday, February 7th midnight Central time. Winner will be announced that morning.

Start here—->a Rafflecopter giveaway

To increase your chances:

1. Like Helly On The Run and Road ID on Facebook
2. Follow me on Twitter @ hellyontherun
3. Follow me on Instagram @ hellyontherun

Thank you all so much for your encouragement during my journey. I’m still celebrating my sub 2 hour 1/2 marathon and am so looking forward to my first full marathon. I’m glad you’re with me for the ride! : )

~helly

Speed Work Fun!

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with Challenge, Marathon Training, Running, Speed Work, Track January 30, 2014

As you may have noticed by now, Wednesdays are my speed work days. My run club meets at a local high school track and we typically do a speed workout of 3-4 miles. Since having incorporated these workouts into my training, I’ve definitely seen improvements in my overall time/pace. For the longest, I was hanging out in the 10:00/mile range but now I’ve consistently been in the mid to low 9s and even high 8s. When I do speed work, I occasionally even see a seven.

On Tuesday I did a 6.2 mile run wanting to challenge myself with my pace. I’ve been doing speed work for awhile and wanted to see if I could go longer a little faster. I ended at 6.21 miles at an 8:46 pace. My fastest 10K to date. I definitely feel myself getting faster and I do think it’s partly due to speed work Wednesdays.

I want to share with you two workouts I love that we’ve done (Please note: I am not a personal trainer nor do I have any certifications. Please do these at your own risk):

The first one is called 200m Surges–

You want to make sure your sprint is fast and considerably at a faster pace than your jog. After four continuous laps, take a breather–you can decide how long you want this to be–and then go for another set. I recommend starting with a warmup lap and ending with a cool down lap. This workout leaves you at 3 miles.

The next workout is another favorite–

You want to do this in a pace that challenges but one that you’ll be able to maintain (albeit with difficulty) throughout the entire workout. The length of the “short rest” is up to you but you don’t want to lose the momentum of the workout by taking a too long rest. I also recommend a warm up lap and a cool down lap. This workout leaves you at at 4 miles.

If you don’t have a track near you, try doing these on the treadmill. My gym has ‘mills that have a visual track you can see yourself running around on lol! If yours doesn’t have this nifty feature, I recommend doing the 200m surges using time instead. For example, jog two minutes, surge two minutes.

Let me know if you try these and what you think!

–Do you incorporate speed work in your training?