Week 9: #itsgoingdownatphx

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , , , , ,

I had such a good training week last week that it almost makes me nervous. You know that feeling you get when everything is going right and you become paranoid because there’s NO WAY things can be this perfect so something is bound to go wrong?? Yeah, that’s my current mental state.

Monday, December 18th–Stretch, Roll

Took a rest day after the previous day’s race. I was also beat from 4 days straight of craziness between hard workouts/races and holiday preparations. Plus, my kids got sick 😥 Like, sick sick. They both missed their entire last week of school and I was crazy mama worried about them early in the week. I also was frantic about last minute Christmas stuff I planned to do that I could no longer do…

I did get an exciting e-mail however. I was chosen as a Pro Compression ambassador!! I’ve worn their compression socks for a looooong time and love, love, love them so this was great news! I only represent brands/businesses I actually use .

#keepittight

Tuesday, December 19th–7 miles

One mile warm up, 5 active threshold temp (7:40) w/90sec RI, one mile cool down.

7:34
7:33
7:29
7:33
7:27

A little faster than needed but with the active recovery in between, I felt energized to tackle the next one (plus it was so freaking cold, I wanted to be done).

Cold, dark, and early when I started–cold, dark, and early when I finished.

Wednesdsay, December 20th–Strength train, stretch, and roll

Did some upper body exercises, core, and the usual stretch and roll. Kids still sick. Mama getting tired. I had to call for back-up (aka: grandma) because I was starting to feel the fatigue of caring for two sick littles and marathon training.

Thursday, December 21st–7 miles (w/timed mile)

I was suuuuper nervous about this run. My last timed mile hadn’t gone so well (6:42) and I really wanted to better that time. Because my mom was in town, I asked my husband to pace me (along with another buddy) in the hopes they could push me to a mile in the 6:30s.

SIX TWENTY SEVEN

I blew my goal away!!!! After a two mile warm up, we were off!!! I didn’t think, I just ran. The mile route was one I knew very well, so it helped knowing where I was distance wise and how much I had left to go. When my buddy yelled, “400 left!!” I picked it up and then when my husband said, “Kick now!” I gave whatever I had left to finish in 6:27. I was on cloud nine!! I couldn’t believe it!!

!!!!

My coach had a workout for after the timed mile but I was completely done and ran the next four miles at a recovery/easy pace to reach the total mileage for the day. I was pooped!

Friday, December 22nd–6 miles

I met up with a friend for some seriously FREEZING miles. No joke, I couldn’t feel my face.

32 degrees is NOT okay.

Saturday, December 23rd–17 miles

This was another run I was worried about. I met up with my coach and her athletes for this run that would be on a hilly route. The hills concerned me as I’m not very good with them (which was why I was there, lol) but I was also concerned with the last 3 miles having to be at half marathon pace (7:40) #eek

My BQ training buddy Ashley joined me for this long run and it was sooo nice to have her company. We hung out around the 8:40-45 range for the majority of the way and when I got to the end of mile 14, I knew I had to go at it alone and at least try to speed up.

7:31 (43 elevation gain)
7:55 (69 elevation gain)
7:17 (72 elevation loss)

I have NO IDEA where/how I mustered up the energy to pull that off. NO IDEA. But you better believer that when I was done, I rode that high allllll day 😀

😀

Sunday, December 24th–4 miles

I met up with my Moms Run This Town chapter for some easy recovery miles (9:48/mile). We had a good group and it was fun and festive ❤

 

By Sunday, my kids were feeling so much better–just in time for Christmas! After a tough week of training and parenting, it was so nice to end on a good note. Total Miles: 41

❤

If you celebrated, and if you didn’t, I hope you had a great holiday weekend!!!

xoxo,

helly

–When is the last time you ran a timed mile?

–Is 32 degrees okay for you?

–Do you freak out when your training is going well?

 

 

 

 

Hanging Out With a Pro

Posted by hellyontherun in Running, Uncategorized and tagged with , , ,

Okay, so I didn’t really hang out with a professional runner, but I was front and center at a Q&A a couple of weeks ago! 😀

I’m lucky in that there are some pretty awesome running stores around me that host cool events. I met Jeff Galloway last month at one store, and also last month at a different one, I got to meet Abdi Abdirahman.

He most recently ran New York Marathon and finished 7th overall and was the first American to finish.

Light blue shirt, orange Nikes (Source)

I didn’t know him prior to hearing about him through the Sole Sports Running’s event page, but when I saw he was a professional runner, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet him and hear him speak. And let’s be real here, I could talk and listen about all things running all day!

Andplusalso, he’s from Arizona!!

Let’s ignore the UofA shirt–Go Sun Devils!! (Source)

It was an intimate Q&A, which I thought was cool because it had a real personal feel. There were maybe 15 people there. I sat right in front of him and even got to ask a few questions (like, What is a race day ritual? He said, new socks!)

What stood out from the conversation was that he was a late starter. He didn’t actually start running til his late teens! I laughed when he said that running wasn’t a dream he had all his life and that it wasn’t like he’d always wanted to be a runner. A friend asked him for company on a run and the rest is history!

He’s an older runner, in his forties, and he said that although he respects and admires Meb, he likes beating him even more, lol! I was inspired by Abdi’s confidence; he repeated several times that despite his age, he feels like he still has a lot in him to compete at the high level. He was not satisfied with 7th place at New York (even though I thought that was pretty impressive!); he finished 3rd last year in 2:11.

Abdi will be running Boston next year and joins a long list of pros I’m excited to see!

Oh just me and a pro 😀

Pretty cool, huh?! Have you ever met a pro runner? (I’ve also high-fived Meb once!)

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Week 8: #itsgoingdownatphx

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , , , ,

The 10 week countdown begins!!!

Monday, December 11th–Stretch, Roll

I took the day after Scottsdale Half Marathon off to recover. I rolled like the good runner I am 😀

Tuesday, December 12th–5 miles

Thankfully, the plan called for easy miles and I milked it. Met up with my early morning crew for a fiver at 9:15 pace.

Wednesday, December 13th–Strength train, stretch, and roll

Did some MYRTLES and some core vids. Exciting stuff. Although, I do have to say that I feel my hips/glutes getting stronger. I try and devote an hour to this stuff on the days that it calls for.

Thursday, December 14th–7 miles

This was a tough workout that I was excited/nervous about–2×1 mile at 10k pace (7:10) and 4×400 at (6:55).

7:07
6:55

6:42
6:36
6:36
6:20

It was hard but it was actually….fun?

Friday, December 15th–Nada

I chaperoned my daughter’s Kindergarten field trip so that was my morning. In the evening, I went to a holiday party with some friends and had a pre-birthday celebration 🙂

Saturday, December 16th–12.16 miles

I met up with two Moms Run This Town friends and got in two miles before I ventured out on my own for the last 10. This was an AMAZING run and was the best way to start year 33 😀

I don’t know who I’ve become.

Later, I had two holiday parties and I realized that I didn’t even take an official birthday picture, lol!! True sign of aging, jaja!!!

Sunday, December 17th–5 miles (Heroes in Recovery 6k)

Did a warm up mile before this special race. I ran it last year in celebration of my brother and father’s sobriety and now, more than a year later, they are both still going strong ❤ Because of them, I am a believer of prayer, of God’s strength–and I thank Him everyday for His power to ignite change in my two heroes.

I wanted to negative split this 3.7 mile race and I was well under way, until I saw the course was going to be long and then my spirits sank, i.e I ran out of gas, LOL

Nevertheless, I managed to finish 9th FOA and 2nd in my AG–all of which of course was for my my dad and brother ❤ I often think of them when things get hard in a race. How hard must it be to give up an addiction, to continue every day without something you thought you couldn’t live without? That’s hard. So I go to them in tough times and find strength in their strength.

Weekly Total: 29.25 miles

–Do you run a race that means something special to you?