The Little 20 Miler That Could…

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with 20 miler, Long Run, Marathon Training September 21, 2017

You guys (and girls), I had the freaking best 20 miler of my life this past Saturday! Do you remember my shitty attempt at a long run from the week before? No? I don’t either because this 20 miler trumps it from my memory bank!

I had plans to meet my St. George Marathon training buddy Ashley at 4 a.m. to start this 20 miler of ours. I set my alarm for 3:15 and I did actually wake up at 3:15 –ONLY TO TURN IT RIGHT BACK OFF!!

At 3:50 I woke up in panic realizing that I’d overslept. I didn’t even have enough time to brush my teeth so off I went with gorilla breath making it to our meeting spot at 4:05. Luckily, like the true training buddy she is, Ashley was there waiting for me.

We paced ourselves perfectly. Our fueling game was on point.

And the only thing negative about this run were the last 5 miles. 😀

Booyah!

Seriously. When we were at the 13 mile mark, we said that we’d try to pick it up for maybe miles 19 and 20. But we found ourselves picking up speed at mile 15 and we just rolled with it.

It was amazing.

I’m not sure I can BQ at St. George. I’m not sure I can PR at St. George. But this run gives the confidence boost I needed to give both a shot.

Trust the process
I can do all things

Viva la taper!

–Do 20 milers (or long runs) scare you? I hadn’t done a 20 miler in over a year! (Remember, I’m a Hanson’s gal.) And I wasn’t so much scared about this run more than just scared about long running in general. Since the last few have been horrible.

–Are you an alarm runner or do you wake up naturally?

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 15 Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with 20 Miles, Chicago Marathon, Long Run, Marathon Training, Running, Running Shoes, Team RMHC September 21, 2015

Taper taper bo baper, fee fi fo faper…..taaaaaaper!!!!!

I love that little jingle. 😀

It was a great week of training and now I’m in the home stretch–eeeep!!!!

I had the day off on Monday and I took advantage of it by going for a 5 miler. I’ve been limited to 4 miles during the week because of time/work/kid constraints (and husband work travels) and I would’ve liked to have done 6, but I was very happy for 5.

Almost a negative split run 🙂

I took the day off from running on Tuesday as my husband was leaving out of town for work and I wanted to hang out ❤

Wednesday I was solo parenting so I had to squeeze in a run after work and before kid pick-up. It was so hot, yet it wasn’t even in the triple digits. I struggled but got it done.

Thursday I was feeling all sorts of blah but then my brother texted me his run. I wrote about how much he’s been inspiring me here and after reading his text/stats, I put my running shoes and went for it. It was a much better run than I’d had in a while 🙂

Throughout this training, I’ve been rotating my Brooks Ravennas and Asics Kayanos, using my Asics for my long runs. As I approached my second 20 miler, I knew I needed to break in the shoes I’d be using for race day. I planned on racing in my Brooks.

BUT, when I went to Nordstrom Rack (where I’d bought my shoes on sale for $70!), they didn’t have any more. Crushed, I went to one of my local running stores prepared to try on and buy the newer model. Except they felt weird!!

My beloved Ravennas but the new model fit weird in the toe box 😦

I just couldn’t commit to the new model with them feeling the way they did, so I reluctantly bought the newest model of Kayanos and decided since that style has been a part of my rotation, I’d race in them.

They’re def easy on the eyes 🙂

I ran in them on my Wednesday and Thursday runs, but they just didn’t feel right either. I always felt they were heavier than my Ravennas but the newer model felt even boxier. It also could’ve been that I already was sad about my shoe issues, lol!

So on Friday, I returned them. I asked what was most comparable to the Ravennas and I was told the Saucony Guides. I was VERY apprehensive about trying a brand new brand/shoe so far into training, but when I slipped them on, they felt good. And even though they weren’t ~~purple~~ pretty, I decided to give them a shot.

And on Saturday I ran 20 miles in them. 🙂

It was another 3 a.m. start time and the first 10 miles went smoothly. Shoes felt good, I felt good.

With the exception of miles 1 and 8, I stayed within my 10-10:30 LSD range and I did not stop at all, fueling at mile 5 on the run.

I met up with my back 10 crew and I did have to stop my watch a good 15 minutes or so while I waited.

And it took me a few miles to get back on track …

but once I was warmed up again, the run just felt good. I even negative split the last 7 miles!!!!

I was so happy at the end, and my friends commented on how strong I looked–it didn’t seem like I’d just run 20 miles, lol! I really did feel good too; it was such confidence building run 😀

My and a buddy wearing our charity singlets–we’re ready for Chicago!! 🙂 #TeamFox #TeamRMHC

Overall, exactly what I would’ve hoped for going into taper time. So happy!!! 33.25 total miles

I hope everyone has a great week!! ❤ , helly

–Have you switched shoes mid-training?

–Are you brand loyal? Or do you go with what feels right?

–When’s the last time you had a stellar long run?

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 11 Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training and tagged with Chicago Marathon, Early Morning Runs, Long Run, Marathon Training, Team RMHC August 28, 2015

I know this is late, but can I still get some credit for this?

Oh boy, to say it’s been tough adjusting is an understatement. Going back to work, two toddlers, and a traveling husband has made training that much harder lol! I still try to be productive though, so there’s that. 🙂

Monday I took the day off. I should’ve gotten on the bike….but I didn’t.

Tuesday I met up with some friends for a run. Most though, did 3 miles, but I added another for funsies. It was a hot one at 102 degrees but I managed a good pace of 9:29 and that pleased me.

Wednesdays are track days and these have been tough. I get so caught up socializing that by the time I actually start my workout, the hour is almost up and I gotta go home. I managed 2 miles of speed work and I had to go.

It was another 102 degree run on Thursday for my 5 miler but again, I was still able to maintain a great pace of 9:24 and I was happy. I started my run an hour later than usual and I really feel that helped–not having the sun hovering that is.

Friday was my usual rest day and it was spent thinking about

my long run Saturday. I had a 2:45 a.m. alarm wake-up. Yes, you read that right. I was gonna be meeting up with other crazies at 3:30 for an 18 miler. The plan was to run 8 by 5 o’clock to meet up with the rest of our run club.

Those 8 miles went by without a hitch and I was feeling good. It was humid as all hell but I managed to get by and still maintain a good long, slow distance pace.

Temp stats at 3:30 in the morning

I reached the meet-up spot just before 5 a.m. where I stopped to wait for everyone to arrive. It was about a 10 minute or so break and I wondered how this would affect the rest of my run. I had felt that I was on a roll (despite the last 3 miles being on the slower end of my LSD pace) and was warmed up.

It wasn’t too long before we got going but sure enough, I could feel the break messing with my mojo and I struggled the first few miles.

It helped having my crew though. I had convinced 3 of my buddies to run 10 miles with me (none of them are training for anything!) and keep me company. They were amazing at keeping me going after that rough start.

I got back in my groove when we headed turned around after the 5 mile mark (mile 13 for me) and the last 5 of my 18 felt great. This made me so happy since it was at the end of my run and then Runner Jenny even convinced me to run my last mile fast–Mile 18, 9:32!! Boo-yah!!

I was on cloud nine especially when I thought about last week’s awful 12 miler. This one was such a confidence booster! I took no breaks the first 8 miles I ran solo and in the 10 miles following, I stopped twice– once for a potty break and once to fuel (the other times I fueled, I did it on the run). It was important for me to not stop a lot as I want to practice running continuously. So I’ve been training fueling on the run and preparing myself mentally to minimize any stopping.

Crazy is running at 3:30 in the morning.

When I got home, my husband had a fabulous ice bath ready for me and luckily, I didn’t feel too bad the rest of the day. I was even able to squeeze in a 2 mile run the following day, Sunday.

Overall, it was a great week (31.16 miles) and one I really needed after a previous week on the struggle bus. Now, I’m almost done with Week 12 and Chicago is getting closer and closer! Eeeep!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Who’s long running? Who’s racing?? ❤ , helly

–Do you take stop breaks during long runs?

–What’s the earliest you’ve woken up to go run?