Tag Archives: Mesa-Phoenix Marathon

Week 10: #itsgoingdownatphx last week of 2017

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

Hi!! Hope your 2018 has started off on the right foot! Or left, whichever is your go-to.

I realize it’s Friday and this week is coming to a close, so I’ll just quickly recap last week as there’s more exciting stuff to share 🙂

Monday, December 25th–Rest Day

It was Christmas and I just spent it with my family. No running, just eating.

Tuesday, December 26th–5 miles

It was a mini-tempo run so a simple mile WU–9:13, then 7:42, 7:34, 7:45, mile CD 8:58.

Wednesday, December 27th–2 miles, Strength, Stretch, and Roll

Hopped on the treadmill to make sure the thing still worked. We bought last year for Christmas and while it’s nice knowing it’s available, we rarely use it.

Thursday, December 28th–5 miles

Met up with a friend for what was supposed to be “easy” miles (she was pushing her 4 year-old in the stroller) but we found ourselves going at a pretty nice clip at an 8:39 average pace. I need to slow the easy runs down.

Friday, December 29th–5 miles

Took this run to the hills and slowed things down, 9:18 avg.

Saturday, December 30th–18 miles

Took this run to the hills again and met up with my coach and some of her athletes. This stretch of road is up and down and up and down and probably not the most ideal route for a long run. But I need the hill work (for the lone hill in Phoenix Marathon, lol).

I stayed slow and steady knowing there were hills spread throughout. I even had a 9:55 mile in there somewhere. I also knew that the last three miles were to be at half marathon pace (7:40) and I had no idea if I would be able to do it. Luckily, there was a nice gentle decline at the end and I was able to nail it at 7:38, 7:18, 7:12.

Sunday, December 31st–Rest, Roll, Stretch

Nada. My husband and I vegged binged on pizza and wings on the couch and watched movies all day. Okay, I did a little rolling and stretching before bed, so there’s that.

It was a good week and the 18 miler while hard with the hills, was a confidence booster as I’ve always been intimidated by the longer distance and honestly, I’m not so much any more. So crazy to think that!!

–Do you long runs scare you?

–How did you spend your New Year’s?

–Do you have a treadmill in your house you rarely use?

 

 

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?

 

 

 

 

Week 6: #itsgoingdownatphx

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

Here we go, one more week! So many exciting things happened, not so much to me lol, but to running friends near and far .

Monday, 11/27–8 miles

I met up with a friend I met through my coach for this tempo run. She’s faster than me but we had similar mileage. And I’m inspired by faster runners anyway 🙂

I had 5 at Active Threshold pace (7:40) with a 90sec recovery in between each one.

7:34
7:29
7:40
7:43
7:37

Started off a little excited but then settled in to the right pace. Coach says to stay close to pace even though we feel we can go faster. “The goal is to raise your blood lactate to it’s threshold , and then hold it there for the duration of the workout. Training at AT increase the speed at which acidosis occurs, enabling you to hold a faster pace in races. With training, your pace at AT will increase.”

Tuesday, 11/28–Strength, Stretch, and Roll

Did some core and strength videos for 60 min. I’ve been feeling/seeing the benefits of actually doing these things, lol!

Wednesday, 11/29–4.5 miles

Easy run around the hood. I say easy but my overall pace was 8:46. I don’t know who’s easy that is but it’s certainly not mine. But, I’ve been feeling my easy pace start to creep into the 8s. I seriously don’t know who I’ve become. Mile 1-9:20, 2-8:36 <—told myself to slow down –> 3-8:41, 4-8:29 <— I gave up.

Thursday, 11/30–6.5 miles

This was awful. Just, awful. Hills+Speed=Death.

I was not looking forward to this workout at all. But, I knew I had to do it so I somehow (seriously) got myself out the door.

Finished November with 138 miles.

Friday, 12/1–Strength, Stretch, and Roll

I put my easy Friday run in Wednesday since I’d moved that workout to Thursday. I have a way of complicating things.

Saturday, 12/2–16 miles (10+6)

Splitting my long runs isn’t my jam, but breakfast with Santa got in the way so I had to be home earlier than usual. I got 10 in with a friend

then I got 6 in later solo.

This was such a good run and I know I would’ve felt just as good had it been done in one shot, lol!

Sunday, 12/3–TRACKING ALL THE CIM SUPERSTARS

You guys, oh em gee. I had so many friends KILL it at CIM this weekend!!!!! My coach ran a 2:55 like a boss, two BTB teammates ran a 2:50 (PRs for both), another BTB teammate ran a 3:21 (PR), a good friend got a BQ, my loyal training buddy Ashley matched her PR, countless IG friends met their sub 3 hour goals (HOW is that even possible?!), aaaaaaand Elle surprised us all by getting a PR and BQ!!!!!! It wasn’t a surprise that she ran that time, it was a surprise in that SHE DIDN’T EVEN TELL US SHE WAS RUNNING!!!

I was left so freaking inspired. It’s no secret I want to Boston Qualify, and I’ve made my goal very public. I like the pressure. I really don’t mind it. And I like the pressure of having friends Boston qualify at CIM because it just further ignites my fire. I know I want it bad. But their success makes me want it more. I want to run Boston with them. I know for some, publicizing their goals doesn’t work, but for me, I feel like I get to show people my journey, good or “bad”.

Elle made a good point in her blog by saying how “announcing your goals on social media is detrimental to actually achieving your goal because the praise you receive for the attempt fulfills your achievement needs.”

But I honestly don’t think I let it affect me. I mean, I appreciate peoples’ encouragement throughout my training, but I don’t share my journey for the likes or comments. I don’t think I work less hard because I get praise before the actual race.

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you know that I started off this blog with a 4:44 marathon. Four years later, I’ve cut an hour off that time. I’m not a natural runner. I work freaking hard. And that’s what I like sharing. That it’s not easy. That’s there’s setbacks a long the way(hello DNF!)–that would happen if I blogged about it or not.

What I love about Elle is that she did things her way. I LOVE THAT. And I love that she shares her type of journey. I know she’s been wanting a “good” marathon and she went out and did it. Her terms. And freaking nailed it.

People get caught up into thinking they have to do things a certain way, train a certain way, to succeed at their goal. Nope. Here’s Elle sneaking in a BQ like a total badass, and here I am for the world to see me try. She did it, and now it’s my turn! 😀 (And guess what?!? Elle will be in Phoenix to cheer me on!!!! ❤ )

Week 7, I’m ready for you!!