Marathon Training Week 10 (and The Color Run winner!!)

Posted by hellyontherun in Running, Uncategorized and tagged with Garmin, Giveaway Winner, Marathon Training, MLK, Phoenix Marathon, Race, Recap, Running, The Color Run, Yasso 800s January 19, 2015

Hello, hello!!! I do have TWO winners from The Color Run Giveaway!! Congrats to……

This Mama Runs For Cupcakes aka: Sue ❤
and
Magdalena Vargas

Congrats to you both!! I know you’re going to have a blast at the race!! Check your e-mails for some details..

Thank you to all who participated and if the The Shine Tour makes it your way, sign up!! It is the Happiest 5k On The Planet after all…

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I hope everyone else had a good weekend! Mine is still happening as I enjoy this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday off from work 🙂

When I ran the Marine Corps Marathon last October, on my list was visiting the MLK memorial. I love literature and I love history and I seriously was so exciting about visiting so many places in our nation’s capitol.

The MLK memorial did not disappoint.

As you enter, the walls surrounding the memorial are engraved with some of King’s best quotes. I was delighted to recognize a few and completely moved by new ones I hadn’t heard before.

LOVE this!

Then, the memorial itself. It was quite impressive. I’m not a big architecture buff, my husband started out a major before switching to Chemical Engineering so he appreciates stuff like that a lot more. But even then, I know something good when I see it.

The structure is two pieces with the piece of King himself separated from the second part. I took it as a metaphor for him stepping out, going away from the norm to stand apart from the rest.

If you haven’t visited the memorial, make sure to put it on your list when you visit D.C. 🙂

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled recap lol!

It was a pretty uneventful but eventful week jaja! Monday was a rest day from running. I did a couple of ab videos at home and some wall sits and leg stuff but pretty boring day overall. Tuesday I met up with my run club and this time my husband was able to join me. I had 5 miles planned but my husband wanted me to run 4 faster ones so we could get home with plenty of time for bath day–the kids bath day that is. So 4 fast ones it was!

Wednesday I met up with my club at the track. They’d started Yasso 800s a couple of weeks ago but I hadn’t been able to make it until that day. So, I started right where they’d left off doing 6×800. I wasn’t sure what pace I wanted to do. My coach said to do an 800 at the time I’d want to finish my marathon but that meant choosing a specific time. The pressure!! I knew I had to choose something so I decided to just run the first 800 at what felt comfortable and see where that put me. 4:06. Okay, there’s NO way I think or plan to finish my marathon at that time but that felt comfortable for me during the workout so the next 5 800s I shot to keep my pace there. And guess what? I was +/- 2 seconds each 800!!

When I came home, I checked to see what pace a 4:06 marathon would be and was surprised that it was a 9:25/mile pace. Why did this surprise me? My last 3 long runs of 14, 14, and 16 were all +/- 2 seconds from that pace!

All I want from Phoenix Marathon is a PR and if all the stars align, a sub 4:30. My training has gone really well, better than what the two times above would get me, but I’m being very cautiously realistic with my expectations. You never know what the day, your body, the world will be like come race day and 26.2 miles is no joke. I’m still not sure what my “strategy” is exactly but I plan to start off at what has been my comfortable long run pace and just go from there. I’ve found in my two most recent races that going in relaxed and with no pressure-filled goal has yielded me great results.

Thursday I was thinking about all of this and really felt like going for a run. I didn’t want anything harboring my thoughts so I went sans watch. It was a run to just run.

Friday was my usual rest day and Saturday was Expo Day! I had a race on Sunday (that I’ll recap later but woohoo!!!) It was funny because Thursday was sans watch day and Saturday my NEW watch arrived in the mail!

Isn’t she lovely?? I took it for a mile test run 🙂

Overall, a pretty good week that was topped off by an awesome race. No PR on Sunday but I was pretty darn close–I’ll tell you all about it later this week but if you’re following me on Instagram or Facebook then you know that I am a very happy girl 🙂

Total Mileage: 23.4

Water Intake: A+

Success!

How was your running week? Did you race or long run?

Do you have today off from work (those stateside)? Have you visited the MLK memorial?

Do you ever run sans watch?

Week 9 Marathon Training Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Running, Uncategorized and tagged with Hydrating, Long Run, Marathon Training, Phoenix Marathon, RnR Arizona, Running, Sick, Soccer Mom January 12, 2015

What goes up, must come down….

After 3 consecutive weeks of awesome training, I was bound for a dud week. And week 9 was it.

I started coming down with a massive head cold/sinus infection at the start of the week that I attributed to the stress of returning back to work after two amazing weeks off.

Monday was all about getting my lesson plans together and grading, grading, grading. Semester grades were due the next day and I had all the intentions of grading over break but….yeah……

On Tuesday I was intent on running and went out with my running club for 5 miles. I ran with a friend who is on a mission to BQ at the Phoenix Marathon and she had me RUNning. I don’t like going all out on every run as I feel like there’s no real purpose to doing that, but it was nice to challenge myself.

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I met my water goal that day 🙂

On Wednesday I was debating about going to the track for a speed workout but was not feeling good at all from my headache/sinus so I ran with my husband instead–and that always makes me feel good 🙂

He had sent me a link to the shirt in the pic below earlier that day and it made me giggle

Thursday and Friday I was at the peak of my sickness and couldn’t muster the energy to run. I did do some planks, wall sits, squats, and other leg stuff at home as well as foam roll and stretch so I wasn’t entirely unproductive.

It was a scale back long run for me on Saturday as I had run 14, 14, and 16 the three previous Saturdays and the RnR Arizona 1/2 Marathon was awaiting me next weekend. I had 12 on my calendar and one of my BRFs from high school would be joining me. She’s super fast (another friend who wants to BQ–I’m surrounded by them! lol) but she wanted it to be a slow, easy run. Well, that’s exactly what she got because as soon as I started, I knew it was going to be a tough one.

I’m not sure if it was just the weeks of hard training, me being sick, or me running with my hydration pack (I hadn’t at all in this training til then), but the entire run was just a big slug fest. My legs felt so heavy and it was just hard.

But, I finished and was so very happy to be done. I was still able to end with a decent pace too which pleased me.

As soon as I was done, I had to scramble back home because……it was my daughter’s FIRST SOCCER PRACTICE. I officially became a soccer mom on Saturday 😀

Her first gooooooal!!!!

It was lower mileage week for me but that was okay. I felt I needed the rest. In fact, Sunday was my worst day. My headaches were so bad, I was actually bedridden the entire day 😦 Hoping to feel better for RnR Arizona next Sunday–a race I’m not planning to set any records on but would still like to run decently.

It was also a tough water week. I’m happy to report that I haven’t given up, but I’m just realistic in that this is something hard for that will require some sacrificing. I think what makes it tough is that I like drinking soda for lunch and that eventually turns in to lunch and the next three hours. I end up having to drink tons later to make up for it or just throw in the towel for the day. Here was my week:

I think I might’ve missed an entry on Saturday. I know I drank water during my run and during my daughter’s soccer practice so I think that should be at least 32oz. (Or maybe I’m trying to convince myself of that?) And Sunday, yeah…

How was everybody’s week? Who long ran? Who’s drinking water?

Anyone else have a race coming up?

Week 8 Marathon Training Recap–Halfway there!!

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon, Running and tagged with Beast Mode, Frozen, Hydration, Marathon Training, Phoenix Marathon, Running January 5, 2015

Wow. Time has been a-flying!

I can’t believe I just finished week 8 and am now counting DOWN the weeks til Phoenix Marathon!

#itsgoingdownatphx

I’m pretty pumped 😀

So, this was my last week of vacation from work and again, I took full advantage of the time off.

Monday, I got in a tough 6 miler on the treadmill. It’d been a while since I’d gotten on one of those things and I could definitely feel it. I still was able to maintain a good pace at 9:22/mile though which pleased me.

I took the day off on Tuesday but I wanted a good last run of 2014 so on Wednesday I headed out for a neighborhood run..

my adios run to 2014

With two kids, very young kids, we were in bed on New Year’s Eve at 9. We try every year to make it to 10 to at least see the ball drop in New York but this year, it just didn’t happen. We were out! And sure enough, at 5 on the dot, my son woke up and woke us up for the first day of 2015 🙂 So, Thursday I hung out with the fam, relaxed, and welcomed the new year.

My kids went to school on Friday and I took advantage of a free morning to get in a cold 5 miler with friends.

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#frozen

My buddies made me work! I don’t know why this pace was so hard; I’ve done it before, but I was def lagging behind them on this one. I’m blaming the cold.

I was worried running, and running so fast, would mess with my long run planned the next day. It was my dreaded 16 miler that for some reason has always given me trouble. My last 16 miler when I trained for MCM was very respectable at a 10:06/mile pace but when I get to mile 16 in the marathon (the two that I’ve done) it’s where I start to go downhill–and not good downhill lol.

But this time I was ready. Like I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I’ve really been working on my fueling and it was on this run that I really put it to test.

So Saturday morning, my alarm went off at crazy o’clock (4:15) and I met up with some friends (aka: other crazy people) who I was able to convince to meet up at 5 to start our long run.

It was effing cold (I wore 3 layers) and we didn’t chat much but got straight to it.

I was doing great, the miles were going fast, and at mile 6 we met up with our other run club friends who were starting at 6 a.m. Here, I made a pit stop to use the potty.

As I got back into the run, I took my first Gu. The whole thing. At mile 12, again, took my second planned Gu. All of it.

Other times I’ve barely squeezed out half of one in a long run such as that.

But this is a new and determined Helly–I ate all that shi-stuff.

By the time I got to mile 14, I was so pumped that I had made it that far and only had 2 miles left. I was rocking this long run!

And then I was done!

I totally felt like a BEETH after finishing that run 😀

On Sunday was my usual Bun Day (and leg). I’ve been working my quads in prep of that eternal downhill that is Phoenix Marathon…I did take it easy though because I was suuuuper tired from Saturday.

Overall, this was one of my best running weeks ever! Each run I was able to keep pace and feel good. I finished off December with 103 miles and the year with exactly 1000.

Total mileage for this week: 34.09

Oh, and I’m happy to report that I met my water goal the last three days. After seeing the poor water drop’s sad face I couldn’t let that happen again lol!

Happy Mr. Water Drop! Or as Salt refers to him: Party Drop 😀

How was your running week?

When’s the last time you’ve felt like a BEETH?