Woh on mileage

I ran 40 miles this week! That's more than I ran in mid-June (about 6 weeks before SF Marathon)....Woh :)

What doesn't kill you

This morning's long run was a tale of what can go wrong, will go wrong and matches my favorite training philosophy of training in the hardest conditions possible so the race itself feels easy.

-I drank a bit too much Lillet last night
-I didn't sleep very well
-When I woke up, I was dehydrated & had the tummy wummies

I continued my morning routine of coffee, toast with peanut butter, and some extra water.

-I noticed it was h-o-t. Yes, at 6:30 in the morning (so I wore my ultra cool running skirt) :O

I was out the door before 7am and was pleased that the leggies felt good, even after the steady state!

-I had an UBI...in other words, I had to find a bathroom while on-the-run. Thanks, Beanery on College Avenue--you saved me ;>

I got into a decent groove and, before I knew it, I'd run about 6 miles. Alright.

-It got HH-O-TTT....and I was low on water
-Stopped at UC Berkeley gym to refill my water--that also saved me!

The miles went by quite quickly--though I wasn't aiming to hit any specific paces, especially with my dehydration/tummy issues and the day's warmth. I still felt strong and had energy around 14 miles.

All in all, I completed the 15.8 mile training run, which made me stronger AND got me closer to being ready for NY. I'm hopeful that it won't be that hot in NY in November, and I don't plan on drinking any Lillet the night before! Ah, lessons learned.

That's the way

I aced the 60 minute steady state run with 30 minutes at 8:35 pace (at the low end of my goal pace zone!). Now I can say I like steady state workouts ;) Yay!!

Thank goodness it's (random) Friday

Point of no return: I bought my plane ticket for the NY marathon trip...gulp. Now there's no getting out of those long runs.

Something to inspire: A lovely posting (by a triathlete mommy) on why us endurance athletes do what we do (hint- it's not that we're addicted to gatorade.

Do-over: Today's my second chance at the steady-state run. I hydrated last night and am feeling ready to show this workout that *I* am the boss ;)

Hill time

I decided to do a switcharoo and hammer out the hill workout today, rather than wait for tomorrow morning. In the process, I ran in the East Bay's afternoon warmth and managed to run a longer warm-up than I'd planned...In other words, the hill workout basically turned into a sorta medium long run with hill repeats ;)

Final stats- about 65 minutes up to Hampton Road with six 1 minute (.11 mile long) hill repeats.

House hunting

I aimed to identify the famed Margarido House and ended up running 7+ miles this morning for my medium long run! The LEED certified house has tiling (on the exterior plus interior) from Heath Ceramics and a jaw-dropping view of the SF Bay :)

I felt strong on the run and think that the jump up to 9-11 miles for medium long runs won't be so bad!

On tap:
-Medium long run (done!)
-Hill repeats- 5 X 1 min.
-Steady state run (?)
-Long run 15-16 miles

Thirteen plus

Today's long run was the first one for the NY marathon training cycle, so it was a milestone! I had 13 miles on the calendar (and, yes I need to post about this training plan), which seemed very long in comparison to the 6-8 miles that I had been cranking out post-SF marathon recovery. I told myself that 12.5 miles would be fine, but that 13.5 miles would be awesome. And I ended up running 13.5 miles in Alameda :) For some strange reason, it took awhile to warm up--about 9 miles actually! I felt pretty strong at the end of the run and really took it easy on the last mile or so.

I picked up an almond latte from the Beanery before heading home--where I discovered that my hubby had gotten me a lovely bouquet of purple flowers from the Farmers' Market!

Going steady

I confess that today's steady state run, as the first quality workout of this training cycle, was hard. Very hard. I learned a lot from dealing with the downs and ups of the workout, and I'm confident that this type of workout will get easier!

The first mile was spot-on, and I was feeling confident, perhaps over-confident. The second mileish was tough stuff, and I was breathing hard to maintain a 9:01 pace--ouch. I even considered shortening the pace portion...But I hung in there and worked it out. In fact, the last mileish was sub 8:40! I'm proud that I managed to stick with the steady-state workout, which Kenyan runners adore ;)

2 months 1 week

With just over two months until the NY marathon, it's time to leap into a new training plan. For better or worse, the next few months will be very, very busy, and the Big Apple marathon plan will pile on tough workouts and additional mileage to the mix.

There are a bunch of things that I loved about SF marathon training, including the medium long runs and the pace runs, so I'm keeping those...I'm eager to ramp up my during-the-week medium long run (up to 120 minutes!). I will switch up the long pace workouts so up to 10 miles are at GMP. But I may do sets of 4-5 miles at GMP instead of running 8-10 miles at GMP in a row!

Of course, I'm adding a new type of workout, too...Tomorrow I'll go on my very first first steady-state run, which is similar to a tempo run but slightly slower and a fair amount longer. Mcmillan recommends steady state runs and prescribes appropriate paces for those runs, and I think that alternating tempo and steady state runs will be fun :)

Finally, I've set some speedy new goal training paces based on a 3:55 marathon. We'll see how the next few weeks of runnin' feel--especially the 8:40 steady state and 8:25 tempo pace runs-- to determine whether I can hang with this shoot-for-the-moon goal :P

New roads

Sometimes running down new roads is a little scary. Other times the change of scenery makes the journey fly by. The heat and humidity was offset by the terrific sound of chirping bugs and the friendliness of fellow runners.

Today's run on new roads in New York was fun, and I enjoyed running with Mia. There were some rolling hills, and we saw a gorgeous barn home. Plus, I noticed an assortment of roadkill (turtle, bird, and hamster?). I made sure to touch my belly button (a tradition of Jeff) to honor the spirits of those little beasts that passed away. Yes, today's run was an adventure, partially because it was new and maybe an eensie bit because every step is an adventure!

Transcendental

Though Wellesley is about 15 miles away from Walden Pond, I felt like I was running in the shadow of Thoreau. Really, our entire visit was magical (hello, delicious cheese shop & I miss little V already!) and the runnin' was spectacular! In fact, I'm quite certain that my route overlapped with the Boston Marathon course (fortunately, the flat part)!

My 55 minute run was partially on a great sidewalk past cutesie stores, City Hall, and several fields. Ah, the greenness of the east coast! Then I turned off the road and onto a path. The amazing path traversed between homes, across fields, and through shady woods. The kicker--a wooden bridge over a swamp. It was a gorgeous run that really inspired me to enjoy every second outdoors and to transcend the concrete and bond with our greeny world :)

Addicted to Garmalade

Last night, we packed for our trip east. So, I packed Garmalade with an assortment of hot-weather running clothes. This morning, I woke up a bit early to squeeze in a little run before being squeezed into an airplane seat but realized Garmie was packed away. So, after a few seconds of panic, I dug through my bag and retrieved the GPS watch, which I'm ridiculously obsessed with :) The easy 40 minute run was quite pleasant, and I saw several other early morning runners. And, yes, I've re-packed Garmalade so I can track my mileage from runs in new locales (ie- Red Hook!).

Acclimatizing

On Wednesday, we're flying to the east coast to see family and friends, and I'm planning on enduring a couple HH (hot and humid) runs in NJ, NY, and perhaps even MA (c'mon, Katie, let's go for a run in Swellesley!). For that reason, the Bay Area's current heatwave is quite well-timed. Today's run around Lake Merritt was another hot one but my legs felt strong. The lake birds were doing plenty of fun diving and swimming tricks to stay cool, and I enjoyed soaking up some sunshine before heading back to the sociology conference. So, these warm weather workouts are acclimatizing me for the east coast's summer climate, as well as marathon training beginning on August 20th :)

Saturday seven

I cranked out a hot, quite hilly seven miles. I didn't start the run till 11 am--oopsy!

My legs felt great, and the sunny heat was a pleasant change from the grayness. The route included a section on a path parallel to Park Boulevard, and I should run up to Park Blvd. more often...

I heart Tilden

Today's run with Jess on the Inspiration Point path was a lot of fun. The air smelled like eucalyptus, and it was perfect running weather. There were stunning views of the bay, hills, and reservoir:
I really should go up to Tilden Park more often, and I certainly need to take advantage of the awesome parks in the Bay Area to create some new running routes.

Between plans

I'm in limbo between marathons and between training plans. The hiatus is relatively short because the next plan (affectionately titled Big Apple training plan to prepare me for the NYC marathon on November 1st) begins on August 20! One would think that I could survive 16 days without hardcore structure, but I am a creature that loves routine.

Today's run was nice and sunny, and it actually felt summery in Oakland. I took it easy and relaxed/jogged up a few hills because I definitely need and want my legs to fully recuperate.

Sweat therapy

Sometimes I don't wake up on the right side of the bed. Or my brain and glands (iick!) don't secrete enough of the right stuff. In general, I could worry till the cows come home. And, as we don't live on a ranch, that could be a looooong time ;)

Yes, talking is great medicine, and I appreciate the denizens of family and friends who lend me an ear or two. BUT, the best med is running. I set off today for a therapeutic run. About ten strides into the run, I was oh so thankful that I could get out and run. Working my way up the Arroya Ave. hill, I realized that I was working and sweating out my problems, issues, worries, and fears. Yes, I cruised home feeling much, much better.

I want to end with a little note to a dear friend....

Dear Running,

Thank you very much for supplying me with the right dose of happiness and sweet relief from the everyday grind. You rock!

Love,
Me

Back on the road

After five days off post-SF marathon, my mind and body were aching for a nice run. This morning I ran about 40 minutes on the flat portion of Trestle Glen.

I wish I could say that everything felt great, but my left hamstring does feel twingey. Afterward, I did some major stretching. Jeff was oh so kind to help pull up my left leg so I could stretch out the not-so-happy hamstring. I did a bit of reading on hamstring issues in runners, and it seems that gentle running followed by intensive stretching is a reputable treatment for tight/strained hammies.