I had a dream a few weeks back about my performance at the Kalamazoo Marathon. In my dream, I ran a 4:38 marathon. I pictured where I would be running, since I grew up in Kzoo, I have a pretty good notion of what it will look like. I pictured my family being there to cheer me on. I pictured the finish and distinctly remember seeing my time as I crossed the line. This was a bit odd for me because a. I don't usually remember my dreams and b. running a 4:38 would take nearly 30min off my previous marathon time. Granted I'm in better shape than I was for Chicago...but Chicago was flat. Kalamazoo is not. And just in reality, a 30min time difference is HUGE. If anything it got me excited and nervous for May 8th. Maybe more nerves than excitement at this point...but I know that in the coming month I will be waffling between the two on a daily basis, perhaps even an hourly basis.
Training is going really well. I feel strong, I feel confident, I feel like I am building good endurance. My recent 10mi long run was under 10min miles, that's good for me! My next 20miler is coming up this weekend. I've had to do some shifting around of my schedule due to SNOW. Yes, you read that right. We're supposed to get a Nor'Easter tomorrow with the winds and cold lingering into Saturday. Since Sunday's forecast seems to be 100% nicer, I'll take advantage of that and run on Sunday morning instead of Saturday. That means a day to sleep in! Wahoo!
This week has been a good one. Monday, the bf and I took a nice little stroll around Lexington Center after work, nearly 2mi. Tuesday, two friends and I hit the bike path and racked up just over 4mi. Yesterday, I nearly got a PR on a 6.6mi loop I like to do in my neighborhood, just 30sec shy. I'm looking forward to catching up with a friend at the gym this evening and heading back to the gym for date night with the bf tomorrow night. Date night obviously includes the gym when you date a personal trainer. :)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
only 10 miles
This weekend was a shorter long slow distance. I realized that is a contradicting sentence...but it does make sense in terms of training. After a 20miler the week before, the training plan calls for either a 12mi run or a 10K race. Which confuses me because a 10K is half the distance...but I'd be pushing myself harder than if I was running 12....so I guess it would even out in the exertion category. But I digress! Back to this weekend.
Saturday was a beautiful day, if you were inside a nice warm house looking out. The sun was shining, birds chirping...the whole "springy" bit. Once you got outside, however, things changed a bit. The wind was blowing at a consistent 15mph. The temp was a mere 31deg. My friend, Jocelyn - who is getting back into running, joined me for the first loop around the lake. It was tough going but we made it with a pace of 11:55min/mi.
After sending Joc on her way to walk back to her car, I proceeded to battle the wind on the ugly side of the lake again relishing in the pretty side where the wind was pushing me. I passed through Wakefield Center, over the tracks to my neighborhood where there were a couple of hills waiting for me. My final 6.5mi were at a pace of 9:15. Feel pretty good about that!
Once I got over the wind, and got warmed up, the run was really enjoyable. I took some time to pray for things going on with my friends, with my family, with myself. It was great to spend the morning.
And it was great to pamper myself by meeting a couple of friends at a local salon for a mani/pedi...but did I deserve it after only 10mi?! :) (The answer is Yes. Yes, I did.)
Saturday was a beautiful day, if you were inside a nice warm house looking out. The sun was shining, birds chirping...the whole "springy" bit. Once you got outside, however, things changed a bit. The wind was blowing at a consistent 15mph. The temp was a mere 31deg. My friend, Jocelyn - who is getting back into running, joined me for the first loop around the lake. It was tough going but we made it with a pace of 11:55min/mi.
After sending Joc on her way to walk back to her car, I proceeded to battle the wind on the ugly side of the lake again relishing in the pretty side where the wind was pushing me. I passed through Wakefield Center, over the tracks to my neighborhood where there were a couple of hills waiting for me. My final 6.5mi were at a pace of 9:15. Feel pretty good about that!
Once I got over the wind, and got warmed up, the run was really enjoyable. I took some time to pray for things going on with my friends, with my family, with myself. It was great to spend the morning.
And it was great to pamper myself by meeting a couple of friends at a local salon for a mani/pedi...but did I deserve it after only 10mi?! :) (The answer is Yes. Yes, I did.)
Friday, March 25, 2011
outside > the gym
Last night's run was up for debate: outside (cool - 36, cloudy) or the gym (hot - 70, sweaty). It seems as though I cannot get past three miles on a treadmill these days so the debate in my head really only lasted about 30sec. Running outside totally won without too much waffling.
My car temp said it was 39 so I headed out the door with capris, a t-shirt with a fleece over it and a cotton ear/hair band on. No gloves. Whoops. Turns out it was only about 36 and there was more wind than I'd figured on. My hands were frrrrrrrozen!
The next debate was: tack on the extra .3mi or take the short cut. Again, this was debated for only about 30sec as I realized that if I don't take the long way around, I feel like I totally skimped out on my run. It's hard for me to take the shortcut these days...has been for the past year and a half. I only short cut it when I'm walking. So running around the office park won, again without too much waffling.
As I got to the pretty side of the lake, I realized again how much I love spring. The grass was turning green. The water was calm. The birds were chirping. The kids were outside playing. It's one of my favorite seasons...just for the new growth and new life popping up all around. I can't wait for more colors to start arriving and for the smell of newly budded trees and flowers to fill the air. (My heartfelt apologies to those of you who suffer from seasonal allergies...)
Just as I was finishing out my 6.6miles (with a time of 1:01:13 or 9:13min/miles) I looked over my shoulder to see giant dark stormy clouds. Turns out some neighborhoods got hail, some got rain and Wakefield got snow. Glad I got my run in and done before that started! Great timing for sure. (Even if I'd gotten caught in it, I still wouldn't have wished I was at the gym!!)
My car temp said it was 39 so I headed out the door with capris, a t-shirt with a fleece over it and a cotton ear/hair band on. No gloves. Whoops. Turns out it was only about 36 and there was more wind than I'd figured on. My hands were frrrrrrrozen!
The next debate was: tack on the extra .3mi or take the short cut. Again, this was debated for only about 30sec as I realized that if I don't take the long way around, I feel like I totally skimped out on my run. It's hard for me to take the shortcut these days...has been for the past year and a half. I only short cut it when I'm walking. So running around the office park won, again without too much waffling.
As I got to the pretty side of the lake, I realized again how much I love spring. The grass was turning green. The water was calm. The birds were chirping. The kids were outside playing. It's one of my favorite seasons...just for the new growth and new life popping up all around. I can't wait for more colors to start arriving and for the smell of newly budded trees and flowers to fill the air. (My heartfelt apologies to those of you who suffer from seasonal allergies...)
Just as I was finishing out my 6.6miles (with a time of 1:01:13 or 9:13min/miles) I looked over my shoulder to see giant dark stormy clouds. Turns out some neighborhoods got hail, some got rain and Wakefield got snow. Glad I got my run in and done before that started! Great timing for sure. (Even if I'd gotten caught in it, I still wouldn't have wished I was at the gym!!)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
what i do when i'm not running
Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I had planned on getting to the gym to get some miles in...but sometimes Life gets the better of me. Running does take up a large part of my life, but there are other things that are sometimes more important...
On Tuesday I scheduled a small group with my high school girls. Since moving to a Sunday morning small group time we have seriously missed out on our hour long discussions about God, the Bible and life in general (um, boys!). So, it was decided that every other Tuesday we will meet and talk about issues that are coming up in their lives. Stress, relationships, how to be faithful, how to be honest, how to be a Christian, peer pressure...the list goes on. What I love about this is that THEY came up with the idea. It wasn't me forcing them to get together outside of church to discuss these topics...it was them wanting to. (My heart just melted a little writing that...did yours melt reading it?!) I have been with these same girls for about 6 years now and they never fail to surprise me with how mature they are and how much they want to grow in their faith. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.
On Wednesday I had dinner scheduled with a friend and fellow youth worker. Before dinner I ended up staying late at work discussing funny videos to show and other various brainstorming. I work with such a fun, diverse group of people and we all have different ideas that when they come together we get this ridiculously awesome collection of fun activities and ideas for the kids. I just love it! It's so fun to be a part of a ministry, working with people I enjoy, to impact kids for God's glory. Does any job beat that?! Not to my knowledge. On to dinner...Kati and I met up at a favorite BBQ place in Waltham. It did my spirits good to sit and talk ministry and life with her. We don't meet up very often but when we do it's always a good conversation and a good meal. :)
And that's what I do on nights when I don't go to the gym or go for a run. Spending time with people. I'd say it's a fair trade since I love to run and I love to spend time with others.
I'm back out running tonight, though. If the weather is not good, I'll hit the gym. If it's nice enough out (read: no snow/freezing rain), I'll hit the pavement. Then it's more quality time with people. This time it's date night with the bf. :)
On Tuesday I scheduled a small group with my high school girls. Since moving to a Sunday morning small group time we have seriously missed out on our hour long discussions about God, the Bible and life in general (um, boys!). So, it was decided that every other Tuesday we will meet and talk about issues that are coming up in their lives. Stress, relationships, how to be faithful, how to be honest, how to be a Christian, peer pressure...the list goes on. What I love about this is that THEY came up with the idea. It wasn't me forcing them to get together outside of church to discuss these topics...it was them wanting to. (My heart just melted a little writing that...did yours melt reading it?!) I have been with these same girls for about 6 years now and they never fail to surprise me with how mature they are and how much they want to grow in their faith. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.
On Wednesday I had dinner scheduled with a friend and fellow youth worker. Before dinner I ended up staying late at work discussing funny videos to show and other various brainstorming. I work with such a fun, diverse group of people and we all have different ideas that when they come together we get this ridiculously awesome collection of fun activities and ideas for the kids. I just love it! It's so fun to be a part of a ministry, working with people I enjoy, to impact kids for God's glory. Does any job beat that?! Not to my knowledge. On to dinner...Kati and I met up at a favorite BBQ place in Waltham. It did my spirits good to sit and talk ministry and life with her. We don't meet up very often but when we do it's always a good conversation and a good meal. :)
And that's what I do on nights when I don't go to the gym or go for a run. Spending time with people. I'd say it's a fair trade since I love to run and I love to spend time with others.
I'm back out running tonight, though. If the weather is not good, I'll hit the gym. If it's nice enough out (read: no snow/freezing rain), I'll hit the pavement. Then it's more quality time with people. This time it's date night with the bf. :)
Monday, March 21, 2011
horseshoes and hand grenades...and running
The saying goes, "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." Or something to that effect. Well, I also believe that when running any mileage over 17, close works with running as well.
This weekend was the Big One (20mi). One of them anyway, I have three Big One's planned for this training cycle. Saturday started off beautiful! The sun was shining, the wind was low, the temps were in the mid 40's. I got up early and had my bagel with peanut butter, cup of coffee and 16oz of water. For some reason I was feeling nervous. I haven't run this far in 1.5years! As I headed up to Peabody I was praying that I would have enough strength, both mental and physical, to run that far...it is FAR.
As I pulled up to my friend's house, she was there waiting. Turns out her plans had changed and she was able to run the first 8-9mi with me! That was a huge boost. We headed out of Peabody into Salem with the sun on our faces and the wind at our backs. It was a beautiful day! We made our way out of Salem and into Marblehead, past the beach and around the neck. This is where I said goodbye to Kirsten. She needed to head home, I needed to do the neck loop (about 2mi) two more times.
One note about the running along the ocean: WIND. Especially when your up on a cliff of sorts. Running uphill into the gusts is challenging...but good training, I know. The first loop we did was tough, the second was a bit better and the third was great because I knew that I was over half way finished and I couldn't wait to begin the return trip to Peabody.
I made it back into Salem without too much trouble...I was not in pain at all. Just feeling tired and thirsty. So I stopped and picked up a Gatorade at a Dunkin' Donuts and tried to hold it while running. Unfortunately at this point, the wind had picked up, the sun had gone behind ominous looking clouds and the temp had dropped 5-7deg. My shirt was wet (I'm a sweat-er, okay?!) so tucking my hands into my sleeves wasn't an option...that made them even colder! So I chugged my drink and got rid of the bottle. Instead of tacking on another little loop, I knew I just needed to head back to the car, I just couldn't finish. I felt kind of bad because I didn't think I made it the full distance. Probably only 18 or so.
After getting home, I checked it out on Google Pedometer: 19.53mi!!! A full 1.5mi more than I thought! And friends, 19.53 is so close to 20, we're going to call it: 20mi. I did it. I surprised myself and felt very accomplished. The best part is that I wasn't that sore...I mean, I was tired and my body just wanted to rest but I didn't hurt. Sore is one thing, hurt is quite another. For the record my pace was 10:23min/mi. Not to shabby for 20mi...
The rest of the weekend was just as great as my run! After the ominous clouds blew away, the sun came out again and the temp went back up. The bf and I decided to take a little drive up to Halibut State Park for a walk and delightful views of the ocean. Sunday was also gorgeous (but windy!!!) so I took a nice quick walk around the lake to keep the legs loose. A great weekend all around!
This weekend was the Big One (20mi). One of them anyway, I have three Big One's planned for this training cycle. Saturday started off beautiful! The sun was shining, the wind was low, the temps were in the mid 40's. I got up early and had my bagel with peanut butter, cup of coffee and 16oz of water. For some reason I was feeling nervous. I haven't run this far in 1.5years! As I headed up to Peabody I was praying that I would have enough strength, both mental and physical, to run that far...it is FAR.
As I pulled up to my friend's house, she was there waiting. Turns out her plans had changed and she was able to run the first 8-9mi with me! That was a huge boost. We headed out of Peabody into Salem with the sun on our faces and the wind at our backs. It was a beautiful day! We made our way out of Salem and into Marblehead, past the beach and around the neck. This is where I said goodbye to Kirsten. She needed to head home, I needed to do the neck loop (about 2mi) two more times.
One note about the running along the ocean: WIND. Especially when your up on a cliff of sorts. Running uphill into the gusts is challenging...but good training, I know. The first loop we did was tough, the second was a bit better and the third was great because I knew that I was over half way finished and I couldn't wait to begin the return trip to Peabody.
I made it back into Salem without too much trouble...I was not in pain at all. Just feeling tired and thirsty. So I stopped and picked up a Gatorade at a Dunkin' Donuts and tried to hold it while running. Unfortunately at this point, the wind had picked up, the sun had gone behind ominous looking clouds and the temp had dropped 5-7deg. My shirt was wet (I'm a sweat-er, okay?!) so tucking my hands into my sleeves wasn't an option...that made them even colder! So I chugged my drink and got rid of the bottle. Instead of tacking on another little loop, I knew I just needed to head back to the car, I just couldn't finish. I felt kind of bad because I didn't think I made it the full distance. Probably only 18 or so.
After getting home, I checked it out on Google Pedometer: 19.53mi!!! A full 1.5mi more than I thought! And friends, 19.53 is so close to 20, we're going to call it: 20mi. I did it. I surprised myself and felt very accomplished. The best part is that I wasn't that sore...I mean, I was tired and my body just wanted to rest but I didn't hurt. Sore is one thing, hurt is quite another. For the record my pace was 10:23min/mi. Not to shabby for 20mi...
The rest of the weekend was just as great as my run! After the ominous clouds blew away, the sun came out again and the temp went back up. The bf and I decided to take a little drive up to Halibut State Park for a walk and delightful views of the ocean. Sunday was also gorgeous (but windy!!!) so I took a nice quick walk around the lake to keep the legs loose. A great weekend all around!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
a long hard winter, over?
Oh, I so hope so. It has been a rough one. One in which I did not train nearly as much as needed. We had at least 3ft of snow on the ground (like, covering everything, including sidewalks) from the end of December until the end of February. It made running outside nearly impossible. And as regular readers of this blog know, running on the treadmill is NOT my favorite thing.
Well, I survived and am still training...just on a much more rushed scale than anticipated. On Feb 27th I completed a half marathon in Hyannis on the Cape. It was very hard. I had just gotten over the flu...when I say JUST, I mean 4 days prior I was home sick from work. My body was still recovering. This resulted in a painful personal worst - 2:16:10.
My next long run was 14.5mi. This was run with a good friend, Kirsten. It really helped to have a friend with me...I did not want to complete the full mileage. I felt sore afterward, but the recovery time was better than after the half.
The longest run yet for this training period was this past Saturday. It was 40deg, bright sunshine and windy. Why is spring always windy? It turned out to be a great head clearing run as well as a mental boost for me. I needed to get a strong, long run in before attempting 20mi (this weekend). I got 17mi in on Saturday morning and despite being tired, I was not achy and sore (for the most part...). I went for a nice recovery walk on Sunday, another beautiful spring day, and felt great - really strong.
So, friends, that brings us to this coming Saturday. So far the weather reports are good. I'll be heading up to the north shore to a favorite long run route from Peabody through Salem and into Marblehead. I'll run around the neck 3x before heading back to Peabody. It's a bit daunting to think about...but I know I can do it! Check back for a post recaping the run on Saturday afternoon or Sunday.
A note to regular readers - I sincerely apologize for my absence from this blog. Like I mentioned, this winter was a tough one. I did not want to share it with you...it was just too depressing. But spring is coming! It's lighter out later! Blogging begins anew!
Well, I survived and am still training...just on a much more rushed scale than anticipated. On Feb 27th I completed a half marathon in Hyannis on the Cape. It was very hard. I had just gotten over the flu...when I say JUST, I mean 4 days prior I was home sick from work. My body was still recovering. This resulted in a painful personal worst - 2:16:10.
My next long run was 14.5mi. This was run with a good friend, Kirsten. It really helped to have a friend with me...I did not want to complete the full mileage. I felt sore afterward, but the recovery time was better than after the half.
The longest run yet for this training period was this past Saturday. It was 40deg, bright sunshine and windy. Why is spring always windy? It turned out to be a great head clearing run as well as a mental boost for me. I needed to get a strong, long run in before attempting 20mi (this weekend). I got 17mi in on Saturday morning and despite being tired, I was not achy and sore (for the most part...). I went for a nice recovery walk on Sunday, another beautiful spring day, and felt great - really strong.
So, friends, that brings us to this coming Saturday. So far the weather reports are good. I'll be heading up to the north shore to a favorite long run route from Peabody through Salem and into Marblehead. I'll run around the neck 3x before heading back to Peabody. It's a bit daunting to think about...but I know I can do it! Check back for a post recaping the run on Saturday afternoon or Sunday.
A note to regular readers - I sincerely apologize for my absence from this blog. Like I mentioned, this winter was a tough one. I did not want to share it with you...it was just too depressing. But spring is coming! It's lighter out later! Blogging begins anew!
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