Kristy, Author at Run The Long Road Coaching

Boston Training and Goals

January 4, 2012 by Kristy 24 Comments

I hope everyone is surviving this week so far. Work yesterday felt so strange…what’s my password? Where’s my to do list? What happened in December? Tuesday was a blur. I did manage 7 easy miles outside in the numbing wind.

Onto my Boston training…not surprisingly I’m using the 3:40 FIRST marathon plan. It worked well for me in the past so I’m going with it. Each time I modify it even more to fit my needs.

More mileage – hopefully (maybe) I can hit 60 miles this training cycle? I hit 53 last cycle but I think I was running my easy runs too fast. If I slowed down I probably could have accommodated higher mileage. My hard days are really hard, so my 2 easy runs should be really easy. Of course, this will all depend on how I feel. Adaptive training 🙂

Strength training – barre and yoga each week. I think I figured out a schedule that works, which was an issue in the past. This means 6AM barre class on Wednesday mornings!

Hills, hills, hills – Uphills and downhills! My LRs will be done on a hilly course and I’ll probably swap out a track or tempo workout every now and then for hill repeats.

Less Garmin-obsessed running – like I mentioned Monday, my track workouts will be based on effort and my easy days (which are now really easy) will be Garmin-free.

As for goals, I want to re-qualify for Boston at Boston. That means a sub-3:40 which should be doable. Here’s how I see it…I’ve shaved 30 minutes off my marathon time from May 2010 to September 2011, so what’s an additional 4 minutes? It won’t be easy, Boston is a tough course, but it’s not impossible!

Another unrelated goal is to eek out a sub-7:00 mile. 6:59 would be acceptable.

This morning is my first time going to barre class before work. I’m getting changed at the gym and then heading straight to work. No shower. The thought of showering at the gym skeeves me out, like I’m back in college. I don’t sweat that much at barre and I will shower beforehand. Matt thinks this is gross. I can guarantee I will be no cleaner after using a communal shower! I just hope I don’t forget anything important, like my work pants. If so, wunder unders it is!

Ever shower at the gym? Is it gross? I just have flashbacks to dorm living and wearing flip flops in the shower!

Are you currently training for anything? If so, what are your goals?

Effort based speed work

January 2, 2012 by Kristy 24 Comments

Boston training started off with a bang – mile repeats. My nemesis. I knew this was coming. I’ve used the FIRST training plan for my last 2 marathons and I always start with mile repeats. I was nervous. I was worried. I always think that I can’t do it. Speed work makes me feel insecure and a little nutty.

On top of my nervousness, I checked the weather last night and saw 20mph winds. Perfect. I woke up a 4:30 this morning and could hear the trashcans blowing around my street. By 7:00 I was at the track (bonus – I guess the wind scared everyone away because I had the track to myself!).

My training plan called for 3×1-mile repeats at 7:02 pace. The good news is that I only had to do 3 of them. The bad news is that I had to do them fast. Currently, 7:02 pace is pretty much all-out for me…considering I have yet to bang out a 21:xx 5K time.

I decided to do things a little different and NOT look at my Garmin during the repeats. Effort-wise I knew what a 7:02 pace entailed: I would be in the “no talk” zone and my breathing would be labored and quick. I don’t need a Garmin to confirm that feeling!

1st repeat: 7:10
2nd repeat: 7:08
3rd repeat: 7:11

Overall, not too bad considering the wind! They weren’t 7:02 pace but at least they were consistent. Even though my legs felt tired on the last repeat I kept my effort level up (judged by my labored breathing). I can 100% guarantee that if I went by my Garmin I would have (1) ran slower and (2) would not have been as consistent.

Another perk to ditching the Garmin during speed work? I hate when it’s still dark and I have to constantly keep checking (and lighting up) my Garmin to see if I’m on track. It’s such a waste of energy.

Day 1 done and I’m pretty damn pleased!

Off to enjoy my last day of vacation. I’m not so pleased about that 🙁

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

December 31, 2011 by Kristy 12 Comments

I debated about whether to write a 2011 recap post. Last night I decided not to but then today I had this nagging feeling like I should. 2011 was a good year so I should do it justice!

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you probably already know what I’m most proud of in 2011 – qualifying for Boston at the Lehigh Valley Marathon on 9/11/11.

3 weeks later, I found out that I would be running Boston in 2012.

There were other PRs too. Cherry Blossom 10-miler (1:19), a hot and humid 5K (23:22 – I need to revisit this!), and a not-what-I-wanted-but-a-PR-nonetheless at the Philly Half Marathon (1:47).

I can’t forget our travels in 2011 either. San Francisco in February. Ireland in May.

Other good stuff: I started a blog and “officially” started my own little coaching business.

Instead of resolutions, I prefer to make goals. I want to document them here on the blog so, one year from now, I can see my progress (or lack of). In no particular order, here’s what I’d like to accomplish in 2012:

1. Run a sub-3:40 at Boston and BQ again (more on this later).

2. Study and pass the CSCS exam.

3. Revamp the blog and switch to self-hosting.

4. Grow my coaching business.

I think that is enough! I also don’t like to be unrealistic!

Happy New Year!

Tell me something you would like to accomplish in 2012 (it can be anything)…

I could easily be a lady who lunches

December 30, 2011 by Kristy 10 Comments

I definitely have this not working thing down pat. What day is it? Does it really matter? Every day feels like Saturday!

I’m pretending this is my normal lifestyle – a lady who lunches – in order to avoid the reality of work come Tuesday. Let’s review the last 24 hours…

Thursday
7:45AM – a glorious 5 mile run, although cold (41:14 / 8:15 avg pace).

10:30AM – my last PT session. I graduated! I’ve been going faithfully twice a week for the past 4 weeks. My hamstring feels strong and I haven’t had a twinge of tightness in 4 weeks. I no longer need the ART so I can just continue my exercises at home. I must give a huge shout-out to Excel Physical Therapy (Villanova location) and my PT Desirae. I highly recommend her and Excel.

1:00PM – lunch with Ann and Sara. I coached Ann and Sara for the Philly RnR Half this past September (easiest coaching gig ever – both are seasoned half marathoners). They took me to lunch to thank me! Thanks ladies! My goal during lunch was to convince them to run a full (Ann’s 2nd full and Sara’s 1st). I think Ann is on board; we just need to work on Sara 😉

7:00PM – coffee with Beth. This was a total surprise. Beth texted me in the morning and said she would be in the area. I’ve been friends with Beth since 1st grade and she is my pseudo sister-in-law. She is married to Matt’s brother. So we married into the same family (duh). It’s awesome, having your best friend at all the family parties. And no, Matt and I did not set-up Beth and his brother. Ages ago, when I first started dating Matt, we all ended up at the same bar one night. I merely introduced Beth to Matt’s brother and the rest is history 🙂

Friday
7:30AM – 10 mile “long” run (1:26 / 8:36 avg pace). I’ve been alternating between 10 and 13 miles on Saturdays. Beginning next week, it’s only 13 miles and up!

And…tonight Matt and I are seeing The Nutcracker and going to dinner. Yes, I could get used to this!

Plans for NYE? I loathe NYE…highly overrated. We are hanging in and I’ll probably be asleep before midnight.

Blogiversary and Updates

December 28, 2011 by Kristy 22 Comments

Run The Long Road turned 1 on 12/26! I missed the actual blogiversary but better late than never. I swore I wrote my first post on New Year’s Eve last year but nope…12/26.

I was so hesitant to start a running blog. I thought it would suck. I though it would be boring (well maybe it is). I thought I’d run out of things to write about by February. I was scared to lay it all out there. Splits, finish times, marathon goals, oh my. I wanted this blog to be honest. Running isn’t always rainbows and butterflies.

254 posts later, I would say Run The Long Road is probably in my “top ten” of the best things I’ve done. Wow, bold statement! I truly enjoy writing this blog, chronicling my training, and figure I’ll get a big kick out of it when I’m 50!

The best part is “meeting” so many amazing bloggers. I am constantly inspired by all of you and have learned so much this past year. I’m always overwhelmed by the pre-marathon support and post-marathon congrats. I love each and every comment (no haters…yet!). It means so much to me that people read RTLR and enjoy it – thank you!

I hope (soon) to re-vamp RTLR and move to the self-hosted wordpress.org. I have to find someone to do this for me since this is way outside my realm of tech-savviness. If anyone has any recommendations, please pass them along!

Let’s talk about running. I’m still running, although I haven’t really blogged about it. I start Boston training on Monday, kicking off the New Year right! I’m doing a 15-week plan, but I’ve been “pre-training” for the past 5 weeks. I’m actually dropping back my mileage this week so my legs will be fresh come Monday. I’m excited. 3 1/2 months without a training plan is far too long.

I took a Barre class at 6AM this morning. I will admit that is slightly insane, given that I have off this week. I went to a new place that is way cheaper ($17 per class vs. $23) and closer to my house. I plan on going to the 6AM class on Wednesdays before work. So today I scoped it out so I could be all prepared for next week. This class was more ballet-centric, which I prefer. I feel like I’m getting the hang of it but it still kicks me to the curb.

I’m going to start doing a few planks a day, inspired by Cindi. I doubt I’ll ever rock a 6-pack but I’d be happy with a 4-pack…or 2-pack?

If you are a blogger, why did you start blogging?

Wanna join me in a (few) planks a day?

Life Is Good

December 26, 2011 by Kristy 13 Comments

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Here’s a recap of mine in pictures from Christmas Eve.