Kristy, Author at Run The Long Road Coaching

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 11 Recap

August 17, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

8/17/11
7 miles speed
*3 x 1600m with 400m rest interval between repeats – all done at 10K pace.

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We are getting to the very end here, folks. Last week went very well, probably because it was a drop week and my legs felt rested.

MON: 6 easy
TUE: 7 speed (and my new found love for 10K pace!)
WED: 7 easy
THU: rest
FRI: 20 (#4 – pretty close to MP too!)
SAT: rest
SUN: 7 tempo

47 miles for the week!

Taper
I’m taking a different approach with my taper this cycle. I’m doing the traditional 3 week taper in terms of reducing my overall mileage but I’m doing a 2 week taper in terms of my last long run (22-miler). This week I hope to hit 55 miles (that will be my max for this cycle) but I’ll only be running 15 miles on Friday. Next week I’ll keep my mileage in the low to mid-40s but I’ll do a 22-miler. I think this is going to work out way better mentally for me. I hate the 3 week lag time between your 22-miler and the race. I always begin to doubt myself.

Question of the day: What’s your go-to mantra during a race? What are you most likely to repeat over and over again to finish strong? I’ve gotten much better but I used to battle negative thoughts all the time so I began to say “let go” (as in let go of the negativity). Sounds so silly but it really worked. I also like “if you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t”. So true!

Three Things Tuesday

August 15, 2011 by Kristy 15 Comments

8/16/11
11 miles tempo / 1:33 / 8:27 avg pace
*1 mile warm-up and 10 miles at MP (8:35). Splits: 8:09, 8:07, 8:11, 8:14, 8:18 – I felt like I was running too fast so I checked my splits and slowed down for the remaining 5 miles – 8:38, 8:37, 8:29, 8:28, 8:25.

Isn’t it supposed to be Three Things Thursday? Hmm, not sure. Oh well, go with it.

Redemption Tempo
This morning I got a second chance to do a tempo run that I attempted 2 weeks ago. It didn’t go so well the first time but I was able to get some redemption today. The trail was soft and mushy from all the rain, which made it even harder to maintain MP but that’s OK with me. I always want to prepare for the worst case scenario and then, if it’s not so bad, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Does that make me a pessimist or a realist?

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Garmin “Pace Smoothing”
Maybe you all knew this but I found out there is a way to minimize how much your pace fluctuates on your Garmin. When I was training for NJM, I was getting annoyed at how often my pace would go from 7:30 to 10:00 to 9:00, etc. Even though my effort was consistent, my Garmin pace wasn’t. My Garmin is only 2 years old (I have the 305). I looked up the problem and it directed me to something called “pace smoothing”.

Per the Garmin manual, pace smoothing averages your current pace over a certain amount of time to avoid errors in GPS position and speed due to varying satellite signal recognition. When you turn on or increase pace smoothing, the pace shown on your Forerunner is steadier. It did help, although I still think there could be something wrong with my Garmin since I never had an issue until this year. But I’m too dependent on my Garmin to part with it and get it looked at!

How to “pace smooth” (at least on the 305 model): mode –> settings –> running –> speed units –> smoothing. I’m using “most” for the least amount of fluctuation.

Are you addicted to your Garmin? Can you run without it? Even better question, can you RACE without it? No way Jose…I’m addicted!

It's Monday Again?

August 15, 2011 by Kristy 10 Comments

8/15/11
7 miles easy…Garmin-free!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! This is the second weekend in-a-row that Matt and I didn’t have to travel anywhere and it was fabulous.

Friday
I had a very early wake-up call (4:30AM) for a 20-miler. It went well and I felt pretty good throughout the day. That night, my friends from high school came over. We sat out on the deck, ate pizza, drank (well, I did most of the drinking), and chatted the night away. It was so good to see everyone. We only get together a few times a year and I always look forward to it.

Saturday
I didn’t get to bed until midnight on Friday (super late for this grandma) but, of course, woke-up at 7AM. Normally that’s “sleeping in” but it was my rest day and I wanted to take full advantage of it. Oh well. Matt and I ran some exciting errands (looking for granite countertops and bathrooms floors). By 5:00, I was a zombie. We re-watched The Hangover and I was in bed by 9:30. Don’t judge.

Sunday
It was raining so I donned my hat (the only time I sport a hat, you can see why below) and went outside to run my 7-mile tempo. I love to run in the rain in the summer – it’s so refreshing. 5 miles at 8:00 pace with a mile WU and a mile CD: 8:19, 8:00, 8:02, 7:54, 8:20. I dodged puddles and ran in the grass for the first and last tempo miles.

This is a familiar site – soaking wet shorts. See why I don’t wear a hat? I think some people have a good head for hats and I do not. My head is rather large and so is my hair. And I look like a boy.

On Sunday afternoon, Hawk had a very special play date! My friend Michelle brought her daughter, Charlotte, over for a visit. Charlotte loves dogs so we thought it would be cute to get them together.

DSCN1537 — hawk is OK but posing for the camera is way more fun

Question of the day: did anyone run in the rain yesterday or did you stick to the TM? Do you like to run in the rain? I like to run in the mud too. I need to sign up for one of those mud races.

20 Miles, Take 4

August 12, 2011 by Kristy 19 Comments

8/12/11
20 miles / 2:52:52 / 8:38 avg pace

It’s a beautiful day! When I got back to my car post-run the temp was 67?! Wow. Further evidence…my shorts were (somewhat) dry after my run! If you can’t tell, I’m holding up 4 fingers because this is my 4th 20-miler…obviously.

I felt pretty good throughout this run, aside from some GI issues around mile 14. This is odd for me, usually business is taken care of pre-run (sorry, I mean how else can you talk about this topic?). Isn’t funny how your GI tract knows exactly where the bathrooms are and notifies you? OK, movin’ on…

Splits – the first 10 miles. I was in complete awe of the sunrise this morning (I need to bring my camera – it’s unreal) and you can tell I didn’t start getting serious until mile 6.

The second 10 miles. I’m happy to see I picked up the pace at mile 14. Mile 19 was an awful hill…but I rebounded nicely with mile 20 🙂

So. Happy. To. Be. Done! Beer and pizza tonight with friends…and we all know how much better it tastes after a long run!

Unrelated question of the day: I’m thinking of switching to wordpress.org but I need to choose a web host. Anyone have suggestions? How is Blue Host? Has anyone used Revive My Blog?

T-Minus 30 Days

August 11, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

In 30 days I’ll be running marathon #9, trying to qualify for Boston. I’m in a much better place right now then I was for the NJ Marathon. I’m training for an actual BQ time, instead of just trying to wing it. In hindsight (it’s always 20/20) I should have never tried for a 3:45 at NJM. I trained for a 3:50 and I should have stuck with the plan. Always stick with the plan!

If I could come up with a race day wish list (key word being wish, not magic) here’s what I would request:

1. Obviously, perfect weather. For me, that’s overcast skies with temps in the high 40s/low 50s. Or, for September, I’d be happy with no humidity 🙂

2. An 8:34 pace will feel just as easy at mile 23 as it does at mile 5.

3. I have no dehydration issues and resulting quad cramps.

4. No phantom chafing! You know…the kind that never happens on a training run but rears its ugly head on race day?!

5. I look photogenic in a race day picture. Hey, this is my wish list…

6. And the big one – I cross the finish line with the biggest smile on my face because I am finally a Boston Qualifier!

What are some things on your race day wish list? What do you consider “ideal” race day weather?

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 10 Recap

August 10, 2011 by Kristy 9 Comments

8/10/11
7 miles easy / 1:05 / 9:17 avg pace

Thanks for your comments on my running etiquette post. The verdict? Those guys were in the wrong and total creepers!

I had to double-check which week I was recapping. It’s all starting to mush together towards the end.

MON: 7 at marathon pace
TUE: 8 speed
WED: 8 easy
THU: REST!
FRI: 15 long
SAT: 5 easy
SUN: 10 tempo

53 miles for the week and 6 days of running (normal for me is 5 days per week). I figured I’d give it a shot but I really prefer 2 rest days.

I was looking over an old post I wrote at the beginning of this training cycle, where I laid out my plans for changing things up and doing things different. Overall I’m doing pretty good:

increase overall mileage — CHECK
switching between hill repeats and track workouts — decided against this since I need the speed work to BQ and my long runs are plenty hilly.
trail running — CHECK. Every tempo run has been done on a trail.
long runs (do some at LSD and some at MP) — CHECK. Thanks to the humidity, the choice as to which runs were LSD was made for me 🙂
cross-train (yoga and strength train) — FAIL! I haven’t been to a single yoga class yet and I went to 1 strength training class.

Somehow, I always imagined that running alone could transform my body into this…

(via)

I’m delusional but I can dream, right? I know it takes a steady dose of strength training (and good genes) to look like Kara. So yesterday I did an at-home, completely made-up, 20 minutes of ST. And it only confirmed that I need to go back to a class. Baby steps, right?

Unrelated question of the day: what do you use to track your runs? Daily Mile, etc? I’m thinking of ditching my excel spreadsheet for something more high tech!