Run The Long Road Coaching

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Kristy

Wedding Fun

by 11 Comments

8/1/11
7 miles / 59:51 / 8:33 avg pace

Another weekend, another wedding!  Let’s start at the beginning…

FRIDAY
Matt and I drove to Baltimore on Friday afternoon.  The wedding was at the beautiful Marriott Waterfront Hotel.  The rehearsal dinner was that night and the bride and groom graciously opened up the event  to all guests at 9PM.  An open bar is the perfect way to recover from a 20-miler…thanks Amanda!

Baltimore at night.

The Bay Cafe.  Sand floors and plenty of cold Miller Lite!

Late-night pizza and shenanigans.

SATURDAY
I started off Saturday with an easy 4-miler on the treadmill at the hotel gym.  I wanted to sleep in but not deal with the heat so the treadmill was the only option.

We have been waiting for this wedding for a long time.  Amanda and Mike are the last of the Mains – my close group of friends – to get married.  Everyone was so excited for a weekend away (sans kids for many of them!).

Amanda and her dad walking down the aisle.  Doesn’t she look beautiful?

Look at that veil…

The new Mr. & Mrs.

The cocktail hour was outside on a rooftop deck overlooking the waterfront.  It was quite toasty but the perfect spot for a photo shoot.

Me and Matt.  I’m desperately trying not to squint.

Hello Mains!

…and a little later on in the night…

One more…

All the lady Mains rounded up for a picture.

Congratulations Amanda and Mike!  We had a fantastic time!

20 Miles, Take 3

by 18 Comments

7/29/11
20 miles / 2:53 / 8:39 avg pace

Oh happy day! No work, a 20-miler, and a weekend away make for a good Friday.

The weather cooperated somewhat so I was able to finally push the pace.  I’m getting sick of LSD runs.

Splits:
image
image

And some post-run pictures. Yes, I do tend to wear the same clothes each week.  I was trying for a jump pose but that’s impossible to do with a self-timer so instead you get a bunch of missed jumps.

Gotta run (ha)…I need to drop Hawk off for the weekend and finish packing for Baltimore. Get ready for another wedding recap on Monday!

Happy Wedding Eve, Amanda!  I cannot wait 🙂

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 8 Recap

by 6 Comments

7/27/11
7 miles easy / 1:05 / 9:17 avg pace

I am more than halfway done this training cycle.  Makes me excited and nervous at the same time.   I hate to complain about the heat again, but it’s really starting to do a number on my confidence.  I know that I can’t do anything about my pace when the humidity is off the charts but I was moving along so well!  I was feeling good, handling more mileage, pulling through on speed work, running (near) marathon pace on long runs and then BAM.  Everything came to a halt.  So. frustrating.

Let’s review…

MON: 7 speed
TUE:  11 easy (7 AM and 4 PM)
WED:  rest
THU:  8 easy
FRI:  17 long
SAT:  10 tempo, MP, MP intervals
SUN:  rest / 20 min yoga video

Highlights ~
1.  Monday’s speed work, before the heat wave kicked in.  This was a tough workout and I was very pleased with my times.
2.  53 miles for the week!
3.  My ability to remain standing during Friday’s 17-miler.  I’m not kidding!  And Operation Hydration was a success!

And the not so good ~
1.   Sunday’s run.  Oh this sucked.  Supposed to be a tempo run (3 miles at 7:44 pace).  There was no way I could sustain that in the heat so I planned on doing a MP tempo.  Riiight, scratch that too.  Apparently MP was too much.  So instead I would run MP for a mile, then recover for a mile, then repeat.  Pathetic.  The heat was a big factor but I was incredibly exhausted from Friday’s run and my legs felt like lead.  I have never been so happy to finish a run.

Onto more positive stuff, I am so looking forward to the weekend!  We are heading to Baltimore for my friend Amanda’s wedding.  I even have Friday off.  I’m squeezing all my runs in Monday to Friday this week so I can take 2 rest (hungover) days this weekend.

Since it is hump day, what are your plans for the weekend?  Any long runs planned?

7 Links

by 9 Comments

7/26/11
8 miles tempo / 1:08 / 8:30 avg pace
*Tempo miles:  7:45, 8:00, 8:00, 7:54, 8:00.  This heat is going to kill me.   

Aron tagged me to participate in the 7 Links post circling blogland right now.  Here goes!

My Most Beautiful Post

I generally shy away from the mushy gushy but I guess my What Is A Runner post would be the most beautiful?

My Most Popular Post

This is easy.  It would definitely be my Weight Gain and Marathon Training post.  It gets a few views each day.  And then people proceed to check out my pictures to get a good glimpse of me!

My Most Controversial Post

Since this is a running blog, topics don’t get too heated.   This wasn’t controversial on my end but my Weight Gain and Marathon Training post was mentioned as what not to do on (what I consider) a pro-anorexia blog.  So disturbing.  These girls were using running as a way to lose weight quickly without much eating.  Needless to say, my post on gaining weight was probably horrifying to them.  The blogger went so far as to say “I don’t want to be like this girl…”  That girl being me and my sweet tooth!

My Most Helpful Post

I think that would be My Advice For Newbie Runners.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me

I wouldn’t say this was super successful but I didn’t think anyone would comment when I posted about my Running Pet Peeves.  Ha!  The comments were hysterical.  Apparently, I’m not alone!

A Post I Feel Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved

This wasn’t a fantastic post or anything but I was a relatively new blogger and wrote a post called One Year Older, One Year Wiser back in February.  I got 3 comments…from close friends!

A Post I’m Most Proud Of

It wasn’t the post I was proud of but the race results from my Memorial Day 5K (5th Overall Female & 3rd in Age Group).  I hate 5Ks (I’m not fast), it was hot, I ran terribly, and – for the first time ever – I placed in a race!

Now I am supposed to tag 5 people to participate in 7 Links.  Tag you’re it…

Claire at the fight and flight response
Cindi at Runnin’ From The Law
Keri at The Blue-Eyed Runner
Rachel at Run Around My Blog
Holly at Pink Runner

2 Years

by 22 Comments

7/25/11
7 miles speed work

Today is our 2-year wedding anniversary!  We are celebrating tonight with pizza and beer.  I’m a cheap date.  We did class-it-up by going out to dinner on Saturday night.

My wedding was by far the best day of my life.  Matt and I dated for 10 years before we got married so this was a long time coming.  It was a beautiful day and we thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.  Here are some highlights with lots of pictures…

Obviously, marrying Matt was THE highlight.  These are 2 of my favorite pictures from our wedding.

My wonderful bridesmaids.

Walking down the aisle with my Dad (photo from a friend).

Getting our pictures taken at St. Joe’s (where Matt and I met).

Of course the cake was a highlight!  Our wedding cake was from Bredenbeck’s and it was absolutely delicious.  Still delicious after 1 year in the freezer too!

Having the St. Joe’s Hawk (mascot) at our cocktail hour.

Busting out a Thriller dance at the wedding.  Oh yes we did.  We = me/bridesmaids/friends.  Matt opted out 😉

Dancing (and drinking) with friends and family.  Funny side note:  Matt and I warned our reception place about the massive amounts of Miller Lite that would be consumed.  We asked them to not run out of ML.  They politely laughed and said it wouldn’t happen.  At the end of the night, Matt caught them running in 6-packs of ML and throwing them in ice.  So technically we didn’t run out but they did have to scramble at the last minute and buy more!!

*All pictures courtesy of Sean Marshall Lin (the best wedding photographer around).  

Operation Hydration

by 22 Comments

7/22/11
17 miles / 2:46 / 9:46 avg pace

Stats
5:15AM start time temp – feels like 88 degrees
8:00AM finish time temp – feels like 98 degrees
Humidity 0, Kristy 1

I’m calling Operation Hydration a success!  I feel great!  Dang it was hot though.  Definitely the most oppressive conditions I ever ran in. Some thoughts…

  • Eating salt (yes, straight salt) was a lifesaver today.  I noticed an immediate improvement vs. 2 weeks ago.  I really believe it’s why I feel so good right now – no headache, no nausea, no quad soreness.  Note:  white, powdery-looking substance in a baggie that you eat with your pinky and then stash in your sports bra looks super shady.
  • I also drank Gatorade and I think that helped too, but to a lesser extent than the salt.
  • My shorts were completely soaked by mile 7!
  • I noticed a sloshing sound in my shoes around mile 10 and realized it was sweat.  So. Gross.
  • Thank god for a canopy of shade once the sun came up.  This was also a lifesaver.  The sun would have done me in for sure.
  • Although my pace was slow, I’m amazed that my body was able to run 17 miles!  I was supposed to run 18 but reached my car at 17 and decided to screw the last mile.
A hot mess picture.  There wasn’t 1 inch of me that was dry.
Have a good weekend!  Stay cool!