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Friday Favorites

February 3, 2012 by Kristy 14 Comments

lululemon Vinyasa Scarf
I’ve been eyeing this scarf forever. Comfy, warm, and a billion ways to wear it. I bought it a few weeks ago and it has quickly become a wardrobe staple. I agonized in the store about what color to get for about a ½ hour. Here’s me at working wearing it for the second (or third) time this week. It’s a creepy bathroom shot; thankfully no one walked in. That would have been weird.

Honda marathoner commercial
Anyone see this commercial yet? It’s great. I love how the girl does the marathon shuffle over to her Honda. So absolutely accurate.

The Bachelor
Jeez, this is embarrassing but I was sucked into another season of The Bachelor. I only watch it when it’s the bachelor (not the bachelorette) because nothing is more entertaining then watching a bunch of batshit crazy girls find their “soulmate”. We all know Courtney is crazy but is she ever without a glass of wine in hand? She drinks like a fish! And Blakely, Ben will never pick you because you are over 30. The guy always picks a 24-25 year old. Speaking of which, and maybe this is because I’m much older than that, what’s with the overuse of “like”? Ben, I’m really like glad we like got to like spend like so much like time together. Stop!

Sigh, I still watch every week.

Friday rest days
For the past 2 weeks, I’ve taken Friday as a rest day. Since I work from home on Fridays, I get to “sleep in” extra late, rest the day before my long run, and Thursday night I’m feeling like this…

Which day(s) do you take as a rest day? Is it planned or when you feel you need it?

Thoughts on The Bachelor?

Small Improvements

January 31, 2012 by Kristy 13 Comments

I have to focus on the small improvement here or else I would cry. This morning was another set of 3 x 1-mile repeats. Oy. This was the same exact speed workout I did 4 weeks ago.

Week 1: 7:10, 7:08, 7:11
Week 5 (today): 7:04, 7:10, 7:10

OK, so the 7:04 was a small improvement. All of these were effort based (Week 1 and Week 5) and I was sucking wind hard today. Unfortunately, I can’t say this is my 5K pace. Unless I want to die during the 5K.

So…even though I said I wouldn’t do this anymore…I took a peek at my training cycle for the Lehigh Valley Marathon (same week, same workout) — 7:11, 7:08, 7:05. Hmmm. I’m starting to think of my last training cycle (my BQ cycle) as the one where I constantly improved and this training cycle as the one where I constantly remain stagnant. Maybe I’m not meant to get any faster? Maybe I maxed out my speed? Maybe I should forget mile repeats (or any track work for that matter) and just run hill repeats? They are more fun anyway.

Moving on…

My favorite part of Runner’s World is the “I’m a Runner” feature on the back page. It’s like US Weekly for runners. I’m highly disappointed with the March issue. Kate Gosselin?!?! Jeez, were they desperate? I would like to knock her off the kitchen counter she’s sitting on. Her interview was obnoxious. Thanks RW…I’ll stick to Running Times.

Did you watch Jon & Kate Plus 8? I did, during its height…before she went crazy.

The First 20 and Boston Week 4 Recap

January 30, 2012 by Kristy 10 Comments

Saturday was the first of 5 20-milers that I’ll be doing to prep for Boston. Why so many? Well, practice makes perfect and (generally) I handle 20 miles pretty well in terms of recovery, so I can do a lot of them without compromising my other runs.

So the weather was perfect on Saturday. Seriously, it felt like Spring. Night and day compared to a week ago. I did 2 hilly loops totaling 11 miles before heading for some flat, paved trail for the remaining 9 miles. My breathing felt off the entire time. I slowed down, I sped up, and yet it was still off. I started getting hot and I guess I was sweating more than I thought. I tried drinking more but it was too late, I was already dehydrated. Boo. The last 3 miles were HARD. I wanted to stop and quit, especially at mile 19. 19 miles? 20 miles? What’s the difference? I thought about Boston and, knowing I would never quit at mile 25, I trudged onward. 2 hours and 55 minutes later (8:45 average pace), I was done.

I quickly got into my car (all I wanted to do was sit down) and chugged my chocolate milk. Then the aching and throbbing began. My legs were hurting big time. I transitioned into sitting too quickly. I usually walk around, drink my chocolate milk, and stretch a bit before driving home. Thank god it’s a short drive because I was in pain. Some stretching, a nice hot shower, lots of food, and a long walk with Hawk and my legs felt completely fine.

Boston Week 4 Recap
MON: 6 miles easy
TUE: 8 miles tempo with 4 miles @ 7:50 pace (7:44, 7:48, 7:54, 7:57). During the last interval there was a creepy raccoon wandering around and I had to stop and wait for it to move away. Ewwww.
WED: ~~barre~~ My body was screaming for a rest day so I slept in instead.
THU: 5 miles with 10 hill repeats. I did a mix of short and long hill repeats.
FRI: yoga. I left the class feeling wonderful!
SAT: 20 miles
SUN: 5 miles super easy

44 miles for the week. I was aiming for 47 but oh well, I needed rest. This week is a drop back week….all the way to 40 miles. Living on the edge!

Ever get that achy, throbbing feeling in your legs? The last time I got it was after the Pocono Marathon in May 2010 (it was so memorable because it was so painful).

I'm back!

January 29, 2012 by Kristy 9 Comments

Hello! I’m back from a 1 week blog vacation! Last week I (finally) made the switch to self-hosted and RTLR got a little makeover! I could not be happier with how it looks. Since the blog was under construction I though it was best to save all my witty, insightful posts until it was back up and running 😉 If you’re using GR, click out and let me know what you think!

I wish I could say I did all the work but I’m not that tech savvy at all. I didn’t want to screw it up, lose all my previous posts, and lose followers. After doing some research I went with Blog Genie to not only move to self-hosted but also do the makeover. Rita was amazing! To say I highly recommend her would be an understatement. I think I asked a billion stupid questions. She answered each one of them…quickly. I was probably not the easiest customer either. I tend to be a bit….ummm, picky. Anal. You name it. Rita was patient, implemented all of my changes, and then promptly sent me another screen shot so I could see the design. I love the results and I love that it only took a week. Other blog services I contacted had a waiting list (months!) or were incredibly expensive.

I have to give another shout-out to Sandy, who designed my header. Sandy is my friend Trish’s co-worker and is amazingly talented. Way back in May of last year she designed the RTLR logo for our Team RTLR 5K shirts. The skyline you see in the background is Philly (and pretty damn accurate, I might add). I used this logo for my business cards too and couldn’t wait to have it as my header. Thank you Sandy!

So that’s what I’ve been up to this past week. I loved all the emails and tweets of concern about my blog being under construction and why I haven’t posted in awhile.

The Snow Shuffle and Boston Week 3 Recap

January 23, 2012 by Kristy 9 Comments

An alternate title: Separating the Crazy from the Sane.

I woke up Saturday morning determined to get 17 miles in – snow, blizzard, ice storm, what have you. I woke up at 6:50AM, checked Twitter, and was surprised by all the “I’m treadmilling it today and getting my 20 miles done” tweets. Crap, is it that bad out? I checked outside and was surprised we got so much snow – about 3 inches. Usually the weather people are way off.

I couldn’t imagine running for 17 miles on the TM, so I bundled up, and prepared myself mentally for the challenge. I got myself out the door at 7:30 into the freezing rain. It wasn’t terribly cold but it was tough to run – even with my YakTrax on. The snow was deep. The paved trail that I usually run on clearly states “no winter trail maintenance” and they mean it. It pisses me off since they mow the lawn once a week in the summer but they can’t drop a plow and remove the snow in the winter. Running on an unplowed trail wasn’t working. I was shuffling along and my stride was all messed up. There was no way I could maintain this for 17 miles.

So I found a 1-mile stretch that was plowed and managed to run around it 7 times, looking like a complete ass in the process. By now my Garmin, my tights, my jacket, my hat, and my (right) eyelid were getting icy. My eyelid was really starting to sting too. I waved the white flag, ran the 1/2 mile back to my house, and decided to prepare myself mentally for another challenge – 9.5 miles on the TM.

I watched Leap Year while on the TM and tried to transport myself back to Ireland. It helped for the first 3 miles. After that I was just antsy and miserable. I have no idea how people run 20 miles on the TM. I’m in complete awe of them.

7.5 miles in the snow at 9:40 pace and 9.5 miles on the TM at 8:53 pace. Done and done!

Boston Week 3 Recap
MON: 8mi speed
TUE: 8mi tempo with 5 miles at MP (8:28, 8:11, 8:12, 8:16, 8:07). I experimented with doing 2 hard days back-to-back and it wasn’t too bad. Those MP miles felt easier then they did last week.
WED: barre class
THU: rest!
FRI: 6mi easy with 5 short hill repeats at the end
SAT: 17 loooooong miles
SUN: 6mi easy

45 miles total for the week.

How did you deal with the snow and running this weekend? If you live in the South or San Francisco and had perfect weather, I don’t want to hear it 😉

Does your favorite running route get plowed or do you have to get creative?

Five for Friday: Race Edition

January 20, 2012 by Kristy 15 Comments

I guess January is officially here because they are calling for a wintry mix on Saturday. I’m freaking out because I have a 17-miler to get done. If I have to slap on YakTrax and slow down, I won’t be happy, but so be it. I can’t get annoyed over things out of my control.

Anyway….today’s Five for Friday (I act like I do this every week…I don’t) is 4 races that I would love to do and 1 race I’ll never do, in no particular order.

1. JFK 50-Miler: Ultras are where I’m headed after I scratch the Boston itch. So long speed work, hello super long runs! I would love to do this race some day, especially after reading Kara’s recap last year.

2. Big Sur Marathon: I wouldn’t want to race this marathon but run it for fun, take pictures, and enjoy the scenery. And yes, I wish I was doing Boston to Big Sur!

3. A marathon in San Francisco: Nike Women’s or the San Francisco Marathon, it really doesn’t matter. I just want to run in the city that I love so much.

4. Another World Marathon Major: I’ve done NYC and will soon be done Boston, but I’d love to run Chicago or London.

5. A marathon I will never run: Disney Marathon. I’m kinda anti-Disney. I have no desire to run near or in the “most magical place on earth”.

Any races you would like to do? Any ones you have no desire to run?