barre

Adele on Repeat and Boston Week 9 Recap

March 8, 2012 by Kristy 22 Comments

One of the many reasons I love barre is the music. I don’t listen to music when I run, so it’s a treat to hear a good playlist when working out. I especially love it when yoga teachers mix it up a bit…using popular music instead of that chant-y yoga stuff.

Since last week’s barre class, Adele has been on repeat in my head. It’s starting to get annoying. You know when you just cannot get a certain song out of your head? Last week it was “Rolling in the Deep”, which is played during class. Then it was “Someone Like You” and now it’s “Rumour Has It”. Rumour has it. (rumour). Rumour has it. (rumour). Over and over. Thankfully, I like Adele.

My taste in music goes from one end of the spectrum to the other. I was in lululemon over the weekend and heard “Get Busy” by Sean Paul and pretty much had to restrain myself from breaking it down in the store. Oh yeah, you know you love it too.

Some more barre favorites are Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” and some old school Britney. Would you believe me if I told you this blog was partially named after Pearl Jam’s song “Long Road”? Yep, one end to the other.

If you run with music, what’s your go-to song? This is a little embarrassing but I love the Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (along with most 3^rd graders). It was playing when I crossed the finish line at the Lehigh Valley Marathon (my BQ). Now I have even more reason to love it.

I have to mention my run on Tuesday, since it was definitely a confidence booster. I’ve been doubting my ability to run 8:20 pace for 26.2 (eeek!). On Tuesday I ran 11 miles with 10 at MP (8:20). I felt springy, my breathing was controlled, and my stride effortless. I felt amazing. I have 15 miles as my long run this weekend and my goal is to run 12-13 at MP (with hills!). Maybe, just maybe, I can do this!

Boston Week 9 Recap
MON: 5 easy
TUE: 8 with 5 at (faster than) MP + 3 hill repeats at the end
WED: barre
THU: 7 with 4 at tempo (2 at 7:45 pace and 2 at 8:00 pace)
FRI: rest
SAT: 20 at 8:36 pace
SUN: rest

40 miles total. A drop back week. 38 days until Boston!

Busy Busy and Boston Week 7 Recap

February 21, 2012 by Kristy 11 Comments

This week is busy busy. Lots of miles, lots of coaching, a few other appointments, Hawk’s birthday (yes, we celebrate), and that little 9 to 5 thing I do. My planner is filled with ridiculous notes like “bring medical records” (to my doctor’s appointment) and “prep for cleaners” (we have house cleaners that come monthly and I try to make cleaning as easy as possible by decluttering as much as I can). If I don’t have it written down, it’s pretty much wiped from my memory.

Last week I entered the 50s (well, right at 50) in terms of mileage. I now see the appeal in running 6 days per week. 50+ miles is tough to tackle just running 5 days, even with a “long” long run. I’m not ready to jump to 6 days yet, since that would mean no rest days (6 runs + 1 barre class). That’s completely absurd. I love my 1 day of complete rest. And I love barre too. Even though I only take it once per week, I’m definitely feeling stronger. I guess weekly runs of 9-10 miles are going to stick around for awhile.

Boston Week 7 Recap
MON: rest (much needed after the barre class from hell)
TUE: 10 miles speed work – 6×800 at 10K pace, finishing with 2 miles at 8:13 pace.
WED: 8 miles easy
THU: 10 miles tempo – 6 miles at 8:05 pace (8:13, 8:17, 8:09, 8:11, 8:09, 8:12). My legs were not-so-happy during this run.
FRI: rest
SAT: 14 miles at 8:29 average pace
SUN: 8 miles easy

50 miles total for the week! Finally!

Do you use a paper planner or your phone? I cannot give up my paper planner, even though I have an iPhone. I’m kinda old school in that I like to write it down and check it off.

How many days per week do you run? I always stick with 5 days because it has always worked best. But now I have to get creative with my increased mileage.

Random Thoughts and Boston Week 6 Recap

February 14, 2012 by Kristy 10 Comments

Barre class from hell
I had to take a rest day on Monday after the barre class from hell. My right upper hamstring and glute were so sore that sleeping in and eating ice cream (instead of running) were completely necessary. I even had to foam roll! No barre class for me this week.

I don’t scream for ice cream
Speaking of ice cream, it’s wreaking havoc on my GI system. I know, TMI…but this is a running blog and runners have GI issues. So Monday night ice cream did not bode well for my early Tuesday morning run. I’m going to give up ice cream for awhile (the horror!) and see if my GI issues go away (I’m betting they will). I’ll just have to up my consumption of cookies to compensate.

Broad Street Run – I’m in!
The Broad Street Run is a super popular 10-mile race in Philly held every May. I generally run it every year, despite it being a pain in the ass every year. They do cap the number of runners but it’s still too crowded. The tradeoff is a great course and a fun race. Yesterday they had a special early registration for Blue Cross Blue Shield members. Score! This race is 3 weeks post-Boston so I *hope* I’m recovered by then and can take advantage of my marathon fitness to PR.

Boston Week 6 Recap
MON: rest – starting the week off right Smile Honestly, I couldn’t get out of bed. That usually doesn’t happen so, when it does, I listen.
TUE: 9 miles tempo with 5 miles @ 7:50 pace (7:55, 7:53, 8:03, 7:56, 7:51).
WED: 8 miles easy (9:15 pace)
THU: 3 miles easy (birthday run!)
FRI: 8 miles with 6 miles at MP (8:13, 8:13, 8:08, 8:08, 8:05, 8:08). Technically faster than MP!
SAT: 20 miles long, slow distance (8:57 average pace)
SUN: barre class from hell

48 miles total and a solid week, in my book! This week I drop back on my long run (13 miles) which means my short runs need to be extra long to make up the mileage. I kinda enjoy these mid-week medium long runs.

Does ice cream the night before a run cause anyone else GI woes?

Do you have a race that you do each year but it’s beginning to get super crowded and annoying? That would be Broad Street for me.

Are you a fan of mid-week medium long runs?

Weekend Recap: Celebration

February 12, 2012 by Kristy 15 Comments

Missed the first recap of the weekend? Read it here.

On Saturday night, Matt and I got our Groupon on at Spamps to celebrate my birthday. Yes, that is the name of the restaurant. It’s short for Spampinato, the owner’s last name. Dinner was good but dessert…oh my, one of my favorites. Chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream.

Initially it didn’t come with ice cream (can you imagine?). I requested it. You can’t eat a lava cake without melted ice cream drizzling down. I turned my flash off to take the picture. I didn’t want strange glances.

Matt and I went to the bar afterwards for a drink but were home by 9. You need to make a beeline out of Spamps before 10pm before it turns into a meat market.

Proof that it always snows around my birthday. Excuse my demonic eyes.

Matt, hating life because I’m taking his picture. Do it for the blog, Matt.

I woke up Sunday morning and I was feeling the 20-miler from Saturday and 48 miles in general for the week. I knew I was in for a treat at barre class.

My legs shaked non-stop in class. My quads were screaming and I could no longer tuck and squeeze. No one else’s legs were shaking, I appeared to be so out of shape. So barre class the day after a 20-miler is not ideal. Lesson learned.

What’s your favorite dessert? The lava cake is pretty high up there but I do love myself a DQ Blizzard.

Ever feel completely inadequate and out of shape during strength training or yoga because of running (even though you are clearly in shape)?

Weekend Recap: Running

February 11, 2012 by Kristy 6 Comments

I know it’s odd to write a weekend recap on a Saturday but I’m done with running for the week (I’m taking a barre class tomorrow, which I’m sure will sufficiently kick my butt).

Funny how running works…on Tuesday I was nervous and not feeling confident at all. Then I had great runs yesterday and today and now my confidence is starting to come back.

FRIDAY
Since I had already planned for my 20-miler to be a long, slow distance run, I knew I could get in some marathon-paced miles on Friday without adversely impacting Saturday’s run. My plan was to run 6 miles at MP. I felt great and the miles seemed easy. Turns out they were faster than MP – 8:13, 8:13, 8:08, 8:08, 8:05, 8:08. Sweet! Gotta love when that happens.

SATURDAY
We got “snow” overnight. This is my kind of snow though – sticks to the grass and trees but leaves the sidewalks and roads just wet. It pretty much “snowed” the entire time I ran so I put my hood up and hunkered down for 20 miles. It was really beautiful out. No wind, wasn’t too cold, and everything looked so pretty. I love LSD runs – no pressure, just fun. I finished in 2:59 (8:57 average pace).

Fun fact: A year ago, I was in San Fran for my birthday and I ran 15 miles. I remember being so happy that my average pace for a long run was 9:00; that was huge for me. And now a year later, it’s my LSD pace. Hooray for progress!

I am so ready to celebrate my birthday. I’m not-so-patiently waiting for Matt to come home from the airport. He was away for 2 weeks (again). Boo.

I hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Being Flexible and Boston Week 1 Recap

January 9, 2012 by Kristy 10 Comments

When I first started training for marathons and knew very little about myself as a runner (or really anything about marathon training), I would follow a set training plan. All 16 weeks planned out in black and white. This type of training is beneficial for beginners, as long as you are listening to your body and pushing when appropriate and resting when you need it. My approach to training now is drastically different then it was back then.

Every Sunday, I plan out my running schedule for the week. I’m using the FIRST plan so in a way those 16 weeks are planned out but I modify the plan so much it’s never set in stone. Things I consider:

Am I busy this week? Do I have stuff to do after work or during the weekend?
What’s the weather like (especially in the winter)? If there is even a hint of snow, I will finagle my schedule to get all my key runs in before the snow hits.
What was my total mileage last week? How much should I increase it this week or decrease if it’s a drop back week?
When will I strength train this week?
How am I feeling overall? How did my runs go last week? Did I hit all my key workouts?

All of these factors go into my planning. The only things really set in stone are my track workouts and long run mileage. Everything else I decide on the Sunday prior. Even the days I do track, tempo, and easy runs change each week (although I try and get track work done on Mondays to get it out of the way). I love the flexibility this gives me and my training has improved so much.

Boston Week 1 Recap
I’ll call week 1 a success! Aside from my failed tempo run and yoga fail (I just couldn’t get my butt there on Sunday – I have no better excuse than that), I was happy with my long run on Saturday.

MON: 3 x 1-mile repeats
TUE: 7 easy
WED: barre class
THU: rest
FRI: 6 pseudo-tempo miles
SAT: 13 (avg pace – 8:37). I totally under dressed for this run. I started running at 7:30 and it was bitterly cold (it later went up to 60 degrees!). I had a thin, long-sleeved tech shirt and cheap Target stretchy gloves. I thought my hands were going to freeze and fall off. I even stopped into a bathroom to use the hand dryer to warm them up (I hate stopping during long runs too but this was so necessary).
SUN: 6 easy

38 total miles for the week 🙂

Do you follow a set schedule or plan your runs weekly like me?

Ever think you were going to get frostbite during a run? Once my hands get cold, it’s all downhill for me. It actually gets painful and I can’t concentrate. I do use hand warmers sometimes but apparently didn’t think it was necessary on Saturday.