Boston Marathon

Friday Updates

February 23, 2012 by Kristy 12 Comments

don’t think it, just run it
Thank you for all of your advice and support on my last post. Some of my favorite mantras…

Amanda: My mantra is something like, “I may feel this exact way during my marathon and so I’ll need to know how to fight through this feeling then. I should practice it now just in case.”

Kate: “Do or do not. There is no ‘try’.” -Yoda … this manta has gotten me through many a race / training workout. You either do it, or you don’t. It’s kind of “tough love” but that’s what works for me.

Cindi: Mantra for you to try: I can f*$#ing do this! I knew I could count on Cindi for a f-bomb mantra Winking smile

I think my sister summed it up best though – don’t think it, just run it. My thinking and analyzing takes over my running way too much. So, with this new attitude, I was excited for Thursday’s run. I wasn’t following my plan so I had 9 miles to do whatever I wanted (it had to be speedy stuff though). The result…adding in a 1 mile warm-up and cool-down…

8:12, 8:08, 8:12, 8:03, 8:07, 8:03, 8:13

Success! I barely looked at my Garmin, either. Just kinda went by feel.

hawk’s birthday
Our little bundle of fur turned 2 yesterday! Naturally, like people that need to have kids, we sang happy birthday and took pictures.

The day we got Hawk…

He makes us laugh every day, even when he chews his dog bed.

If you have a dog, do you “celebrate” its birthday? I doubt I’m the only one!

Have a great weekend!

Vortex of Doubt

February 22, 2012 by Kristy 25 Comments

After a particularly crappy speed session yesterday, I was doubting my ability to even run another 3:43 marathon in Boston, much less a sub-3:40. Don’t let 1 little run shake your confidence, right? I totally agree but it’s much beyond 1 run.

Since I started training for Boston, I haven’t made the huge gains in speed that I did in my last training cycle. And paces that were once easy feel a little bit more labored. My legs always feel good but my breathing is a little off.

Enter the vortex of doubt. It started creeping in around Week 2 and now has set up residence in my head (I can’t help but think of the Mucinex commercial where the mucus takes up residence in your lungs). I feel like doubt is snowballing out of control and taking me with it. Yep, that’s me.

With 5 1/2 weeks left of training before the taper, I’m making changes.

Where did my mental game go? I really worked on it last cycle but it seems to have fallen by the wayside. Ironically enough, my friend sent me this article written by Chrissie Wellington yesterday. She knows a thing or two about mental game
This is my 3rd training cycle in a row following the FIRST plan. Although I still believe it’s a great plan, my body may have adjusted and plateaued. I never really followed it to a T but in the next few weeks I’m going to diverge more from it and do my own thing (more tempo, hill repeats, and progression runs and less track work).
Rethink hitting the almighty 60 miles. I’m not sure why I’m so obsessed with hitting a certain number when I know (for marathon training) 55 miles per week is my sweet spot.
Remember to have fun. I am training for Boston!

54 days to go!

I need some new mantras. What’s your go-to mantra?

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!