long run

I Love Yoga and Week 7 Recap

February 20, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

This morning I went to the wonderful Candace’s vinyasa class at RYAH. I feel amazing; like I never ran 20 miles yesterday. I did lots of stretching and tiger tailing post-run and chugged some chocolate milk within a half hour of finishing. I think the combination of those things plus yoga are responsible for me feeling so good.

Anyhow, here’s how week 7 of NJ Marathon training shaped up:

MON: rest (flew back from SF)
TUE: 5 miles speed
WED: 7 miles tempo
THU: rest
FRI: 6 miles easy
SAT: 20 miles
SUN: 75 min yoga and 3 miles easy (just to put me at 41 miles for the week!)

41 miles this week. Finally. Seems like it took me forever to get to 40 miles. I’m generally happy with the FIRST training plan because I only do quality runs and my legs are fresher overall compared to previous training cycles. I just can’t shake the low mileage thing. I need to get over this. I’m happy with where I am and should focus on that. I feel stronger and faster than I did last training cycle. I need to believe in the training, believe in the training…

Glorious SF Run #2

February 12, 2011 by Kristy Leave a Comment

2/12/11

15 miles

2:15

9:00 avg pace

3 reasons why this run felt great:

1. The trail was not a slip n’ slide. Imagine that. I didn’t have to worry about falling on ice or slowing down in the snow. So lovely.

2. I was not bundled up like the little brother from A Christmas Story. I had shorts on. Shorts! In February!

3. Amazing views (how many times have I said amazing and SF in the same sentence?!). Check ’em out…

Happy Saturday 🙂

Friday Favorites

February 11, 2011 by Kristy 1 Comment

No run today. I’m resting up for my 13-15 miler tomorrow. Seems silly but my legs are tired from running yesterday and then walking all around SF (up lots of hills, like crazy steep hills).

Lots of bloggers do “Friday Favorites” where they list some of their favorite things (running and non-running related). I figured I’d give it a try and maybe break up the monotony of my non-stop running talk?! I’m sure running will weave its way into some of my favorite things.

So for the first edition of Friday Favorites, I’ll do it up San Fran style 🙂

1. Buena Vista Park – Matt and I stumbled upon this park back in 2005. It’s in the Haight-Ashbury section of the city. You walk up this winding hill to unbelievably spectacular views of the city. We went back on Wednesday for a visit (birthday girl’s request). These pictures do NOT do it justice.

2. Niketown – I’m definitely a Nike girl and the Nike store in SF is amazing. I stop in every time I’m here. We went there on Thursday and I made Matt feel completely awkward and asked him to take pictures (do it for the blog, Matt).

3. Golden Gate Bridge – Looking at this bridge never gets old. Running over it is amazing. Running along Crissy Field and coming just underneath it is amazing.

100_0048 — One of my favorite pics from our 2005 visit

Heading to Sausalito today!

Week 5 Recap

February 7, 2011 by Kristy Leave a Comment

Week 5 of NJ Marathon training…

MON: rest
TUE: 7 tempo + yoga
WED: 6 speed
THU: rest
FRI: 8 easy
SAT: ~~lazy~~ rest (should have went to yoga)
SUN: 18 long (duh)

Total of 39 miles. Finally getting up there.

Heading to a power yoga class at RYAH tonight!

Birthday Cake and 18 Miles

February 6, 2011 by Kristy 4 Comments

2/6/11

18 miles

Sorry peeps, I don’t have split times and an average pace for you today. I had a Garmin malfunction, caused by me. The wind was blowing my earphones out of my ears (good times) and around mile 3 I stopped and readjusted my iPod. I stopped my Garmin and then never started it again. Thankfully, I’m obsessed with watching my pace and noticed that the numbers weren’t moving about a mile later. It could have been worse (devastating, I know). I think my average pace was around 9:20…at least that’s what the Garmin kept saying throughout my run. Since I ran 17 and 20 miles the last 2 weekends at Kelly Drive, I estimated where the turnaround would be for 18 miles. Not a bad run, MUCH better than last week, only had to slow to a crawl for a few icy spots.

Onto more fun things! Last night my family got together to celebrate the February birthdays. We celebrate early since my snowbird parents head to the Florida Keys in mid-February. Usually it’s my birthday (2/9), my mom (2/24), and my nieces Catherine (2/28) and Sarah (3/9) but we have an addition this year…Hawk! Our buddy turns 1 on 2/23! After dinner we headed back to our house for cake and ice cream. The delicious cake from Bredenbeck’s (seriously this cake is amazing, if you need a cake in the Philly area go here!)…

Yes, that’s what the cake said. When I called Bredenbeck’s I warned the woman that I was going to ask for something different to be written on the cake. Apparently they get strange requests all the time. So this is perfectly normal.

Some more pics…

Hawk sniffs the cake to make sure it's OK

Hawk is clearly over the cake and would rather play with his toys.

“The Others” also enjoyed the cake. In fact, we have leftovers and I think cake would be the perfect post-run fuel right about now…

PS – I’m on Twitter! And I have no idea what I’m doing! If you are a twitter-er (tweeter?), please follow me!

Saturday vs. Sunday

February 4, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

2/4/11

8 easy peasy miles

1:17

9:37 avg pace

Mother Nature is being quite the bitch lately. I normally do my long runs on Saturday but tomorrow’s forecast looks like this:

A “wintry mix”. All day long. Since I don’t want a repeat of last week’s slippery run I’m moving my long run to Sunday. Bleh. I know I should just go with the flow and not complain since Sunday will be a nice day but I LOVE my Saturday morning long runs. Why?

1. I’m a creature of habit and routine. I’ve always done long runs on Saturday.
2. It fits my schedule. In rarely have plans on Friday night (and if I do they are low-key) so I can get a good night’s sleep and still get up early for my run. Pushing the run to a Sunday means I have to watch my Saturday night shenanigans (going to bed early, not drinking too much, etc.). I’m a real party pooper.
3. I like to get it over with. If I wait until Sunday I think about it and dwell on it.

Sorry that I complain so much about the weather. This winter has been brutal though. I have never used the treadmill so much.

Let’s switch topics a little and talk about long run prep. That’s right, preparation. I’m never able to just get up and go, even in the summer. Aron at Runner’s Rambles wrote about this last week. It’s nice to see that other people also plan, plan, plan their long runs.

I begin stalking weather.com on the Tuesday prior to my long run. Not sure why since I can’t change the weather. I continue to stalk until I can see the hourly forecast (usually on Friday morning). Then I plan what I’m going to wear and lay everything out.

Then I gather all the stuff that I need to take with me. I used to carry all this stuff to the car by hand. Then I got smart and started throwing it in a bag.

Obvious items: iPod, Garmin, hand-held water bottle, towel
2 pair of gloves: when it’s really cold I’ll change my gloves halfway through the run.
Shot Bloks in Black Cherry: love ’em. On runs over 15 miles, I eat 3 (half the pack) every 4-5 miles.
Blue water bottle: chocolate milk for post-run fuel! I only fill it about halfway. And you better believe I think about that ice cold chocolate milk waiting for me in my car during the final miles.
Gum: can’t run without it.
Aquaphor: I smother my lips in this stuff during the winter. If I don’t they get terribly chapped. I even use it around my eyes. My eye area tends to be dry and the sweat just aggravates it.

You should see my marathon checklist..one day I’ll post about it. Shockingly, it’s pretty thorough 🙂 Laugh if you want but I’ve never forgotten anything. Prepared is my middle name!