long run

Weekend Musings and Running Pet Peeves

March 5, 2012 by Kristy 21 Comments

Saturday
I had 20 miles on dock and it was nice and warm. It actually rained most of the run but it was that warm that the rain felt nice. I love runs like that. I finished 20 miles in 2:52 (8:36 average pace). I was shooting for closer to 8:30 average pace but I’ll take it.

I encountered 2 of my running pet peeves on Saturday. #1 – running so close (i.e., up my ass) that I can hear your breathing and your footfalls and #2 – guys that like to “race” when a girl passes them or may pass them (also need to add that when you pass them, it’s not without comment – “didn’t know we were racing” – yes, this was said to me a few weeks ago when I passed a group of guys).

Let’s call offender #1 Mr. A. Mr. A and I converge on the trail at the bottom of a hill. Mr. A is ahead of me and I am keeping a respectable distance as to not commit pet peeve #1. My pace is steady at 8:30 and Mr. A was probably pushing 8:15ish. There was no need for me to pass him. Mr. A turns around and sees me and then takes off. Takes off as in 7:30 pace, which is pretty impressive considering he appeared to be in his 50s. Apparently, I was a threat.

Offender #2, or Mr. B, is older – maybe 60s? As I get closer I realize I’m going to pass him and I do it quickly and mutter “good morning”. Well Mr. B wasn’t having that. He picks up the pace and I can hear him right behind me. Mr. B is now committing pet peeves #1 and #2 so I’m pissed. I speed up to make it hard for him to keep up.

As I speed up I gain some momentum on Mr. A. He turns around (again) and takes off (again). Now all 3 of us are running down a steep hill at 7:40 pace. Thankfully I had to cross the street at the bottom of the hill and left Mr. A and Mr. B to duke it out themselves.

All I can say is, WHY? Matt said I was just as bad for speeding up but there was no way I was letting some old dude pass me.

Sunday
Since this week was a drop back week, I was supposed to run 3 easy miles, bringing me to 43 for the week. I ditched the run and watched a movie with Matt instead. I love Sunday morning movie watching! I realized that 43 miles wasn’t much of a drop back and 40 sounded better.

After the movie I hit up lululemon (I had a gift card from my birthday). I got another Racerback Tank (love them) and something different for barre class – the No Limit Tank.

front view

back view

Experience any running pet peeves of your own this weekend?

Do I have any male readers? Can you please explain why this bothers guys so much? Other runners (male, female, old, young) pass me all the time and it doesn’t bother me one bit!

Weekend Routine

February 27, 2012 by Kristy 21 Comments

Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day. My weekends are pretty much the same from one week to the next and, naturally, they revolve around running. Eat, sleep, run…repeat.

Friday night
Going out on a Friday night is definitely not happening since an early morning long run beckons. Ever do a long run with little sleep or a hangover? It’s not fun. So my Friday nights go a little something like this: pizza for dinner if I’m running around 18-22 miles the next day, getting everything ready for my long run (clothes, fuel, etc.), watching House Hunters International with Matt, and a 9:00-9:30 bedtime. Whoa, that’s living life in the fast lane, folks.

Saturday morning
I generally get up around 7:00 (sadly, this is sleeping in). I get dressed and get on my way. I don’t eat before any of my runs, so I don’t have to worry about factoring time in for digestion and what not. Then I drive to my hilly long run route and hope for the best! I’m going to have to alter my routine in the next few weeks to prepare for Boston’s late start (closer to 11AM for me – eek!).

I always have chocolate milk waiting for me in the car so I can drink it while I stretch. I drive home, stretch some more, do my PT exercises, foam roll, take the longest, hottest shower, and the finally eat breakfast. By this time it’s usually 11AM. Phew!

If I am planning to go out, Saturday night is usually the night to get wild and crazy since my Sunday run is easy. If I can stay awake until 11PM, it must have been a really fun night.

Sunday morning
I “sleep in” (i.e., don’t set an alarm) and bang out an easy run just to give the old legs a good shake after Saturday’s long run. I also figure out my training schedule for the week ahead so I can do this all over again!

It’s funny how drastically different my weekends are now as compared to my 20s!

My long run this weekend was interesting. We had a wind advisory so, instead of killing myself by adhering to a certain pace, I made it a LSD run. No lie, the wind was intense.

It was nice out though – about 40 degrees and sunny. Around mile 15 the sky got dark and the temps started dropping. By mile 16 I was running in a full-on snowstorm. I couldn’t believe it. As soon as I finished running, the sun came back out and the snow stopped. Those last 2 miles were not fun.

I finished 18 miles in 2:44 – 9:07 average pace. Not bad considering the crazy wind.

Do you fall into a routine when training? Kudos to you if you can manage to have a social life too. Training and going out were much easier…when I was younger!

Did you run in the crazy wind on Saturday?

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.

Progression Run Love

February 5, 2012 by Kristy 18 Comments

After a rough 20-miler last weekend I wanted to try a different approach for this weekend’s long run. I wanted to avoid going out too fast in the beginning but also wanted to include some marathon-paced miles towards the end. Since it always takes me forever to warm up in the winter, starting out slower gives me a chance to warm up naturally (not forcing it) all while saving energy for the later miles. I love progression runs so I decided on the following…

3 miles at 9:00 pace
4 miles at 8:50 pace
4 miles at 8:40 pace
the remaining miles at 8:30 or faster pace…this would give me about 7 miles near MP.

I didn’t do so bad…

It’s funny, my legs went on autopilot and resorted to old marathon paces – 9:00, 8:45, and 8:30. I had a hard time keeping myself at 8:50 or 8:40.

Overall, I was pretty pleased. I felt great; it didn’t feel too taxing and I had energy at the end of the run.

Are you a fan of progression runs?

Do you have a pace that your legs automatically gravitate towards? I was stuck at 9:00 minute/miles for awhile before I started doing speedwork. My legs always gravitate towards this pace.

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?

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?