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long runs

I may be on to something…

September 3, 2012 by Kristy 11 Comments

Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you are outside soaking in the last day of summer and not stuck inside because of the rain. It’s pretty miserable in Philly today.

I recently read 2 interesting articles backing up 2 of my non-traditional training habits: (1) not eating before long runs and (2) running long runs at or near marathon pace. I blogged about this awhile ago so I’ll spare you the details on why I do what I do.

The first article was mentioned on Miss Zippy’s blog and it advocates fasting 3 hours or more for runs lasting more than 60-90 minutes. For many of us AM runners, that means getting up around 4AM to fuel (or earlier). The author says don’t sacrifice sleep in order to get your pre-run meal in, as long as you begin fueling shortly after you begin running AND you adequately refueled for recovery after your last run.

I have done training runs up to 26 miles without eating before. I don’t get hungry, my stomach is happy, and my performance is better. I always begin fueling with Shot Bloks after 4 miles and drink chocolate milk afterwards for recovery. It’s the whole cycle of not eating before, fueling soon after, and fueling for recovery that makes it work. When I do eat on race day, it’s always 3 hours before start time.

The second article was in the September issue of Running Times. Renato Canova, coach to the elites, advocates high-volume goal-paced training. While this obviously isn’t a ground breaking idea, Canova maintains that traditional tempo runs are too short (and, thus, have no connection to the marathon) and the long run for the marathon is too slow.

While I agree and certainly do my long runs near marathon pace, I also think there is a place for LSD runs, especially for beginners. I would say 25% of my marathon training runs are done at LSD pace.

Other highlights from the article…

  • Canova has his runners do 17- to 24-mile runs at roughly 95 percent of MP. These closely stimulate the demands of the marathon in terms of speed, distance, and psychology. I could not agree more, as long as you are recovering adequately.
  • The author dubs Canova’s Golden Rule as follows: to fulfill your potential as a marathoner, you need to progressively extend the distance you can run at your goal pace, over a period of months and years. Wow. Yes and yes! This doesn’t happen overnight, not even for elites. When I was trying to BQ, I aimed to knock 15 seconds off my goal MP with each training cycle.  Baby steps.

Enough science talk. This weekend I ran 13 miles – my first long run since the 50K and I was pretty beat up afterwards. I was thinking of running a 5K on Sunday but, between the humidity and my tired legs, I scrapped it. I did manage to return to barre today after a 5-month hiatus!

And I’ll leave you with 2 random pictures from this weekend…

LDW_1
The lighting was better in the parking garage…

LDW_2
Yes, so random but Bruce Jenner doesn’t even resemble himself anymore. For a second I didn’t even know who this was until I saw “Bruce Jenner”.

Did you race this weekend? Do you eat before long runs? Do you think Bruce Jenner resembles a cat?

‘Tis The Season

June 14, 2012 by Kristy 20 Comments

How many of you are about to begin training for a Fall marathon or half marathon?  How many of you already started training?

‘Tis the season!  I love it.  It makes me giddy.  There’s something about just rolling out of bed, throwing on shorts and a tank, and just going that is so wonderful.  No checking weather.com, no worrying that the snot or sweat you just wiped with your glove will freeze and turn your hands numb.

Long, sweaty runs are my favorite.  Long runs are an accomplishment to begin with and with the added heat it feels like an even bigger triumph.

Then there are days when the humidity breaks and you feel like you are flying.  You realize you are making progress and it’s all coming together.

Summer is synonymous with training to me and this summer will be no different.  I was hesitant to make any major decisions after Boston because I needed a mental break.

Physically, I feel great.  I’m happy with where my running is.  Mentally, I would say I’m getting there.  So logically I would decide to sign up for a 50K in August.  Yep, Turkey Swamp 50K here I come (ready or not).

What are you training for right now?

What are your favorite things about summer running?

'Tis The Season

December 14, 2011 by Kristy 18 Comments

Last week it was in the 60s and I was running in shorts.  This week, treadmill running made an appearance.

ugh

Don’t get me wrong, nothing is better than running outside.  Nothing.  I have no idea how (or why) people run on a treadmill year round.

I can’t complain – my treadmill is in my basement in front of a large TV.  I can watch any show or movie I want with the volume jacked all the way up.  This helps…but not all the time.  Some days I just can’t bring myself to run on it.

This week I’ve been pretty busy at work and had to get in early (7:30ish).  I’ve opted for treadmill runs on both Monday and Tuesday.  I do have certain runs that I can do on the treadmill and certain runs I refuse to do on a treadmill.  It’s very scientific…

YES
– easy runs of no more than 4-5 miles
– speed work

HELL NO
– long runs
– tempo runs
– longer easy runs

exactly

(via)

I could never train for a distance race solely using the treadmill.  It’s just too easy.  You never learn to pace yourself, deal with varying weather conditions and terrain, and run downhill.  You reap so many more benefits by running outside.

Treadmill – yay or nay?  

If you use a treadmill are there certain runs you refuse to do on it?  


What I'm Looking Forward To…

June 10, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

6/10/11
A rest day with an easy yoga class at noon!

I was thinking about this summer yesterday and how many fun things we have planned.  So…why not list them?

  • Early morning summer running.  Can’t beat rolling out of bed, throwing on shorts and a tank, and hitting the road.
  • Long runs (do I need to say more?).
  • Summer wedding season!
  • Trips to the Shore for Amanda’s Bachelorette (fun!) and 4th of July weekend (more fun!).
  • Attending the Healthy Living Summit in August.  I couldn’t pass it up since it’s in Philly.  Can’t wait to meet some of my fellow bloggers!
  • Celebrating our 2-year wedding anniversary.
  • Celebrating Matt’s birthday.
  • Running marathon #9 on 9/11 (technically still summer so it counts).
  • Hopefully BQing in marathon #9.
We kick off wedding season this weekend with my friend Camille’s wedding.  I met Camille when I was a grad student at Georgetown.  She is one of the nicest and kind-hearted people I know.  I’m so happy for her and can’t wait to celebrate.
Me, Matt, and Camille at our wedding. We love our Miller Lite.
Dancing away...

What are you looking forward to this summer?

Friday the 13th

May 12, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

5/13/11

13 miles

2:00

9:16 avg pace

During the summer I try and do my long runs on Fridays. Sometimes this means getting up before 5AM, getting ready, driving to my long run spot, and banging out a 20-miler so that I’m home and ready to work by 9AM (I work from home on Fridays). It’s so worth it to have your long run out of the way before the weekend begins.

Today I kicked off my Friday summer runs with the same hilly route that I used last summer for marathon training. After NJ’s flat course I really need to step up my hill workouts so I’m ready for anything come September.

I was especially happy this morning and thankful that my quad feels 100% back to normal after the marathon!  A small part of me was afraid it was an injury (instead of dehydration) and that running on it for 6 more miles during the race made things worse.

And how can you not be happy when you get to spend your Friday mornings looking at this?  Since today’s run was a “fun run” I snapped some pictures.  I only had my BlackBerry so the quality isn’t the best.

I was going to include a self portrait but didn’t want to scare away readers 🙂

Any races this weekend? Or crazy training runs?

Baby It's Cold Outside

January 22, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

1/22/11

17 miles

2:37:59

9:17 avg pace

The good old training plan called for 17 miles at 9:30 pace.  I try and do my long runs a little faster and run based on how I feel.  It wasn’t as fast as last week’s long run but it was almost 20 degrees colder.  Yup, the “feels like” temp was about 3 degrees when I started running this morning.  Brrrr.  It took me almost 10 minutes to get dressed.  I had on 2 pairs of socks, running tights with running pants over top, a tank, the wonderful Lululemon Run: Alpine Pullover, and a mid-weight windbreaker over that.  On my head I wore a Dri-FIT baseball hat with a fleece headband.  I felt like Randy (little brother) from A Christmas Story.  But I was so comfortable the entire time – not too hot and not too cold.  All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I even had a running buddy for the first 10.5 miles!  My neighbor, Maximus, joined me.  His name isn’t really Maximus.  I asked him to come up with an alias for the blog and that’s what he said.  Maximus is a triathlete (he does Half Ironmans) who can run circles around me.  He started tagging along on my long runs last summer to get his mileage up.  He’s a great running buddy because (1) he does most of the talking and tells entertaining stories and (2) he let’s me set the pace and just comes along for the ride.   Thanks “Maximus” for braving the elements today!

Splits:

M1 – 9:32
M2 – 9:40
M3 – 9:10
M4 – 9:19
M5 – 9:15 –> Shot Blok #1 (frozen solid, very interesting to eat)!
M6 – 9:23
M7 – 9:14
M8 – 9:27
M9 – 9:12
M10 – 9:12 –> Shot Blok #2
M11 – 9:18
M12 – 9:23
M13 – 9:13
M14 – 9:09 –> Shot Blok #3
M15 – 9:11
M16 – 9:16
M17 – 8:56

After the run, I did a little of this to thaw out.  Hawk was more than happy to join me by the heater.  Please ignore my red, chapped face.  The wind was a little brutal today.

We are in the midst of painting…that orange stripe in the background is not permanent.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite moments from Glee.  This is one of my favorite Christmas songs…and it’s very fitting for today!

 

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