training

Beautiful Weekend

October 21, 2012 by Kristy 17 Comments

The weather in Philly was gorgeous this weekend.

Perfect running weather. Although I didn’t run a single step.

We went out both Friday and Saturday night and I had brunch with friends on Sunday morning. Late nights, drinks, and long runs do not mix well at my age. A constant reminder why a social life is best saved for the off season.

I say this often but it is worth repeating. When your body is screaming for rest, it’s best to listen. When I wake up and have no desire to run, I know it’s time to stay in bed and sleep. And so I did. Saturday and Sunday. Until 10:00AM. I think the last time I slept that late was college.

Not running long does have its perks. It’s nice to lounge in bed, wake up slowly, have breakfast, watch TV, and not be tired by 12PM. Your legs aren’t sore, they don’t crack and pop going down the stairs, you’re not wearing compression sleeves, not peeing every 1/2 hour, and don’t eat everything in sight.

It’s nice for a weekend. Only a weekend.

We spent most of Saturday outside at the dog park. Hawk enjoyed himself.

What’s the biggest perk to NOT running long on the weekend (on the rare occasion you don’t do a long run)? I would have to say it’s the sleeping in without an alarm and having a leisurely morning.

Marathon FAQs

April 30, 2012 by Kristy 20 Comments

Ever find yourself cornered at a party or in the office answering a million questions from family/friends/co-workers about marathon training? Like you’re being interrogated, the questions come flying one after another.

I love to talk about running and probably could do so all day long so I normally don’t mind these questions. Most of the time they are coming from non-runners, which makes things interesting.

How far is a marathon? Definitely #1 FAQ. I’m still amazed that people don’t know this. Isn’t this common knowledge?
So how far is the marathon you are going to run next week? Umm, yep…still 26.2 miles. This question annoys me slightly. All marathons are 26.2 miles. And yes, I mean MILES.
Do you run every day? Nope. Then I explain the concept of a rest day.
What do you eat? A very open-ended question. Do you mean pre-run, post-run, all the time? People assume I’m a super healthy eater (ha ha) and I watch what I eat (ha ha ha). Then I explain my love for DQ Blizzards.
So you lose weight training for a marathon? Everyone is looking for a magic weight-loss plan but it ain’t marathoning. I explain that I do lose some weight when my mileage is high (more on this in another post) but generally my weight stays the same because I eat all.day.long.
Are you going to finish the marathon you’re running next week? Umm, yep…that’s the plan.
How long will it take you? This is always funny. I’ve gotten the range of 3 hours to 6 hours. Which always leads to the follow-up question…
Wait, you are going to run the ENTIRE time? In general, yes. I may take a few brief walk breaks.
Running is bad for your knees. I love this one. If I’m sick of answering questions at this point I explain the concept of adaption and their eyes usually glaze over with boredom.

Got anything to add to the list? Which question do you answer the most from family/friends/co-workers?

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?

Week 2 Recap + Tempo

January 17, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

1/17/11

7 miles tempo

1:00:54

8:42 avg pace

The plan called for 1 mile easy, 5 miles tempo at 8:45 pace, and 1 mile easy. I felt good again and went for it.

Splits:

1 mi easy: 9:21

5 mi tempo: 8:26, 8:17, 8:19, 8:25, 8:24

1 mi easy: 9:39

Yeah! It must have been all those Swedish Fish I ate last night 🙂

Week 2 Recap

Since I started training 1 week early, I modified this week’s schedule a bit…meaning I ditched the speed work.

MON: rest
TUE: 8 mi tempo
WED: 4 mi easy
THU: rest
FRI: 7 mi easy
SAT: 15 mi long
SUN: rest

A total of 34 miles. Seems I had a few too many rest days and no yoga (not even Yoga On Demand!). Hmm…that will be fixed this week. I all ready have my yoga plan mapped out so I don’t fall off the wagon again!

Borrowed Time?

January 6, 2011 by Kristy 2 Comments

1/6/11

30 min yoga

I did it again. Yoga On Demand. This will not become a habit. I can come up with numerous excuses why I didn’t go to a class tonight but it all boils down to I didn’t feel like it. At least I did a more challenging practice. My arms were shaking and I’m going to feel it tomorrow. So so sad. Moving on…

My title for this post sounds a little bleak, huh? I’ll explain…

I’ve been running for almost 10 years now and have not been injured (knock on wood). I swear. Sure I’ve had minor knee tweaks and twinges, but nothing that a little ice and 2 rest days couldn’t cure. I also don’t stretch after running, work on my core, cross-train, or strength train (do as I say, not as I do :)). I don’t want this to come across as bragging because I’m not. As a coach, I’m ashamed I don’t do these things. I just never have and that became a bad habit.

That being said, I am very conservative with my training (maybe too conservative). I watch my weekly mileage to ensure I’m not increasing it too fast. I also listen to my body; any twinges are immediately iced and, if needed, a rest/easy day is taken. Maybe these things have been my safety net so far. But I can’t shake the feeling that maybe I’m on borrowed time. The NJ Marathon will technically be my 3rd marathon in a year. I realize I’m asking a lot from my body, especially since I keep increasing the intensity of my training with each race. I’m terrified of injury so decided to take preventative steps this time around. And that’s where yoga comes in. Yoga has it all – stretching, core work, and strength training. So it’s worth it to me to decrease my running to 4 days/week this training cycle to allow for 2 days of yoga. I think (hope) the payoff will be great. Now if I could just get my butt to an actual yoga studio…

Does anyone know what time it is tonight? T-SHIRT TIME! Yes folks the Jersey Shore is back on tonight. Love it or hate it, you just can’t not watch!

Reality Check

January 3, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

1/3/11

Speed work – 5 miles

I know my speed (or lack of) is holding me back. I need to get faster so I can bring my goal marathon pace (GMP) down to a 8:45 min/mile (your GMP should be relatively comfortable since you need to sustain it for 26.2 miles).

Here’s what plan called for: 3×1-mile repeats (at 7:21 pace) with a 1 min RI (rest interval) in between. I went to bed dreading this workout and woke up thinking “just get it done”. I wasn’t too sure how I would handle the 7:21 pace. It seems my body dislikes going faster than 7:45 min/mile! And I new the 1 min RI was extremely unlikely to happen.

I did this run on my treadmill since it was really cold this morning. My first mile repeat was at 7:24 pace and it was tough. I walked for a few minutes before beginning the second one (and probably let my heart rate get somewhat back to normal but oh well). Second mile repeat was at 7:35 pace followed by more walking. Third mile repeat began at 7:35 pace and ended up at 7:41 pace for the last quarter mile. Of course, I warmed-up for 15 minutes and cooled-down for 10 minutes too.

This was a tough one. What a way to begin training! I certainly used adaptive training here 🙂

I wanted to mention this yesterday but forgot…my husband, Matt, is also running the NJ Marathon! Misery loves company. This will be his second marathon (he ran MCM back in 2006). I’m excited and surprised he’s running another marathon. After MCM, he said never again. It was something that we wanted to do once. But I guess he couldn’t stay away.

His training is a little unorthodox. For his first marathon, he basically did all his long runs and neglected to run any short runs. He finished in 5:04 which I think is amazing considering his lack of preparation! I’m really envious of his natural athletic ability. He won’t run for a year and then enter a 10-mile race and run 10:00 min/miles with no problem. For the NJ Marathon, I have him using Bart Yasso’s “newbies” plan. He only has to run 4 days per week and yes, I will make sure he does his short runs!

Back to work tomorrow…ugh.