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Adele on Repeat and Boston Week 9 Recap

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One of the many reasons I love barre is the music. I don’t listen to music when I run, so it’s a treat to hear a good playlist when working out. I especially love it when yoga teachers mix it up a bit…using popular music instead of that chant-y yoga stuff.

Since last week’s barre class, Adele has been on repeat in my head. It’s starting to get annoying. You know when you just cannot get a certain song out of your head? Last week it was “Rolling in the Deep”, which is played during class. Then it was “Someone Like You” and now it’s “Rumour Has It”. Rumour has it. (rumour). Rumour has it. (rumour). Over and over. Thankfully, I like Adele.

My taste in music goes from one end of the spectrum to the other.  I was in lululemon over the weekend and heard “Get Busy” by Sean Paul and pretty much had to restrain myself from breaking it down in the store. Oh yeah, you know you love it too.

Some more barre favorites are Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” and some old school Britney. Would you believe me if I told you this blog was partially named after Pearl Jam’s song “Long Road”? Yep, one end to the other.

If you run with music, what’s your go-to song? This is a little embarrassing but I love the Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (along with most 3rd graders). It was playing when I crossed the finish line at the Lehigh Valley Marathon (my BQ). Now I have even more reason to love it.

I have to mention my run on Tuesday, since it was definitely a confidence booster.  I’ve been doubting my ability to run 8:20 pace for 26.2 (eeek!).  On Tuesday I ran 11 miles with 10 at MP (8:20).  I felt springy, my breathing was controlled, and my stride effortless.  I felt amazing.  I have 15 miles as my long run this weekend and my goal is to run 12-13 at MP (with hills!).  Maybe, just maybe, I can do this!

Boston Week 9 Recap
MON:  5 easy
TUE:  8 with 5 at (faster than) MP + 3 hill repeats at the end
WED:  barre
THU:  7 with 4 at tempo (2 at 7:45 pace and 2 at 8:00 pace)
FRI:  rest
SAT:  20 at 8:36 pace
SUN:  rest

40 miles total.  A drop back week.  38 days until Boston!

Boston Training and Goals

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I hope everyone is surviving this week so far.  Work yesterday felt so strange…what’s my password?  Where’s my to do list?  What happened in December?  Tuesday was a blur.  I did manage 7 easy miles outside in the numbing wind.

Onto my Boston training…not surprisingly I’m using the 3:40 FIRST marathon plan.  It worked well for me in the past so I’m going with it.  Each time I modify it even more to fit my needs.

More mileage – hopefully (maybe) I can hit 60 miles this training cycle?  I hit 53 last cycle but I think I was running my easy runs too fast.  If I slowed down I probably could have accommodated higher mileage.  My hard days are really hard, so my 2 easy runs should be really easy.  Of course, this will all depend on how I feel.  Adaptive training 🙂

Strength training – barre and yoga each week.  I think I figured out a schedule that works, which was an issue in the past.  This means 6AM barre class on Wednesday mornings!

Hills, hills, hills – Uphills and downhills!  My LRs will be done on a hilly course and I’ll probably swap out a track or tempo workout every now and then for hill repeats.

Less Garmin-obsessed running – like I mentioned Monday, my track workouts will be based on effort and my easy days (which are now really easy) will be Garmin-free.

As for goals, I want to re-qualify for Boston at Boston.  That means a sub-3:40 which should be doable.   Here’s how I see it…I’ve shaved 30 minutes off my marathon time from May 2010 to September 2011, so what’s an additional 4 minutes?  It won’t be easy, Boston is a tough course, but it’s not impossible!

Another unrelated goal is to eek out a sub-7:00 mile.  6:59 would be acceptable.

This morning is my first time going to barre class before work.  I’m getting changed at the gym and then heading straight to work.  No shower.  The thought of showering at the gym skeeves me out, like I’m back in college.  I don’t sweat that much at barre and I will shower beforehand.  Matt thinks this is gross.  I can guarantee I will be no cleaner after using a communal shower!  I just hope I don’t forget anything important, like my work pants.  If so, wunder unders it is!

Ever shower at the gym?  Is it gross?  I just have flashbacks to dorm living and wearing flip flops in the shower!  

Are you currently training for anything?  If so, what are your goals?


Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 8 Recap

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7/27/11
7 miles easy / 1:05 / 9:17 avg pace

I am more than halfway done this training cycle.  Makes me excited and nervous at the same time.   I hate to complain about the heat again, but it’s really starting to do a number on my confidence.  I know that I can’t do anything about my pace when the humidity is off the charts but I was moving along so well!  I was feeling good, handling more mileage, pulling through on speed work, running (near) marathon pace on long runs and then BAM.  Everything came to a halt.  So. frustrating.

Let’s review…

MON: 7 speed
TUE:  11 easy (7 AM and 4 PM)
WED:  rest
THU:  8 easy
FRI:  17 long
SAT:  10 tempo, MP, MP intervals
SUN:  rest / 20 min yoga video

Highlights ~
1.  Monday’s speed work, before the heat wave kicked in.  This was a tough workout and I was very pleased with my times.
2.  53 miles for the week!
3.  My ability to remain standing during Friday’s 17-miler.  I’m not kidding!  And Operation Hydration was a success!

And the not so good ~
1.   Sunday’s run.  Oh this sucked.  Supposed to be a tempo run (3 miles at 7:44 pace).  There was no way I could sustain that in the heat so I planned on doing a MP tempo.  Riiight, scratch that too.  Apparently MP was too much.  So instead I would run MP for a mile, then recover for a mile, then repeat.  Pathetic.  The heat was a big factor but I was incredibly exhausted from Friday’s run and my legs felt like lead.  I have never been so happy to finish a run.

Onto more positive stuff, I am so looking forward to the weekend!  We are heading to Baltimore for my friend Amanda’s wedding.  I even have Friday off.  I’m squeezing all my runs in Monday to Friday this week so I can take 2 rest (hungover) days this weekend.

Since it is hump day, what are your plans for the weekend?  Any long runs planned?

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 2 Recap

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6/14/11

7 miles speed

Back to the track this morning!  After laying around on the couch sick for 2 days, I wasn’t sure how this speed session was going to go.  On my schedule was a ladder workout, where I get slightly faster with each interval.  The 1.5 mile warm-up was interesting.  I felt like an old lady dusting off the cobwebs on my joints.  I decided to not worry about pace today and instead just keep myself in the no talk/5K zone for each interval (knowing full well that my pace today wouldn’t be consistent with my normal 5K pace).

1200m at 7:06 pace* — 7:09 actual; not too shabby!
1000m at 7:00 pace* — 7:07 actual
800m at 6:58 pace* — 7:26 actual; that was ugly and really slow
600m at 6:55 pace* — 7:23 actual; clearly I’m tired
400m at 6:50 pace* — 6:44 actual; did that just happen?!  I actually beat my time?!  Maybe there is some sprinter in me after all!
1.5 mile cool-down
*400m rest between each interval

LVM Week 2 Recap
MON:  7 miles tempo
TUE:  6 miles with hill repeats + 1 hour strength training class (yeah!)
WED:  5 miles easy
THU:  8 miles easy
FRI:  yoga FAIL.  Got stuck working through lunch and never made it to the class.
SAT:  15 miles
SUN:  rest/sick/bummed knee

A total of 41 miles for the week.  I love the increased mileage and running 5 days a week.  Also happy that I ventured out of my comfort zone for a ST class.

What I'm Looking Forward To…

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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?

Changing Things Up

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5/31/11
8 miles (4 at tempo) / 1:09 / 8:37 avg pace
2 miles @ 7:44 — 8:02, 7:39
2 miles @ MP — 8:42, 8:32

*****************************************************************************************************************

“If you keep doing the same thing, you’ll get the same results”.  So very true when it comes to training for a marathon.  So what will I do differently with this training cycle?  For starters, it’ll be more challenging.  I’m still using the FIRST training plan with the following modifications:

Increase overall mileage
Since NJM was only a month ago I still have a good base built up and plan to build on top of that (starting at ~40 miles per week and going from there).  I’d like to max out at 60 mpw, but not sure if that is possible.  We’ll see.  So in addition to 3 hard runs (speed, tempo, long), I’ll be adding 2 easy runs to get my miles in.

Switching between hill repeats and track workouts
When I trained for Steamtown, I did lots of hilly runs and I felt so strong.  For NJM, I concentrated on flat and fast.  Both worked well for me but I want to combine the two for the Leigh Valley Marathon.  I need speed in order to BQ and I need hill repeats so I can maintain my marathon pace over hills.  So one week I’ll hit the track for intervals and the next week I’ll hit the hills for repeats.

Trail running
Since 12 miles of the Leigh Valley Marathon will be on a trail, I need to be able to maintain a fast pace on gravely terrain.  I’m going to try and do my tempo runs on a trail.

Cross-train
Still aiming for yoga at least once a week and maybe (gasp!) some strength training.

Long runs – some fast and some slow
Usually I do my long runs pretty close to my goal marathon pace.  I still plan on doing some of them but I also plan on slowing down my pace every now and then.   

Hopefully all of this will lead me to a BQ in September!