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Operation Hydration

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7/22/11
17 miles / 2:46 / 9:46 avg pace

Stats
5:15AM start time temp – feels like 88 degrees
8:00AM finish time temp – feels like 98 degrees
Humidity 0, Kristy 1

I’m calling Operation Hydration a success!  I feel great!  Dang it was hot though.  Definitely the most oppressive conditions I ever ran in. Some thoughts…

  • Eating salt (yes, straight salt) was a lifesaver today.  I noticed an immediate improvement vs. 2 weeks ago.  I really believe it’s why I feel so good right now – no headache, no nausea, no quad soreness.  Note:  white, powdery-looking substance in a baggie that you eat with your pinky and then stash in your sports bra looks super shady.
  • I also drank Gatorade and I think that helped too, but to a lesser extent than the salt.
  • My shorts were completely soaked by mile 7!
  • I noticed a sloshing sound in my shoes around mile 10 and realized it was sweat.  So. Gross.
  • Thank god for a canopy of shade once the sun came up.  This was also a lifesaver.  The sun would have done me in for sure.
  • Although my pace was slow, I’m amazed that my body was able to run 17 miles!  I was supposed to run 18 but reached my car at 17 and decided to screw the last mile.
A hot mess picture.  There wasn’t 1 inch of me that was dry.
Have a good weekend!  Stay cool!

Random Thursday

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7/21/11
8 miles easy / 1:17 / 9:37 avg pace

Time for some random thoughts!

  • Check out my post on the Lunch Break Blog (thanks Mike for letting me ramble about running on your blog!).
  • I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous about the heat and tomorrow’s long run. Obviously this will be a LSD run and the perfect opportunity to test Operation Hydration!  If I can refrain from entering “stage 2” dehydration on the hottest day of the year, I’ll consider it a success.
  • Blog search term that completely cracked me up this week:  how did Kara Goucher get pregnant? Well…
  • This is more of a rant. I do my easy runs on a popular paved bike trail; usually early weekday mornings. Last week I had to do an easy 10-miler on Saturday and, even though I knew what I was in for, I was still annoyed. The trial was occupied by about 90% bikers (yes, I know they are called “cyclists” but I still say bikers) and 10% runners. The trial is roughly 6 feet wide. Know where I’m going with this? Groups of men (Lance wannabes) going way too fast, families of four going way too slow, and tons of unnecessary “on your left” calls.  Since I generally don’t bust out figure 8s when running, why is it necessary to (often scream) “on your left” when I’m clearly hugging the right, running solo, and in a straight line?  I understand and expect a verbal warning to be given under certain circumstances (say, approaching an intersection or a group of runners) but not all. the. time.  And don’t even get me started on the bikers who use bells…
Do bikers bother you on a run?  
Do you have any funny blog search terms to share?

Two-A-Days

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Let’s talk two-a-days, doing doubles, or whatever you wanna call them!

I was supposed to run with a running group last night but the person I was going to meet couldn’t make it.  I know from last week’s run that they only do about 4 miles and it’s at a slower pace.  I was prepared this week to add an additional AM run to get more miles in.  Both of these runs being easy, of course.  I ended up doing 4 miles at night on my own (it was ungodly hot), bringing yesterday’s total to 11.  I’m not a fan of two-a-days – I don’t think they are necessary.

Here’s what Advanced Marathoning has to say about two-a-days:

  • As you increase your mileage in preparation for a marathon, you should resist the urge to switch from single to double runs. 
  • Marathon training focuses on endurance-based adaptions such as depleting your glycogen reserves to provide a stimulus for your body to store more glycogen and training your muscles to ulitize more fat at a given speed.  You’ll provide a greater stimulus for these adaptions through a single 12-mile run, rather than a 7-miler and a 5-miler done at the same pace. 

I wasn’t even going to paraphrase because it was so well said!  I 100% agree with Pete Pfitzinger.  Imagine splitting your 20-mile long run into 10 and 10?!  Bottom line:  It’s not the same and you will not reap the same benefits!

Another reason to forego two-a-days?  Double the number of showers and gross, sweaty laundry!

While I would have preferred to run 11 miles (at once) yesterday morning, I made the best of the situation.  This running group isn’t permanent and, as long as the two-a-day is 2 easy runs, I’m OK with it for the short term.

Have you ever done two-a-days when training for a race?  Like ’em or hate ’em? 

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 7 Recap

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7/19/11
7 miles easy / 1:04 / 9:09 avg pace

Am I really on Week 8 already?! Time is flying by and race day will be here before I know it. I just got the butterflies/nervous feeling typing that! No matter how many marathons you run, the nerves are always there. Especially when you want need to BQ. No pressure though 😉

Week 7 was so-so. I wanted to keep my mileage at 50 but couldn’t due to my left quad soreness (resulting from dehydration on a long run). My quad felt fine by Tuesday but I didn’t want to push it. So no speed work for the week but I did have a good (short) long run and a good tempo run, so I can’t complain.

MON:  8 easy
TUE:  4 easy with a running club (details to come…)
WED:  8 tempo
THU:  rest
FRI:  13 long
SAT:  10 easy
SUN:  rest

A total of 43 miles for the week. I’m planning on 54 miles this week. It’s supposed to 100 degrees on Friday with crazy humidity. This will be a good test for Operation Hydration. I’m going to carry salt packets with me on my long run to see if they help and drink more water than I usually do all week. I’m not afraid of hydrating too much (fun fact: I check the color of my pee all the time). I know my body and if you saw how much I sweat, I think you would agree! On that gross note, I’m outta here!

Lululemon R&D Party

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7/18/11
7 miles
*2 x (6x400m in 1:42).  This is a tough workout.  Avg pace for the first set was 1:36, and second set, 1:37.  I was happy to be able to consistently beat a 1:42 on each lap.  

Last night I attended the Lululemon R&D Party at the new King of Prussia store.  The KOP store just opened and the party celebrated its opening and also honored their R&D members.  They really went all out — food, candy, beer, wine, and lots of interesting people to meet.

The KOP store front.  Taken from both angles because it’s awesome.

The food spread.

The even better candy spread.  Practically all of my favorites lined up in a row!

I got the opportunity to meet the rest of the KOP staff and some amazing R&D members.  I love talking with people who turned their passion into their career (something I will do some day…soon!).  Since I started my running coach business just a few months ago, I’m still very much a newbie with the whole starting-your-own-business thing.  I got the opportunity to talk with some knowledgeable people and got some great advice.  Oh, and lots of running talk too!

The best part of the night?  My photo shoot!  Yes, photo shoot.  Lululemon had a photographer set up outside the store to take action shots of the R&D members.

I got to run (more like skip) across the white background and tried my best to exude care-free running.  At first, I felt like a complete dork.  The other R&D members were doing cool yoga poses and here I was skipping and trying to look normal.  But if you know me, you know I love a good photo shoot so I eventually warmed up and found my groove.  I promise to post the pictures as soon as I have them.  I cannot wait to see how they turned out.

Thank you Lululemon KOP for a fabulous night!

A Short Long Run

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7/15/11
13 miles / 1:52 / 8:39 avg pace

After doing a few weeks of 18 and 20 mile runs, I’m not sure I can even count today as a long run.  I have to admit, it was a nice break to only have to run 13 miles!

My neighbor, Maximus (his alias), joined me for the first 10 miles.  He also ran the first 10 with me last week (the hot and nauseating run).   I’m generally a solo runner but it’s nice to have a running buddy sometimes to make the miles fly by.

Today I stuck to my hilly loop.  Generally I start and finish on the hilly loop but cross the scary bridge to get some middle flat miles in. Remember this scary bridge?

Me and the bridge made amends after my bloody 15-miler that resulted in a stitch.  I’m still terrified of falling so I try to avoid crossing it if I can.  I just didn’t see the point today so I got a double dose of hill work.

Onto the details.  Splits…

image

And elevation.  OK, it doesn’t look that hilly but trust me there are some tough ones in there, namely after miles 4 and 9.

image

Do you like hills?  Would you prefer a hilly race or a flat race?  If it’s a shorter distance race, I obviously prefer flat but for a marathon, some hills are preferable.  NJM was pancake flat and I feel like I fatigued faster since I was constantly using the same muscles over and over.