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Is It Spring Yet?

January 14, 2011 by Kristy 1 Comment

1/14/11

7 miles easy

1:07

9:34 avg pace

Since my run on Tuesday, we were lucky enough to get 6 more inches of snow. Wonderful. I couldn’t bear the treadmill today so I slapped on the YakTrax and went outside. Apparently those 6 inches on top of old snow made for a near impossible run. I had no traction (even with the YakTrax) and was barely moving in some spots. I eeked out 5 miles and went home and did another 2 miles on the treadmill. Here are some pics in case you think I’m being a wimp 🙂

I asked myself for the millionth time why I’m training for a spring marathon. Didn’t I learn my lesson last year? We had about 4 feet of snow on the ground and finding plowed areas to run was rather interesting. Did I loose my mind (again)? Give me summer running any day over this.

If you are training for a spring marathon (or just want to run outside) and you’d rather throw yourself on a kitchen knife (my sister-in-law’s saying which I think is dead on) instead of doing another treadmill run, here are some tips:

1. Plan Ahead – We all know the hourly forecast on weather.com is a runner’s best friend but the weekly forecast can be too. Check it out and see when the warmest days are that week and schedule your runs around that, if possible. I prefer to do my long runs on Saturdays but if I see warmer temperatures on Sunday, I’ll make the switch.

2. Improvise – You go out and find your favorite running route or trail covered in snow and ice. You may need to run around (pun intended) and find a different, safer place to run. Some routes are plowed and others aren’t. Knowing this ahead of time can help. Last winter I ended up running back and forth in a lovely, plowed industrial area during a long run just to rack up some miles.

3. Dress Right – Keep in mind you are supposed to dress like it’s 20 degrees warmer. Think lots of sweat-wicking layers. If you are still unsure, check out What Should I Wear? on runnersworld.com

4. Beat the Mental Blahs – It’s tough to get motivated and leave your warm house for the frigid cold. Getting your butt out the door is the toughest part. But you made a commitment to train for a race and those miles are not going to run themselves. The first mile will suck but you will warm up eventually and will not freeze to death. I promise 🙂

5. Start Slow: So you made it out the door and take off like lightening. Probably not a good idea. You just went from breathing in warm air to sucking in large amounts of cold air and your lungs are paying the price. It’s best to start off slower in the cold weather and let your body acclimate to the temperature. Give yourself a mile or two to warm-up.

6. Refuel: Hooray! You finished your long run and all you can think about is getting a hot shower. But…remember the importance of refueling? This is why chocolate milk is my go-to choice for refueling. I can drink it in no time and be in the shower within 5 minutes of walking in the door.

I have a 15-miler on tap for tomorrow and I will be running on a plowed trail!

Happy Friday!

Snowed In

January 12, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

1/12/11

4 miles easy

36:06

9:01 avg pace

A quick post today.

I woke up to this…

and this…

so I had to do some of this…

Key word being some. I was bored to tears. Even the 16 & Pregnant: Life After Labor finale couldn’t keep my attention.

I do have a treadmill in my basement. I’m very lucky to not have to trudge to the gym. And I have a TV across from the treadmill where I can watch a bunch of DVR’d shows. It’s a great set-up but sometimes I still feel like a hamster on a wheel.

Looking forward to running outside on Friday and Saturday!

8 Blissful Miles

January 11, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

1/11/11

8 miles tempo

1:12:18

9:02 avg pace

I wish I could bottle up how I felt during this run and take a sip whenever I need some encouragement. Even though it was cold and I ran through snow I felt amazing!

Split times:

Miles 1 and 2 (easy): 9:22, 9:23

Miles 3 to 6 (tempo): 8:44, 8:44, 8:45, 8:44 (how’s that for consistency?!)

Miles 7 and 8 (easy): 9:18, 9:16

If you missed my post about what a tempo run is, you can read about it here.

A view from my run…

IMG00041-20110111-1041 — Partially frozen Schuylkill River

Today was the first time I ran with my SPIbelt. I don’t like to bring much with me when I run but I should be taking my cell phone for safety reasons.

The SPIbelt is like a fanny pack for runners. It’s small but super stretchy. I put it on low – down by my hips – and it didn’t move an inch or bop up and down. I’m not fashion conscious when I run but it’s barely noticeable. I took the liberty of modeling it for you…

And Hawk approves of it!

I could definitely use a photography class. Sorry for the poor quality pics.

It’s supposed to snow which means quality time with the treadmill tomorrow. Boo.

Week 1 Recap

January 10, 2011 by Kristy 1 Comment

Today is a rest day but I wanted to recap my first week of training. Or so I thought it was my first week of training. Last night I realized I started training 1 week early! Oops…I guess 1 week early is better than 1 week late. I’m actually really happy this happened. Matt and I are going to San Francisco in February and my plan called for a 20-miler that weekend. A 20-miler on vacation is not a good time. But with an extra week of training I can use the added wiggle room to rearrange my longs run so that I’ll only need to do 13-15 miles in San Fran. Sweet 🙂

Week 1 Recap

MON: 5 mi speed work

TUE: 6 mi easy run + 20 min yoga

WED: rest

THU: 30 min yoga

FRI: 6 mi tempo run

SAT: rest

SUN: 13 mi long run

A total of 30 miles. Yikes, that’s low for my first week of marathon training! I’m trying to keep in mind that the mantra for this training cycle is quality over quantity.

13 Snowy Miles

January 9, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

1/9/11

13 miles

2:07

9:46 avg pace

As you can see from my pace, this run was bad! Before I explain why, let’s start with the weather. The hourly forecast on weather.com is a runner’s best friend. Last night I checked the weather and saw that the “feels like” temp would be in the single digits in the early morning. So I decided to sleep in and let the sun warm things up a bit. I had 2 options: (1) run near the river on a plowed path but have no protection from the biting wind or (2) run on a wooded trail covered in snow with some wind protection. I chose option #2 and prepared myself for some snow running with my YakTrax. I took some high quality pictures on my BlackBerry so you could see what they are…

This is what they look like when you take them out of the box. They remind me of the sick contraption from the first “Saw” movie. I won’t go into more detail, but if you saw the movie you’ll understand what I mean.

This is the the top view once you have them on (so fashion forward!).

And the bottom view…

Those coils do a great job of grabbing the snow and ice so you are able to run without breaking your neck.

The early miles went well but it was difficult to run in the snow. It was hard to push off; like I was running in sand. I felt like I was running a 9:16 pace effort but my Garmin was telling me otherwise. So I decided to cover the distance and not worry about pace. Around mile 8 I started to get really cold, the wind had picked up and my face and hands were starting to go numb. Then I began to get really miserable 🙁 During the last mile, I started to feel nauseous. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon for me. There’s no rhyme or reason to it either. I can fuel properly pre-run, during the run, and post-run and still feel sick. Eating something, even though it’s the last thing I feel like doing, usually does the trick (more on this below). So I downed some chocolate milk within 15 minutes of finishing, took a hot shower, and laid down for a little bit. Ah, the joys of training through the winter!

Let’s talk refueling post-run. Refueling within 30 minutes after a long run (or hard run) is extremely important. I began to consistently do this last year and noticed a huge difference in my recovery time. After a long run, your glycogen stores are depleted. It takes about 24 to 48 hours to fully replenish your glycogen stores. When you do 2 hard runs back-to-back, you run the risk of beginning the 2nd run with only partially filled glycogen stores and may have a bad run. It’s important to eat/drink shortly after your run because your body stores glycogen at a faster rate during the first hour post-exercise. Your choice of food/drink should be a 3:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio. The carbohydrate will restore your glycogen stores while the protein will speed muscle repair and enhance glycogen storage. Chocolate milk is a great choice…and it’s delicious. It also a sneaky way of getting the carbs and protein in when the last thing you feel like doing is eating. Another good choice, when chocolate milk isn’t feasible, is a Luna Bar. Last summer I would drive to my long run and would keep a Luna Bar in my car for the ride home.

Off to catch up on The Bachelor! My sister-in-laws were talking about it yesterday and now I need to see it. Those girls are crazy…I heard one had fangs?! Seriously?!

*Refueling information from Advanced Marathoning.

Tempo Madness

January 7, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

1/7/11

6 miles tempo

54:00

9:00 avg pace

Today’s tempo run called for 2 miles easy, 2 miles hard (7:54 pace), and 2 miles easy. Here’s what I did: 2 miles at 9:30 pace (easy), 2 miles at 8:00 pace (hard), 2 miles at 9:30 pace (easy). I wanted this to be a strong tempo run for me so I modified the hard pace to 8:00 instead of 7:54…nothing to lose sleep over. And I felt really good. The 8:00 pace was comfortably hard, which is what a tempo run should feel like. I did this run on the treadmill since it was snowing when I woke up. Ugh…2nd treadmill run this week. I only resort to treadmill running when it’s really cold, really dark, or snowing. I’ll take running outside over treadmill running any day, even in the rain.

So what is a tempo run? The goal of a tempo run is to improve your lactate-threshold pace. Lactate threshold is the point at which lactate starts to build up in the bloodstream because lactate production is greater than lactate clearance. Once lactate accumulates in your bloodstream, you begin to slow down. You want to improve your lactate-threshold so you are able to run at a faster pace without accumulating too much lactate. Your lactate-threshold pace should be close to the pace that you can currently race for 1 hour (source: Advanced Marathoning). For most marathoners, this is your half marathon pace. If you go faster than your lactate-threshold pace, you’ll accumulate lactate rapidly and if you go slower, you won’t be providing enough of a stimulus for improvement. You really want to narrow in on the pace where lactate is just starting to accumulate. The design of a tempo run usually consists of a warm-up and cool-down and sandwiched in between are a few miles at lactate-threshold pace.

Another great thing about tempo runs (and the reason why they are one of my favorites) is the psychological benefit. Marathons are hard and it’s so easy to give up and let your pace fall off towards the end. With tempo runs you sustain a fast pace for miles (as opposed to speed work, where you sustain a fast pace for generally less than a mile). This builds your confidence and mental toughness.

OK, enough with the science lesson. Tomorrow is a rest day for me and Sunday is a long run (13 miles). I’ll post all the details about that on Sunday along with some info on refueling (I’m sure you can’t wait :))

I’m trying to spice up my posts with pictures so, for today, I’ll leave you with a picture of Hawk playing in the snow. Warning…it’s an extreme close-up!