I have been on vacation for the last 7 days, and so far it has been very bad and very good for my running. The bad part is that I didn't have a chance to do my 12 mile run last weekend or this week because we've been busy running around all over the Pacific NW. The good part is that the weather is perfect and my running times have been great! 4-mile run Sunday at 9:56/mile, 3-mile run Wednesday at 11:10/mile (it was around 85*, hottest day of the week), 3-mile run Friday at 9:49/mile. My average is usually 11-11:40/mile in Hampton so I was very pleased. Tomorrow I am going to try to get a long run in but since the race is 1 week away I'm going to keep it to 7-8 miles. I feel bad about not getting in my 12 miler, but a lot of training programs only have runners go up to 10 or 11 miles for the longest run so I should be ok.
We went to REI and they had a HUGE selection of gels so I am trying an Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel tomorrow. I also got a few more Gu's. They have a much better selection than the Dicks and the running store by us.
My eating has been atrocious but I curbed it after 4 days of all-out junk fests so I think I should only gain about 2 lbs. But with 2 half marathons in the next 3 weeks I will lose it pretty quickly hopefully!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
T-minus 3 weeks and counting
This morning was my second-to-last long run of training, 11 miles. Up until now I have been using the non-recommended method of running as long as I could before taking a walk break, even though everything I've read has said to take breaks early and often, before you need them. With only 2 long runs left I figured I should try a new strategy today, since I haven't always been feeling the best during/after my long runs.
My new plan is to take 1/4 mile walk breaks at 3 of the water stops at the half-marathon, at 3.2, 6.7, and 9.6 miles. Each running segment will be 2.65-3.25 miles, totally manageable. Today to make it easier to remember during the run, I took walk breaks at 3.5, 7.25, and 9.5 miles. It went much better, I felt much stronger, and I recovered much faster than previous long runs. I felt fine afterward when I usually feel like laying on the couch for a few hours. So I think this is a good strategy to go with. Overall my average pace was not much slower than normal (12:06/mile, also had to stop to tie my shoe once) and my total race time would be around 2:38 if I do the same pace on race day. I hope to go a little faster, I was purposely going slower since it was just a training run. The good thing is I was able to maintain miles between 11:30-12 min the whole time, when I usually slow down a lot at the end.
After the run I showered and had breakfast and we headed down to the Outer Banks for a few hours. We had Dare Devils Pizza and got some homemade ice cream at Scoops. I also got some fudge for later tonight, yum! I can't remember the last time I ate this much, my body is just using up everything I put in it.
Next weekend is 12 miles but I'm not sure where we will do it since we will be in Oregon. I can't believe the race is so close now. Only 3 weeks to go!
My new plan is to take 1/4 mile walk breaks at 3 of the water stops at the half-marathon, at 3.2, 6.7, and 9.6 miles. Each running segment will be 2.65-3.25 miles, totally manageable. Today to make it easier to remember during the run, I took walk breaks at 3.5, 7.25, and 9.5 miles. It went much better, I felt much stronger, and I recovered much faster than previous long runs. I felt fine afterward when I usually feel like laying on the couch for a few hours. So I think this is a good strategy to go with. Overall my average pace was not much slower than normal (12:06/mile, also had to stop to tie my shoe once) and my total race time would be around 2:38 if I do the same pace on race day. I hope to go a little faster, I was purposely going slower since it was just a training run. The good thing is I was able to maintain miles between 11:30-12 min the whole time, when I usually slow down a lot at the end.
After the run I showered and had breakfast and we headed down to the Outer Banks for a few hours. We had Dare Devils Pizza and got some homemade ice cream at Scoops. I also got some fudge for later tonight, yum! I can't remember the last time I ate this much, my body is just using up everything I put in it.
Next weekend is 12 miles but I'm not sure where we will do it since we will be in Oregon. I can't believe the race is so close now. Only 3 weeks to go!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Burn out
Sigh. Lately I've been feeling like running is more of a chore than a choice. I think it can mostly be attributed to having to get up at 5:30, and the hot, humid weather. I've been keeping up with my training schedule perfectly, but I find myself longing for the days when I won't have to plan everything around running. I miss having free weekends, sleeping in on Saturdays, not worrying about how what I eat will affect my running, not being hungry all the time, and having normal-looking toes and toenails. I am looking forward to being done with my half-marathon, so I can go back to running when I want, how long I want, how fast I want, and how often I want. As of tomorrow I will be 18 weeks through training, 4 to go. This is the critical time, only a few long runs left then it's into my taper and then it's race day! I think it will be good to take some time off from racing after that, find a good spring race to focus on, and take it from there.
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