February in review

February Stats:

Running: 87.2 miles, 12:39 hours, average pace of 8:43 min/mile

Swimming: 26,000 yards, 9:20 hours, average pace of 2:07 min/yard (debatable, includes extra resting.  I don't wear a watch at Master's and always just use the whole time I'm in the pool to log, not just time moving. 100s are comfortable on the 1:40ish for me now.

Biking: no mileage since it's all indoor, 16 hours

All of these are sure to increase in March. I'm feeling pretty good this month though, didn't miss any workouts. Nailed my tempo run yesterday (6 miles with 4 at 7:43, 7:32, 7:30, 7:30). My legs surprised me when they showed up for that run since my 12 miler a few days before was a huge struggle (average 9:10, so not awful). I felt like crap and just got through it. Those are the runs that make us stronger though. And then my run just 13 hours before the tempo, on Tuesday evening was 9:48/mile which was the slowest I've been in awhile, so I thought I was sure to struggle with Wednesday morning's tempo run but I actually didn't at all and my legs felt great.

We also did one of my favorite swim workouts at the pool this morning, so that was good too!

Not too much else going on ... most of the wedding planning is done. I need my bridesmaids to pick their dresses, our Save the Dates to be finalized and sent out ... and a few other things but we have all of our vendors besides transportation so we're doing pretty decent.

Dash is awesome as always, she's getting so big and so smart. We've been doing puppy training and she's doing really well, graduation is on Saturday!

That's about it these days ....

The real workout of the day - cleaning!

Whew! I just cleaned my whole apartment - a nice deep clean. It took about 3 hours total. I clean weekly and daily but not as intense every time as I just did. It didn't help that I had laundry to do while cleaning, and to put away along with a full clean dishwasher to empty that I had been putting off. But I'm done! Now I can relax and enjoy the weekend. My aunt and cousins, plus another cousin are all coming into town this weekend and the two cousins my age are staying with me! Should be a fun but sad weekend. Sad because my brother has been home on leave for most of the month but he has to go back to his base in Japan on Monday :(. It'll be good to spend time with everyone though, I'm excited!

My other workout today was an easy 3 mile run:
Mile 1: 9:25
Mile 2: 9:39
Mile 3: 8:28

I had planned on more but I ate some chips that has wheat and dairy in them beforehand (stupid impulse) and my stomach wasn't feeling it. I hadn't run since Saturday as my ankle had been tweaky. No pain today though! I'm going to try and get out early tomorrow and do a 6-8 mile progression run. Then I'll try for a recovery 5-7 on Saturday and a 9 mile progression run Sunday. I'll need to get up early to get those in so that they don't cut into family time but I think I'll manage.

23 miles for the week at the least I'm hoping ... need to get back into the 30+ miles/week next week. Must start going to bed earlier and consistently doing my early morning runs. I need to figure out some tricks to make this happen ....

Refocusing this blog - Running History ... And current goal - Qualify for Boston

Ahhh, yet another attempt to start blogging again! We'll see :) But I hope to be dedicated to not only blogging but commenting on other blogs actively. It's a big goal of mine. But below I'll talk about my current biggest goal:

My current goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In order to do this, I need to shave 30 minutes off of my current Marathon time. Now I’ve only run one marathon and finished it in 4:10:47. I need to run a 3:40:59 to qualify for Boston. I’m aiming for 2012. I know I won’t be running Boston in 2011 because I’d need to run a qualifying time by October 2010 and that’s not going to happen since I’m not planning on running another marathon until January 2011. So I have some time but I need to get committed. I’m currently training for a half marathon in October and focusing on increasing my mileage and doing some speedwork.
I suppose I should start by describing my running history before I start blogging about training to qualifying for Boston because I will qualify, it’s just a matter of when. If I have a goal, I’m going to get there and it’s not like the Boston Marathon is going to cease to exist, so I have my whole life to get there. Although if I’m honest, my goal is to qualify for Boston before I have my first child. We’ll see though. Anyway, back to my running history.
I started attempting to run in 2007 as a sophomore in college. My boyfriend and I would run a loop by his house a few times a week at most. And I just used gmap pedometer to see the distance of the run since I never had before, it was a 2.5 mile loop. Now when I say we ran, I mean we attempted to run it and did walk sometimes. Anyway after a few months of that I did my first 5K in May 2007 and finished in 27:30. At this time I was also a figure skater and on a collegiate club team. Skating was my first love and my priority. That summer was to be spent training at my home rink with my long time coach. I was skating 4 days a week and working a lot so I pretty much stopped running at all except for occasional runs on the treadmill. Then I injured my back in late July 2007. Now I had hurt my back before and dealt with pain and physical therapy many times. But this was different, it just didn’t go away like I was used to. So I saw a specialist again and went through a myriad of tests. I was eventually diagnosed with spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. Basically I have a chronic back problem with stress fractures that never seemed to heal. I was advised to stop skating and all impact activities. I’m stubborn though. When college started up again in the fall, I resumed skating on my team despite the pain. I was in physical therapy with a physical therapist who I had been seeing for awhile. He thought I could keep skating and when I mentioned starting to run again he was encouraging. At the same time, I saw another specialist that was highly recommended. After my appointments with him I was basically devastated. He told me that I shouldn’t skate, should never plan on running etc … He painted a very dim future for me, but I still would not give up. I decided to finish that season of skating and had an okay season despite the pain and inability to practice much. My team made it to Nationals that year and didn’t finish as high as we usually did but it was fun.I didn’t run often during this year as the doctor had advised against it.
The summer of 2008 I stayed at school to work and since I couldn’t skate I needed something to do that felt like a challenge and pushed me. I began doing couch to 5K on the treadmill at the gym. I learned that I shouldn’t try to run too fast just comfortably and to not push myself too much. I was finally able to run for real it seemed! Running wasn’t hurting my back at all either. I did a 4 mile race that September and finished in 34:30ish, I don’t remember for sure. Amazingly, I won my age group (it was a small race haha)! I was really into running now but still didn’t know too much about it. I just ran. So I decided I should work on building mileage up. I ran a lot of 3 mile runs that fall around a reservoir near me. I ran a 5K at Thanksgiving and finished in 25:37! I thought that was great and I wanted to do a 10K that spring. Unfortunately I injured my knee that winter and didn’t run again until May 2009. I consider May 2009 to be the real start of my running career since I had never really run consistently with a focus before then.
In May 2009, my boyfriend and I decided to do a half marathon in September 2009. We started training and we were using a Runners World Smart Coach plan but eventually switched to Hal Higdon’s Novice Half Marathon plan. The summer of training was definitely a new challenge but I learned to love running longer distances. I finished the half marathon in 1:56:23 and I was hooked. I wanted to started training for a marathon immediately but injuries stopped me (shin splints mostly – was tested for compartment syndrome since I was dealing with numbness too). I ran a few other races that fall (2 5Ks, a 10K). I worked on maintaining mileage that winter, going to PT for my shins and just focusing on getting better. Since I couldn’t run the marathon I had wanted to in February 2010 I began looking for others. I ended up training for and running the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon on May 30th. It was a challenge, mentally more than physically but now I’m ready for more. I know that I need to increase my mileage a lot and I don’t want to get injured again so I’m being smart and slow about it. I’m training for a half and then I will start another marathon cycle.
This blog will now chronicle my life, my training, my goal of losing 15-20lbs to help me become faster and hopefully eventually a BQ!

Motivation

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
- Aristotle



Motivation. Gosh, I wish I was always motivated but I'm not. Sometimes, I'm overly motivated and can't wait to get out there and run or lift etc ... Other days, I just want to lay around and do nothing. 


I've worked out for the last 12 days straight. But I'm seriously lacking any motivation these days. I'm making myself get out of bed in the morning and go. And still, I pushed back a run scheduled for this morning to tomorrow because I just could not go. I don't know what's going on but I feel like crap these days, I'm exhausted and my legs feel tired and heavy every time I run. I've been having to take walk breaks on even my short runs. 


But I'm still going, I'm still working out. I've done the 30 Day Shred for 11 days now and unlike pretty much everyone else who does it, I have no visible changes. Ugh ugh ugh. My body is just stuck. But I'm sticking with it, I'm going to give it everything I have for 30 days. 


After all it's the days we push through, we keep striving that will pay off and make us stronger. So I'll go to bed earlier to try and get some energy, keep eating healthy despite not seeing results, and keep pushing during my workouts because soon I'll have a good run, an easy rewarding run and I can't wait for that. And I'm sure that after that run, I'll be motivated to keep going each day. I just need to keep chipping away and be patient. My energy and love for running and working out will return. 

I'm feeling colorful today so I'm changing up the font a bit :)

I headed out for my long run this morning. The temperature read 15 degrees feels like 0 degrees so I dressed as warm as I could: a pair of running tights, a pair of fleece running tights, a long tank to keep my midsection extra warm, a fleece turtleneck, my Brooks running jacket, gloves, hat and a balaclava. I looked a bit ridiculous with the balaclava and sunglasses on but the sunglasses were necessary since the sun was bright and we still have a lot of blinding white snow on the ground. I was very warm from the beginning of my run. I had planned to do just 6.5 miles out and 6.5 miles back for a total of 13, well apparently the road I was headed down is much shorter than I thought, only 3.5 miles so I ran up and down and around some side streets to get the mileage up. I finished in 2:05:14 for an average pace of 9:37 min/mile and an average heart rate of 161bpm. Just perfect :) 

I came home and got into my ice bath with as many layers on my upper body and head as possible, along with a cup of hot green tea but it was still frigid! It took me about two hours to warm up after the ice bath and it also took me awhile to eat anything since my run made me feel a bit nauseous this morning. Not sure why. Then I had to watch my Patriots play absolutely awful and lose. Ugh. But the boyfriend and I were at his parents for dinner and it was delicious! His aunt made this apple and squash dish which I loved. I will definitely be making it myself soon!

I said I was going to post about core exercises this weekend but I have a little bit of work to do so it's going to have to wait. 

Ending with a running quote that I get in my email daily from Runners World:

As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are
- Joan Benoit Samuelson 

26 miles so far

I've run 26 miles in 2010 so far and I am thrilled with the start I am off to, especially since it's been mostly pain free! I only had some pain during Tuesday's run but once I stretched around mile 2, it went away.

Runs this week:

Tuesday: 5.01 miles, 46:53, pace 9:22 min/mile
I ran outside and it was kind of miserable because the sidewalks on the main road aren't paved, so I ran up and down my side road and one circle for 5 laps. Oh well I got it done and it was a decent run despite some calf twinges. 

I had PT on Wednesday in between my running days and it was much needed. I love massage and ART! So nice. I had to do one new hard exercises, stepping into alternating squats on squishy half circle type things, so the flat side on the ground and I was stepping on the rounded squishy one. Eeeek, it was hard and everyone was watching me. But I got it done and it helps my leg strength.

Thursday: 4.00 miles, 36:10, pace 9:03 min/mile 
This run was done on the treadmill. I alternated incline and speed with each song, so song 1 - flat and 6.3, then song 2 - incline and 6.3, song 3 - flat and 6.4, song 4 - more incline and 6.4 etc ... for 8 songs which was most of my 4.00 miles, and then I sprinted the last .4 of a mile or so, increasing the speed every .05 miles. It was a good workout!

I've also been doing some Core Training and I think this weekend I'm going to work on a post about that but for now I have to go back to doing some work I brought home. (Yes, one of my goals was not to do this but I had PT twice this week, so it's just makeup work for time missed, not extra work I'm bringing home. As soon as PT is over, bringing work home will end).
 

Treadmill Running

It snowed all weekend here in MA. I woke up yesterday and was debating about whether I wanted to go Power Yoga then run or run then go to Power Yoga. Then I looked out the window and realized I probably wouldn't be running outside. I like to run in the snow but when it's constantly snowing, I have to worry too much about plows which is no fun. So I knew I needed to go the gym and run on the treadmill. Then I decided not to go to Power Yoga at all since I had taken too much time in bed making up my mind and would have had to rush to clean off my car and help my mom shovel. So I got up, did some shoveling and cleaning off then picked up the boyfriend and headed to the gym. I decided I would switch Saturday's 5 miles with Sunday's 12 miles in case I couldn't make it out at all on Sunday.

So, on Saturday I did 12 miles on the treadmill at the gym, with a dead ipod. Oh my gosh, I was soooo bored. I just started at the time and distance the whole time. I was going 1/12th of the way done, 1/6th of the way, 1/4th etc ... But I did it, 12 miles in 1:59:10. Just shy of two hours, with the second 6 miles a few minutes faster than the first. The only time I had to stop was when the treadmill ran out of time, since the longest I could set it for was 99 minutes. So I had to reset it to finish the last 2+ miles. I felt pretty good. My calves didn't bother me at all, which thrilled me. I took an ice bath after and relaxed all afternoon.

This morning, the snow wasn't as bad as yesterday but the roads still weren't very runnable. So back to the gym we went. Luckily, 5 miles go by a lot faster than 12 miles even when they are recovery miles. I ran it in 51:33 or something and my heart rate never went above 154 which was good. I was a little sore after the 17 total miles but not bad.

I did day 3 of the 30 Day Shred tonight and Level 1 is definitely getting easier for me. I'm sure when I move up to Level 2 it will be killer though. I'm going for 10 days at each level.

Back to work tomorrow, so it's early to bed for me tonight. I'm so thankful for the time off I get due to working for a University. It's really nice. I loved being able to sleep in, run whenever I wanted, nap if I wanted etc ...