Things I posted on runnersworld.com

I'm horrible at posting, and since I'm so enraptured in school, I haven't figured out how to pull a post from Runnersworld.com loop to this.  Here are my recent entries on the loop:

Confessions of a Former Gym Rat

10/21/2010 7:49 PM CDT

Prior to my running days, I was a big fan of the gym.  As an undergrad, I worked as a lifeguard at the Campus Rec Center, so was always at the gym.  I loved doing cardio for an hour, lifting then stretching out in the matroom.  Although I wasn't running as much, I was certainly more rounded.  When I get back from a run, it's a lot harder to motivate myself to lift, stretch or do abs in the living room than it is when everything is right there.
This past week, I've been doing the ellipitcal instead of some of my running miles as a recovery from the half last week.  I've been doing the elliptical a lot, but today I tried something new.  I'm not sure what it was, but it was freaking hard!  I only last five minutes, although it was a lot more of a running motion than the elliptical.  Since I'm trying to give myself a little bit of a rest, I let that be my excuse to move back to the elliptical.
While the next month will be dedicated to running (1 month from today!!) I can definitely see myself going back to a lot more crosstraining once I'm done.

Baltimore Domination: The Best Race of My Life

10/19/2010 8:03 PM CDT Tags: boston marathon, baltimore half marathon, PR, utter domination

Two years ago the Baltimore Half Marathon was my first race ever. 
I had no idea what I was doing, I just wanted to beat 2 hours.  I had done one run over 10 miles, without any water, Gu or saltsticks, was probably averaging about 15-20 miles a week and had bought my shoes over the internet.  Somehow, I managed to run in 1:52:59, propelling me into a love affair with distance running.
A year later, I had two more halfs, a ten miler, and an actual training plan under my belt.  I was ready to dominate, PR and move onto to bigger things (like marathons), but I didn't.  I had a horrible race day and finished a few seconds worse than the year before.  No PR, no domination, just a lot of angry feelings and cursing the heat, humidity, and my boyfriend's roommate's friends who had kept me up the night before.
Over the course of the past year, I ran a marathon and decided to register for marathon round 2 in Philly, which conveniently falls about 5 weeks after Baltimore.  Perfect.  I'll be in great marathon shape, finally break 1:50 in Baltimore, go on my merry way and improve on my first marathon time when I run Philly in November.
As the summer turned to fall, I decided that I'd if I'm going to be working my butt off, I might as well try to BQ while I'm at it.  I hadn't raced since June and as I've mentioned before, had a pretty frustrating summer.  I decided that if I actually have a shot at BQ-ing, I should be around 1:45 in Baltimore.
I have to admit, I wasn't super confident.  The course if eff-ing tough, that tme is over 4 minutes faster than my PR and 8 minutes faster than I've ever run Baltimore.  But I had a score to settle.  I wanted redemption.  Normally when I race, I find a cute hair ribbon to match my outfit.  Not this time.  I wore a black ribbon, to remind myself how BA I am.
The weather was perfect.  I was pumped.  My only issue in the race was that I hit the wrong button on my Garmin and therefore didn't start timing until Mile 2, so I actually had no idea what my overall time was (I conservatively added nine minutes to get an estimate).  My mile splits were ranging from 7:50s-8:10s.   I felt incredible.  There's a picture of me at mile 8 with the biggest grin on my face, and three guys grimacing in the background.  I usually mug for the race photographers, but for once, I felt as amazing as I looked. 
I finished with a clock time of 1:47:50 ish, 1:37:16 on my Garmin.  After getting food and water, I bee-lined it to the results tent.  1:45:26. (18 of 604 in my division.)  I was completely estatic!  I PR'ed by over 4 minutes, got my revenge on Baltimore, and gave me confidence that I can BQ in Philly.  If I can run that fast on an extremely hard course, I have a lot of faith in my abilities in a flatter, faster city.
So naturally, my BMore high had to end at some point, and that was today when I checked out runnersworld.com and saw that Boston had filled in record time.  I was already prepared to not be able to run until 2012 anyway (should I qualify), but now I'm worried that I will and then the standards will change, leaving me in awkward Boston limbo.  So maybe I'll be able to tell everyone that I BQ'ed, but before I ever got to race, the qualifications changed.  (Of course, this is assuming I will or else all of this will be a moot point). 
My idea, since there seem to be an abundance floating around RW.com, is to give preference to first time BQers.  I might not make a lot of friends with this, but I think it should be something that all runners (who qualify) should experience, and therefore, there should be limits on how often you can run.  Like maybe only once every five years or something.
For now, I'm going to work hard for the next few weeks.  Since I know I have the speed, my focus is going to the be long runs.  I'm crosstraining a lot this week to recover, with another hard week and then my Philly taper.  Bring it City of Brotherly Love.

Marathon Fresh Scent

9/22/2010 9:21 PM CDT Tags: deodorant

I was in Target this afternoon, and per usual during Target trips, I ended up browsing aisles entirely unrelated to my shopping list.  In addition to a toothbrush, multi-vitamins and blister band-aids (hello, I'm such a runner), I ended up with the Secret Clinical Strength deordorant.  I've always contemplated buying this in the past, but I've noticed lately [POSSIBLE TMI DISCLAIMER] just how ridiculously sweaty I get, working out and in general.  Since summer is making a comeback, I decided it would be nice, not only for exercising, but also my walks to class.  Because, honestly, I'm ok with sweating on a run or at the gym, but no one wants to be that girl who has wet spots on her polos.
Despite the fact that I was a marketing major, I'm still easily swayed by packaging, thus went for the box with the runner's silhouette on it.  It was after I got home that I realized that my new super deodorant is scented "marathon fresh scent".  So I'm pretty sure there is nothing "fresh" about a marathon scent.  I bet the marketers at Secret mean that the fresh scent will last you through a marathon, but the entendre made me chuckle a little.

On crepes and growing up

9/20/2010 9:19 PM CDT

While this isn't directly running related, I wanted to take the time to acknowledge how time is a great equalizer.  This past weekend, I went to a wedding which was attended by several people I knew from college.  One girl in particular had always been a bit of an enemy of mine (at a party, my friend commented on how she looked pregnant - oops) and we never really got along.  I spoke with her for a while at the reception, and it turns out that she has gotten into distance running too.  It was nice to know that after a few years, we were able to put aside really stupid differences and enjoy a wedding together as adults.
Also unrelated to running,I attempted to make crepes for the first time this evening.  I was surprised at how easy and yummy they turned out.  They were a snack, so I put some fruit inside, but am excited to experiment with more savory dishes.  Does anyone have any good healthy, runner friendly ideas?
Well, I'm off to bed.  I have an early morning set of Yasso 800s to look forward to :)

Now I know how Lady Gaga feels

9/17/2010 9:21 AM CDT

I was running along a fairly secluded and unused portion of a trail this morning, when I came across a large group of foreign tourists.  Since I live near a large research university, this is not uncommon.  There was a large group walking together, but I noticed a few stragglers off in the distance, one of whom was taking pictures.  As I approached him, he shot a picture of me as well.  It was a little weird to have my picture taken during an everyday thing for me, but I guess when he goes home he can show his friends how much American women love running.  I smiled for him, I'm used to hamming it up for race photographers :)
The rest of my run was a lot less exciting.  I've been focusing on really finishing my runs (particularly long ones) strong and I did that today as well.  My last 2 miles of a 12 miles run were about a minute/mile faster than my average.  All in all, not a bad way to start a Friday.  Now if only I could be as productive with my school work...

Tech-free Long Run

9/16/2010 3:14 PM CDT

When I'm not particularly thrilled about an upcoming long run, I like to reward myself by downloading a few songs from iTunes so I'm pumped to hear them come up on my Shuffle.  This is how I ended up with a litany of songs that will some day come in handy during a 2010s party, like 3OH3, Cascada and La Roux.  
Not feeling the 18 miler on my schedule, I downloaded the new Nelly song, Just a Dream, and King of Anything by Sara Bareilles and set my iPod to charge.
At 5:45, I got dressed, checked the weather (ok, checked facebook) and headed out the door to drive to the trail.
I parked, and while I let my Garmin find it's satellites, I did little warm up around the parking lot.  It was chilly, and as someone who likens being cold with going to the dentist, I didn't want to part with my Nike pullover.  The something worse happened, I realized that I had everything but my iPod.  I had left it charging on my lap top.  I panicked... how would I ever get through 18 miles without music?  Especially without Nelly!?  Sure, I've done some short runs sans Shuffle, but never anything this long that wasn't a race (disclaimer - I always follow ALL race rules, including not taking my headphones.  It's one of my running pet peeves when people blatantly disregard the no headphones rule). 
Then, all at once, a calm came over me.  I would do this run regardless, and enjoy it.  I would observe the weather, other runners and simply do it on my own.  I also decided that I wouldn't check my Garmin.  Not. even. once. 
I really enjoyed myself.  The weather was awesome (50s-60s, low humidity, sunny) and I just focused on me.  I had planned on taking the run easy, my long run last week was awesome, but after my first attempt at running stairs in two years, I knew it would be slow.  I ran even splits (despite the downhill there, uphill back), without checking myself constantly.  I overheard some juicy conversations.  At the end, I used motivation to push through by telling myself I would be able to check my Garmin.  Nelly and Sara would have to wait until my sprint workout.

I suck at blogging

Within the past month, I stopped working full-time, moved, and started a master's program in Public Policy.  It has been an amazing month and I'm absolutely loving being back in school.  Now I don't sit at a computer all day, which is awesome, but leaves me with much less time to blog.  Since I like having a record of my running and think it helps me to share my ups and downs, I'm going to make a conscious effort going forward, especially now that my training is amping up at the same time that my class work is.

I feel like training just began, but tomorrow morning is my first 18 miler of the season.  I'm actually pretty pumped for it, the summer weather has finally broken and I should have a nice cool, low-humidity morning.  I've noticed that as the temperatures have gotten cooler, even if only moderately, my times have gotten a lot quicker.  It's very refreshing.

A few weeks ago, I was dying.  Training was becoming increasingly frustrating as I could only seem to go about 3 miles without bonking.  I knew I had to be getting into better shape but it didn't feel like that at all.  Then last Friday, I had an amazing long run.  I did an out and back course on the CCT, where I did a few runs over the winter before Snow-Pocalypse.  The only difference is that I'm starting at the other end since I moved, meaning my out is a slow decline and my back is a slow incline, not the other way around.  Last week, on a 16 mile run, I was merely aiming to keep even splits on the way back, but I completely dominated, finishing my second half at almost 40 seconds per mile quicker and that was going up hill!  It felt so good and my confidence was restored.

My training this week has been tougher, so I'm not expecting the same type of results, but hopefully with the nice weather, I'll at least enjoy myself and not sweat through all of my clothes.

It's a good thing I ran this morning...

My office just spoiled my with CalTor lunch and sundaes for dessert.  So yummy!  I'm completely full (and obviously unmotivated) and entirely grateful for such a nice bunch of co-workers who would do that for someone who is leaving.

***

Wednesday, July 28: Recovery run 3 miles, 10 min pace
Friday, July 30: Easy run 5.1 miles, 8:50 min pace
***
As I ran this morning, a refreshing rush of cool wind blew past me, and it spurred a thought.  In the summer, that cool breeze is welcome and wished for, during the winter, it's a frigid blast of cold air that seems to seep through my layers of Cold Gear.  So I started to think of other way running varies during the seasons.
1. During the winter, I'm most uncomfortable during the first 1/2 mile to mile.  During the summer, that is pretty much the only time I'm comfortable.
2. I follow a summer run by a quick, cool shower.  My winter runs are concluded by never-ending hot showers to rewarm my extremities.
3. In the summer, I contemplate wearing capris when it dips below 65.  In the winter, it's short sleeves for anything over 50.
4. I fear winter precip will leave me unable to run outside, where are in the summer, I pray for thunderstorms to cool it off.
5. I hate that my gatorade gets hot in the summer, but freezes during the winter.


As much as I'm a summer girl in every other regard, I do prefer running in the winter.  I'll take baseball, the beach, flip flops and tank tops over snow any day, but when it comes to running, I'd much rather be layered in Cold Gear, gloves and a cap.

Baking fail

One of my fairlynew hobbies is baking.  When I find a good recipe to try, I tend to bring extras into work so I don't eat everything myself.  One of my co-workers has been dropping not-so-subtle hints that he loves white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, so I decided to make him some before I leave next week.

I found a recipe online that looked good and set to make it after work.  Since I'm moving in 10 days (!) I haven't been replenishing my baking supplies, so I had to sub brown sugar for white and borrow eggs from a roommate.  No big deal on either front, and everything was fine until I went to add vanilla.  I emptied my bottle and was still a teaspoon short.  I found a bottle in the communal baking cabinet and poured it straight into the batter.  Except that it was clear and was actually peppermint!  Luckily I realized it before I added too much and think I was able to scoop a lot out.  I'm not sure if the cookies actually have a noticeable minty taste, or if it's just me because I know it's in there.

Anyway, I was hoping to post a tested recipe, but since I messed it up, I won't :(  At least I learned my lesson about checking bottles.

Why math is necessary for running

There is a high school a little bit more than a mile away from my house, but I’ve always been too scared to run on their track.  I don’t know exactly where the track is and would hate to get there and find out that it’s closed to the public for some reason.  Luckily, my street is approximately .25 miles long, and fairly flat, which makes it very convenient for speedwork.

My workout this morning was 2 x 1 mile @ 7:30 with 800 rest.  Since I’m apparently incapable of dividing 7:30 by four (my first try at division yielded 400 splits of 1:07, second try was 1:22.  I eventually realized the correct answer is around 1:50 and decided I should figure out splits the night before my run, and not when I’m still groggy at the beginning of my warm up), I ended up going out a lot faster than that pace, but kind of went with it and ended up running 7:17 and 7:19.  This was my first attempt at mile repeats.  They weren’t too bad, although only doing 2 helps with that.  I’m sure I’ll feel different in a few months when I work my way up to four.  I know my high school track coach would be amazed that I’m doing mile repeats.  I used to whine about 800s.  I also enjoy Yasso 800s and other spring work outs, but since my times favor shorter races, I know I need to work on developing longer-distance speed.  My best age-graded distance is the 5k, where my PR is in the 64% range.  If you have any good suggestions for workouts (other than tempo run and 2 x 2miles, which are already on my training schedule), let me know! 

I’m happy with my times, especially since I did a stability ball class last night that included a lot of squats and lunges.  My legs were noticeably fatigued and my quads are still raging.  I feel like its fine, as long as I can still hit my times and rest afterward to allow my legs to heal.  I also think it’s a good mental boost to know I can hit times when my legs are hurting, and that on full rest, I would be even faster.

feeling hot, hot, hot!

My first long run was on Saturday. I woke up to an 85 degree heat index at 6:15, which quickly rose to over 90 by the time my run was complete.

I stocked my fuel belt with Gatorade, water, Gu and a salt packet (I do the salt!) and ran the few blocks from Matt’s apartment to the Inner Harbor to join a Baltimore Marathon supported course run. Like most Baltimore runs, it was hilly, with the first half on an incline and the second half back down. Despite being up hill, the first half actually felt pretty good. The sun wasn’t really up yet, so I was able to hide in the shadows of row homes. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized my Garmin was low on batteries and it petered out before I even got started, so I’m not sure of my pace. I’m guessing between 9-9:30/miles. After a stop for Gatorade and water about half way through, I looked forward to the descent back to the harbor. Normally I relish in the downhills, but my quads were screaming all sorts of profanities at me since I’ve been trying to use them more in my stride. It was getting increasingly hotter and I know my pace slackened quite a bit. Luckily, I was running with a girl I used to play basketball with, so we kept each other going and decided that it was perfectly fine to cut the run short at 9 miles. It didn’t seem like many other people in the running group were continuing on past the 8.5 mile mark, either. With it being so insanely hot, I think I might have done more damage by attempting to eek out another mile than fitness lost by cutting it short.

Run totals (approximate): 9 miles, 10 min/mile pace???

***
After resting on Sunday, I had an easy 4 mile run this morning. The weather was much improved (only 75 with 65-70% humidity).  I attempted to charge my Garmin last night, but apparently once I put my lap top into hibernation last night, it stopped charging it, so I was sans Garmin again.

My rough estimate for this morning: 4 miles, 9:25 min/mile pace

I should be dead right now...

... Because I wore a cotton shirt to run in this morning. According to the Baltimore Running Festival website, "Cotton kills." Now, the run fest is sponsored by Under Armour, so obviously the site is pushing their performance products, but I had to wonder just how horrible running in cotton would be. Prior to about two years ago, I had never owned a piece of anti-cotton gear. All of my trips to the gym, rugby practices, basketball games and runs were done in cotton tshirts and tank tops. So, now that I am a UA (and UA-knockoff) convert, would running in cotton kill me?

Like yesterday, the humidity was near 90 percent, so clearly I would be sweating like Joe West during a 4-hour Yankee/Red Sox day game. I threw on a loose Hanes cotton tank top with my Nike Tempo shorts and hit the road. I was hot, I was sweaty, but honestly, I'm not sure it would have been much better had I been wearing my favorite new Nike Dri-Fit Pacer tank. And most impressively, I am still alive to blog about it.

***

Prior to running before work, my mid-morning snack staple had been Greek yogurt with fruit. Now that I'm running in the morning, however, I noticed that I crave something savory around this time. Armed with two large containers of Greek yogurt that are getting dangerously close to their expiration date, I decided to experiment this morning. I added dill, garlic powder, onion powder, lemon juice and a little salt and pepper to one to make a tzatziki-esque dip for my baby carrots. Fat-free and packed with protein and pro-biotics, it is much healthier than my other veggie standby, Ranch dressing.

***

Run: easy 3 miles, 9:25 pace

You've (got) a long way, baby

My run today was 5 miles with speedwork. I decided to make it a 3 mile tempo run, aiming for 8:10/miles. My splits were:

8:10 (go perfectionist!)
8:24 (it was mostly uphill)
8:05

While, overall, it was slower than I wanted, I'll take the 8:13 average pace. This was my first attempt at running fast in the month since the Baltimore 10 Miler. The humidity was also over 90% at 6:30 this morning, which doesn't help at all. I breathe heavy on even my easiest runs when it's that humid.

Regardless, I have major improvements to make if I'm going to be running 8:20s for 26.2 miles.

Marathon Training, take 2, Day 1

Today begins my Philadelphia Marathon training. I've read that voicing your goals to others helps you meet them, so I figure what better way than to post them on the internet. Maybe I'll even try to get people to read my blog this time around, instead of just throwing a link in my FB profile and thinking someone might stumble across it when they're procrastinating.

So here it goes.... My main goal is to BQ. (Boston Qualify for those of you non-marathoners). My time would need to be 3:40:59 or less, meaning I have to cut almost 20 minutes off of my first attempt.

Things going for me:
1. Philly is supposed to be a lot faster (read flatter) than DC.
2. Hopefully, I will train all through nasty summer weather for a nice, cool, runner friendly temperature race day, not training through cool temps only to run in 70 degree heat.
3. Now that I've done it once, I know what I'm getting into.
4. I will have a track, an amazing gym, sunlight and approximately 15 hours a week more to do things like run, lift and cry about how much my legs hurt.

Things going against me:
1. It's summer so all I want to do is stay up late and drink, not get up early and run.
2. Cutting 20 minutes is A LOT of time. Even over 26.2 miles. (It's 51 seconds a mile)
3. The ad for the Philly Marathon that I ripped out of Runner's World says "When you feel the sting of sweat in your eyes, Push Through". As Matt pointed out, this could also apply to the elliptical. So much for motivating me to run.

I'm roughly following Hal Higdon's Intermediate II plan, with a few adjustments and modifications of my own.

-Embedded circuits: I read about these in a Runner's World running book. Basically, you run about 2 miles, do a set of running-specific strength training exercises then run 2 miles home.
-Speedwork: I'm going to do a mix of tempo runs, mile repeats, stair running at Byrd and Yasso 800s.
-CRC Fitness classes: I am reallllly hoping that Abs class fits into my schedule so some undergrad aerobics instructor can kick my butt a few times a week.

Thanks to Groupon, I had a one month membership to the YMCA, plus I got two free training sessions. My trainer had run a 3:30 marathon in his only try, so I trust he knows something about running. He watched me run and advised me to use my quads more when I run. I apparently didn't use them at all because now that I'm consciously trying to create power from my quads, they kill. I definitely feel that my stride is a lot more powerful, but my quads have a long way to go to be able to carry me through 26.2 miles.

Today I ran an easy 4. Tomorrow is 5 miles with some speed (I think I'm going to improvise as I go).

Wish me luck!

Marathon: 7 weeks out

I can't believe it's been 7 weeks since my marathon. I honestly thought it was six until I just counted again.

I haven't posted at all because I haven't really been running all that much since then. The one thing I was not prepared for was the long recovery. After my halfs, I'm usually down miles for a week, maybe two, but then am able to pick right back up where I left off within mere days. After my marathon, I took a few days off, but felt amazing (I was barely sore at all the next day, it was awesome), but did a lot of crosstraining and definitely came back too strong too early. Coming off of that high, I wanted to be amazing and fast and run PR's in all of my other distances. I knew I was in the best shape of my life, but my body had different ideas. Running was painful and while mentally I wanted to keep pushing, I just couldn't do it. Couple that with the fact that it's SPRING (my favorite time of year to run after the cold winter) and I was upset that I was hurting a lot.

I eventually cut back, scrapped my plans for a spring half in favor of a 10k. I'm trying to take it easy and work in more cross-training. I have a half relay with Brooke on May 23 and the Baltimore 10 miler on June 19. My big goal right now is to do really well in that. In my mind I think I have this ability to be super-fast. It's just finding the right training balance that will actually get me to that point.


Marathon Recap:
I ran in 4 hours (4:00:08). I was completely amazed and so proud of myself at the end. After a cold, wet winter, it was unseasonably warm. While the rest of the world told me how lucky I was to have such a nice day, I would have traded the 70s for 50s. I didn't want to complain, after all I had been through, it could have been much worse. It was definitely a shock to my system though after doing the majority of my training runs in freezing temps. I think that had it been cooler (or had I remembered at Mile 21 and not 23 how amazing a cup of water to the head felt), I would have broken four hours. But I'm in no way upset with my time and know that NEXT race (there will be one), I will go under.

I ended up running with a girl, Jen, from my flag football team from about Mile 9 to Mile 13 and then for the last 4-5 miles. It was amazing to have her support at the end. I would have tanked a lot harder had she not been there. My splits were decent, steady 9 minute miles for the first 20 and then a really slow final 10k (my final pace was 9:10). I know that in future races, I'll be ready for the wall and my splits will even out. The first half of the race is great, and I encourage all of my running buddies to run at least the half. You go through so many awesome places in DC and it goes by incredibly quickly. I did look forward to the second half, though, once the half-marathoners finished and the crowd thinned out. It was kind of surreal to go around the back of RFK with only a handful of people. I thought to myself "so this is it, I'm half way done". Miles 13-18 went by very quickly. I like to credit this to the fact that during my second pass of the Capital, I heckled some Tea Partiers. Armed with a large anti-Obama poster, I proclaimed "Go Obama" as I ran by. Someone across the street heard me, and began retorting with his Republican rhetoric. I came back with "Are you really going to yell at someone running a marathon?" to which the marathon spectators cheered. Ironic since the protest was over health care. Maybe if more Americans could run marathons, we wouldn't be in such sad shape as a country. Shortly after, I saw Matt, Matt and Mackenzie. There was a race photographer about a half a mile later. My mom remarked that she thought that picture was taken from the first half of my race, I explained I was 16+ miles in at that point, but my glee from supporting my president made me look good. Miles 18-20 were along the SW waterfront. Highlights included running over 395 where a plethora of cones blocked the on-ramps. I found it amusing at the lengths they took. The waterfront miles were flat and pretty. My best race pictures were along the river before approaching Nationals stadium. The last 10k was tough. The course was flat, but it was really sunny and hot, with no breeze, no shade and very few spectators. I had lost Jen at mile 13, but as my pace slackened, she caught up to me. As we navigated the final hills, she pushed me to finish strong. At the last water stop (Mile 25), a volunteer yelled as people ran by "Only 10 minutes left!" As we passed, he exclaimed, "but not you two, you're going a lot faster than that!" I did finish the last .2 miles strong, frantically trying to get under 4 hours. I wish I could have gotten in 9 seconds faster, but over 26.2 miles, 9 seconds is really nothing. I heard Brooke yelling for me at the end, and she hung out with me while I gathered my water, pretzel and Powerade.

I wore my medal around DC as Matt, Matt, Mackenzie and I went to Free Rita's Day and carried it in my purse for the next week. I wear my shirt to the gym a lot, especially on days I'm feeling extra lethargic.

The fact that I've run a marathon still hasn't sunk in, and maybe it never will. While it is certainly an incredible feat that so few people can boast accomplishing, to me, it was just another challenge. Lined up next... getting faster so I can go under four hours next time and then someday BQ-ing. Zack asked me if I was going to go for 50/50. It would be cool, although I did start in the one place that is not a real state.

Countdown: Less than 24 hours

So here I am, one day before my race. The weather is forecasted to be gorgeous.A high of 70 for the day, but hopefully mid 40s-high 50s while I'm running. No rain, no wind, low humidity.

I’m so excited, I feel like I did the day before we went to Disneyworld when I was 10. It’s awesome to think that at this time tomorrow, I will be a marathoner.

I am definitely nervous, but am trying to block all of the negative thoughts out of my head.I did three runs over 20 miles, and two more of 18. I ran 22 miles after three of the toughest weeks I’ve ever run, and then came back the next day and raced a 5k. I did weekly speedwork sessions and strength trained. I trimmed over an inch off of my waist (I have well defined abs!) I’m so ready. I know I can do it and hopefully as fast as I think I can.

My race strategy is going to go like this: run a comfortable 4 hour pace (or maybe even slightly more) for the first 8 or so miles.When the big down hill section comes, I’ll try to make up some time and let gravity help me with my pace. For the second half, I’m going to try to stay steady as the course flattens.With a nice river to look at, and a ghetto area to keep me motivated to run fast, I know I’ll be ok. ran my last three long runs in negative splits, so I don't expect tomorrow to be any different.


I’ve decided against wearing my Garmin. I get kind of obsessive about checking it, plus I’m afraid of it chafing my un-gloved wrist. I just want to run my race, and if that happens to be faster or slower than my plan, I don’t want to be freaking out about it every couple minutes. That will only make it worse.

I'm going to wear an orange Under Armour tshirt shirt with my green Nike Tempo shorts. I'm planning on writing "Don't stop believin" on the back. I think it's perfect.

It's one of my favorite songs, and reminds me of other great accomplishments (like Rugby Nationals) and nights at Bentley's and C-Stone that I wouldn't exactly call accomplished, but enjoyable all the same.&

It's a great motto for a marathon, don't stop believin you can do this, Meredith!
-The band is Journey, and I can't think of a better way to describe four months of training.
-Finally, I hope it will elicit comments from other runners.  Maybe it will even inspire someone to keep going (at least in the "I better run faster than that Journey girl" sort of way.)

I'm at work now. One of our vendors brought in bagels, which happens to be the most amazing thing ever for the day before a race. I've had two, but I'm kind of bageled out at the moment. Immediately after work, I'm going to get my packet. I'm supposed to try to meet up with Brooke but I really just want to get in and out.... and maybe buy a 26.2 sticker to promptly apply to my car post-race tomorrow. Speaking of post-race, it's also free Rita's Day so I plan on definitely hitting that up. It will be an amazing post-race treat.

So far, the only thing that hasn't gone my way is that Maryland game is tonight at 9:40. I want to be in bed by 10, so I won't get to watch it. Watching sports gets me really wound up, so I know it's a bad idea to try to watch it before I go to bed. I'll have enough going through my head without the Terps adding to the excitement.

Wish me luck :)

Musings on the gym...

(FYI, I wrote this last week but am just getting to posting now)

The past three weeks, all of my work outs (save the long-runs) have been done at the local county Rec Center.  I like the gym, it’s small, family oriented and I never have to worry about a gaggle of frat guys hogging the weights when I want to do my reps of 10 lb bicep curls.  I do get frustrated on the treadmills, though.  There are 9 in the gym and usually a few are free, but I always worry that they’ll fill up and I’ll get kicked off after my half-hour time limit.  (Even my shortest runs are at least 4 miles, which at a recovery pace takes me about 35-40 minutes.  Yesterday, during a 9 mile sprit work out, I was on for about 80.)  Getting kicked off has yet to happen, and I question whether the teenage guy supervising would actually ask me to get off, but I try to be accommodating all the same.  This fear, as a result, has caused me to loathe treadmill walkers.  Training for a marathon, I need to run.  Burning a few calories by walking could be done just as easily on an elliptical.  Recently, as I was nearing my 30 minute limit, I noticed that all of the treadmills were taken.  I still had another mile to go and worried that I wouldn’t be able to get it in.  Luckily, the woman next to me got off and a man in khaki shorts hopped on.  I’m really glad I didn’t get off for him, I would have been really angry that my precious treadmill spot had gone to a guy who looked like he was about to go out for a Sunday drive.  I finished my mile and went to stretch, and saw him over there only a few minutes later.  Ugg, I hate to sound elitist, but I really feel like I need to be on a treadmill more than him and others like that.

Alternately, when I see high school girls rock the elliptical it takes me back to my days at the Towson Y.  I spent hours there with my friends, doing cardio, lifting weights and kicking imaginary adolescent boy butt during cardio-kick classes.  I remember one middle-aged man asking my friend Abbie and I what we were training for.  Our response?  Prom.  Part of me wants to reach out and make sure these girls are killing themselves at the gym to be skinny, but the other part applauds their healthy lifestyle and working in exercise now.  I remember meticulously counting calories and not getting off of a machine until I hit a certain amount.  I have a vivid image of one of my classmates hopping on an elliptical and asking “so if I burn 3500 calories, that’s a pound, right?”  My gym motivation has changed since from being purely aesthetic to being physiologically sound for sports or an event, but those ideas have yet to leave me.

I’ve been a gym rat (or when I don’t belong to a gym, a running fiend) for at least 8 years now for various reasons (losing weight, training for sports, training for races) and I can’t imagine functioning without the calming effect a hard workout has on me.  After a tough day at work, I can’t wait to go home and pound the pavement.  Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I know that sweat and endorphins will make me feel a whole lot better than a tube of chocolate chip cookie dough.

25 Mile Weekend

My final long run was this Saturday, logging 22 miles.

As suggested, I attempted to simulate race day.  After a packet pick up (for the Love the Run 5k) Friday night, I ate pasta with shrimp, and had a bowl of oatmeal before bed.  I woke up and ate a PB&J sandwich (wheat bread, Polaner's strawberry and Skippy Natural creamy), drank orange PowerAde Zero, got dressed ate a banana then drank some more water during the drive to the park.  With my fuel belt full of Gu and Fruit Punch PowerAde, I began my run at (ok around) 7, although I took the liberty of sleeping until 5:45, instead of the 5 am alarm I'll set for the morning of March 20. 

I started at Theodore Roosevelt Island and followed the Mount Vernon Trail down past Alexandria.  Early in the week, I had plotted another run around my neighborhood, so I could run in the street knowing that the sidewalks were still snow-covered.  As the week progressed, I had a glimmer of hope I might be able to trail run.  I spent some time Google-ing DCs trails and found encouraging reports for MVT.  While there were a few snowy spots, overall it was really nice.  I had never been on the trail before, but got to run by a lot of my favorite things: the airport, the Metro, the Potomac River, the Wilson bridge.  I saw some rowers and a lady with two Golden Retrievers playing fetch in the river.  I visited Old Town Alexandria for the first time and admired how nice the GW Parkway is (and am now slightly regretting not signing up for the GW Parkway 10 miler).  My turn around point was past Alexandria at Belle Haven.  About 6 miles from the end, I could begin to see the Washington Monument.  Knowing it was about a mile ahead of where I would finish, I kept it as my focus.  I really do love DC, with the water, the monuments, the history, so I'm confident that I made the right decision in making it my first full marathon.  I'm trying to mentally prepare myself, and having lots of good things to look at a little goals along the way really helps. 

The weather finally cooperated with me.  The 50 mph gusts from Friday had dissipated, the clouds parted and I had a bright, sunny happy day to run.  The weather was in the low 30s when I started and climbed to the low 40s during the day.  I can only hope i will get as amazing weather on race day.

My recovery Saturday was watching Maryland beat Virginia Tech in double OT.  I met Grace and Tacy out and upon arriving, found out the game was delayed due to a watermain break.  A beer truck backed over a fire hydrant causing all sort of chaos in Blacksburg.  So VT.  We ate bar food, and I'm glad that I gave up drinking until my race, because I definitely would have drank a lot.  My rationale for not drinking is as follows:
My long runs are on Saturdays, so to get the most out of them, I can't drink on Fridays.  Then, while my body is recovering, the last thing I should do is poison it with more alcohol.  I'm also not the type of person that enjoys having one of two drinks.  What's the point of all of those calories if I'm not getting drunk?  I might as well drink a Diet Coke or even water... and that's what I have been doing.  It's a lot cheaper, and a lot healthier.

Sunday morning, Matt and I ran the Love the One Your With 5k as a couple.  Hannah and KB, Rob and Kaitlin and Zach and Diane ran also.  Matt and I were the second couple to finish, behind Hannah and KB.  While we didn't meet our goal (finish is less than 30 minutes, our time was 30:08, which is actually a PR for me) and we did get beat by both a 6 year old and a 70 year old, I had a lot of fun.  It was fun to run and share something like a race with Matt.  Plus it gave me an excuse to get crafty and I like the race tshirt (I'm wearing it now, actually.)  I felt much better than I thought I would.  My calves were a little tight, but nothing that slowed me down during a leisurely 5k.  It seemed so short.  I also would like to run a 5k for real.  The only other one I've ever done was during sophomore year of high school.  I'm pretty sure I finished with 9:55 miles or something like that.  I'm interested to see how fast I can actually do it, I'm thinking less than 23 minutes.

All in all, I logged 25 total miles this weekend, which is the perfect way to enter my taper.  I'm so excited to get to back off on the miles and focus on other things in my life, such as my Peep Diorama and upcoming road trip to South Carolina.

My Crush on Lindsey Vonn

It's a Winter Olympics season and I love it.  My favorite sports are those that involve ice: luge, bobsled, hockey, speed skating (not figure skating and ice dancing, however) so I really didn't know who Lindsey Vonn was prior to this year.  I heard she was pretty badass at skiing, competing through a recent injury that had been threatining to sideline her.  Oh, and that she had posed to SI's Swimsuit issue.  I wasn't a fan.

I hate swimsuit models.  They have super skinny legs, flat stomachs and big boobs.  I have the flat stomach, but my legs are big and I'm a B cup on a good day.  I've accepted these things and use them to my advantage as an athlete.  Scrumming with these thighs, you betcha.  Never worrying about my chest bouncing too much, amazing.  Regardless, I'm slightly jealous of them and wish that SI would decide that girls like me were hot too.

Curiosity eventually got the best of me and I checked out Lindsey's spread.  I was immediately in love.  She has an athlete's body AND she gets to be in the swimsuit issue? 

So jealous and so happy! I'm glad that us athletic girls are finally getting some glossy page time.

Just how fast will I run?

I've been reading up on ways to predict your marathon time, which I think is helpful in determining how I want to pace myself through the race.  I know already that I want to be conservative at the beginning (especially during the one big uphill section of the race) and then speed up as my body allows.  I figure I can make up time on the nearly two mile downhill at the end of the half and then will hopefully be able to cruise through the flat second half.  That being said, I'm still trying to nail down what pace I should aim for.

One thing I read was about Yasso 800s.  The theory goes that you run an 800 in the same pace that you want to run your marathon (so 3:30 minutes for an 800 = 3:30 marathon time).  By the end of training, you should be able to do 10.  According to Bart Yasso, this is a great predictor.  McMillan agrees, but likes to add 5 minutes to the time.  I decided Wednesday that I was going to try this particular workout, especially now that I'm running on a treadmill I can run even, measured splits.  I figured I would do 7, as that would get me close to my mileage for the day and would be a good gauge of how I stood fitness wise.

I felt phenomenal during, at a pace slightly less than where I hope to finish.  I ended up doing 9 and decided to save that last one for my last spring work out.  I realized upon returning home I was actually doing them with a shorter rest period than I should have.  All in all, I know I will be able to do 10 (especially if I do the right amount of rest in between) and could probably even pick up my pace a little. 

Tomorrow is my second to last long run.  I've put in 22 miles already this week, so this will be my first of 2 40+ mile weeks.  So crazy!  And to think a year ago I was ecstatic about running 23 in one week.  Even six months ago, 28 (my peak for half training) seemed like a ton.

Sooo close.

I'm polishing off the end of my post-long run feast (veggie cheeseburger, loaded baked potato and spinach salad), anxiously awaiting the beginning of the Maryland-Duke game at one.  There are few things I love more, especially during the long, cold mid-Atlantic winter than ACC basketball.  The rivalries are huge and the intensity never lacks.  Watching a game is the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially when you're recovering from a 20 miler.

My goal was to leave the house by 7:30 this morning, so when I was out the door at 7:35, I was really impressed.  I'm not always that punctual, especially when it comes to things like running 20 miles in the cold.  Since the snow storm, I was afraid that my favorite trails would be covered in 2+ feet of snow, so I took to the streets.  Running against traffic, I got a new perspective of some of my favorite routes, and found some new roads.  My goal was to run negative splits, so I started out liberally at a 10 minuter per mile pace.  It was hard to run that slow at first and kept reminding myself to slow down.  Once I hit the ten mile mark, I tried to aim for 9:50s instead.  There were some spots during the run that I felt really good and was able to push it below 9 minute miles after the 17 mile mark, which gave me a lot of confidence that during my race, I'll also be able to find that second (or third or fourth) winds to push a little harder.  I felt a lot better than I did during my last 20 miler a month ago.  It's reassuring that my training the past month has done something.

Also, Fairfax county is hilly as shit!  My total ascent was 1829, with a descent of 1790.  Miserable.  I know the course is a lot flatter, so that gives me a lot more confidence as well.  I have a 22-miler next Saturday and then a shorter long run the Saturday after.  I really only have two weeks left of training before my taper.  Crazy.  A month ago, it seemed like my race was so far away, and now it's only 5 weeks!

Giving up hope

This weekend, we got another record snowstorm.  I missed my first run of my training (a 20-miler on Saturday) and there are 3-4 foot piles of snow on the sidewalks.  Right now, there is another blizzard waging itself on the Washington area.  This one will hopefully only add another 6-10 inches.

I've used running as my reason not to join a gym since my free access to the CRC ended 18 months ago.  It's been fine, and I've weathered freezing temperatures, rain, snow, wind, heat and anything else Mother Nature has thrown at me.  At this point, however, running safely outside is no longer an option.  Needless to say, I went and joined a gym last night.  There is a county rec center really close to my office, so I went there last night.  It was actually really nice (although small) and I bought a 25-use pass. 

I enjoyed the Rec Center.  It wasn't too crowded and had really nice treadmills (ones with TVs).  Seeing as I will be doing most of my runs at least for the next few weeks indoors, that's a big bonus.  I am definitely of the "dreadmill" mindset, though.  The only bonus is that I usually hate it so much I run faster to get my miles done quicker.  I'm hoping that I can find some places to run outside for the long runs, and figure that I'll probably be able to run in the streets Saturday morning with less traffic.

I'll also have the benefit of other weight equipment as well.  Plus balances ball, bosu balls, medicine balls and the like.  I can also do some cardio crosstraining including aqua jogging (my fav).

I'm stuck inside today, although I'm sure I'll be shoveling snow and plan on doing some pilates later.

Plowing through

There have been three snowstorms this winter in Nova, and if you check, they have all come on Saturdays.  While I know this pains kids and teachers, it also dismays me as my Saturday long runs are then also more difficult.


At the beginning of December, a strong storm hit, dumping big, wet flakes in my neighborhood.  I pursued, but only made it 10 of my 12 miles.

After the monster storm in mid-December, my 14 mile run the next day was done by running down my street and back 28 times.

When I got up this morning, the skies were overcast, although not in a foreboding way.  Having checked the forecast last night, I figured I was fine for my run.  Wrong.

About five miles in, it began to flurry. It was pretty, especially as I ran along the Potomac on the Cap Crescent Trail, and I enjoyed the serenity.  As I neared my turn-around point in Bethesda, the snow began to pick up.  By then time I was a few miles into my return trip, it was snowing hard.  I pulled my hat down in front of my eyes and trudged on.  As a ran past other runners, I remembered why I enjoy racing so much.  There is a palpable camaraderie among runners, which was evident by the friendly looks of encouragement I received from every runner I passed on the trail.  By the time I reached the C&O canal, I was pretty much alone.  The snow crunched under me, and I was able to forget for a few moments how utterly miserable I was.  Wet head to tow, cold and with my water bottles iced closed and icicles forming on my eye lashes.  I ran a negative split on the way back and was ecstatic when I caught site of my Civic waiting for me in the parking lot.

When I got back in my car, I took off my wet clothes and had dry sweatpants and a fleece waiting for me.  Unfortunately, the roads were not very clear and it took me almost 45 minutes to get home.  I took a hot shower, then got started on my post-run feast:

-Piece of honey seed break toast
-TJ's chicken chili w/ guac and cheese
-Cauliflower w/ rance
-Pita chips
-Goldfish
-Peanut Butter M&M Blondie

Annnnd I'm probably going to get more to eat soon.

Some Other Things About Me

Besides the fact that I'm training for a marathon, here are some random facts about me:
-I watch Jeopardy as often as possible
-I'm a massive bargain shopper. I almost never pay full price for clothes/shoes/bags/accessories
-I love giving gifts and tend to obsess over it a little bit
-I really enjoy reading and like it when I have a good book going at all times
-Crosswords are my other favorite lexical pasttime
-I'm a die hard Orioles fan and would do pretty much anything for them to be good again (Damn Yankees, anyone?)
-I have run four half marathons: Baltimore, National, Frederick and Baltimore again. My PR was in Frederick at 1:49:31 although I hated the race and vowed never to run it again
-I love to eat and pretty much do it all the time
-New Balance is my favorite brand of shoes because all styles come in D widths. My favorite running shoe is the 859 and I have an extra pair because I'm afraid they're going to stop selling them soon
-I love pink a lot more than I ever have before
-When I'm racing, I try to wear the brightest outfit possible so that I'm easy to pick out of the crowd. I also always wear a coordinating hair ribbon.
-Mexican food is my favorite type. I love guac, tacos and tamales, although they are hard to find.
-My favorite liquor is rum. Tequila is second, especially when mixed in a good marg.
-I don't have a favorite beer, but tend toward girly beer (BL Lime, etc) and German Wheat beers. It's in my blood.
-I blame my dad for my love of spicy food.
-I generally follow that "shop on the perimeter of grocery store" thing, although unintentionally. I eat a lot of fresh foods so I have shop every week. I will detour the cart down the Goldfish aisle.
-Labrador Retrievers are my favorite canine breed. I'm holding out on getting a dog until I have space for one.
-I want to travel the world.
-Even though I know my 2006 Civic isn't a sports car, sometimes I drive it like it is. After 7 years with a 1998 Sentra, it's pretty damn sweet.

*****

Also, I've come up with a few ideas for race day tshirts:
"26.2 ain't got nothing on me"
"26.2, what you know about that?"
"Don't Stop Believin'"

Return of "The Hill"

On December 18, the "Snowpocalypse" hit, covering Washington, DC, Baltimore and most of the Mid-Atlantic of upwards of 20 inches of snow. Fairfax County decided that instead of piles of snow on the street, they should be on the sidewalk. Then it was cold, very cold, for pretty much the next month leaving the snow in its frozen form. The gigantic ice/asphalt mountains on the the sidewalks made running the second half of my favorite loop impossible and blocked me access to The Hill.

The Hill is over a mile long and 10% grade. Ok, I exaggerate, but it is a quarter mile long and really steep (now that I have a Garmin I guess I can figure out exactly what the grade is...) I hate it. It's hard and usually comes at the end of my runs, but I tell myself every time I run up it that it's only making me a better runner. It is the perfect hill for hill repeats (either long or short), of course, I wouldn't really know because I've only been insane enough to do that once. Needless to say, like most runners, I am slightly crazy, and despite the pure torture, I began to miss it during the nearly 6 weeks it was inaccessible. When I realized on my way home from work today that the snow had finally melted, I knew it was time. I ran my Five Mile Alternate route, which involves going down the hill at the beginning, and up it at the end. My legs missed it, and pushed me hard the whole way up.

Last week I had an easy week. I was back down to 25 miles (for the week) with a long run of 10. I really needed the break. I was getting tired of training and my legs were hurting. This week I'm doing 35 or so miles, with a long run of 16. Next week its up to 38 with another 20 mile run. Yikes! The first 20 mile run was fine, I'm just hoping that the next two continue to get easier so I have some more confidence going into my race!

One down, two to go.

Saturday morning I completed my first of three 20+ mile runs. With Matt staying over Friday night, and feeling bad about being the runner out the longest last weekend, I opted to run alone. I woke up a little before 8, although I wish I had gotten up earlier. I got ready, ate a pb&j sandwich (my new favorite pre-long run food), had a cup of tea, and Powerade Zero, and drove down to Burke Lake Park. The weather was much nicer than last weekend, with temperatures in the low 40s compared to low 20s. I was very excited to wear my UA capris, as they are my favorite running bottoms. (I only hope that the weather is appropriate to wear them on race day.)

Twenty miles is hard! It is such a time commitment to train for a marathon and I have a new respect for people who have done it. I also feel like when I have kids, I’m definitely going to continue to run marathons so I have a really awesome excuse to get out of the house for four hours every Saturday morning. However, the run didn’t feel as good as 18 mile run the previous week. I’m not sure if my legs were fatigued, I wasn’t hydrated or what, but I’m going to work on narrowing down bad run causes the next couple of weeks. The night before the 18 mile run, I had eaten a big bowl of oatmeal around 10. I think this was great because it’s a ton of carbs, plus kept my stomach in check. I’m going to try this again before my next long run to see how I feel.

This week is one of my cut-back weeks. Usually I do light cross-training on Tuesday (like pilates or yoga), but I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and they are going to draw blood, so I’m going to go for another easy run tonight. I’m not sure how much they plan on taking, but I don’t want to run the risk of not being able to run tomorrow. I’m so squeamish with blood, too, so I’m really not looking forward to it. My mom would always come into the room with me whenever I would have to get a shot or have blood drawn to give me a hug when I was little. This lasted until I was about 18, when I had to drive myself to a doctor’s appointment to get a vaccination for college. I also have to fast before hand, so needless to say, I’m not looking forward to it. On the bright side, I am going into work late. Getting a physical is one of my New Year’s resolutions. Since I am training for a marathon, things like “exercise more,” “get into shape” and “lose weight” are not really applicable to me and I figure that it’s a good time to get checked out before I submit my body to even more running. My other resolutions were to start taking a Multi-Vitamin and Omega 3 supplements. Although I was a little late to start, I have been pretty good at taking them.

I'm like the Duggars.... 18 and Counting

I don't know why, but I had it in my head that 18 miles was the "real" beginning to my marathon training. Prior to December 20, I had never run farther than 13.1, so I'm not sure why 18, and not 14 or 16, was such a big deal. Regardless, my first 18 mile run was on Saturday. Up to this point, I had done all of my runs solo, but had decided to join a local running group for my milestone. I woke up at 6:40 on Saturday morning and got ready to go. The temperature was in the low 20s, with a windchill in the teens. When I arrived, I found out that I was the one who had the longest run planned... talk about first impressions. I was actually slightly embarrassed at this. I find that I often get embarrassed when I tell people how far I run. I feel like I should be proud and show it off, but it's something I generally tend to keep to myself. I feel weird if Lauren sees me headed out the door in the evening for my run, especially now that it's dark, cold, windy and all around miserable running weather.

I took off with the 9-9:30 minute per mile group. We started on Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Island, and I made my way all the way up to Bethesda. I enjoyed running in the group, mostly listening to conversations and occasionally adding my own comments. As much as I am outgoing, I tend to stay quiet in new situations. Add in the fact that I was tackling my longest run ever and I was perfectly content listening more than speaking. I started with a group of about 8, but only had one other running companion up to the turn around in Bethesda. He dropped off around mile 11 to fix his Camelback, and I ended up running the final 7 miles alone. I felt great until about mile 15, and the last two miles were pretty tough, but I made it all the same, with about a 9:35 pace. With more than 2 months out, I know I'm in great shape to meet my goal.


Today, I did an easy 5 miles. It was going great until I had my first running accident of the season. I slipped on some ice with about a mile to go, scraping my gloved hand and banging my knee pretty hard. I walked it off and finished the run, but I now have a big red bump on my right knee. I'm icing it now, fearing that my rugby legs are going to make a cameo. I guess I'm getting soft after staying off of the pitch for the past 2 years. I should be fine, and probably lucky I've survived this horrible winter without any other damage.