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.