Week 6 – Monday Motivation

January 23, 2012 by 9 Comments
Source: Run the Edge

OK so the step back week is done and now it’s time to pick up the pace a bit – I’ve got 4 weeks until the Wampanoag 10-miler and R’n’R DC is still 8 weeks out.

On the plan for this week:
Monday: Continue to bask in the glow of the Patriots win! Plus an easy run (3) & core work
Tuesday: Speedwork – 1600 repeats (ack!)
Wednesday: Easy run (3) plus weekly Pilates class
Thursday: Whatever run (4) — meaning whatever pace my legs will go! & core work 
Friday: Yoga
Saturday: Long run (12)
Sunday: Core work or total rest

I’m going to see how things go this week  – if I continue to find that I’m dog-tired on Thursday to the point that I’m still feeling it when I head out Saturday, then I may consider cutting out the Wednesday runs and adding a couple more miles in on Mondays.

What’s your week look like?

Happy Running!
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Filed Under: Monday Motivation, Patriots, training

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

January 19, 2012 by 5 Comments

1)  I either need to find more hours in the day or tone down my somewhat ambitious to do list. Perhaps it’s the shortened week after the boys being home on Monday, but really feel like I’m struggling to keep all the balls in the air.

2)  Is anyone else getting bombarded with summer camp brochures/email reminders? I mean seriously people it’s January 19 – what’s the rush?! I like to be as organized as the next girl, but sometimes it feels like there’s so much focus on the next thing/season/activity, etc. that there’s no time to just be in the moment and enjoy now. Of course, this is coming from someone who recently posted a full year’s race schedule…ironic, I know.

3) My training schedule’s going to need some tweeking. In an effort to increase my weekly mileage, I’m running 5 days, but with my weekly hour of pilates butt-kicking…I mean class on Wednesday nights this means I’m running twice and doing the class all within a 24 hr period. While I’ve been able to do it, I’m freakin’ tired by the time Thursday afternoon rolls around. And even with Friday as a rest or yoga day, I’m finding I’m still a little low energy when I head out for my long run on Saturday. I’m going to play around with the plan over the next couple of weeks and see if I can come up with something that’s a little kinder to my 45-year-old legs 😉

How’s your week going?
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Filed Under: 3 things, listening to your body, to do list, what's the rush

Week 5 – Time to Step Back

January 16, 2012 by 3 Comments

I’ve come to embrace step-back weeks in a training plan!

There is value in giving your legs a break. And, given the way my legs felt following Saturday’s long run (read heavy, tired, sore) ….a step back is needed!

So this is a week of easy runs:

Sunday — Rest
Monday — 4
Tuesday — 5, plus a trip to Dr. Needles
Wednesday — 4, plus weekly pilates class
Thursday — 5
Friday — Yoga
Saturday — 5

It will be a good week to get back to get back to daily core work, while treating my legs to as much R.I.C.E. as possible!

How’s your week shaping up?

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Filed Under: core work, step-back, training

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

January 12, 2012 by 4 Comments
  • I love all of the different challenges going on right now on either blogs or Daily Mile. I joined Christine’s 100x Challenge over at Dream Big Runner. The Challenge goes all year with different targets of 100 each month – for January the goal’s to run 100k (or 62.2 miles) and next month it’s 100 push-ups per week (ouch!). I recently discovered Christine’s blog and really enjoy it so if you haven’t checked it out you should. Also, there’s still time to join the Challenge!
  • I went back to see “Dr. Needles” again on Tuesday, where both my left knee and lower back were once again given the human pin cushion treatment. He peppered me with a bunch of questions about my last couple of runs and seems happy with the progress. I’m going again next Tuesday and then will take a break for a couple of weeks and see how the leg responds.
  • Looks like I’ll be playing race director for my boys’ school fun run! I’ve volunteered at this event for the past couple of years – it’s one of our family’s favorite school events – and in a moment of insanity I agreed to chair the committee for this year’s race. The run includes 1/2 mile and 1 mile races for the kids plus a 5k for anyone who’s game. Should be fun to see what all goes into coordinating a local race – I’ve got until May to figure it out!

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Filed Under: 100x Challenge, 3 things, acupuncture, playing race director

Setting some goals

January 10, 2012 by 10 Comments

So we’re ten days into the new year –  I have a tentative race schedule laid out…but beyond the schedule what are my fitness goals?

  • Increase my weekly mileage such that I can maintain a solid base mileage to build on for any training plan
  • Try some new race distances (I’ve got a 10-miler and 15k on my schedule so hopefully I’ve got that one covered)
  • Run a 2:30 half
  • Run a sub-2:30 half
  • Set a 10k PR
  • Stay injury-free — as I mentioned in my post about acupuncture, I believe this will come through more consistent strength-training, improving my range of motion/flexibility and proactive self-care
  • Incorporate more healthy eating habits — J and I are planning to add one new habit a month so by year-end we’ll have 12 new habits and hopefully lose some not-so-good ones along the way
  • Continue to have fun! I had a lot of fun with my running in 2011 and obviously want that to continue! I want to connect with more runners (both locally and online), encourage others when I can and hopefully meet up with some other bloggers 🙂
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Filed Under: goals, keeping it interesting

My Run by the Numbers

January 7, 2012 by 11 Comments

Miles run — 11.11

Hills — 8

Times I cursed going uphill  — 4 (this could be an underestimation!)

Degrees out — 40 at the start

Layers of clothing shed — 1 (Thankfully my hubs and the boys drove by on their way home from hockey so I could hand off clothes and my handheld)

Short walk breaks because of my left knee — 3 (good thing I’m going back to Dr. Needles on Tuesday)

Runners I passed — 6

Runners too cool to say hi/wave/some form of acknowledgment — 2

Dogs as running buddies — 2

Drivers on their cell phones — 20+ (I stopped counting)

Negotiations (get to the next stop sign/mailbox/telephone pole, etc) — 4 usually while going uphill

Times I thought “What a great morning!” — too many to count!

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Filed Under: by the numbers, observations

Bring on the Needles – Back to the Acupuncturist

January 4, 2012 by 16 Comments
Soucre: Google images

I headed back to my acupuncturist yesterday to begin treatment on my left ITB issues.

You may remember that weeks before the Philly half marathon, my left leg decided to not play nice and to stave off my panic I started pulling out all the stops to keep the ITB and knee happy. One of the things I tried was acupuncture — I have used acupuncture in the past with great success in relieving migraines, helping to lower my blood pressure and, even for relief from bad bouts of hay fever. I figured why not see if a few carefully placed needles could help…and I believe it did. Was it the sole reason I got to the starting line feeling as good as I did? That’s hard to say, but I know in those final days leading up to the race, my leg felt much better after the treatments.

So fast forward to now – one of my goals for this year is to get through the year injury-free. To do that I believe there are a few things I need to do a better job of:

  • strength training
  • improving my range of motion/flexibility, and
  • something I’m calling proactive self-care — doing a better job of taking care of my body, especially my legs in a proactive manner, instead of waiting until something goes wrong.

Acupuncture fall into that 3rd category. When I talked to my acupuncturist leading up to Philly, we discussed the on and off problems I’d been having all year. He explained that beyond pain management, acupuncture can be used to help decrease swelling and inflammation, as well as to increase range of motion. We discussed taking a proactive course of treatment to help treat the underlying conditions that may lead to my left leg flare-ups. Made sense to me – so once a week for 6 weeks I’ll be playing the part of human pincushion and then we’ll take a break so we can get a better sense of the lasting affects.

Have you ever tried acupuncture? What do you do to take care of your body?

 

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Filed Under: acupuncture, ITB

New Year’s Planning

December 29, 2011 by 8 Comments

After comparing the collective family calendars for school, business travel, a plethora of the boys’ sports events and activities, J’s lacrosse schedule and all other various things that make up life, I think I’ve come up with my race schedule for 2012.

There are 10 races – a good mix of half marathons, 10ks and 5ks – with 2 new distances thrown in, a 15k and a 10-miler I’ll be running with J!

 February

— Wampanoag Road Runners Old-Fashioned 10-miler

March

—  Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon
—  Boston Tune-Up 15k

May

—  Boston’s Run to Remember (Half)

July

—  Harvard Pilgrim 10k

September

—   Zooma Cape Cod Half Marathon

October

—  Tufts 10k
—  Canton Fall Classic (5k)

November

—  Philadelphia Half Marathon

December
—  Jingle Bell Run (5k)

I’ve got a few others in mind if I’m feeling ambitious or if something goes haywire and I need to switch up the schedule…or if money for race fees and travel starts magically falling from the sky 🙂

Should be a fun year – I’m looking forward to it!

 Happy New Year!!

 

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Filed Under: keeping it interesting, race calendar

Plugging back in

December 27, 2011 by 11 Comments

I have been delightfully unplugged the last few days – removed from my laptop and only the occasional text on my phone. After kicking off the Christmas weekend with a frigid 7 mile run on Saturday, I have over-indulged in food, wine, family and laughter and I am good with all of it.

After a few lazy days, it’s time time to plug back in. With R’n’R DC about 12 weeks away, I’m back on a  formal training plan.  Recently, while tweeting with a few runners about training plans, Bart Yasso weighed in (one of the many reasons I love social media!) and suggested that based on my time goals and history, that I needed to increase my weekly mileage to closer to 35 miles, with at least one speed work per week. So I’ve decided to stick with the combination of Smart Coach and Hal Higdon’s Intermediate plan, similar to what I did for the Philly half, while upping my overall mileage  — through a combination of more double digit LSDs and an additional easy run day.

It may sound crazy, but I feel much more settled when I’ve got a plan in place – for the last few weeks I’ve just kind of run on my own at whatever distance/pace I felt like. And while it was nice to have break, towards the end I was starting to feel like I was losing focus a bit.

Does a training plan help you to feel more focused or constrained?

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Filed Under: Bart Yasso, Hal Higdon, RnR DC, Smart Coach, training

Some of the Best of 2011

December 22, 2011 by 5 Comments

Recently, Miss Zippy posted a great list of questions on the “best of” for 2011 and invited us all to do the same…so here are my answers!

Best race experience? 
Without a doubt Boston’s Run to Remember – this was my first half marathon! I felt like I had achieved a huge accomplishment just making it to the start line, and the whole race I had this “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this!” feeling. Also, I had my whole family there and they went through herculean efforts to see and cheer me on in multiple sports throughout the race.  It was a great first experience and laid the groundwork for my growing love affair with the half distance!

Best run?

Another first — the first time I ever ran 10 miles. It was one of those perfect runs, everything felt good and even the traffic lights cooperated so I never had to stop. I remember my confidence growing as the miles ticked off and when I finished I did a little happy dance in my driveway (neighbors must have loved that!)

Best new piece of gear?

This one’s hard – I did a lot of….um..er…accumulating this year 🙂 It’s a tie between my Brooks running skirt and my Saucony Kinvaras – for both it was love at first run!


Best piece of running advice you received?

Everything I learned during my time with Ryan Miller, certified ChiRunning instructor! Also, to make the transition to minimalist shoes slowly.

Most inspirational runner?

Way to many to pick just one! I have been inspired and motivated by so many runners’ stories this year – from daily training, to racing, to overcoming injuries.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?

Moving in the right direction!

There is so much to reflect on this year. This list was a fun way to get started! 

What were your 2011 highlights?


 

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Filed Under: Boston's Run to Remember, ChiRunning, firsts, year in review