Posts Tagged ‘marathon’

Yesterday, I was good maid of honor and went to get my fingers & toes painted.  Whenever I get a pedicure, I am certain to tell the “stylist” (is that what they are called?) not to remove my calluses because trust me, those are there for a reason.  And not the reason of I have never gotten a pedicure  but more of a if I run on fresh feet I will be tender for days.  Yea.  Graphic, huh?

 

Anyways, immediately after work I stopped to get my toes done and thought I should get my nails done as well.  I have been experiencing some toe pain.  My left middle toe to be exact.  Painful to the touch.  Not as painful to run on, though I did just switch out my shoes.  More on that below.  Turns out, I am missing a toenail.  Well, about 75% of a toenail.  Go figure.  She just painted right over it which is kind of gross, but with my sisters wedding coming up, you all realize my bum toe will be in every photograph so I would have rather just hide it.

I also got my fingers a nice light lavender.  It is all the rage this year, you know?

 

So I switched out my shoes…

I am fitted for the Nike Air Pegasus, however decided that I would try a new shoe.  Note: I never pay $85 for my running shoes…

 

 

 

I thought I would give these bad boys a whirl.  The Nike Air Max Run Lite.  Wow oh wow.  I love the feel of new running shoes and these have not been disappointing.

 

Also, I know most runners out there rave about their Mizuno’s, New Balance, etc.., and I used to, too.  However, after being fitted for a neutral pronation and being told to look for a lighter shoe, I have not been happier with Nike.  Barefoot running is in my future?  Probably not!

Yesterday after the race, I quickly showered, wrapped a gift, and headed to Monroeville to meet my mom.  We had a wedding shower to go to!  It was a little rainy, and the Turnpike is always nerve wracking, but the drive gave us an opportunity to chat which I always enjoy.  I need to see my mom more often for girl time!

The shower was lovely and we sat with old neighbors and admired the gifts.  I also “won” the wine word scramble.  Go figure, huh?  This bride-to-be is getting married the weekend before my sister, which is next month! 

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Sunday was uneventful.  Actually, I started to tear down part of the falling retaining wall this morning.  I wanted something to do and this is our next “project”.  Needless to say, this is a big job, but I got about half of the wall torn down.  My schedule isn’t terribly hectic this week (at night), so I should have the remaining pieces down by the weekend.  Then: excavation!  The wall will be quite the project.  In fact, I expect it will take about 2 months of weekend work to get it all re-built…

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Marathon Training Week #1:

 

My weekly miles this week will be around 35.

Monday I will do some type of XT at the gym.  Not really certain what it will be, which is the fun of XT, no? 

Tuesday is speed work.  I will do repeats at 5k pace (not Saturday’s pace!) of 1000M (.62 miles).

Wednesday will be easy run day.

Thursdays will be my worst days.  I will do  5-6 mile tempo runs for the first few months.  Over time, I’m sure I will increase those naturally, however, I can already tell Thursdays are going to be tough.

Fridays and Sundays will alternate.  I will either do some XT or rest.  So, this week, I probably will do XT.  I think I am in good enough shape now to do the tempo and a day of XT.  Sunday I will rest because it’s after the long run. 

My marathon goal is 4.5 hours, so, I will train with my long runs alternating between pace and pace plus 50 seconds.  This weekend will be pace. 

Week 1 Recap

• I didn’t get my “long” run in on Saturday, mainly due to the rain.  Such a bummer
• I did get two rest days in, thanks to me sleeping in
• It’s been cold outside, and I am still trying to figure out how to deal with that.  My legs get tight when the weather changes like this

 

Week 2

• Monday: 30 minutes speed work
• Tuesday: XT
• Wednesday: 30 minutes tempo
• Thursday:XT
• Friday: Easy
• Saturday: 7 miles
• Sunday: Rest

 

I am also having race jealousy  as it seemed this weekend lots of people had races.  That is awesome and makes me look forward to the Spirit of Pittsburgh Half Marathon in a few weeks.  I want another metal   Then again, I need to remember I am in the early stages of marathon training, so I am where I want to be, sans the long run.

 

I also transitioned my running clothes yesterday.  Goodbye t-shirts and shorts (most of them) hello… oh wait.  I always wear shorts when I run.  Always.  I have two pairs of running “pants” that I hate don’t wear that often.  I kept out two pairs of shorts.  I think I can still get away with shorts for the next few weeks to plan otherwise… Running in pants feels very weird to me. 

I’ve run in pants before.  Not those ones, but they’ve always been tights.  Those aren’t as bad as regular capris.  Somehow I feel like I’m always pulling them up.  

 

My XT last week consisted of 30 Day Shed, light weights, and some ab work.  Nothing too strenuous.  I’d love to find a bike on Craigslist, but I’m only semi-looking. 

 

The workweek ahead will be pretty easy.  I’ve got only one late night, and hopefully I will finally finish the budget.  It’s not balancing.  Carnegie wants to spend too much money.

 

 

In other news…

• I am thinking about making the transition to GoDaddy for a hosting service.  This is simply because I want to have a sidebar where I can have a calendar with my races attached to it
• I’d love to have photoshop again (this is a few computers back), to do some nice headers, backgrounds, etc.  Any suggestions for other programs that do the same thing?
• Jared and I are going to Johnstown this weekend for his step-moms birthday.  I am looking forward to that!
• I need a product key for Microsoft Office 2007.  I cannot use any Office programs because we don’t have a key (and don’t want to pay $100 for it)
• I’m thinking of getting a new pair of eyeglasses.  You see, I wear contacts 95% of my time, simply out of habit.  My current eyeglasses aren’t that old (2006), and are nice (green Prada).  And I love them because I took all of my graduation money from college, saved more, and bought them as a gift to myself.  Well my current health insurance pays 80% PER YEAR on corrective lenses or glasses.  That’s great coverage, and coverage I would like to take advantage of.  Then again, I will still buy contacts, so I should probably just take the bonus on one order of contacts and wait.

 

Happy Monday!

Where do I start first?  I took a break from the computer on Sunday to fully ensure I was relaxed and ready to go Monday morning.  While  it was awesome.  I took a little nap Sunday afternoon, slept well Saturday night and Sunday night.  I also was happy because I got a lot done over the weekend.

 

Including….

 

A car wash…

 

Fitted for my dress…

Got my pedicure….

Got some of my fall decorations out….

Relaxed Saturday night, Ran Sunday morning.  Waved “hi” to my Aunt that drove by…

 

Had a really gross smoothie, made up for it by eating yogurt & cereal.

 

Went to Bed Bath and Beyond where Jared got an “Iron Gym”

(note: that is not Jared)

 

Went to Costco where we stocked up on some goodies, including frozen fruit, a Cabot reduced fat cheddar tray, a tub of hummus, both of which I snaked on Sunday

Below is Spinach Artichoke Hummus from Sabra.  I can’t find it on their website.  It is amazing.

 

 

 

 

We also got a bunch of spinach mozzarella ravioli.  Ignore the poor attempt at garlic bread pita.

It was okay.  I would like it better with tomato sauce, I think.  We’ll see next time, we’ve got 3 pounds of it haha 

 

The best thing about this weekend is the fact that all of my work clothes are ready to go!  I’m usually too lazy not on top of things enough to have my work clothes ready in the morning, so when I get home from running, I find myself scrambling to put together an outfit not this week, I am happy to report.

 

What a great way to kick off my (half) marathon training plan!

• Monday: 30-40 minute (hard)
• Tuesday: XT
• Wednesday: 30 min (hill repeats)
• Thursday: XT
• Friday: easy
• Saturday: 6 miles
• Sunday: off

Why am I putting half in parentheses?  Well, honestly, because I don’t know yet/am too scared to believe I am actually training for a full marathon.  I enjoyed training for my half and running my half enough to want to improve that.  I don’t want to burn out on the idea of running 26 miles.  So I’ll just follow along for now.  If the runs get too challenging, physically or mentally, I will just do the shorter race.  I’m okay with that.  I don’t want bouts of tears or anxiety about running.  I just want to run.

Okay, I may be going crazy, but I’ve been putting together a training program for…

 

 

The Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon Which will be in March 2010. 

 

My tentative running schedule will look like this:

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
9/21/2009	30 min	XT	30 min	XT	easy	6 miles	off
9/28/2009	30 min	XT	30 min	XT	easy	7 miles	off
10/5/2009	30 min	XT	30 min	XT	easy	8 miles	off
10/12/2009	30 min	XT	40 min	XT	easy	9 miles	off
10/19/2009	30 min	XT	40 min	XT	easy	10 miles	off
10/26/2009	30 min	XT	40 min	XT	easy	11 miles	off
11/2/2009	30 min	XT	40 min	XT	easy	RACE	off
11/9/2009	30 min	XT	40 min	XT	easy	6 miles	off
11/16/2009	30 min	XT	50 min	XT	easy	7 miles	off
11/23/2009	40 min	XT	50 min	RACE	easy	8 miles	off
11/30/2009	40 min	XT	50 min	XT	easy	12 miles	off
12/7/2009	40 min	XT	50 min	XT	easy	13 miles	off
12/14/2009	40 min	XT	50 min	XT	easy	14 miles	off
12/21/2009	40 min	XT	50 min	XT	easy	15 miles	off
12/28/2009	40 min	XT	50 min	XT	easy	16 miles	off
1/4/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	17 miles	off
1/11/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	18 miles	off
1/18/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	19 miles	off
1/25/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	20 miles	off
2/1/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	21 miles	off
2/8/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	22 miles	off
2/15/2010	50 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	23 miles	off
2/22/2010	30 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	24 miles	off
3/1/2010	30 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	25 miles	off
3/8/2010	30 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	26 miles	off
3/15/2010	30 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	7 miles	THON
3/22/2010	30 min	XT	60 min	XT	easy	7 miles	off

Which means I begin next week, if I want to increase my long run by one mile a week, which worked very well  for me during my half marathon training.  The program lasts 28 weeks which seems daunting.  I never thought I would finish 13.1 miles when I started training for the half, but I just ran it anyways.  The same will apply here.  I don’t think I can run 26.2 miles.  In fact, now, I can’t, but this program will get me up there, over time.  And that’s all I am going to focus on.

I altered this program from  the ever famous Jeff Galloway.  The marathon website has another training program, but I want to run the Spirit of Pittsburgh and Turkey Day 5-Miler when we go to visit my sister in New York.

 

Have I gone mad?  Not entirely.  Part of the reason for this is as we are heading  into fall, winter is inevitable.  Well, I need to start something now so that I don’t find excuses not to run in the winter months, and I want my body to adapt to the falling temperatures.  Also, I loved the feeling of accomplishment from training for the half, I want another goal to work towards. 

 

The training plan, on the surface, looks rigorous, but knowing my schedule, and knowing myself, I’m sure there will be more rest days and more tapering.  But that is called life, and should go without saying, so it’s built into the plan by default.

 

We’ll see how it goes