Ramblings of a Running-Obsessed Undergrad
Marathon Training Week 6
Dec 6th
Weekly Total: 39 miles
- Monday 11/30 (Rest)
- Tuesday 12/1 (5 miles Easy)
Today was our “After” mile test for my running class – we timed ourselves in the beginning of the year (September) and now was our chance to see if we’d improved! I don’t really think that using the mile as a baseline makes sense because we didn’t focus on speedwork, but I improved anyway – 7:05 this time versus 7:42 in September. Quite an improvement! I warmed up and cooled down by running to class and back.
5.2 miles / 47:00 / 9:03
- Wednesday 12/2 (8 miles Tempo)
A little bit of pain in my left foot – probably because I didn’t stretch very well after the mile on Tuesday :( I made sure to stretch out super well after this run, and did my favorite Runner’s Yoga routine. The track was packed! ROTC was practicing and there were tons of local runners there as well.
7.5 miles / 1:12:00 / 9:35
- Thursday 12/3 (6 miles Marathon Pace)
Our last PE class! I ran 5 miles beforehand to get my miles in for the day and then headed to class (a little late…. whoops) and did the PACER test. If you don’t know what that is, count yourself lucky. I did improve, though, which is nice! And after running 5 miles, too!
Then we did a great core workout with a stability ball. We ended up laughing too hard to stay on the balls, but we did get a few good workouts in. And I learned new exercises to do with my stability ball! Success.
On a less successful note, I had two tests today and they were rough. Luckily everyone else thought so too, so I am guessing I didn’t do as bad as I thought I did, but it never feels good to get a low grade on a test, even if the average was lower.
6 miles / 55:00 / 9:09
- Friday 12/4 (Rest)
Sleeping in and resting :) Did yoga and felt great!
- Saturday 12/5 (14 miles – long run)
I did it! Snow and all.
14 miles / 2:19:00 / 9:55
- Sunday 12/6 (6 miles Easy)
I didn’t go out with CTRC today :( Call me a wimp buy icy trails do not sound like fun. Maybe someday! I slept in and did my 6 mile loop instead. For some reason my recovery runs always feel harder than my long runs… Is that true for anyone else or am I just weird? I’ll do some yoga and weights later, but for now I’m off to the grocery. I need more greek yogurt!I saw some ducks on my run today – I’ll post the picture as soon as I upload it!
6 miles / 58:00 / 9:51
This week felt great. I think I am going to try to introduce some speedwork next week! Since I don’t have running class anymore I’ll have a bit more control over my running schedule.
Happy running, everyone!
Freezing Fourteen + Comments4Cans
Dec 5th
Whew! That was some run. I conquered the 14 miler that gave me so much trouble last weekend!
When I woke up, it was raining and 33, so I put on my tights and underarmour and beanie and gloves and scarfed a piece of toast with peanut butter. Then I realized that I was wearing all black and might look a little um… threatening… especially with the black beanie. Well, as threatening as a 19 year old girl can look, anyway. So I swapped the beanie for a white headband (much better, but I still felt like a ninja) and headed out.
Mile 2 took me to the track, where the rain started to look more solid and flaky. Kind of like snow, actually. By the time I’d done 2 miles on the track it was full-on snowing! As a girl from Wisconsin, I love snow. My clothing was doing a pretty good job keeping me warm at this point – I even rolled up my sleeves for a little bit, until the snow started to hurt :( Sleeves came back down fast.
After leaving the track I headed around my favorite loop, bringing me back near my apartment at about mile 8. Along the way I snapped this photo of Thomas Jefferson, chillin’ in front of the Rotunda. He doesn’t look too cold to me, though. What do you think? Should I bring him a scarf?
Then I went down to the river, passing by Downtown Charlottesville on the way. By the time I got down there the snow was sticking – to everything! Including my face. Ever get a snowflake right across the eyes?
Looks like I'm not the only one on the trails :)
I love this route :)
I’m not going to lie, miles 12 and 13 were rough. Not because my legs hurt or anything – my hands! Last time I go running in 75 cent Target gloves. By the time I got home I couldn’t really bend my fingers much… the door was definitely a challenge! You know the 10 minute period after you get inside after being out in the cold for a long time? Where your hands BURN with the intensity of a thousand suns? Yep. That happened. But after I was done reheating my hands I made a big pot of coffee and some delicious pancakes for myself and my awesome suitemates. No pictures – they were eaten too fast. Finished up with some greek yogurt and granola!
AND NOW for an announcement – as I was eating my delicious food today after getting inside from my cold, cold run, I thought about all of the people who don’t have delicious food or a warm home. Which is why for the month of December I will be donating 1 can for every 5 comments I receive on this blog to the Emergency Food Bank, which serves the hungry in Charlottesvillle/Albemarle County. So leave a comment! It can be anything – a question, story, random thought… it all goes to a good cause!
Happy running everyone :)
Goals 2010
Dec 2nd
I know! It’s not Jan 1 yet. But I just couldn’t wait to post my goals for next year. Obviously the biggie is the marathon, but I think after I finish (hopefully!) that I want to work on speed a little bit. I’m pretty confident that I can achieve these goals, but I think they’re challenging enough for me that I will have to work pretty hard on them.
I think the best part of being a fairly “new” runner (began in March 09) is that I can realistically expect to PR in every distance in 2010 :)
Do you set goals for each year of running? Or do you play things by ear? Leave a comment!
Racing Goals
- Complete my first marathon on March 20 2010 at the National Marathon in DC
- Run a 10k in 52:49 (8:30 pace)
- Run a 5k in 24:51 (8:00 pace)
- Run a mile in 6:45
Strength Goals
- Do upper body / core workouts 20 min 3x a week – if I can do this for 4 weeks I will register for a half marathon as a reward!
- Complete the 100 pushups challenge
Other Goals
- Participate in a relay – seriously how fun would this be? I’m really hoping to get together a team from my local trail running club to do one of the local fall relays.
- Volunteer at a race
Marathon Training Week 5
Dec 1st
Weekly Total: 30 miles
- Monday 11/23 (Rest)
Did some yoga and some stretching – more on my new strength goal soon!
- Tuesday 11/24 (5 miles Easy)
We did a 5k in our running class today, which was tons of fun. I ran it in about 26 minutes at a pretty comfortable pace, which is great – it beats my May 16th time of 26:22 and I wasn’t even really pushing it! I can’t wait to race another 5k to see how I’ve improved this year. I threw in a warm up/cool down to hit 4.5 miles.
4.5 miles / 39:27 / 8:56
- Wednesday 11/25 (8 miles Tempo)
I was back home in MD for this run – and man am I allergic to something in my house. :( I had pretty bad asthma in the morning, so I called it quits after 3 miles, but in the afternoon I headed out again to dominate the other 5 of my workout.
3.02 miles / 28:24 / 9:24
4.25 miles / 38:03 / 8:57
- Thursday 11/26 (4 miles Marathon Pace)
Turkey Trot 10k! My race report.
6.2 miles / 52:00 (unofficial time) / 8:25ish
- Friday 11/27 (Rest)
Shopping!
- Saturday 11/28 (14 miles – long run)
Ouch… asthma killed this long run at mile 7. I felt pretty bad about calling it a day when I’d only done about half the miles I had planned on, but my lungs were just not cooperating. So I decided to take this as an opportunity to have a cut-back week. I’ve been going pretty hard for two months now, and I could probably use the break to recover a bit. Silver lining? I think so.
13.1 miles / 2:06:05 / 9:37
- Sunday 11/29 (5 miles Easy)
The CTRC back home was doing a “tour de Rivanna Trail” run today, which is a 20+ mile loop of the trail system in Charlottesville. Congrats to everyone who finished! It sounded like a lot of fun. I went to the local lake in MD and pounded out 2 loops – it was gorgeous at the park. I wish I’d taken a picture! My dad came with me and walked the opposite direction.My favorite part about this lake is that there’s always the “regulars.” Asian SARS lady (she wears a face mask every day), lady who runs in work clothes (she wears like, button down shirts… it’s confusing…), the park ranger, and the awesome guy who cheers me on every time I pass him. I love all my park peeps!
4.75 miles / 43:45 / 9:12
This week was tough. The asthma setbacks were frustrating to say the least. But it was probably good to have had a week off, especially after my two half marathon long runs. 14 miler this Saturday – wish me luck!
Thanksgiving Morning 2009 – Turkey Trot 10k and Crepes
Nov 26th
I LOVE Thanksgiving. I love being home with my family, I love cooking all day, I love the food… most of all I love that every Thanksgiving feels pretty-much the same. Yes, every year is a little bit different — my first vegetarian Thanksgiving (2007), my first Thanksgiving as a college student (2008) and now my first Thanksgiving as a runner.
I had SO much fun at the Turkey Trot this morning. It was put on by the Howard County Striders , a great runners organization full of great people and amazing runners. Every Saturday is a “bagel run,” a group run around Columbia that is open to everyone (even non-members). If you’re ever in Columbia looking for a group to run with on the weekend, I highly recommend the Bagel Run.
The route this morning was a great out and back in Jeffers Hill. It was a “Prediction Run” where the idea is to finish as close to 11 as possible; you can start whenever you want, but you can’t have any sort of timing device. I wanted to get home earlier than 11 because my mom made crepes this morning (YUM) so I headed out at 9 and was crossing the start line at 9:14. It was very strange to be “naked” without my Garmin or ipod, but it was also kind of nice. I am very excited to try out FitnessNYC’s Ultimate Running Playlist, though. Maybe on Saturday?
I had no idea about how fast I was going or how many miles I’d done. I am just not experienced enough as a runner to have a sense of those things yet. I crossed the finish line at 10:06, which is a new PR for me! I guess I run faster when I don’t know how fast I’m going. Either that or it’s a very short course. :P
When I got home the crepe batter was ready and waiting to be transformed into delicious, delicious breakfast.
- Crepe with banana, strawberry, and nutella, greek yogurt with homemade jam and granola, and a venti coffee :)
My brother tried to teach me how to play Assassin’s Creed 2, but I think I’m just beyond help. I will always and forever be a button-masher, I fear. I’m definitely a better spectator when it comes to video games — unless it’s Guitar Hero, in which case I will take on ANYONE.
- The Brother assembling his first crepe (out of three!!!)
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Redemption Run
Nov 25th
Went out for 4 miles after our shopping extravaganza today :) Showed those miles who’s boss. Very excited for my Turkey Trot tomorrow! Good luck to everyone else running one.
Allergy Fail + Mom Win
Nov 25th
I’m so glad to be back home for Thanksgiving! The only downside is that it takes my allergies a day or two to stop going haywire whenever I come back — so my 8-mile tempo run this morning turned into a 3-mile gasp-fest. Which, in the long run, is probably a good thing, considering that I haven’t had a “down” week in a while (read: 2 months) and could probably use a week of reduced mileage.
So viva la unplanned recovery day! I’m psyched for tomorrow’s Turkey Trot 10k – it’s a prediction run which is really cool. Stay tuned for the race report tomorrow!
And now for a day of shopping with my mom, who surprised me with this SUPER awesome necklace:
Which my picture totally doesn’t do justice to… because I’m a pretty bad photographer and my iphone is all I have with me right now. My mom’s an artist (we have a studio instead of a garage) and she works with metal sometimes. I love this necklace! It says “I RUN” on it :) My mom is the greatest – she has been with me 100% in my journey to becoming a runner, as she has been with me for everything else. Thanks mom!
Marathon Training Week 4
Nov 22nd
Weekly Total: 40 miles (!!!)
- Monday 11/16 (Rest)
My legs were *so* glad today to have a day off. Even though I take things pretty slow on Sundays after my Saturday long run, it’s still the hardest run of the week.
- Tuesday 11/10 (5 miles Easy)
At my PHYE class we went on a “distance run” and I ended up running around grounds with a fellow classmate – we had a great time chatting! I took her on one of my favorite loops on grounds.
6.5 miles / 1:00:03 / 9:41
- Wednesday 11/11 (8 miles Tempo)
Another great tempo run! The 9:26 pace actually feels pretty good. I did my normal tempo route and added in 2 miles on the track. The eventual goal is to be able to do 10 miles at this pace with very few rest intervals. :) Getting there!
8.50 miles / 1:20:00 / 9:26
- Thursday 11/12 (4 miles Marathon Pace)
I actually skipped my running class today :\ I had a lot going on in the afternoon and there was a H1N1 vaccine clinic during my running class that I wanted to go to. So I woke up, ran early, studied for my test, and then went out to go get my flu shot. It poured. I was wearing a rain coat and I still came home soaked to the bone. Not fun.
4.05 miles / 39:00 / 9:31
- Friday 11/13 (Rest)
- Saturday 11/14 (12 miles – long run)
I made this 12 miler another half marathon – it was great! Recap here.
13.1 miles / 2:06:05 / 9:37
- Sunday 11/15 (5 miles Easy)Just another group run with the local Trail Running Club! We had a blast. There were some new folks there, including a really cute boy (!!) and my runner friend Carli who I see all the time around grounds but haven’t run with in a while. She’s training for a 35 or 50k in January – she hasn’t decided which yet.
John told us about how he was out on the trails on Wednesday and saw a BEAR. Luckily it was dead (very, very dead, apparently) — but still, it’s kind of strange that there was one this close to the university.A bit further than I had planned to go today. I’m having trouble figuring out how I can get to and from the trails without using up my recovery miles just getting there.
7.55 miles / 1:16:00 / 10:03
Another great week of marathon training. I’m feeling better about my long run – last week I was worried about my pace for my half marathon – but this week’s long run proves that I can do it at a faster pace. Woohoo! Week 5 here I come!
The Rotunda at 8:40 this morning on my way to CTRC!
Long Run Week 4
Nov 21st
Bagpipers!
Another half marathon this week – this one complete with a halftime show! Downtown Charlottesville had a Holiday Parade today, so I got to see bagpipers and a huge christmas tree.
I experienced some pain in my right foot during this run around mile 8, but it disappeared. I’ll ice it tonight and hope that it doesn’t return!
Post-run I scarfed down some of my favorite greek yogurt – I’m a Fage girl – with some raspberries and a handful of granola. Then I headed to the International Center with my roommate for a vegan thanksgiving cooking class! We made a ton of good stuff, including:
- Tofurkey! It’s actually pretty good.
- Fingerling potatoes with other roasted vegetables
- Braised brussels sprouts – my new favorite vegetable!
- Wild rice with lentils – well, I’m allergic to lentils, so I didn’t try this one, but it sure looked good! I think if I substituted mushrooms for the lentils it would be fine.
- Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake – this was pretty good. I’m not sure the tofu was completely unnoticable, but overall pretty delicious. Especially the crust. I’m a sucker for a graham cracker crust.
- Mushroom gravy
A delicious meal, and the second of my three thanksgivings. Hopefully by next Thursday I’ll be ready to stuff myself again! I’m planning on doing a Turkey Trot – I’m extremely excited.
Marathon Training Week 3
Nov 20th
The week of my Awesome Half Marathon!
I’m feeling really good about my training at this point. Things seem to be going right – I hope that saying so doesn’t jinx it! The Half made it really clear that I need to do some hillwork, so I’ll plan on turning some of my M-pace runs into hill sessions. I’ll let you know how that goes!
Weekly Total: 34 miles
- Monday 11/9 (Rest)
- Tuesday 11/10 (5 miles Easy)
5.11 miles / 48:00 / 9:27We were supposed to do the timed mile in class, but a lot of people were sick, so we just did a few miles on the track. Since my legs were kind of still recovering from yesterday’s class, I was glad to not have to do the mile test – I know I have improved since August and I want to be able to do my best!Other than that, an uneventful 5 miles.
- Wednesday 11/11 (6 miles Tempo)
6.00 miles / 55:00 / 9:08
I got to practice my rain-and-puddle-evasion technique. I have to say it didn’t help much. Still, I was proud of myself for dragging my legs out of their warm cozy covers at 6am and heading out into the torrential downpour that was the weather this morning. It’s a good thing I love running, or else convincing myself that a 6 mile tempo run was better than an hour of sleep in my dark room listening to the rain on the roof would have been really difficult.
- Thursday 11/12 (4 miles Marathon Pace)
4.00 miles / 40:00 / 10:00
An easy run on the treadmill in my running class – just keeping things loose for the run on Saturday!
- Friday 11/13 (Rest)
Cue freaking out about the half tomorrow! I must have asked myself the question “Why did I not actually train for this? What was I thinking?!?!” about a million times. Things turned out well, though, and now I feel better about my mental running strength knowing that I toughed out a really hard race and didn’t give up.
- Saturday 11/14 (Half Marathon at Walnut Creek – 13.1 miles)
13.1 miles / 2:30:59 / 11:27
Race report here - Sunday 11/15 (6 miles Easy)
5.5 miles / 55:00 / 10:00No Charlottesville Trail Running Club group run today – since all of the “regulars” did the half the day before, no one was really feeling up for a group run on the trails. I was happy to hit the road, though, and give my legs a good stretching post-race. Nothing like a nice 5+ miler to get things feeling good again!
