Yesterday was my recovery run from my long run on Saturday. I was literally pressed for time because I had a dinner party to go to at 6:30pm. My husband just started his awesome job yesterday and was home just after 5pm. I kind of expected the same thing. Well, 5pm comes around and he said he is just barely leaving. So, now I'm freaking out about time. So I realize I will be cutting my time super short and barely any time to get ready for the party. You do what you gotta do, I guess.
I had a snack about 30 minutes prior to running and I was all dressed up in gear when my husband walked in the door. I quickly told him I loved him and was off.
I started off easy. I wanted a comfortable pace, since this was my recovery run. The first mile is uphill. Not want to die as you run, uphill, but a gradual uphill. I listened to my tunes and just ran. I looked at my garmin and was at a 9min pace. It felt. I won't say that running uphill is easy peasy, but it felt like I was just barely working to keep that 9 minute pace and make it up the hill.
the 2nd mile flattens out, a little and then goes downhill, I'd say a quarter of a mile. Then it goes straight up. It's not a big hill, but it is steep and you have to work for it. Keeping the pace at 9 min (ish) was a little harder, but once over that hill, it's smooth sailing.
The 3rd mile was downhill. Glorious downhill. I tried to just let the hill run for me. I didn't push myself. I've run down this hill at 7:30pace, so you definitely work for it. But I just ran it and what felt comfortable and enjoyable. This mile was about 8:41.
The 4th mile was an out and back because this loop is only 4 miles and I need 5. So, I went out and came back. This mile was okay. It has both a gradual uphill and downhill. You can definitely feel when it goes uphill. But, I just try to continue breathing and just enjoying the run. Afterall, this is a recovery run.
The last mile goes uphill and then goes downhill. But I felt so strong. My pace quickened without me even realizing it. It just felt so good. The sun had just set behind set behind the mountains and it was incredibly beautiful. Yes, training is hard. And sometimes it's not way fun. But runs like today, make all the miles that I have ran, so worth it. More than worth it.
I finished that mile at 8:49. It was great. I have about 10 minutes to quickly try to get ready and head out. I finished 5 miles in 44 minutes 36 seconds. That's really good, for me! For a recovery run that didn't feel like I was really pushing myself.
It really true when they say the more you run, the stronger you get. The faster you get! I have also been complementing my running with insanity. I don't do it every single day, but at least 4 times a week.
I love running.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
Deer Creek Trail
Instead of trying to go back and blog about past races, I am just going to start up where I currently am. For the past 2 months I have been training for the West Mountain Marathon. It has been amazing. I changed my strategy for training and I have noticed a major change in my pace.
Saturday I did my long run along the Deer Creek Trail by where I live. This is a difficult trail with lots of gradual uphill and downhill. I was scheduled for 13 miles, but my friend and I decided to go to the end to make it 15 miles.
I've done this trail twice before and I didn't feel as tired as I had before. I started thinking about what I ate the night before. I had pizza. That's perfect carb loading! But then I realized the pizza was thin crust. This was not my choice, that was just how it was ordered. We had friends over, and she was watching out for me and my calorie intake. I love her! But calories don't mean anything to me the night before a long run.
I also didn't take as many honey stingers as I normally do. I am not sure why I didn't. My water intake wasn't what it usually was either. Wait, I know why I didn't. I was running with a seasoned runner and she was not taking anything. So, I wanted to be cool like her and run on nothing. Fail. We are two completely different people. Little things that I change really do make a difference. I probably could have ran that a tad faster than what I did. Do what works for you. Don't change it.
The next day my calves were hurting. It seems when I do hills on trails my body reacts completely different and different parts of my body are worked.
I was struggling with a hamstring pain from my runs earlier in the week. I had wanted to run up cascade springs road, but decided against it with my hamstring. I didn't want to ruin my chances of running the marathon just because I really wanted to run uphill. Like, straight uphill. There will be many chances for that.
Saturday I did my long run along the Deer Creek Trail by where I live. This is a difficult trail with lots of gradual uphill and downhill. I was scheduled for 13 miles, but my friend and I decided to go to the end to make it 15 miles.
I've done this trail twice before and I didn't feel as tired as I had before. I started thinking about what I ate the night before. I had pizza. That's perfect carb loading! But then I realized the pizza was thin crust. This was not my choice, that was just how it was ordered. We had friends over, and she was watching out for me and my calorie intake. I love her! But calories don't mean anything to me the night before a long run.
I also didn't take as many honey stingers as I normally do. I am not sure why I didn't. My water intake wasn't what it usually was either. Wait, I know why I didn't. I was running with a seasoned runner and she was not taking anything. So, I wanted to be cool like her and run on nothing. Fail. We are two completely different people. Little things that I change really do make a difference. I probably could have ran that a tad faster than what I did. Do what works for you. Don't change it.
The next day my calves were hurting. It seems when I do hills on trails my body reacts completely different and different parts of my body are worked.
I was struggling with a hamstring pain from my runs earlier in the week. I had wanted to run up cascade springs road, but decided against it with my hamstring. I didn't want to ruin my chances of running the marathon just because I really wanted to run uphill. Like, straight uphill. There will be many chances for that.
Huntsville Half Marathon Sep. 27th, 2014
I had the opportunity to run the Huntsville Half Marathon. I have to give big thanks to my awesome husband, for letting me practically run it last minute.
The forecast for this weekend was stormy and cold. Awesome conditions (enter sarcasm). The night before the race, I couldn't sleep. It was an hour and half to Huntsville from our place. I was super worried about driving in the dark and in the rain. I hardly got any sleep. I was so stressed.
I woke up at 4:30am and got ready. We were out of the house by 5:30am with our 3 children. Thankfully, it was not raining. The construction we knew we would hit, wasn't so bad. There was hardly any traffic, which was awesome.
We pulled into Huntsville around 7am. I was early, but I was just glad that we made it there. I did a few things with my husband and kids and then said goodbye. I got on the bus and started my trek up the canyon.
I was so stoked and nervous. I was tired, but full of adrenaline and ready for this race. We got to the start and there was a ton of stuff going on. But I also had like 45 minutes before start time.
Seriously? So since I was tired, I just laid down in their big huge tent and listened to Peter Bradley Adams and tried to rest before go time.
Once time got close, I decided to use the bathroom. 3 seems to be my magic number. After having babies, your bladder just isn't the same. Then everyone started lining up.
Again, this was all new to me, I just jumped in wherever.
And then the race started. It was downhill, and I spotted the 1:55 pacer. I thought, sure, why not?! So I stayed with them. I felt great. I was letting gravity take me. I looked down and saw I was doing an 8:10 mile pace. Awesome! I felt great!
I was wearing a pair of running pants that I had bought back when I was super fit (pre-pregnancy) and they kept sliding down. Not because they were too big, because they kept rolling down my big hips. It was quite uncomfortable for the first 2 miles.
The next 4 miles were great. The downhill I expected was not there. It was more like rolling hills. My mile times had slowed down. I was now around 9 minute miles. When I hit mile 8-9, I began to get tired. Really tired. I almost felt exhausted. My mile mile times were tanking. I was around the 10 minute mile pace. I took a gu and tried to push myself. This is where I had to start to talk to myself. I knew the rest of the race was going to have be all mental. Physically, my body was stopping.
at mile 10, I got that runners high. I felt great. for about half a mile. Then I tanked again. I kept screaming at myself! Where was my energy?! I began cursing my speed at the beginning of the race. I wasn't sure why I didn't pace myself better instead of going all out.
I began to walk. My legs felt so heavy. I would walk, then jog and repeat. I really struggled the last 2 miles.
When I hit mile 12, I knew I just had 1 more mile. I knew that I could do it. So, I mustered up whatever energy I had left, and tried to run. That mile ended up being a 10:40.
Once I saw that finish line, I sprinted. I knew my husband was there and I gave it everything I had, and crossing it felt amazing! I kind of wanted to throw up and jug water at the same time. They handed me my medal and I kept walking to go find my husband.
They had blocked off the tennis court and they had a ton of food for the runners. Nothing really looked good, but the grapes were calling my names. I grabbed a few handfuls. I got a water and a creamie ice cream.
Things I wish I would have done different and things out of my control.
The course was beautiful! I will definitely do it again!
The forecast for this weekend was stormy and cold. Awesome conditions (enter sarcasm). The night before the race, I couldn't sleep. It was an hour and half to Huntsville from our place. I was super worried about driving in the dark and in the rain. I hardly got any sleep. I was so stressed.
I woke up at 4:30am and got ready. We were out of the house by 5:30am with our 3 children. Thankfully, it was not raining. The construction we knew we would hit, wasn't so bad. There was hardly any traffic, which was awesome.
We pulled into Huntsville around 7am. I was early, but I was just glad that we made it there. I did a few things with my husband and kids and then said goodbye. I got on the bus and started my trek up the canyon.
I was so stoked and nervous. I was tired, but full of adrenaline and ready for this race. We got to the start and there was a ton of stuff going on. But I also had like 45 minutes before start time.
Seriously? So since I was tired, I just laid down in their big huge tent and listened to Peter Bradley Adams and tried to rest before go time.
Once time got close, I decided to use the bathroom. 3 seems to be my magic number. After having babies, your bladder just isn't the same. Then everyone started lining up.
Again, this was all new to me, I just jumped in wherever.
And then the race started. It was downhill, and I spotted the 1:55 pacer. I thought, sure, why not?! So I stayed with them. I felt great. I was letting gravity take me. I looked down and saw I was doing an 8:10 mile pace. Awesome! I felt great!
I was wearing a pair of running pants that I had bought back when I was super fit (pre-pregnancy) and they kept sliding down. Not because they were too big, because they kept rolling down my big hips. It was quite uncomfortable for the first 2 miles.
The next 4 miles were great. The downhill I expected was not there. It was more like rolling hills. My mile times had slowed down. I was now around 9 minute miles. When I hit mile 8-9, I began to get tired. Really tired. I almost felt exhausted. My mile mile times were tanking. I was around the 10 minute mile pace. I took a gu and tried to push myself. This is where I had to start to talk to myself. I knew the rest of the race was going to have be all mental. Physically, my body was stopping.
at mile 10, I got that runners high. I felt great. for about half a mile. Then I tanked again. I kept screaming at myself! Where was my energy?! I began cursing my speed at the beginning of the race. I wasn't sure why I didn't pace myself better instead of going all out.
I began to walk. My legs felt so heavy. I would walk, then jog and repeat. I really struggled the last 2 miles.
When I hit mile 12, I knew I just had 1 more mile. I knew that I could do it. So, I mustered up whatever energy I had left, and tried to run. That mile ended up being a 10:40.
Once I saw that finish line, I sprinted. I knew my husband was there and I gave it everything I had, and crossing it felt amazing! I kind of wanted to throw up and jug water at the same time. They handed me my medal and I kept walking to go find my husband.
They had blocked off the tennis court and they had a ton of food for the runners. Nothing really looked good, but the grapes were calling my names. I grabbed a few handfuls. I got a water and a creamie ice cream.
Things I wish I would have done different and things out of my control.
- paced myself better at the beginning of the race
- had a better nights sleep (but is that possible the night before a race)
- not worn that particular pair of running pants
- better music, or ditched the music
The course was beautiful! I will definitely do it again!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)