Sunday, December 29, 2013

Week 3 of Marathon Training

What a WEEK. I hate to have such a crummy report but so it goes. This week of training was less that wonderful. If it wasn't already going to be tough to manipulate runs around Christmas festivities, let's just go ahead and add food poisoning to the mix. Basically I misses 3.5 runs. I say .5 because yesterday my long run was scheduled and I was supposed to pump out 6 miles and instead I ran a 5k. The only thing I have to redeem myself about that is that it's my fastest 5k in a long time. WOO! I just wasn't feeling up to par for a long distance run. So, I said I'll run what I can and head home. So I did. The good news is that I can tell that my biking and cycling is working. I came out of the gate running faster than I normally do and I didn't really notice. Fantastic.

Today is cross training. I have lofty goals of what I would like to accomplish tonight at the gym. 
-15 min bike warm up 
-30 min Eliptical (10 min mile speed, medium resistance)
-Ab/Squat circuit (2X each) 
-15 laps in the pool

I really want to pump up the cardio and make sure I get my metabolism back pumping since I had several days with no food. Excited to get back in to it. I was a hoot - I was mostly irritated that I couldn't train. I'm taking this pretty seriously and want to make sure I do everything I can to succeed.

In other news I'd like to talk about gym locker room etiquette. Now, I understand that it's a locker room. People change etc. However, this does not mean that you need to walk around fully naked just because you feel like you can. It's not a lounge. You go in, take your clothes off, put your other clothes on and go. Sometimes, you take your gym clothes off, take a shower, put your other clothes back on and go. No where in this process does it mean walk around the entire locker room with your breasts dragging the ground and make everyone else in the locker room uncomfortable? No where. 

I'll give a quick update tonight on how my workout went. Wish me luck!


Saturday, December 21, 2013

End of Week #2 Marathon Training

Well here we are at the end of week two! I'm pretty pleased overall. I stuck to my training schedule as planned except for Thursday. I had a 3 mile run to do and life just interjected and made it not possible. BUT I made up for it today with a 10 mile run instead of a 7 mile run. And let me tell you - it was the hilliest run of my life. Ten miles and it hurt. But I got it done and it was well worth it! I got to run on a trail that I have never ran on before and catch up with an old friend! I don't usually run with anyone but I'm glad I went and ran with Meg and her friend. They were wonderful and helped me along the whole way. I definitely wouldn't have made the second loop of the trail if it wasn't for them. 

The other night I was comparing the elevation charts for the Publix Marathon and the Nashville Marathon. I'm super glad I didn't choose to do that Publix....

Publix
 Nashville

Those first few miles of Nashville are going to be brutal... but well worth it for an almost flat 10k at the end. Meg did the Publix as her first marathon and said it was the most traumatic experience ever. Looking at those elevation changes I can certainly see why. 

I made it to the pool on Friday for a swim on my "rest" day. 15 laps and I was pooped. I'm excited to see how much overall body strength I can  develop but it's definitely going to be a journey. Today is a cross training day. I'm not sure what the day will hold as far as that goes. Maybe yoga at 11. And maybe some biking after that with my kendal in hand. Nothing crazy but enough to get my heart rate going and my muscles engaged. 

 It's very satisfying to be able to record all of my miles. Every when my "goal" is the number of miles that are on my training schedule. As long as I follow the schedule I always meet the goal. There's nothing better than being able to see that you have done something great for yourself and your body. 

Here's to getting some fitness in for the day! WOO! 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

End of Week 1 Marathon Training

Well, that's a wrap, folks! Week 1 is down in the books and I'm pretty pleased about it. I completed all of my training runs despite the rain and cold temps. I did switch my long run from Saturday to Sunday because it was monsooning. No big deal - still got my miles in. 

Today's run was my first "long run" of my training. 7 miles. The furthest I've been running is a 10k so I was worried about pushing the extra mile that I haven't been running. It was a good run. I wish I would have woken up on time so that I could have had more time to eat properly and hydrate but overall it was great. I found myself being overly concerned about other people around me and my lack of speed. I literally had to mentally block everyone out - I was the only one on the course as far as I was concerned. I finish the 7 miles under my normal pace and am very pleased with my progress. 

Today I wore Addidas cold weather running tights. They're just as effective as my Lady Foot Locker tights. The thing I like more about them is they have a drawstring in the top so I can tighten them. This came in handy when my under armor shirt kept riding up under my Nike cold weather hoodie thing. Very irritating. So I tucked it in and tightened those bad boys up and problem was solved. Also, they "key pocket" is on the right thigh and not on your but or back. That's totally a better spot for it. I typically check about 673 times if I still have my car key in my zippered compartment so it was much easier to check my leg than my back or butt (probably looked a lot less ridiculous, too.) 

In other news I bought a bathing suit so I can do laps at the gym on my rest days to build endurance. Let me tell you how cute this thing is. ... . . . . .. . yeah cause it's not. Not cute. BUT. It will be effective. I'll be giving it a go tomorrow so I'll keep you posted...

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Marathon Training Day 3

Today my fancy running schedule informed me that I was to run 5 miles. So, being the type-A planner that I am, I got on mapymyrun.com and started looking for places to run. Here in Atlanta, it gets dark at what seems like 3pm so the trails are out except for on the weekends. Sidewalks are kind of sparse and Atlanta drivers are NOT to be trusted to not hit you despite wearing ten pounds of reflective gear. The office where I work is in the middle of a giant office park which has a million back roads WITH sidewalks (which I coincidentally take to and from work) so I decided that was my best shot. I mapped a 2.5 mile route from my office. An out and back method generally works best for me because then it's "2.5 miles and then just back to my car" instead of "a 5 mile loop." Yeah, I try to trick myself. So what.

I spent the whole day psyching myself up. "This is going to be the best run! I'm going to feel great! I'm not going to cramp! WOO!" 

Shockingly, it worked. Just another example that it's mind over matter, people. At 5pm I changed into my running gear and headed out to my designated starting spot. I turned on my Garmin and off I went. It was cold - but having the right running gear TOTALLY makes a difference. 

Long story short I did great. Powerhoused up a hill that I was convinced I would have to walk. I beat my time goal and set a new 5k PR (WELL, post injury PR. Not back to pre injury pace or athleticism yet. In due time). 

Took the challenge, made a plan, let the positivity flow and WHAM! 5 solid training miles on the books. Take THAT marathon training schedule. 

-Shauna

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Training Officially Started

OH GOD. IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING. 

Monday marked my first "official" day of training. Good news for me is that Mondays are "rest" days ;-) Today I headed out to the very muddy trail to get my 3 miles in. I went to the trail thinking, "oh, only three miles. NBD." HA! I thought I was going to die until I got past the first two miles. I'm not sure if it was my lack of fluids, the cold weather (whopping 41* with a mighty wind blowing) or a combination of the two. All I know is that I went, got it done and here I am. Tomorrow I've got 5 miles on the docket. I haven't mapped out my 5 miles yet. I'm thinking I'll leave from work and run some back roads that are paved. That seems to be a problem around here. NO SIDEWALKS. But, I'm just going to have to get creative. 

On the plus side, after my run my boo made me a giant glass of ovaltene to have with my 100 calories english muffin. YUM. At least there's chocolate milk at the end, right? 

The dangerous thing about the trail I ran at today is literally right across the street from the outlet mall. As if you needed to ask - of COURSE I stopped by the Nike outlett and the Addidas outlet. I NEEDED new running gloves... I also came out with another cold weather top, some headbands and two new pairs of running tights.

Motivation via shopping? Whatever works! ;-)

-Shauna

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Operation: Marathon

Several years ago I decided to "become a runner." I still haven't really figured out what that is. With a couple of half marathons under my belt I suppose I can safely say that I have running experience but I wouldn't go much further than that. 

I have relit my flame for all things running and have decided that 2014 is the year to throw it all out on the street so to speak - I'm going to run a marathon. 

The Rock'n'Roll Nashville Marathon on April 26, 2014 to be exact. 

I've entered the race. I've booked my hotel. I've picked out my training schedule. Now all that's left is to lace up my Nikes and get to it. 

I'm more focused on the journey to the race than the race itself. I'm excited to see how hard I can push myself and how mentally focused I can become. I'll lay it all out here.... the good, the great, the absolutely fucking miserable and everything in between. 

This is my final week of my own running whatever I feel like each day. Monday December 9th begins my 20 week training plan. Nervous much? Uh - YEAH. 

As for now, I'll be content with my hilly 5k I threw down after work. Tomorrow it's up before the sun to get some miles in before I head off to the office. Wish me good speed! 

-Shauna