Marathon Monday!

Hey everyone! Happy Monday! My apologies for skipping out on last week's post! I did manage to get all of my training in but I took a surprise trip to Houston to visit my boyfriend and well, blogging wasn't at the top of my priorities list!

Training has been going great and I'm feeling really good! My long runs had been really tough and shaky until yesterday when a 13 mile run knocked some confidence back into me! The run was on a treadmill no less! I woke up in the morning to thunder and lightning and didn't want to cancel my workout so I headed to the gym and spent 2 hours running on a treadmill to get in my workout!

I'll have to remember this when I'm at Mile 24 of the Marine Corps Marathon!

Just to recap last week's training since I missed my post:

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 4 miles easy (9:58/mile) with 4 strides
Wednesday: 7 mile hill workout
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 4 miles with 2 miles at Marathon Pace
Saturday: 4 miles easy (9:58/mile)
Sunday: 13 miles (9:58/mile)

The week before I had a Time Trial schedule. A Time Trial is just a 1 mile run that you do periodically to assess your fitness goals. I warmed up on the track for about 10 minutes, ran my mile and the cooled down for another 10. I managed to run my mile in 8:08 which I was pretty excited about! I'm hoping to shave off at least 8 seconds and come in at an even 8 minutes on my next Time Trial. 

Up until last week, my marathon training was all about slow, easy runs and with weekly hill runs. Last week, I added in 1 run at Marathon Goal Pace and 1 run with striders (30 second bursts where you pick up the pace and run nice, long strides). 

My goal for the Marine Corps Marathon was initially to break 4 hours which would put me at a 9:09 pace but lately, I've been thinking I'm capable of running much faster than that, so I ran last week's goal pace run at 8:46 and was surprisingly comfortable with it. So I'm sticking to it. The plan of attack for this week:

Monday: Rest Day (I did go swimming though, but it was easy swimming)

Tuesday: 5 miles easy (9:58/mile) with 5 strides

Wednesday: 6 mile hill workout

Thursday: 4 miles with 2 miles at Marathon Pace (8:46)

Friday: 6 miles easy (9:58/mile)

Saturday: 15 miles (9:58/mile)

Sunday: Rest Day

That's that! I usually take Thursdays as my Rest Day and run my long runs on Sunday but this weekend, my boyfriend is coming to visit and I want to get it out of the way before he gets here so I'm hoping that running 5 days straight won't affect me too much! Have you ever done this?

Have a great training week!

Marathon Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a great training week last week! I sure did! Despite the fact that I was still recovering from serious jet lag, had a very handsome Pilot pay me a visit and had 2 very evil professors impose an earlier than planned deadline for a 25 page paper, I still managed to get in all of my scheduled workouts!

While I missed Tuesday's 3 mile easy run because of said paper, I decided to double up on Wednesday and follow up a tough morning Hill Workout with an easy shakeout 3 mile run and just like that, I got in 30 happy (tough!) miles for the week!

This week is supposed to be a step back week from what should have been a 12-miler on Sunday but since I split that up into a 9 mile long run with a 3 mile shakeout, it's not going to be too much of a step back run for me but that is perfectly fine with me since I'm finally as of this week, in what should be Week 4 of Marathon Training, on schedule! So with that being said, Week 13 (remember, I'm counting down!) of MCM Training is going to look like this:

Monday: Rest Day (after 2 runs yesterday, I'm taking this one very seriously!)
Tuesday: 4 miles (10:04/mile)
Wednesday: 5 mile hill workout
Thursday: Time Trial (1 mile)
Friday: 4 miles (10:04/mile)
Saturday: 4 miles (10:04/mile) + Escape to Yoga Island!
Sunday: 10 miles (10:04/mile)

It's going to be a great training week! I'm especially excited for Escape to Yoga Island this weekend! Are you in the NY area? Let me know if you'll be there!

Next week marks the end of my easy 10:04 miles and the beginning of striders, marathon-pace runs (which I still have to figure out, longer hill workouts and faster runs...it's all part of Conquering 26.2 though and I can't wait for it!

The Return of Marathon Mondays

Hello blog friends! Christy here! I'm back from my overseas traveling! Didn't expect to hear back from me so soon, did ya? Well, I came back a month early. I'm quite ok with all of this since marathon training in India was not going according to plan. You try running 4 miles in 105 degree heat with 90% humidity and a heat index of 114. Yea...I did manage it a few times but I wasn't about to run 9 miles in that heat. That's just a recipe for heat stroke!

So, my trip was fantastic. The Netherlands, Bosnia, Serbia, Italy and India were all greeted with my Nikes as I made ran around the world this summer. But now, after a week of being jet lagged and sick, I'm back to the grind as they say and in full swing of Marine Corps Marathon Training!

The Marine Corps Marathon is 14 weeks away and while I originally set out on a 16 week training plan, Week 1 was kind of a bust. Week 2 was much better but instead of setting out for the 9 mile long run I should have, I opted for 6 in order to keep as much with the 10% rule as possible (not increasing your weekly mileage by more than 10%). So with a somewhat successful Week 2 out of the way, I'm marking today as the official start of my MCM training cycle. I'll be posting my schedules from week to week and letting y'all know how I'm doing as the weeks go by! So, Marine Corps Marathon Week 14 (I'm counting down!) is going to look like this:

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 3 miles (10:04/mile)
Wednesday: 5 mile hill workout
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 5 miles (10:04/mile)
Saturday: 5 miles (10:04/mile)
Sunday: 9 miles (10:04/mile) plus 3 mile shakeout run later in the day
Total Planned Miles: 30

So that's the week ahead! I love a training plan that starts with a Rest Day =) Sunday's run is supposed to call for 12 miles but again, keeping with the 10% rule, I'm going to split it up. Next week is supposed to be a step back week so rather than stepping back, I'm going to go from a 9 mile SLR (Sunday Long Run) this week to a 10-miler next week and from there I'll be right on track for MCM training!

Since I'm home early also means that I'm going to drag Chloe out for some joint runs. She doesn't know this yet though. =)

Happy Monday!

Okay Jeff Galloway, you win

Quick update on week one of post-baby marathon training:

I started using the run-walk method, and Jeff is right...continuous walking breaks make it easier to go longer. I may be sold for life.

I'm running 3 miles about 13 minutes slower than I used to...but with each run, I get a little faster. :)

I am out of shape.

For the first time in my life, I actually need a sports bra. Oh nursing...(tmi?)

I don't know when I'll be able to really jump into a training plan, but for now I really need to take it slow and run no more than every other day.

4 months, 1 week and 1 day until the NYC Marathon.

Here it goes!

(any running moms have any advice?)

According to Runner's World, I'm Toast

If you Google "marathon training",

one of the top results will be Runner's World.

Which has a little link below said result that you can click on that says 

"Are You Ready?"

...

Do yourself a favor.

If you just had a baby in May, haven't run since February, and got into the New York City Marathon when you weren't supposed to... 

do not click on this link.

...

In said article, they ask five questions to determine if you're ready to train for a marathon.

Have you been running for a year?

Do you have enough time to devote to training?

Are there other stresses in your life?

Do you think you can do it?

Why do you want to run a marathon?

My answers to those would be 

no. 

(unless you aren't just counting this past year)

no.

yes, according to you. 

(they specifically list a new baby as a stress, true story, though I like to think of him more as a new blessing that just happens to take a lot of time. smile.)

maybe.

because i got into the New York City Marathon, that's why.

...

I know it's absolutely insane, but tomorrow, six weeks after giving birth to my first child, I start training for a marathon, which is a mere

19

weeks

away.

Sure, enough time to train for the average person. 

But for someone who would feel sore after walking down the street and back only 4 weeks ago, the marathon might as well be tomorrow.

But you know what,

despite what Runner's World and anyone who has even the slightest bit running wisdom has to say about it,

I really am excited.

Not just for the marathon I've dreamt about since childhood,

but to just get out and

run again.

(Even if it is a little different with jogging stroller in tow)

...

What are you all training for this summer?

Anyone else running NYC?

...

On a side note,

Christy and I finally met this past Monday!

(stole this picture from my other blog)

read about our meet up here. 

and go here to send good wishes to Christy, who starts her crazy tour of the world tomorrow!

happy wednesday! thanks for still following this poor blog. but now that I'm (almost) running again, I have no excuse not to update. Except, you know, having a newborn.

Travel Tips for Runners

 *Edit: I scheduled this post before I left and it never posted so I'm posting it from The Netherlands! Enjoy!

It's been 2 months since either Chloe or I have posted on our poor, neglected running blog here and we both feel immensely guilty. However, finishing up my 1st year of grad school wasn't the easiest thing but was nothing compared to Chloe's birth story. But after finally meeting for the first time and seeing Chloe's beautiful baby boy, I can tell you, her reasons for neglecting this blog are much better than mine!

So what's going on in Christy's running world? Well, not a whole lot to be honest and I've got the extra 5 pounds on me to prove it! Sure, I've been running but since the NYC Half-Marathon in March, I've been running pretty minimally and run a few smaller distance NYRR races but have really just been taking it easy.

Until now, that is. I'm currently base training for the Marine Corps Marathon which I'll officially start training for on July 11 and will run on October 30. I'm super excited about running Marine Corps but really nervous about my training.


I have big goals for the Marine Corps Marathon. Not only do I want to PR my current marathon time of 4:08 but I'm aiming to chop off a whopping 18 minutes of that and being nervous about my training isn't the best way to go into training. But the reason I'm nervous about my training is because it's going to be so far out of my comfort zone, I'm not sure I can handle it.

See, I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back for 2 months. Tomorrow night, I'm getting on a flight to Amsterdam (with a nice little lay over in Dublin...plenty of time to stop off for a Guinness and a Jameson!). I'll be in Amsterdam until Wednesday when I head to Sarajevo, Bosnia where I'll be until Sunday when I head to Belgrade Serbia. From Serbia, I'm heading to Rome for one night before boarding a 16 hour flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka where I'll be for a month.

As if that wasn't enough traveling, after my month in Sri Lanka, I'm going on a 2 week, 5 city tour of India by myself before finally coming home. And aside from the 10 days I'll spend in Europe, I'm doing it all by myself.

I'm writing this post while my clothes are all drying from the pesticide spray I used on them (to protect me from malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and all of the other wonderful diseases I'll be prone to contracting) and my belongings are all sitting nicely waiting to be packed away. Runners' World sent an email out this week called "Travel Tips for Runners." I got so excited to read it and after finishing the article, I realized that it taught me nothing. I've been scouring the internet for tips and tricks for running safely in high heat and humidity in a 3rd world country that is recovering from a 26-year civil war.

Nothing. Ex-pats don't run? Diplomats don't run? What is this? Friends, I'm exploring uncharted territory here.

My longest run in Sri Lanka will be 12 miles. In India, 13. I'll be gone for the first 6 weeks of my training meaning all of my hill work and early longs runs will be in South Asia. To train for it, I've been running here in New York at the hottest time of the day. Smart? I have absolutely no idea but I'm hoping it works for me.

July 11 people. That's when it all begins. I'll be logging my training on here (I promise!) and please, if you have any tips for marathon training in such conditions, please let me know!

What are you training for this summer and what obstacles will you face?

I'm in!

Much to my shock, awe, excitement, fear, and disbelief, I got into the 2011 New York City Marathon! 

I intially applied thinking I would never get in, but rather that I would start plowing away at my 3 strikes before I got an automatic entry.  Imagine my disbelief when I saw the above on my computer screen.  I literally had to search my name three times over just to make sure it was true.  I even then went and dug up my entry number in my inbox to make sure there wasn't another person with my name for whom I could have been mistaken.  Nope, it truly was me!

Of course, after the initial shock wore off (umm, actually it still hasn't), reality started to sink in and all I could think was "Umm, can I really run a MARATHON six months after having a baby?! Am I INSANE?!"

The answer to that would be no, and yes.

Yikes.

But I am committed.  I've dreamt of this race since childhood, and I am setting NO goal time for myself.  Just run the thing, enjoy every.single.second of it, and plant some huge kisses on the faces of my baby and husband waiting at the finish line. 

Oh yeah, and also meet up with Christy (finally!) while I'm at it!

For those of you with an awesome memory, Christy also applied, but sadly did not get in.  It would've been so amazing to run together, but she is pure awesome and is so excited for me and we're definitely planning on meeting up sometime that weekend as those are her current stomping grounds!  Can't wait!

That, and she'll be running the one and only Marine Corps Marathon just a few weeks earlier (she was LITERALLY one of the last 5 or so people to register before it closed) so we'll be training for two AMAZING races at the same! ...though her training schedule will undoubtedly be WAY more hardcore than mine.  But I'm okay with that! :)

So while we've both 1) been crazy busy and 2) neglected this poor sorry blog immensely, we've both got some exciting things lined up in our running lives!  Now Christy just needs to finish this semester and my baby's got to come already {t-minus 5 days till my due date and counting} so we can get serious about this stuff!

Anyone else running NYC or MCM??

Guest Posting

Hey everyone! Happy Sunday! I'm Guest Posting today over at Run, Courtney, Run. Courtney is an amazing runner and triathlete and her blog is definitely one of my favorites so I was more than happy to write a guest post for her! I wrote it all about diet and nutrition and how I maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle while being a vegetarian, semi-iron deficient, lactose intolerant runner! Check it out here!

I had my first long run of my Half Training Cycle today: 8 miles. It went pretty well! I had a long night yesterday filled with some of my boyfriend's college buddies and let's just say beer, shots and bombs followed by waffles for breakfast make for a not so great long run. I actually felt pretty ok throughout it but I'm super sore now!

I'm off to finish watching the Jets game! Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Let's Go Jets!!!

1st place? No way!

I ran a local 5k this morning and took 1st in my Age Group! WOOHOO!

It was a teeny tiny race with less than 100 people but it's still an AG!

The race started at 8am which was super early for me who has been on vacation for 3 weeks and been sleeping in until 11. =/ I woke up, had some oatmeal and headed out the door. The race was in a housing development...a very nice housing development, I might add and started just on the side of this beautiful little lake (pond?) in the development. Since it was my first small race, I was a little bit confused as to where to line up since there were no corrals, so I just lined up close to the finish line but not too close.

As soon as I started, I felt like I was going out too fast based on how quickly the guys in front of me went out so I slowed up a bit to a comfortable pace. I hit Mile 1 at 8:10 and Mile 2 at 16:30. When I rounded Mile 3, I started to feel the effects of running so fast but I didn't want to lose my pace so I kept up with it. Since every race I've run has been a longer distance, I've maintained a slower than normal pace throughout and sprinted out the finish but I knew I was definitely giving it my all when I saw the Finish Line and had almost nothing left to give. I picked it up as much as I could and ran through the Finish in 25:38!

I'm so excited about such an awesome start to the 2011 Race Season!

Sadly, I don't have any pictures because I forgot to give my camera to my boyfriend but nonetheless, it was a great race!

Growing a Future Marathoner (or trying to run with one)

So, obviously some time has elapsed since I wrote this post announcing I was expecting (a baby).

And this obviously means I am much more pregnant than before, and growing more & more every day.

See what I'm talking about? This was taken yesterday.

More belly = less running.

But I don't mind too much.

Because after all, I get a cute running partner baby to love out of it. :)

And I'm getting over the fact that I missing out on the big local marathon that a ton of people I know are doing this year.  It was my first (and only to date) marathon last year, and I was the only person I knew of running it.  This year, runners abound.  Where were they last year?? Sigh.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here, I'm still sometimes running (with my new Garmin 405! love!), and I'm in the lottery for NYC if you feel like sending up good prayers for my getting in (and for Christy! she's in the lottery too!) -- I'm really hoping to make my post-baby comeback with a bang! 

Oh and if you really want to know my full thoughts on all things running and pregnancy, check out this guest post that Courtney from Run, Courtney, Run had me write last month.   I laid it all out on there, so I won't repeat myself here. :)

Anyway, what are new year running resolutions and/or 2011 goals you all have for yourselves?  Anyone running the big one for the first time this year?  I'd love to hear about everyone's training!  I'll live vicariously through you all as I grow my future marathoner. :)