You know you've thought about it. I did it!

50 meters into my recovery run

Aweee yeahhhh. This was the situation the day after my 17 mile run up a hill. My legs were fine. My body was a little sore but I was just plain old tired. My eyes would not stay open. So, I did what I often think about when I running on E: lay down on the side of the road! 

It was awesome. I got back up and ran a little more but called it quits after about 3 miles. I was probably doing my body a disservice. 

I went to bed and woke up feeling much better. I ran 10 easy at 7:30 pace this morning. I just needed some sleep. It happens.

Happy Running!

Laura

And one time at band camp...

The Long Run...

Post run. I feel like this photo should have a black bar over my eyes. Too much going on!

My favorite run of the week is my long run. I sometimes can't sleep well the night before because I'm too excited to wake up at the crack of dawn and slip out into the dark. This excitement ends abruptly. Usually about 5 minutes after I get home from my run. lol.

My long run today was 17 miles. Not only was I excited for the mileage but I also had new shoes. Saucony Cortana's. Kinda expensive: $144 retail. I liked them but they didn't seem worth the price tag. Maybe a $110 worthy but still a good shoe. I'll happily run them into the ground.

The Cortana

So I did a hilly down and back. 1272 feet of elevation. I will feel this tomorrow.

My splits were pretty even. It was an easy run so I did what felt easy. The avg was 7:26 pace. I wanted something near 7:30 pace so that worked. I had one hammer gel and a water bottle. It was perfect. Opening a gel with completely frozen fingers and mittens is another story. I won't even go there...

So the run went well but damn, it's the post run that is so time consuming....

post run. post food.

an hour later...with various children and pets starting to pipe up.

This run is day 6 of 7 of my week. And to get even get more tangental I'll give you my training schedule for this week, lol:

Monday: 9 miles. 7:23 pace. hills
Tuesday: 8 miles. 7:18 pace. Flat
Wednesday: 10 miler with 6x1000 @ 6:25ish pace
Thursday: 9 easy. 7:26 pace. flat
Friday: 6 miles. 7:20 pace. flat
Saturday: 17
Sunday: 7 miles easy.


Total: 66 miles

So, the long run rocks. I am happily finishing week 10 of my marathon training. YAY!!

Happy Saturday my friends....
Laura

I have a MARATHON!!!

 

FINALLY!! 

10 weeks into my marathon training I registered for a marathon!!! Now I have a goal I can visualize. A real course to think about. Years of race results to stalk. Weather predictions to analyze. However, last year when I made this announcement I broke my leg shortly after. So, with fingers crossed I am ecstatic to say I am training for the :

Why Eugene?
It fit my time frame. I could only do my marathon this weekend or the next. Eugene will ROCK! I love the course. I love the whole finish on Hayward field and of course the history associated with the University of Oregon, Prefontaine, Nike etc. I am stoked! And I'm sure I'll come home with many pictures of me humping every life size cardboard cut out of Pre I can find. LOL.

The only drawback is its on the exact opposite side of the country. I plan to get out there as early as possible to shake the jet lag.

Another good thing that kind of takes away the stress is the fact I have no chance in hell of even getting an age group. This race attracts some sick talent. The top 40 women were all 2:44-3:0X. I want to run a strong race and BQ.

I think I need some new compression to celebrate! haha

Later taters!
LaBella!

SICK: to run or not?

Happy Wednesday!

Actually, I am very happy despite being sick with a nasty cold. I know there are 2 theories most runners have about running while sick: 1. sweat it out and do your run and 2. Your body needs to recovery. Let it rest.

This is how I deal:

 Don't comment me to death about the ibuprofen! I know it's bad, blah, blah, blah but when my lymph nodes on my neck are the size of pinecone balls and I can't swallow then it's ok. The Sudafed helps me breath and the caffeine is pretty much normal but I added a 5 hour chaser to fight the sleepies.

Result: tempo done! 10 miles with 6x1000 in the middle.

I'm curious to see how I feel tomorrow. lol. I usually get sick once a year and always run through it. I'm glad I don't have to sit around and suffer with a big FAIL on my running log. ahhhhh all warm and fuzzy now!

Cheers and happy running!
Laura

Dress like a jogger, run like a jogger? A Test.

Something happens when your weekly mileage hits 60 and above. At least for me I try to find things to do to make it interesting. This weekend I had 2 runs. One was going to be a recovery run and the other was a regular run. I was a little afraid I'd be tempted to drop the hammer on my recovery run so I had to get creative.

So I asked myself, how does one force themselves to go slower??...AH-HA!!

yes my light bulb runs...lol

I know!! Dress like a jogger!!! You think I'm joking. I'm not. I put on a sweatshirt and headed out the door for an 8 mile recovery run. Clearly, if I feel like a normal Joe I'll act normal and run reasonably. Right?

Answer: Garmin here YES I ran 7:40 pace and didn't feel the need to chase anyone down or catapult myself across any car hoods. Success, right?

Run 2. Tonight. It was 25 degrees out so I did need to stay warmer. But instead of my very expensive, highly technical and fashionable running gear I donned large hoodie and left for 8 miles.

I ran in this hoodie

So, according to my theory I should have schlepped along. Well, I'm afraid I blew that theory. I ran 8 miles psychotically up and down various hills. Like a drug dog in Tijuana. I kept sniffing out the best way to run to get the most elevation for the hood I was in. It wasn't fast per se. 7:19 pace but it was hard.

BAM!!

So, my hypothesis was rejected. It is possible to run hard in a hoodie. 

Good night all. ; )

Laura

I don't go "out for a jog"!!!

Someone said to me the other day, "Hey Laura, are you going out for a jog today?" This was my reaction:

I was offended. I don't "go for a jog." I have a meticulously thought out TRAINING schedule.  Every foot step is predetermined. I run hard or easy on specific days to reach my goal. Going out for a jog implies I have no forethought or maybe that  I need to lose weight. LOL/WTF?

I guess I was really offended because I'm in my 8th week of marathon training and can no longer run my beloved 7 pace as frequently as I would like to. This week I had:

Monday: 6 miles @ 7:15 pace
Tuesday: 8 miles with middle 5 miles @ 4 mins 6:25 pace and 3 minutes 7:30 pace.
Wed: 8 miles easy 7:17 pace
Thursday: 8 miles easy 7:30 pace
Friday: long run. 13 miles. middle 6 miles at 6:38 pace. That hurt.
Saturday: 8 very easy 7:40 pace. That hurt too. lol.
Sunday: 8 miles.
TOTAL: 60 miles

I am super excited because I'm finally getting "sore" legs again after the harder workouts. I remember this from last year when I started training. I finally feel like I'm doing something and not just pissing around. Yay!

Can't forget the dreaded AB UPDATE: ie fail update. I'm still doing abs on the bosu after my run. But not really being serious. I'm usually playing with my dog, checking my blackberry, uploading my run to FB. I'll get back to it when I get pissed off enough.

So all is good. Happy running my friends!

Laura

marathon training....week 7

Good Morning all you fasties and slow pokes alike! TGIF!

I'm wrapping up week 7 (really week 1. 1-6 were base building) of marathon training.  All is well here. I'm doing about 60-70 miles a week. I dropped back this week a little as per my schedule. I am fine with that as I'm on a short little beach vacation.

I think on vacation we all learn how crazy we are in terms of keeping our running schedule. It sounds crazy to work a 17 miler into a day of site seeing with kids but it really isn't. Running is my morning coffee. Take it away and you'll piss me off. Give me a headwind on the beach and chapped lips from the salt water breeze and I'm happy.

I have to give props to the those who really do their slow runs. I did a 12 miler last week at 8 pace and felt it for days. But it also enabled me to crank of some good faster runs afterwards. I promise to do my slow runs with my new schedule. The fear of burnout is very real. I'll play nicely this season.

This week I had a 17.5 miler long run scheduled. I HATE the half mile but around mile 16 I wasn't fighting it too much. lol. This was a VERY cool run. Because:

*it was in the sand on a gorgeous beach
*My longest run since I fractured my leg
*very windy
*I had the most even splits ever at 7:16 pace
*never stopped, drank or ate and still felt good.
*2:07 total time

It was pretty hard to run into the wind and sink in the sand but at the same time I felt like I finally was seeing the benefit of my training. Most of my runs I feel like anyone could do. But this run I felt like I deserved. Like my hard work so far let me cruise evenly and finish without event. I've done faster and longer runs but this was definitely the most difficult.

Here are some pics:

all I have to say about beach running is that the pier is really FAR away. lol

much nicer. 50 degrees

this was my 25 degree 17 miler...ouch

post 17.5

I have a Banyan tree addiction

Gorgeous!

Well happy Running Loves. It's time to pack up and head home...Have a great weekend!

Laura