the gorgeousness that is Austin

Just read Hal's tip of the week regarding preparation, and thought I'd add my two cents. Hal says:

"Practice makes perfect. Practice not only running, but everything else related to race day. That includes equipment. Do you know what shoes you'll wear on race day? Buy a new pair now! How about shorts and singlet? Test your clothing in training to make sure nothing chafes or causes a blister. Do you expect hot or cold weather race day? Weather can be unpredictable. Will you be prepared if the temperature suddenly drops (or rises) 30 degrees on race day? Consider every scenario you might encounter."

I've been meaning to share a few tips that will help y'all prepare for the Austin Marathon.

First, y'all should know that Austin has VERY variable weather. It's totally unlike Portland, which will be consistently in the 40/50s all winter. One day we will have a crisp morning in the 30s, the next day it will be 80 degrees and sunny. Yesterday the high was 80 degrees, and I went running in a t-shirt and shorts! So, bring multiple racing outfits, because there is no way to predict the temps on marathon day. However, you can safely assume that it will be sunny. It hardly rains here!

Another thing to mention is that the marathon course is very hilly. Parts of it are rolling hills like Helvetia, other parts have long gradual uphill and then downhill stretches. Check out the course elevation graph. In my training group, we have been including hills in a lot of our long runs, including running parts of the course. In Portland, I'd say run Terwilliger every few weekends, and maybe some runs on the east side around Faith's neighborhood.

Hm, what else? It is pretty dry here, so plan on constantly being thirsty while you are here, and drinking lots of water. Pack your short shorts, cowboy boots, and sunglasses. It is usually gorgeous and sunny during our Sunday morning runs, so I'm thinking we are in for a beautiful marathon!

Sick!

I've been sick since Thursday with what started out as a sore throat and ear ache.  Since then, it has become a cough, sneezing, runny nose, headache, chills sort of cold.  Then, to top it all off, I woke up barfing yesterday.  I got in all my runs last week but I didn't run yesterday (or go to work!!) or today.  I'm hoping to run tomorrow but it will all depend on my below the shoulders situation - basically, I'll take another day if I'm still coughing.  

Other than this week, I've only missed one other run during this training session.  So, I'm probably okay but I just HATE missing workouts.  I worry that this will be the one that I really regret come marathon day if things don't go right.  But, I've got to get over this and running with it probably didn't help me much (although I'd also argue that it probably didn't hurt me much either).  I'd guess that not getting enough rest is more to blame...  but that is a constant struggle for me.  

Anyway, I'll get this week's email and last week's update out tomorrow!! 

weekly recap

Tough week for me!

Monday - biked to work (16 miles round trip = good cross-training!)
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - 3 miles, 2 @ 10k pace
Saturday - 7 miles @ marathon pace
Sunday - 13 miles

Now that the Austin Marathon course has been announced, we've been including pieces of it in our long runs. This weekend we ran the section from Mile 9 to Mile 13. I have never been on those roads before, it was a pretty nice little neighborhood, with some rolling hills that are reminiscent of the Helvetia Half. I think this marathon is going to be more challenging than Eugene because of the hills. I'll post more about the course as I run all the different areas.

Get 'er done early

Interesting article in the NY Times about the intersection of holiday indulgence, weight gain, and exercise. A pretty good argument for running first thing in the morning, regardless of the season. Bring on the eggnog, christmas cookies, and frigid early morning jogs!

Awesome Tempo Run

I had a great tempo run yesterday!!  It ended up being a solo run and I really kicked it's ass:

Mile 1 - 9:29
Mile 2 - 9:18
Mile 3 - 8:59
Mile 4 - 9:08
Mile 5 - 8:52
Mile 6 - 8:58
Mile 7 - 8:18

Overall - 1:03:03 (9:00)

I love running with a Garmin because it gives me this kind of information.  My perceived effort level was hard but not unsustainable.  If I hadn't sprinted that last mile, I think I could have kept going for at least a couple more at the 9-ish pace.  I'm beginning to think that the 9:30 - 10:00 range might be a reasonable marathon goal for me.  

I woke up yesterday with a sore throat.  Today, I woke up with a sore throat, filled up ears and some light coughing.  Cross your fingers that today's make up run (missed Tuesday because of the Icebreaker sale) makes me feel tons better!!   

Jbone's Weekly Recap

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 4 miles easy
Wednesday - 5 miles with 3 miles @ 10k pace (ave. 8:30 min/mi)
Thursday - 4 miles easy
Friday - rest
Saturday - hiked four miles (easy)
Sunday - 10 miles including hills

I was proud of getting the speedwork in on Wednesday, which is according to the TRC plan. Not quite as many miles as y'alls though, since I skipped both 7-milers. And a nice step-back weekend with the 10-miler. I love it when you get to the point in training where a 10 mile run feels easy and short.

Week 8

Weird week:

Monday - 4 @ 10:33
Tuesday - 7 @ 10:23
Wedneday - 4 @ 10:50
Thursday - 15 @ 11:00 (rain, rain, rain)
Friday - rest
Saturday - 1 @ 18:50
Sunday - rest

Yes, you read that right, 1 @ 18:50!!!  What the hell happened, you ask?  7,000+ feet of elevation.  We were in Santa Fe for the weekend and we decided to check out a local trail for our scheduled 7 miler.  First of all, the trail was super steep...  within a few seconds, I'm not exagerating, my lungs were searing and I couldn't catch my breath at all.  The trail was also fairly rough and rocky so that always slows me down since I run in FiveFingers.  We had to walk quite a bit but even the parts that we could run were ridiculously slow.  It was frustrating.  At the half mile point, I cried "uncle" and we turned around and hoofed it out of there.  This isn't the first time that elevation has really slowed me down.  I also had a really tough time in Tahoe but I was attributing that more to the 95 degree heat...  turns out it was probably the elevation.  Luckily for Ty, it doesn't seem to impact him nearly as much which makes me wonder how much of that I can chalk up to 16 years of smoking.  Oh well, I can't change that now and at least I haven't smoked in over two years! 

Speaking of Santa Fe, traveling always means eating out and, for us, we generally end up eating two big meals a day rather than a more sensible three.  We also ate a lot of meat - WAY more than I would usually have.  I feel like I didn't eat a single veggie in three days and the only fruit I had was the non-organic banana I bought at the grocery store.  BLEH.  I'm also super duper dehydrated from traveling and the sheer dryness of the desert.  All this resulted in a THREE pound weight gain in as many days!!  That'll slow a girl down.  Today, though, I am getting back on track.  I started my day with my standard Greek yogurt and granola and I've downed two Siggs of water...  and my tummy is already feeling more settled. 

Was that a run or a swim??

Tonight's run was quite the adventure.  It was a downpour when we started out and it kept coming down harder and harder.  As we were about a mile and a half in, we were running down hill up to our ankles because the side of the road had become a small creek bed and there was no sidewalk.  Onya was stopping to shake every block or two and I wished I could do the same.  The rain finally started slacking off after another couple of miles and I found my groove.  

Around the time that I was feeling really good, Ty turned to me and said that he wasn't going to be able to do the second lap around the lake.  His toes hurt and his nipples were chaffing from wearing the old, mesh reflector vest.  No problem, I thought, I'm in feeling great mentally and I'm ready to get this done - I'll just finish solo.  When we got back to the house, we'd done 8.4 so I didn't have much left to do.  I decided to do what I call a chicken run, which is when I never get more than a mile or two from home.  

By this time, the rain had let up and I started to regret not changing into something dry when I had the chance.  That didn't last long, though, because the rain inevitably did start up again.  I was getting cold, my feet were getting stiff and everything felt like it was uphill.  Around that time, I started thinking about why I get so determined to follow my plan and finish what I start.  I was thinking about how my Grandpa was the stubbornest man in the world and how I definitely inherited that gene from him - for good or bad.  Because it was a dangerous night to be out, I had a reflector, a flashing light and a flashlight but no music.  So I kept hearing Tim McGraw's The Cowboy In Me (http://www.cmt.com/videos/tim-mcgraw/26532/the-cowboy-in-me.jhtml) as I was running along. If you knew my Grandpa, you'd know how appropriate of a song that was to hear when thinking of him... 

Around this time, I reached my turn around point...  just over three miles until home!!  I picked up my pace a bit and finished it strong.  My lips were still blue when I got out of the shower but I'm fed and warm again now.  I've realized that the things that make runs miserable for other people are the things that invigorate me and make me push harder.  I really don't mind the rain.  I don't love being cold but it isn't the worst thing.  There's something comforting about running past houses with their lights on and their families  tucked in for the night.  Even though it was dicey at times with the dark and the traffic, it was still a great run. 

Here's what my feet looked like when I got done:

Santa Fe

We are headed to Santa Fe tomorrow for a weekend get-away!  That's the good news.  The less good news is figuring out how/when to fit in our long run of 15 miles.  We have three choices - run tonight after work in the dark and rain, run early early tomorrow morning in the dark and rain or run Saturday morning in the freezery and at 7,000 feet.  As of right now, running tonight is winning.  Then, Saturday, we'll do tonight's 7 miler instead.  The elevation of the high desert can be really challenging for some people and I'd rather not find out if I'm one of those people on a 15 miler! 

Wish us luck... 

week seven recap copycat

I'm going to start copying Jess and posting a weekly recap here for all to see. Seems like it will help me keep track of mileage and feel like I'm being held accountable for getting the runs in!

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 3 miles fast
Thursday - 4 miles easy with Texas Running Company's group run
Friday - 2 miles really easy (with Eli!)
Saturday- 5 miles easy
Sunday - 14 miles easy with TRC

I was a bit nervous about the first 14 mile run of this training season, and was pleasantly suprised by how easy it was. Well, not easy, but I felt good at the end and felt like I recovered quickly from the high mileage. Possibly due to the massage I had on Monday night. Y'all - massages are the golden ticket, you deserve one, go get one!

Week 7

Monday - 4 @ 10:44
Tuesday - 7 @ 10:38
Wednesday - 4 @ 10:34
Thursday - 7 @ 9:21
Friday - rest
Saturday - 14 @ 10:20
Sunday - rest

Another good week but the exhaustion factor is definitely playing a bigger and bigger factor as the mileage builds.  I do still feel like my recovery times are shorter than the last two times I went through marathon training - but that really comes into play once the long runs get to be above 16 miles. 

Random Stuff

Today's run was on the tough side.  It was only a four miler but I just felt heavy, slow and leaden in my legs.  I ended up on pace so it wasn't that I was actually any slower than normal.  And, I did warm up about halfway in and the run did get easier.  I didn't get enough sleep over the weekend and I didn't fuel myself all that well yesterday.  The mileage is finally getting big enough that I need to pay attention.  I think my body was making sure I know that today!

This week, my running schedule will get kind of screwy because we are heading to Santa Fe for a get-away weekend.  So, I'll be taking a rest day on Thursday so that I can get on the road around 6 am on Friday to run my 15 miler.  Then, I'll do 7 in Santa Fe on Saturday.  The elevation there is 7,000 feet which can bother some people so I didn't want to be stuck doing a 15 miler in potentially bad conditions.  Also, it is much colder there than here so that can make a long run fairly miserable.  The exciting news is that our hotel has an indoor pool and hot tub - I plan on making good news of both!  

Lastly, the annual Icebreaker sale has been rumored to be next week!  If you aren't familiar with Icebreaker, you are really missing out.  They make these amazing merino wool pieces that are ideal for running.  You can really wear it year-round because it does regulate your temperature even in the heat.  That said, you will truly appreciate the greatness of wool when it gets cold out - it even will help you to stay warmer when running in a Pacific Northwest deluge.  Last year, I spent around $250 on merchandise that would have retailer for well over $1,000.  I've been looking forward to this year's sale since I walked out of last year's!  

14 miles of heavenly joy

How did everybody's 14-miler go last weekend?!

Please Advise

Ohhhh man. I am falling (what feels like) so far behind in our training plan. I've got the consistency of the long Sunday runs, but the mileage that my training group is doing is still lower than Hal's plan. And I'm stressing over getting the mid-week runs in. I really really want to run this marathon to the ground, and following Hal's intermediate schedule seems like a great way to take it to the next level. But. I haven't been able to follow the schedule for the last few weeks... my work schedule has been insane, and really tiring, and there were holidays, and visitors. Last week, instead of 3,6,3,6, and 9, I did 5,5,2, and 12. (It has also been so confusing trying to combine Hals' plan with what the Texas Running Company's group is doing). It just isn't feasible for me to complete 4,7,4,7 and 14 miles this week!

Is it time to adjust my goals and expectations for this training season and marathon - maybe by following the Beginner 2 plan again? Or is it time to amp up the hardcore factor and get 'er done?

What do y'all think? Bonus question - how do you plan to keep up with the training plan during the holidays?

And Faith, are you feeling this way too, having had a break for your foot? We can pick it up still, right?!!!