…in with the new

So, remember when I said 2010 was a hard year?  Well, my wonderful mother had the amazing idea to have a Calendar Burning Party.  What better way to celebrate the new year than by burning away some of the bad memories from 2010.

       

OK, so it still doesn’t change the fact that I still miss both my grandpa’s + dog terribly, but it definitely made me feel a little better and ready to tackle a new year!

MY 2011 GOALS

Push myself in the weight room.  I am a very highly self-motivated person.  It doesn’t take much for me to keep to goals or challenge myself.  But, when it comes to weight training, I typically keep the weights lighter than I should.  I have dappled in A TON of different strength training routines since I tend to get bored easily – traditional strength training, body building workouts, CrossFit, Jillian Michaels’ Making the Cut, etc. etc.  But very few have given me the results I have been looking for.  And I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I stick to the same poundage of weights every time I go to lift.  So, my main goal with my strength training this year is to really start lifting more in terms of how heavy my weights are.  Actually increasing the weight enough to the point I burn out at the end of the last rep on the last set.  (A little tip from my CSCS background to you.)

Get back to running 7:30 miles consistently.  I’m not going to lie.  Marathoning makes me much, much slower than I prefer to be.  So, like I said before, I’m going to start training for speed again.  I just signed up for the GO! St. Louis Half Marathon in April so I have a specific goal to shoot for with that, but I am also setting time goals for the other races I hope to run this year.  (Note: my PRs are when I was probably in the best shape of my life… my goal is to get back there!)

5K - sub 21:00 (PR = 19:58)
5 Mile - sub 36:00 (PR = 35:48)
10K- sub 45:00 (PR = 44:53)
Half Marathon – sub 1:36 (PR = 1:37:43)

I don’t plan on running another marathon this year (I am more of an every-two-years marathoner), so I’m not even going to focus on that goal.  And these can easily change as things change throughout the year.  Who knows if an injury or other non-fitness related thing may come up to make these goals a little hard to reach.  I’m flexible… ;o)

Dabble in barefoot running.  After reading Born to Run before the Chicago marathon, I have been really wanting to try running barefoot.  One of the best things I read in the book was about why God (probably not his phrasing, but this is what I believe) make humans in perfect form except for their feet, the foundation of the entire structure?  Why are feet so imperfect that we need to put shoes and orthotics on them in order for them to be perfect?  That just totally clicked to me.  Are shoes the reason why so many runners get injured?  Maybe… maybe not.  But, I want to use my new Vibram FiveFingers as a tool to strengthen my feet.  I will never be a “full-time” barefoot runner, but I will definitely be doing a lot more barefoot running in order to make me a stronger runner.

The plan is to run 0.25 miles 1-2 times per week, building up by .25 miles every 2 weeks.  I eventually would like to be able to do 1 training run per week in my Vibrams – probably a short, easy 3 miler.  Hopefully by the end of the year I will be doing this consistently.

So, there are my fitness goals for 2011. 

Don’t worry, the blog will be benefitting from several other goals this year too!

taking it easy

Today, I went out for a nice 4 mile run.  That might not seem like a big deal, since I know anyone who reads my blog and knows me KNOWS that this is nothing out of the ordinary.

But, to me, it was.  It was my first run in over a week.

OK, OK… I know, still not a big deal, but again, it is very rare that I EVER miss a run.  In fact, that last time I remember actually taking time COMPLETELY off from exercise was almost 2 years ago, when I had sinus surgery and followed doctor’s orders not to exercise.

So, to me, this run was a big deal.  Like I said with my marathon training, I have been listening to my body a lot more.  My stuffy nose, aching sinuses, and nagging cough was telling me that time off would be a good thing.  And a trip to urgent care for some antibiotics…

So, yes, today was my first run since last Monday, and it was glorious!  But, it also let me know my body has limits.  Just a few weeks ago, I talked about dropping my 5K time.  That goal has been put on hold for a little longer.  Not only do I believe my body won’t quite be ready for another sub-20 5K time, but I’ve also got things to do (which I will talk about at a later date) on the day of that scheduled race.

So, I’m taking it easy the next couple weeks and completely scrapped my training plan.  Now, I’ll be running to maintain my fitness (and weight over the holidays) and gearing up for a busy race schedule in the spring of 2011.  And believe me, the New Year has a lot of amazing stuff in store and I CAN’T WAIT!

(Plus, I’ll have a few more recipes to share as Christmas approaches.)

why i don’t race in rain

In September of 2008, I stood at the starting line of the Lewis + Clark Half Marathon in St. Charles. This would be my 3rd half marathon and I had trained hard the entire summer hoping to PR and finally get below 1:50. This would be my first race since my first marathon in April and I was ready to rock this half.

I had anxiously been checking the weather all week. Rain was in the forecast for the entire weekend, but Saturday remained beautiful and I was hoping the rain would hold off just a bit longer.

Boy, was I wrong. Did I mention I was standing at the starting line in a torrential downpour?

Remember Hurricane Ike that went through Galveston, Texas in September 2008? Well, you think that living in St. Louis you would never have to deal with a hurricane. A tornado, maybe… but a hurricane? Never.

Unfortunately, after Ike made landfall in Texas on September 13, 2008, it swung it’s way up into the Midwest, bringing its hurricane winds and rain along with it the next day, Sunday, September 14, 2008.

[Image Source]

The morning of the Lewis + Clark Marathon and Half Marathon.

To this day, I still ask myself why I toed the starting line that morning. It’s not like it started raining after the race had started. Nope… I woke up to that rain and still chose to brave it out there. The rain pierced my face like needles and the wind gusts made it hard to stay on my feet. Plus, very few spectators chose to stand out in this weather, making it even more difficult to stay motivated to keep pushing toward the finish line.

I had been looking forward to seeing some coworkers who would be at mile 8 working the medical tent. However, when I reached that point, they weren’t there, making it even more disheartening to keep going. When you expect people to be cheering you on at a certain point and they aren’t there makes it tough.

I still had 5 more miles to go and it was getting difficult. I couldn’t feel my face anymore, I was soaked to the core, and freezing. I figured I ran this far already, I might as well finish.

Little did I know that part of the course was flooded, branches were down on the Katy Trail, and the conditions just didn’t seem to be getting any better. As I came up to Mile 10, I saw the finish line up ahead. What was going on? I still had 3 more miles left…

In order to keep everyone “safe”, the race directors decided to reroute everyone, marathoners included, to end the race with only 10 miles under their belt.

Although I was happy to be done with the horrendous race, I was still disappointed not to have the chance to PR since I somehow, despite the conditions, was still on goal pace. I finished the 10 miler in 1:50, and it’s still the only 10 miler I have ever run. It took me HOURS to get warm again, but it taught me that I will never RACE in rain again.

Which brings me to this morning and waking up to this:

Remember that 3K I was planning on doing a few weeks ago? Yup, sticking to my guns on not racing in rain (especially when I didn’t pre-register and wasn’t going to be getting a shirt anyway). So, instead I spent 60 minutes on the treadmill and staying dry.

Anyone have a race I can run next week? Only if it doesn’t rain or snow though!

5K training for winter

I haven’t talked too much about my training, well, since pretty much the marathon!  Not a lot has happened since the Chicago Marathon, but I am back in training mode again.  But, this time, NOT for a marathon!

I learned a lot from training for + running Chicago.  First of all, and probably most importantly, I fell back in love with the sport of running.  Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from speedwork and monotonous workouts and just run far.  It helped me clear my head and love every second of running long distances again.

But, one big thing [for me at least] that I learned is that I LOVE to run FAST!  Don’t get me wrong, 20 mile runs are great, but I would definitely rather run 3 miles as fast as possible, and come out with a little hardware.  Selfish?  Maybe a little, but I just love the satisfaction I get out of being FAST.

Really, the turn around point was after running the Girls on the Run 5K and telling the Hubs that the overall female winner ran it in 18:06.  [Yes, super duper fast…]  He thought about it a second, then said, “Wouldn’t you want to run that fast?  Wouldn’t you rather run a fast 5K time than a marathon?”

It got me thinking.  Sure, I want to qualify for Boston sometime in my life, but I think I would rather focus on getting faster at shorter distances first.  Currently, my PR is a 19:58 – a PR I am over the moon about!  But, I would love to get down below a 19:30.  [OK, so this will probably keep getting lower if I can break it… just like I keep wanting to drop my marathon time.]  I don’t know… I guess that just makes me feel like a super-athlete, a dream I never thought I’d be able to achieve.  And too bad I figured out I actually had some speed after college, otherwise I’d have run in college!

Anyway, that brings me to my current training.  Luckily for me, there is a great race series during the winter to help motivate me.  The St. Louis Track Club puts on their annual Frostbite series – there are 2 races about every 2 or 3 weeks on Saturday morning, with distances ranging from [I think] 1 mile to a half marathon.  With my current training plan, this will allow me to run at least 2 races, 1 in December + 1 in January, before I start training for the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon.

My plan right now is the run the 3K race on December 11 and the 5K race on January 8, then take a week off completely before half marathon training begins.

Here is the current training plan.  I am already 2 weeks in, but better late than never, right?

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
Week 1	Nov. 15	16	17	18	19	20	21
	3M easy	5x400	3M easy	30 min tempo	rest	60 min easy	4M fast
Week 2	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
	3M easy	8x200	3M easy	30 min tempo	rest	65 min easy	4M fast
Week 3	29	30	Dec. 1	2	3	4	5
	3M easy	6x400	3M easy	35 min tempo	rest	70 min easy	5M fast
Week 4	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	3M easy	9x200	3M easy	35 min tempo	rest	3K race	2M easy
Week 5	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
	3M easy	7x400	3M easy	40 min tempo	rest	75 min easy	5M fast
Week 6	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
	3M easy	10x200	3M easy	40 min tempo	rest	85 min easy	6M fast
Week 7	27	28	29	30	31	Jan. 1	2
	3M easy	8x400	3M easy	45 min tempo	rest	90 min easy	6M fast
Week 8	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	3M easy	6x200	30 min tempo	3M easy	rest	5K race	2M easy

[Adapted from Hal Higdon’s Advanced 5K.  I swear by his training plans – good mileage buildup + keeps me injury-free.  This is what works for me; it may not work for other folks!]

So, there you have it.  How I will be spending my afternoons + early Saturday mornings for the next 8 6 weeks!

Are you training for anything during the winter to keep motivated?  I would love to hear some race recaps if you have them!

girls on the run st. louis 5K

After I finished the Chicago Marathon, I knew I needed another goal to help me see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of marathon recovery.  [Typical recovery from 26.2 miles is said to be equivalent to 1 day for every mile run.]  I gave myself 5 weeks to recover:  1 week right after the marathon with very little, light running, and then 4 weeks of progressive training, with each week getting a little harder.  [Check out Hal Higdon’s Marathon Recovery to view what I used to recover from Chicago.] 

This meant I needed wanted  a race to do at the end of those 5 weeks.  My original plan was to run the Run to the Lights 5K in Branson, MO, which was a 10 PM race running the streets of Silver Dollar City on the opening weekend of their Christmas festival.  The Hubs and I have been dying to do this race, but by the time I went to sign up, it was already full.  Boo.

So, I was in search of a new race, and luckily, I already had one in mind for the weekend of November 13:  the Girls on the Run St. Louis 5K!  Girls on the Run is an after-school running group for 3rd through 8th grade girls where they meet up not only to run, but to learn things about self-esteem, responsibility, and overall well-being.  Some of my 5th grade girls are part of this fabulous organization, so I wanted to show them my support as they ran their 5K.

I picked up my race packet the night before, and actually had to take my D-tag from Chicago off my shoe. :o(  But, the shirt + water bottle make up for that!

 

Fortunately, the race didn’t start until 9 AM this morning, so I had plenty of time to sleep in and head down to Forest Park for the race.  I ate a banana + peanut butter [I can’t decide if I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s Valencia PB… it’s a little too savory tasting for me – I like my PB SWEET!] before leaving so I would have plenty of energy for the race.

Since I am still technically recovering from Chicago [believe me, I feel 100x better than I did 5 weeks ago], I didn’t want to go all out for this race.  When it comes to racing, I have an all or nothing mindset.  “Why would I enter a race if I didn’t have a chance to PR or win?”  I usually enter small races because I know I can finish well in them, but with 5,000 people running this one, winning wasn’t going to be happening.  So, instead, I wanted to go out, have a good time, and race comfortably… push myself, but not KILL myself.

I moved my way up to the front of the pack, just behind the elite runners – anyone planning to run under 20 minutes, and although I’ve just barely broken 20 minutes before, I knew it wasn’t going to happen today.

When the gun went off, I settled in to a comfortable pace – something I knew I could keep for 3.1 miles.  I ran my first mile at a 7:10 pace, way faster than what I felt like, but I was happy.  I passed a couple people and finally caught up to a sweet little girl decked out in all pink at about the half way point.  We ended up running the rest of the way together, as I gave her some encouragement along the way.

All of a sudden, it wasn’t about time or medaling anymore.  I ran the last half of the race with a huge smile on my face!  It felt amazing to be pushing and encouraging this girl I didn’t know.  At the 2 mile, this tiny little girl and her dad flew past us.  I encouraged my girl to keep up with her, but she stayed along side me, right on their heels the rest of the race.

Once I saw the finish, I told her to pick it up and go.  We sprinted the last 0.1 in together and I gave her a pat on the back.  I didn’t even know her name, but I still felt… I don’t know… empowered?  I guess.  It just felt good to be helping her along the way, and she thanked me for pushing her.  It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment, even though I didn’t PR [I ran a 22:28, which I am so happy with] and missed placing in my age group [I was 4th].

Overall, it was an awesome race!  I LOVED the signs along the way… “You are strong!”, “You are responsible!”, and my favorite, “You don’t have to brush all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep!”  Ha!  I will definitely be doing this race again, and hopefully dragging some people to run it with me to support this amazing organization!

Sidenote:  You can support Girls on the Run by donating your time as a coach or money to go toward the school of your choice.  Or become a Solemate!  Raise money for GOTR as you train for your next race – I plan on becoming a Sole Mate for the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon in April – plus, you get a discounted entry fee!