Misty fog welcomed me into Golden Gate Park during my 12 mile run this morning, and not much else. Many people have off today and MLK was closed in the park to cars so it made it a little spooky. Luckily on the way back, people were starting to get up and walk dogs, babies and themselves so that was good. My legs were very tired and didn't seem to wake up until right around 5 1/2 miles as I was heading down the great highway. They took naps on the way back a little bit too so I had to try and keep them awake. I think Saturday's 16 miles, and then two days later another 12 miles = fatigue in the gams. I am glad that we are building our weekly mileage and I know this will help me in the long run (literally) but for now I am a bit sleepy at work and can't wait for lunch.
Tomorrow is 7 miles, hill workout on Wed, and then a tempo on Friday leading up to 18 on Saturday!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sun, oh sweet sun
Sorry east coasters (and skin), but I have some sunburn and it feels good!
Running to Saulsalito was beautiful and sunny today. We parked at Sports Basement and ran over the Golden Gate Bridge past Saulsalito - it's downhill or flat most of the way there and the back is a climb, but the views are worth it. We kept a pretty good pace even up hill as bikers were whizzing by.
Running to Saulsalito was beautiful and sunny today. We parked at Sports Basement and ran over the Golden Gate Bridge past Saulsalito - it's downhill or flat most of the way there and the back is a climb, but the views are worth it. We kept a pretty good pace even up hill as bikers were whizzing by.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Steady Stating
This is me and Sarah's marathon training process:
1. One of us gets the "bright idea" that we should run our next marathon. It's important to remember who thought of it because you can blame her during long runs and times of tired "crisis."
2. The other person thinks it over for a few seconds and agrees.
3. As it's been going, Sarah studies every marathon training plan under the sun and devises her own well thought out plan. It's around Kara Goucher's mileage per week when she's not in training, but that doesn't really say anything. It's a killer.
4. We take one week at a time and figure out cool places to do our long runs. Her husband and my soon to be husband have to put up with our tears, complaints, gloating (it's fun to show off how much you are running, at least for me), and strange eating habits.
5. I ponder if Sarah is really running what we are supposed to, or running twice as much as she puts down to secretly out train herself. She tells me "Only run 80 minutes if it says 80" and that it's a recovery run. But I know she doesn't follow that herself. She is that hardcore/crazy.
6. I wonder if the marathon goal I set out for myself is achievable or crazy. Then I think about how I've been running for 6 years now and I can do this. I wonder if I will fall over if I run too fast. I wonder how you ever know what your goal pace should be because you never really know until mile 20 if you've started too fast.
7. We plan our "outfits" for the race and sometimes even for long runs like we are 7th graders planning our outfits for the first day of school.
8. We freak out during taper week, "Did we train hard enough," "Are we lazy," etc etc
9. We get up way too early and do our best on the day of the marathon.
10. Even before that happens, we are planning the next one.
I am thinking of this as I sit here resting after a really good steady state workout where I was 2 seconds faster than my zone. Was that a good idea? Did I overdo it? Am I not doing enough? I had planned on running an extra mile or so so I could hit 40 miles this week but I was pretty tuckered out after the speedy part. I guess that's ok. I should stop freaking myself out about it and just be glad that I got out there :)
1. One of us gets the "bright idea" that we should run our next marathon. It's important to remember who thought of it because you can blame her during long runs and times of tired "crisis."
2. The other person thinks it over for a few seconds and agrees.
3. As it's been going, Sarah studies every marathon training plan under the sun and devises her own well thought out plan. It's around Kara Goucher's mileage per week when she's not in training, but that doesn't really say anything. It's a killer.
4. We take one week at a time and figure out cool places to do our long runs. Her husband and my soon to be husband have to put up with our tears, complaints, gloating (it's fun to show off how much you are running, at least for me), and strange eating habits.
5. I ponder if Sarah is really running what we are supposed to, or running twice as much as she puts down to secretly out train herself. She tells me "Only run 80 minutes if it says 80" and that it's a recovery run. But I know she doesn't follow that herself. She is that hardcore/crazy.
6. I wonder if the marathon goal I set out for myself is achievable or crazy. Then I think about how I've been running for 6 years now and I can do this. I wonder if I will fall over if I run too fast. I wonder how you ever know what your goal pace should be because you never really know until mile 20 if you've started too fast.
7. We plan our "outfits" for the race and sometimes even for long runs like we are 7th graders planning our outfits for the first day of school.
8. We freak out during taper week, "Did we train hard enough," "Are we lazy," etc etc
9. We get up way too early and do our best on the day of the marathon.
10. Even before that happens, we are planning the next one.
I am thinking of this as I sit here resting after a really good steady state workout where I was 2 seconds faster than my zone. Was that a good idea? Did I overdo it? Am I not doing enough? I had planned on running an extra mile or so so I could hit 40 miles this week but I was pretty tuckered out after the speedy part. I guess that's ok. I should stop freaking myself out about it and just be glad that I got out there :)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Pushing forty (miles)
I've gone back to my running log from the San Francisco Marathon training and I think the most I did per week is 39 miles. We've already had one week where we ran 42 miles, which was a few weeks ago. I think that's what helped me feel great during the Kaiser 1/2: more miles = being in better shape.
This week I ran the first two days after the 1/2. On Monday I ran with Dan for a 50 minute recovery run that was a little faster than I should have done but it felt pretty good. Tuesday I did 6 miles at my target medium pace and felt like I am hitting a stride. Wednesday I was hoping to run but when I was driving home I realized that I am zonked and my legs need a break. So I took yesterday off and headed out early today for an 80 minute easy run. I think all the miles caught up with me because my legs felt fatigued, kind of how I imagined they should have felt Monday. Tomorrow is our steady state run (70 mins with 30 at that faster pace). I am looking forward to it but hope my legs are up for the challenge. Miles wise, I'll probably be at around 39.3 miles after this weekend's run so tomorrow I may sneak in an extra .7. Now that I've discovered that the miles are rounded down to the tenth when I upload my garmin, I'm making sure I can get every bit counted. This is heading into crazy.
It's really nice to be getting into better shape, and I feel like my pace is improving. I still HAVE TO start strength training but I still can't figure out how to fit that into my week.
This week I ran the first two days after the 1/2. On Monday I ran with Dan for a 50 minute recovery run that was a little faster than I should have done but it felt pretty good. Tuesday I did 6 miles at my target medium pace and felt like I am hitting a stride. Wednesday I was hoping to run but when I was driving home I realized that I am zonked and my legs need a break. So I took yesterday off and headed out early today for an 80 minute easy run. I think all the miles caught up with me because my legs felt fatigued, kind of how I imagined they should have felt Monday. Tomorrow is our steady state run (70 mins with 30 at that faster pace). I am looking forward to it but hope my legs are up for the challenge. Miles wise, I'll probably be at around 39.3 miles after this weekend's run so tomorrow I may sneak in an extra .7. Now that I've discovered that the miles are rounded down to the tenth when I upload my garmin, I'm making sure I can get every bit counted. This is heading into crazy.
It's really nice to be getting into better shape, and I feel like my pace is improving. I still HAVE TO start strength training but I still can't figure out how to fit that into my week.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Half Marathon PR!
This morning Sarah and I got up early for our favorite yearly pre superbowl event, the Kaiser Half Marathon. She told me a few weeks ago that she'd "consider pacing me" for it. This means scrapping her own chances for a PR and slowing down her pace quite a bit. I thought it was a great idea, a challenge for me and a "fun run" for her! It was fantastic running weather, 50's and 60's with party cloudy skies opening up to sun at the finish. Thank you San Francisco! We truly are spoiled running brats. Sarah kept the pace at just below 10 minute miles the whole way and we had a negative split with an average of 9:50 for me - my new 1/2 PR is 2:10 (13 minutes faster than my last :)
It was a great confidence boast and a kick in the pants that I can and should up my pace more often. Sarah is quite convinced that I've been lying to her this whole time about what I can do, and she's not going to let me be lazy anymore. Fun times.
It was a great confidence boast and a kick in the pants that I can and should up my pace more often. Sarah is quite convinced that I've been lying to her this whole time about what I can do, and she's not going to let me be lazy anymore. Fun times.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Mixing it up!
This is a little bit of a taper week leading up to the Kaiser 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I am celebrating a Saturday with no long run planned by going shopping with my running buddy. She left me a message saying let's meet up at 10 and for a second I thought, "Isn't that late for a run?" Habits!
I'm celebrating a night that I don't have to go to bed early by working late, having fun with the Comic Life App (notice the new header on this blog) and drinking Limonata!
I'm celebrating a night that I don't have to go to bed early by working late, having fun with the Comic Life App (notice the new header on this blog) and drinking Limonata!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Fartlek Fun
This week is a sort of taper week leading up to the Kaiser Half Marathon. Yesterday we ran 10 miles but the rest of the week is mellow. Today I did my first fartlek workout. I can't really get over that word, but it was pretty fun. I ran at 400 pace for a minute, jogged for two and repeated 6 times during a 50 minute run. I loved the sprints and felt fun flying by everyone for once (by everyone, I only mean people walking dogs or going to school).
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