Girls on the Run

I don't know if I've mentioned it here yet, but I'm helping coach a Girls on the Run team this spring!

Haven't heard of it? It's awesome!

Here's the description from the website:

Meeting twice a week in small teams of 8-15 girls, we teach life skills through dynamic, conversation-based lessons and running games. The 20-lesson curriculum is taught by certified Girls on the Run coaches and includes three parts: understanding ourselves, valuing relationships and teamwork and understanding how we connect with and shape the world at large.

Running is used to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through accomplishment. At each season's conclusion, the girls and their running buddies complete a 5k running event. Completing a 5k gives the girls a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals. The result—making the seemingly impossible, possible and teaching girls that they can.

The girls picked my adjective for the name game

We had our first practice this afternoon. Our group is made up of 12 third and fourth graders and 4 coaches. 

It was a little disorganized since we're all new to the program, but it was a lot of fun! We were stuck inside because of the weather, but the girls thought it was the coolest thing ever because we got permission to run through the school hallways. I'm sure they will be telling all of their friends at school tomorrow how they were allowed to run in the halls. It was probably the highlight of practice for some of them. 

They are a fun group and I'm really excited for the rest of the season! 

Indoor Cooking!

I haven't really been running the last week. Getting sick really wiped me out, and after teaching my classes in the mornings, I haven't had a lot of energy left for anything else.

I did get a decent run in on Saturday, and am planning on jumping back into my half marathon training this week. It's easy to say that on a Monday - those are cross training days.

I did yoga.

Scout looks enormous in every picture I take these days.

He and Buddy have been enjoying the freakishly warm weather we've been having lately. They love the sun!

And in house news, we can finally cook inside!

That's right, we're civilized now. ;)

Running Things

I was trying to get this posted sometime last week, but was swiftly taken out by a fever last Thursday. After spending the entire weekend on the couch, the fever is finally gone and I almost feel human again. It's still going to be a couple of days before I even think about trying to run, but at least I can leave the couch for more than a few minutes at a time now.

***

I don't really have many fun "seen on my run" type pictures from recent runs, partially because I've been busy running instead of stopping to take pictures, and partially because a lot of those miles have been on the treadmill.

I did manage to pause long enough to take these last week.

I'm in the middle of training for the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon at the end of March. This will be my third time running this race, and it is my current half PR. After the disappointment of last year's marathon finish, I'm just hoping to enjoy the race and finish strong.

I am not going to be doing a ton of racing this year. My focus is on building strength (injury prevention) and running a successful marathon in the fall.

This year I will be mixing things up and running a new (to me) marathon - The Newport Marathon in Rhode Island. I have never been to Rhode Island, but the course sounds beautiful and it's not a bad drive from our house.

I'm also going to be following a new training plan this year. Previously I have used Hal Higdon plans, and while they worked just fine, I'm interested to see how this new training works for me. I will be following Coach Jay Johnson's Simple Marathon Training. It's a 20 week plan that includes strength and mobility (SAM) exercises and a weekly brisk walk, along with the usual things you expect to find in a marathon training plan (running and cross training).

For now though, I just need to finish recovering from this bug so I can get back to normal life again.

Long Time No Post

Hi!

Well, I definitely did not plan on taking quite such a long break from blogging, but here we are.

Some things that have happened since we last talked:

I ran the Sleepy Hollow 10k right before Halloween. It was raining, but it was actually a lot of fun. Mostly I just wanted to share my costume. Laziest costume ever, and I have to say, it's pretty fun to run with a cape!

Tom built a new wood shed. It's pretty fancy. 

Tom convinced me to try some cycling. I started in running shoes and my old roller derby helmet, and now have an actual bike helmet and fancy cycling shoes. I just started liking it when winter hit, so I haven't ridden in a while. I will definitely be picking it up again this spring!

I can use my treadmill again! Tom got an indoor trainer for his bike, so we have a little workout area out in the garage now. It's not exactly climate controlled, so there are days I'm out there in a jacket and gloves, but I love having it as an option. Plus I really do enjoy a little Netflix and treadmill time.

Tom also convinced me to try skiing! I have taken a few lessons, and have moved from the "carpets" to actually taking the chairlifts and ever so slowly making my way down the green (easy) runs.

Aaaaand Scout has gotten huge. The last time we weighed him he was about 70lbs. He's lighter, but taller than Buddy now. He will be a year old next month, so he's probably not going to get much bigger.

I'm not making any promises about how consistently I am going to be posting, but I am going to make an effort to post more often than once every 3 months ;) 

Probably...

Marathon Training Week 16

How is it possible that I'm on week 16 of 18? I feel like I should still have so much time, but here I am, happily entering the taper!

The fall weather finally got here this weekend, so my runs were much happier than they have been lately. Humidity is a horrible thing, and I would not miss it one bit if it didn't come back next summer.

Monday - Cross Training Rest Day

I should really just call the rest of these rest days - I always have the best intentions and then don't do anything.

Tuesday - 5 miles

I took to the treadmill for this run, partially because it was gross out and partially because I was going to be right by the gym anyway picking up an age group away from the half I ran last weekend. They gave awards to 5th place in each age group, and I placed 5th (it was a small race) of about 19.

Race Photo Credit: Nin Lei

My run was generally uneventful, which I will take over a lot of other types of runs. I played with the speed a bit and was happily not sore from the half.

5 miles @ 9:10 pace

Wednesday - 8 miles

I spent most of the day thinking I had a 10 miler to run, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I "only" had an 8 on the schedule. My legs were definitely tired, and I took it easy.

I was trying to get the cool clouds and the cow and ended up with neither. 

8.12 miles @ 10:34 pace

Thursday - 5 miles 

I was ridiculously tired for some reason, so I took my rest day on Thursday.

Friday - Rest day

I was trying to get Thursday's run done, but it was humid and gross out and my legs were not having it. I could not get them to move any faster and I was having a terrible time. So, instead, I slowed down, cut the run a little short, and actually enjoyed the rest of my run.

It was also the first run in a while with my fancy light-up vest. That thing is so nice to have, it definitely helps drivers see me on the roads when the light starts fading.

4.15 miles @ 10:35 pace

Saturday - 4 miles

I made the drive down to meet up with the Rivertown Runners for some trail miles. I was taking it easy and some of my usual running buddies were trying to knock out a long run, so I ended up running with some different people, which was fun. My gps lost me for a bit (there are a lot of trees), so I disagree with the distance/pace, but it was a fun run!

6.78 miles @ 10:32

Sunday - 12 miles

This was my last double digit run on my training plan! Guess that means race day is sneaking up on me!

If I'm running on my own, I usually just head out the door and start running  It seems silly to drive somewhere just to run by myself, but Tom told me I should check out the rail trails near us. I wish I had listened sooner!

The trails are beautiful and mostly flat, only a few (not busy) intersections to cross, and there are (clean!) porta-potties every few miles. Pretty fancy.

I felt good on this run! It could have been the combination of the cool fall weather that finally arrived and the flat trails, but whatever the reason, I will take it! It was nice to have a good run again. It has been a while since I really enjoyed a run.

12.02 miles @ 9:49 pace

Weekly Mileage - 36.07

Marathon Training Week 15

Hi! Sorry, way late again.

That's life.

Monday - Cross Training Rest Day

Nailed it.

Tuesday - 5 miles

I actually felt decent for a change. Some of the hills felt a little less steep, and I added an extra mile on because I was feeling good. Still slower than I want to be, but I'll take any good runs that come my way.

Post-run popsicles are the way to go.

6.01 miles @10:05 pace

Wednesday - 10 miles

This run was terrible. Just completely awful. I struggled my way through it, but I have nothing nice to say about this run.

10.02 miles @ 12:19 pace

Thursday - 5 miles

I made no notes about this run, but the fact that I got back out the door after Wednesday's run is a success in my book.

5.07 miles @ 9:41

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - 10 miles

I took an extra rest day because I decided to run a half on Sunday.

Sunday - 20 miles

I ran the Dutchess County Classic half marathon. The race was only about 20 minutes from the house so I didn't have to wake up insanely early (always a win in my book). The race is pretty small, so packet pickup was a breeze, and everything was really well organized.

When we were lined up at the start, the race director announced that Katherine Switzer was running the race with us! Apparently she doesn't live too far away from here. She is gearing up to run Boston next year and is apparently just getting back to road races after a break.

I actually ran near her for a while at the beginning of the race, and at mile 3 she suddenly appeared next to me and said "Only 10 miles left!" We talked a bit about the weather (it was really humid out) and I said I wished it would rain, she said she wished it would pour.

I was having random aches and pains for the first few miles and was cursing the weather. I decided to just enjoy the race (it was actually really flat for this area!) and think about how cool it was that I was running a race with Katherine Switzer!

The rain came around mile 10, which I was really excited about. It definitely gave me a little pep in my step and helped me finish decently strong.

It wasn't one of my better times, but I did end up 5th in my age group, and got a medal for it, which was pretty cool.

I planned on running the half and then adding another 7 on after, but that didn't end up happening. I ran an extra mile or so (the finish line is almost a mile from the start) and decided that was enough for the day.

I don't feel too bad for cutting my run short, I finished 2 solid 20 milers this training cycle, so it probably won't hurt me in the long run.

13.1 miles @ 9:34 pace, 1.12 miles @ 10:21 pace

Weekly Mileage - 35.32

Marathon Training Week 11

I started writing this on Sunday, and then I got distracted and forgot all about it. And then I went to bed at 9:30. Marathon training is exhausting!

***

I ran my highest mileage week ever this week! I'm still feeling ridiculously slow, and unless I miraculously become much faster once this heat and humidity goes away, I don't know how Steamtown is going to go.

I was hoping to break 4 hours (I ran 4:11 last year), but my training paces were much faster at this point last year. We'll see how it goes.

Monday - Cross Training

Lets all laugh together, of course I didn't do anything.

Tuesday - 5 miles

I was definitely still feeling my long run from last week, but managed negative splits. I may throw a party when the wonderful fall running weather gets here.

I had to stock up on some gels. I've been going through them like crazy with all these long runs.

5.01 miles @ 10:26 pace

Wednesday - 10 miles

It was slightly less humid out, and I actually remembered to bring water with me. It only takes a half a dozen longish runs without water for me to learn that I should probably bring water with me. I'm really smart sometimes.

10.06 miles @ 11:18 pace

Thursday - 5 miles

All these miles are adding up, and I had some seriously tired legs, so I took it easy. I also did a little stick rolling when I got home.

5.06 miles @ 10:54 pace

Friday - Rest Day

I'm trying to be proactive so I went to the chiropractor. I pretty much got a gold star - if describing my alignment as "not too bad" counts as positive.

Saturday - 10 miles

I had a total distance runner moment and felt much better after running 10 miles than I did before I left.

I really hate putting everything away after my runs. It just seems like so much extra work!

10.02 @ 11:27 pace

Sunday - 20 miles

I hate waking up early. It's the one crazy runner trait I haven't developed. I got up shortly after 5 and took forever getting organized while I waited for the sun to come up.

Once I was finally out the door it took a good couple of miles before my legs felt mostly normal. It was wonderfully overcast and cooler this morning, which was a nice break from the oppressive heat we've been having.

At about mile 11 I realized the heel of one of my socks had slid down and my shoe was rubbing directly on my heel. And I could definitely feel the start of a blister on the arch of my foot. Since there wasn't much I could do about either, I fixed my sock, and kept going. The last mile was really unpleasant, but my impressively large blister was (fortunately?) still in tact when I got home.

I drank all the water in my pack - 2 liters! And at no point did I get that sloshy feeling. It's possible I was a sweaty mess by the time I was finished. I can't wait for fall running weather!

20 miles @ 11:54 pace

Weekly Mileage - 50.15 miles!

Scout "helped" me stretch. And by that I mean he climbed in my lap and made any stretching impossible.

He's cute though!

Marathon Training Week 10

The weather has been terrible this week. Hot, humid, horrible. The one decent weather day, I really didn't want to run and cut it short. A couple of other days were cut short because of the heat. I keep trying to remind myself that sticking it out through these days will make fall running feel amazing - I just wish the cooler weather was here already!

Monday - Cross Training

Nope.

Tuesday - 4 miles

I didn't want to run at all. I spent a bunch of time at the laundromat (which doesn't have air conditioning) and it put me in a really bad mood. I compromised and ran 2 quick miles rather than doing nothing at all. My second mile was a 7:59!

2.04 miles @ 8:55 pace

Wednesday - 9 miles

The humidity was crazy. This run was miserable and I cut it short.

6.04 miles @ 11:30 pace

Thursday - 4 miles

I didn't want a repeat of Wednesday, so I took to the gym for my run. Podcasts, air conditioning, people watching, yes please!

4 miles @ 9:27 pace

Friday - Rest day

I'm the best at rest days.

Saturday - 9 miles

I drove down to meet up with my weekend running group. It was already 80 degrees and ridiculously humid when we set out at 8am. Several people had gone out early to get their long runs in, and we were all dragging. I knew my long run was going to be brutal on Sunday, so between that and the weather, I didn't push for any extra miles on top of our usual run.

6.4 miles @ 11:07

Sunday - 19 miles

A photo posted by Becky H (@ddreamb) on Aug 13, 2016 at 4:58pm PDT

The things we look into when we're marathon training! I checked the time of the sunrise, and what the weather was going to be like before I set my alarm on Saturday night. I knew the humidity was going to pretty much be terrible regardless of time since it has been all week.

I was up at 5am (one of my least favorite things is waking up early), had a cup of coffee and a piece of this strawberry rhubarb tart thing we bought at the grocery store, and tried to organize my hydration pack. I had a brief debate about how full to fill the bladder of my hydration pack (water is heavy!) and then decided that carrying a little extra weight was better than running out of water.

I managed to get out the door shortly after 6am, which is super impressive for me. I'm so bad about morning runs.

For about half of the run I wasn't sure if I was going to hit 19 miles. I figured as long as I had water I could keep going, and had my phone to call Tom for a ride home if I did run out.

I didn't run out of water.

I did:

• walk more than I wanted to
• make a few pathetic whining sounds
• listen to Catching Fire on audiobook
• end up with a bunch of little bug bites around the tops of my calf sleeves
• hit 19 miles

Considering the humidity this week (not to mention the heat), I'm really happy with how this run went. I'm not terribly happy when I look at the pace, but I decided that pace doesn't count on days like this.

19 miles @ 12:15 pace

Weekly Mileage - 37.48

The Escape Artist

The "real feel" hit 103 here today.

No thank you.

I drove to the gym for my run. Days like today are why I signed up for it in the first place.

It's fun to people watch at the gym. The number of people who get on a treadmill and walk/jog/run for less than 10 minutes confuse me. Are they just doing a warmup? Did they forget that they don't like running?

One older man was going around turning tvs off on ellipticals that no one was using.

A woman across the gym was doing some very, jerky/aggressive moves with a cable machine. I'm hoping she doesn't injure herself.

Before I left for the gym I went out in the yard to locate Scout. He was over the fence in the neighbor's yard! I grabbed a leash and went to get him. Fortunately he doesn't play the keep away game that Buddy likes to play when he gets out.

It turns out there was a spot in the fence that was high enough off the ground that he could slip under. When we put up the fence we only had Buddy, and there was no way he could fit under there. I have no idea how many times he has gone on adventures on the other side of the fence, but Tom fixed it so he can't go visiting the neighbors on his own anymore.

He's a cute little escape artist at least.

Marathon Training Week 9

You guys, how is it already August? I'm pretty sure it was just March, so that can't be right.

I'm halfway through my training plan now, since I'm doing a longer (18 week) plan this time around. I'm glad I opted for the longer plan, especially since my first few weeks were spent just trying to get my running groove back. My pace is still not where I would really like it to be, but at least I'm running and able to stick to my training plan distances at least.

Here's how this week went:

Monday - Cross Training

I actually did some yoga on Monday! I have been a lot better about stretching in general this week, but also spent 45 minutes of quality time with Adriene. She's still the best.

Tuesday - 4 miles

My stride rate was back up to 180! I was really excited to see that number, since I feel like I haven't been able to get my legs moving very quickly lately. It was pretty humid out, but it pretty much always is at this point in the summer.

4.02 miles @ 9:49 pace

Wednesday - 9 miles

My mid-week run is getting long! I think the longest one I'll have is going to be 10 miles, which just takes a bit more planning on my part. It wasn't super hot out, but for some reason I was really struggling on this run.

9 miles @ 10:36 pace

Thursday - 4 miles

This turned into a rest day. I was really tired and just not feeling it.

Friday - Rest day

I ran Thursday's miles on Friday. I actually felt stronger/faster than I have been lately. My pace wasn't anything to cheer about, but it was nice to feel like I'm making progress. Summer running post-injury is not the best for my confidence.

4.01 miles @ 9:42 pace

Saturday - Rest day

My training plan wanted me to take an extra rest day and then race a half marathon on Sunday. I did neither.

I drove down and ran with my weekend running group. The people I usually run with were in the middle of their long runs when they met up with the group, so we ran a little slower than usual. I was totally ok with that since the humidity was out of control. Miles always go so much faster with friends.

6.24 miles @ 10:26 pace

Sunday - Half Marathon

I ran the half marathon distance, but it was definitely not a race. I left from the house (much later than I should have), and listened to my audiobook (I'm re-listening to The Hunger Games) as I trudged around the neighborhood in my snazzy LEGEND compression sleeves. (This is an affiliate link - also, use promo code AmbFriend2016 to save 15%!)

Ok, that's not entirely fair. I actually felt really strong for a lot of this run, but by the end I was too hot and tired to feel positive about it. My watch informed me that the total elevation of my run was 1328 feet, which makes me feel a little better about how hard it felt.

Also, my long run pace has been improving overall, so that's promising!

13.12 miles @ 11:29 pace

Weekly Mileage - 36.39

And as usual, bonus dog pictures:

:)