Eugene Marathon Training Week 2 RUNdown 12/31-1/6!

Back to above 40 miles per week! Also last week was SO COLD. Multiple negative temperature mornings, which meant getting a bit creative with when I could fit my runs in. I did my best to run outside when I can, but I generally do not run outside when it’s below 5* (give or take). I also have determined that it takes FOREVER to get all those layers/ stabil icers on my sneakers/ hats/ mittens/ hand warmers on, so sometimes sheer laziness wins out and I hit the treadmill. What can I say- somedays it’s just pretty nice to wear just a sports bra, shorts, and binge watch some Gilmore Girls. I’m human.

just too cold to really be doing anything besides cuddling with the cats and heated blanket.

Also got a belated Christmas gift from my mom- looove these lush bath bombs. I’m trying not to use them all at once (also trying not to take a bath every single night to save on our water bill, but it’s HARD because cold temperatures + soothing warm water + great smelling bath soaps = baths are so necessary).

It’s finally starting to quiet down a bit at work (so needed), but I also found that taking a runch break last week really helped de-stress me. Most days I’m unable to take a lunch break (due to teaching skating lessons in the afternoons), but when I can get out it feels pretty amazing. Let’s recap last week shall we?

Monday, 12/31: planned 6 miles easy, but wanted to get in a good ‘end of the year mileage number’ so I ended up with 6.81 miles at 10:45 pace on the treadmill because I just re-did my treadmill run and wanted to take advantage of it!

Tuesday, 1/1: planned 1.5 mi warm-up, 12 x 400m, 1.5 mi cool down, but actually did my strength and then called it a rest day. I was feeling really exhausted and had the complete day off of work so just decided to take advantage of it and listen to my body. It was amazing and so glad I did that. Not every run needs to be perfect and sometimes listening to your body will do wonders.

Wednesday, 1/2: planned rest day, but since I took my rest day on Tuesday I ended up doing 1/2 mi warm-up, 5 miles at goal marathon pace effort (because it was 5* outside at 2pm) 8:38 pace, 1/2 mi cool-down. Avg pace was 8:54 78’ up & also fit in some yoga. Felt pretty good until close to the end of the run, where I got so cold I had to check to make sure my nose didn’t fall off. Don’t worry it was still there.

Thursday, 1/3: 1/2 mi warm up, 5 miles goal marathon pace, 1/2 mi cool down, but did that yesterday so I stuck with 8.06 miles easy at 10:13 548’ elevation gain over my lunch break! Also fit in my strength (started a new strength routine on Tuesday and will stick with it until March then do a whole new one to prevent becoming stagnant) that morning before work. Sunshine + hills + 20* weather felt incredible.

Friday, 1/4: 12-14 miles easy, but had my first back-to-back long runs on schedule so to the treadmill it was (considering how it was -5* outside and I could only fit it in early in the AM)! Goal was anywhere from 12-14 miles and ended up with 12.5 miles. I varied the incline from 1% for the first 60 minutes then rotated through 1% -> 2% -> 3% rolling hills for the next 55 minutes. 9:40 avg pace. Also working on my nutrition! I tried out Huma Gels and LOVED them. I’ve got some Spring Energy gels coming too to test out. I also have found that sweet potatoes right before a run makes me feel AMAZING. I’m going to try out some sweet potato toast with almond butter before my runs this week and will let you know how it goes.

Saturday, 1/5: 4 miles easy- ended up with 4.10 miles easy at 10:31 453’ elevation gain. We went snowshoeing in the morning (great crosstraining) and my butt was SO sore from my incline treadmill the day before/ hiking in the morning.

Sunday, 1/6: 1.5 mi warm-up, 12 x 400 (400R), 1.5 mi cool-down & strength- 1.5 mi warm-up, did my strength, did 6 x 400 then called it because I felt my knee starting to feeling a bit not so great (and our treadmill isn’t the best for speedwork), .75 mi cool down. I came up short, but I’ll get it next week!

Total Mileage: 42.74 miles

Total Elevation gain: 1, 079’ up

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Favorite Bath bomb scents or bubble bath?! I’m obsessed.

Coldest temperature you’d head out for a run? Am I a big baby over here?

Favorite crosstraining activity?

Training Tuesday: Why Your Running FORM Is So Important

Monday: check. Tuesday: off to a new start! I’ve got another speedwork on tap this AM and then will do my first double workout Tuesday (will begin this new schedule with Tuesdays & Thursdays so I can get in both longer runs and strength! )- speedwork on the treadmill this morning then will get in my strength (& a mile or two run at home after work to flush everything out). Also very excited for my rest day tomorrow. Hoping it includes more of this view.

Also saw this answer to a Q & A on Instragram from Sally McRae (@yellowrunner on Instagram) and LOVED her response. Also totally boosted my confidence for my upcoming 50 miler in May!

SO I’ve been doing a bunch of reading of running-related books lately and they all seem to have a few common themes- one of which is running form! I’ve honestly never put too much emphasis on my running form- I have thought about driving my elbow back or running more on the front of my foot (as opposed to my heel), but overall it hasn’t played a huge part in my everyday running thoughts. BUT it is SO important. Why? Because it helps you save energy when running (really helpful for those long-distance runs), helps you get faster (you’re using less energy!), and helps prevent injuries (if you’re striking your heel or overusing certain muscle groups, you’re working them too hard and need to displace your weight more evenly).

One of the things that I’ve been focusing on lately is driving my knee up to the sky. I’ve never really thought about it so much unless I’m running over hurdles and things like that (i.e. on the trails so I don’t fall on my face from tree roots), but focusing on it has dramatically improved my overall paces. I’ve noticed that my butt and hamstrings are actually exhausted at the end of each run when I’m focusing on driving my knee from them (BUT they’ve already started to improve my running efficiency and they are getting less tired than they were a few weeks ago).

Here are few other great articles that help explain why running form is so important:

—> This one from Runner’s World talks all about the different focus points in your entire body to be thinking about. A lot to take in from one run to the next, but I think focusing on each area for a period of time before trying to add them all in together will really help!

—> This one from Active. Com wraps up a bunch of articles done by them regarding biomechanics, where the weight needs to fall on your foot when running, how to rethink your running form, etc. Great overall resources for specific questions that you may have regarding running form!

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What do you think of when you’re focusing on your running form?

Favorite way to spend a rest day from running?

Where do you primarily do your training runs?

Weekend Recap & Ever Feel This Way?

You know those days where you feel completely in-control and ready to tackle the world? Also, do you know those days where you’re like oh crap how am I going to tackle this?! Yeah. last night was kinda the latter. One of the things that really helps me when I feel this way is journaling, meditating, or just taking a brain break (reading/ cuddling with the cats/ watching a show that will de-stress me etc.). That’s why I love this blog because it gives me the opportunity to write out my thoughts. Sometimes I’m able to come up with a solution and other times, I decide that it isn’t really worth my time to find a solution and just move on (something that used to be really hard for me to do in the past!). Also seeing these faces certainly helps too ; )

Flashback to Friday night’s dinner. Homemade pizza with this Sourdough crust is SO good! PS we added more cheese after the photo because cheese is the best.

Current favorite dessert. Popcorn & Justin’s Dark Chocolate Mini PB Cups.

Saturday morning, we headed up Rabbit Ears and went show shoeing! It’s such a great way to cross train for those trail runs I’ll be doing later in the Spring and it’s so beautiful out there with the fresh snow.

Stella loves to eat anything….even snow.

Alex’s head looks very similar to a target here. It’s also really impressive how he can crouch down like that. Talk about being flexible.

In the afternoon, I took advantage of the 30* weather (it unfortunately was cloudy and not so sunny anymore, but still warmer than we’ve had!) and explored a different part of our neighborhood. I had 4 miles on the schedule and got to 4.1 and decided to walk the remaining 1/2 mile home rather than run extra. it’s been nice to not be on such a rigid schedule and listening to my body a bit more.

Made this recipe for dinner Saturday night. So so so delicious and so many leftovers!

Also finished another book. I also really love when you get to the last three pages of a book and find that they’ve been cut in half.

Favorite winter activity?

Send me your favorite Pinterest dinner recipe!

Favorite pizza toppings?

Feature Friday: 21 Questions I Need Answered & Another Book Review!

Wohooo it’s Friday! What a long short-week I had at work. It’s been so nice to be able to get out on my lunch break to run in the sunshine (also because it’s been way too cold to run in the early mornings) . Yesterday’s 8 miles were lovely and I’m excited to do my first ‘back to back’ longish runs today! I’ve got 12-14 miles on the schedule and will hopefully be able to run outside since it’s supposed to be a low of 10* I think? 

I’m focusing on really slowing down for my easy runs, but still getting in those hills! I climbed 500’ yesterday, but hoping to get in a bit more today!  

I thought it would be fun to list out 24 questions that I’ll answer, but I’d also love to have you answer too!  

• Where were you born? North Conway, NH 
• How old are you? 28
• Favorite day of the week? Wednesday’s  
• Favorite ‘splurge’ after a running race? A burger & sweet potato fries!  
• Favorite thing to do when tapering? Mani/ Pedi
• Favorite food? Any type of pasta & fresh rolls
• Favorite dessert? Tiramisu  
• Ocean or lake? Ocean, but I also love lake houses!  
• Mountains or beach? Mountains
• Favorite color? Buttercream yellow
• Favorite smell? Freshly roasted coffee
• Last meal on Earth? Napolian Pizza fresh in Italy  
• Favorite place you’ve traveled to? Either Yosemite or Italy!  
• Favorite season? Fall
• Favorite TV show? Gilmore Girls  
• Favorite movie? Miracle
• Last best book you’ve read? Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• Favorite book? Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer
• Best song ever? Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
• Trails or Road? Trails!  
• Your favorite place to relax? In my heated blanket or outside on the trails far away from civilization  

I’ve got another book review! I loved this book by Becky Wade! She describes her year of travel to various running communities throughout the world. I loved how she described each running culture & how different they all were. It’s a fun and quick read, but I really felt like I got to know the runners along the way. Definitely a great read for anyone who loves to travel and run! 

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Give ME your 21 question answers!  

Tips For Incorporating & Sticking With Your New Years Resolutions!

Happy Friday-eve! I am still slightly in denial that the Holidays are over. It just goes by so fast! But I’m also equally excited to get back on a regular schedule (hello type-A personality ; ) …). I’ve been feeling a bit run-down lately, so I’m trying to listen to my body more and slow down/sleep in (or skip a run) before it becomes a full-fledged cold. I’m unfortunately not one of those people that can just slow down on a run and NOT get sick. It’s funny how it’s taken me this long to realize that, but I’m also excited to finally come to that realization and hope that maybe this means I won’t get another sinus infection this year?!? I’ve also come to the conclusion that this is one of the best desserts- greek yogurt & homemade granola (SO much less sugar when you make your own too- and it’s super easy!).

When it’s too cold for a morning run (it was -14* yesterday!)- I love streaming this yoga video (AND it’s only 10 minutes and free on youtube!).

Also- read this book on my New Years Day (I rented it at the library, but loved it so much that I ordered my own copy) and incorporated her 50 miler training plan into my current Hanson’s Marathon Method. The plans were honestly pretty similar in weekly mileage (until April and then it’s all about those longer distance runs), so I stuck with similar mileage and kept the Hanson’s speedworkouts/ temp runs (cut down the warm-up/ cool-down miles) and then increased my runs on the weekend. I’m also going to be adding in some negative-split runs in my longer runs, along with alternating every-other week speedwork with hill repeat work instead. I think it will be a nice blend of the two and I can still keep my speed steady (not exactly increasing it since I’ve already trained for this marathon time goal within the past year) while increasing mileage. I’m also going to be really present on slowing way down on my easy days (I’m thinking 11:xx pace) to keep my heartrate low and maximize my speed. I love this story and will not just be thinking about my race as ‘spreading the peanut butter’, but also my training that I need to spread the PB evenly.

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Tips For Incorporating & Sticking With Your News Years Resolutions!

In 2018, I actually wrote down my new years goals (I don’t really like the word ‘resolution’ because we’re all growing and improving rather than a full-on ‘cut something bad out’) and then incorporated what my ‘long term goals’ were into monthly goals. While I didn’t accomplish all the goals I set out for myself in 2018, I felt like I accomplished so much more since I kept track of them (writing them out in a planner/ on a piece of paper that I often look at). I also believe that this is one of the main reasons why I hit my MS Run The US fundraising goal.

• Write them down somewhere you can see them EVERY DAY.

• Make a few larger goals for the year and then make monthly goals to help you reach your larger one. Make sure that they’re something that’s in your control and that’s honestly achieveable. I.E. When I wanted to raise $10,000, I had an A, B, and C fundraising $ goals. My A goal was really achieveable, but my C goal was my ‘dream fundraising $’ for that month. This can also be helpful if you want to run ‘x’ amount of miles, incorporate new fitness goals into your routine, cut down on ‘x’ in your diet, or lose ‘x’ amount of weight. Nothing will happen overnight or in a week, so be patient and work on it in small increments.

• Re-assess after a month if you’re still unable reach your goal. Is it not attainable? Do you need more support for your family? Are you able to move things around in your schedule to help you reach your goal?

• Cross them off your monthly goals when you achieve something! Nothing brings my more satisfaction to cross something off my monthly (OR yearly!) goals. It makes me feel like I’m really getting somewhere with my goals and gives me that extra boost to achieve something else on my list.

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Favorite way to incorporate Yoga into your schedule?

50 miler finishers out there- any tips for a beginner?!?

How do you stay accountable with your goals?