Eugene Marathon/50 Miler RUNdown Week 7: 2/4-2/10

Happy Humpday! We’re off to our yurt trip this afternoon and I’ll have a full recap for you on Friday. I’m so excited to just completely disconnect for the next 24ish hours. It’s amazing how draining social media/ email/ phones can take out of you. Anyone else feel this way? I think our cats will miss our clothes the most.

Last week I hit a bit over 48 miles and will continue building for the next 2 weeks (working lots of hills!) and then have another recovery week. I’m feeling strong and ready for my upcoming races. Can it be April/May already?!?

Monday, 2/4: 6 mi easy @ 10:34 98’ up. Commuting about with errands during my lunch break. Also sporting my pats hat because ya know they won the Super Bowl or something like that? ; )

Tuesday, 2/5: 1.5 mi warm-up, 7 miles at marathon pace effort (8:18), .65 mi cool down & 20 minutes of strength. I normally would have wanted to get to that 10 miles rather than stop my cool down short (finishing at 9.15 miles), BUT strength is really important and I wanted to get it in. So I adjusted my goals for the day and made sure to make time for strength training.

Wednesday, 2/6: Rest Day. 30 minutes of Recovery Yoga

Thursday, 2/7: 7.02 miles. 1 mi warm-up / ladder workout (400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 with 400 recovery between sets) / ? mi cool down. I was feeling really exhausted and slept in rather than getting this in first thing Thurs morning. So I switched my schedule around and was short on time to fit it in during my lunch break. My last 400 was at 6:48 pace and the others were a bit more conservative (7:14-7:20 pace I believe?) since I felt pretty crappy (major sinus headache and stomach was NOT happy). I still got it in and happy with my effort. Not every run is great and paces are sometimes not where you want/imagine them to be, but that is training!

Friday, 2/8: 10.10 miles easy @ 10:00 600’ up & strength. On the treadmill because it was -20 something out again in the morning. Lots of treadmill endurance building over here!

Saturday, 2/9: 12.02 miles easy @ 10;14 1, 332’ up. I was SO surprised with the amount of elevation I gained. My legs were definitely feeling it afterwards and an Epsom Salt bath really helped with it. I also played around with nutrition with real foods (perfect training for my 50 miler!). I brought along bananas, sea salt chips, and a dried pineapple (along with plain H2O & Nuun). It was windy out and the pace included walking breaks to get my nutrition out/ consume it/ put it back.

Sunday, 2/10: 4.01 miles easy @ 10:40 243’ up & strength. Legs were still so tired. My lungs felt great, but wow my legs felt like lead! Also did XC skiing before this, so rather than go up to 6 miles (goal was 4-6 miles easy) I stopped at 4 because of how my legs felt/ lots of other things to get done/ 45 minutes of exercise sounded good. Listening to my body more!

Total Mleage: 48.32 miles

Total Elevation: 2, 273’ up - most elevation gain this training cycle thus far!

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How’s your training going?

What’s your next race?

Training Tuesday: Marathon Fatigue

Happy Tuesday! I’ve got another 7 miles at goal marathon effort on the ‘mill this morning (it’s just too cold/ icy out to do this in the early mornings on the roads in the winter, so I’m building up my mental stamina) and some strength. I’ve come to really look forward to my early morning Tuesday alarms (4am), although when it first goes off I definitely look something more-so like this:

SOURCE

I’ve been wanting to do a post about marathon fatigue for a while now because it’s something that I honestly always forget about (and I’ve ran 6 marathons). It’s those first 4 weeks or so of training (for me, anyways), where everything feels terrible. Your legs feel dead, speed is just not happening, and anything surrounding marathon pace is plain ugly.

Your almost always tired and the fatigue in those easy recovery runs is 100% REAL. I always equate those recovery runs to running through mud, with weights on your legs. Which is honestly how these runs should feel like. They’re getting the blood flowing, your main goal is to NOT work your cardiovascular system too much (save it for those speed/long/tempo runs in your week!), and it’s just working out all those kinks. Which is why it should feel hard/terrible/aweful.

Your body is also adjusting to a new schedule, which is one of the hardest things for me! Getting into a new routine is CHALLENGING. Until I make it a habit, it’s a struggle to get up early, find a good time each week to fit in my strength/ yoga/ rest day/ long run day etc. After those 4 or so weeks, I’ve finally adjusted (mentally AND physically) to training. I know how I’ll feel after certain runs and by trail and error (many marathon training cycles to go off of), and also when running/training works best for you. Unfortunately, if it’s your first or second marathon you may not yet have this down.

Marathon training takes a lot of time and energy. FIguring out how it works into your schedule and ADJUSTING to it takes PATIENCE. It’s not going to magically feel good overnight (or rarely will you ever feel great until after race day) and it takes a few weeks to adjust to ANY new training plan/schedule/routine (like anything in life, right?). I think getting over that 4-5 week training hump is hard with every new training cycle I begin and sometimes I find that it isn’t working and something needs to change. I did this for my goal Fall marathon (LV Rock n Roll) and found that switching to the half would be best for me where I was in life at the moment. That’s OK and sometimes it’s harder to acknowledge where you are versus where you want to be and make adjustments from there. Give yourself time, patience, and grace.

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I’d love to know your tips when beginning a new cycle (marathon or something else!)- do you find to have an adjustment period? How long does it take for you?

Favorite day of the week? —> Almost always Thursdays. You’re on the cusp of the end of the week and by then I’ve got my long workdays behind me!

Where are you able to train right now ? Roads? Trails? Treadmill?

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! Wow I REALLY needed this weekend and last weeks training of recovery was amazing. At first, it was a bit odd to NOT be running all the miles, but come Saturday- I couldn’t have been more thankful for it. Let’s flashback to Friday afternoon where after having a completely crazy week at work, it felt so amazing to be able to get a nice 30 minute swim in (even though I also really wanted to get some strength in, but the universe was telling me not to since I brought two pairs of right-footed sneakers with me?!?!? - in my defense they are literally the same color/style Brooks Ghosts, but wow I had never done THAT before!)  

First day of my February vegan diet before I re-introduce food groups went well! Had this for dinner and so far, I’ve only craved a meatball sub once!  

Also had a Pinterest -fail Saturday morning trying out a Banana Oatmeal Vegan pancake recipe. Ha they were a complete blob.  

My planned 5-7 miles easy Saturday got switched with my Sunday easy 8 mile run because it was 32* outside and just SO BEAUTIFUL! I didn’t want to stop running, but good thing I have some self-control ; )  

Sunday was ALOT of meal-prepping for the week ahead (I think it’s the name-of-the-game when it comes to this months diet)  

Also had a way better attempt at a different recipe of Vegan pancakes (they even had Chia seeds in them!)  

Easy 7 miles in the crazy 20mph winds (but it was almost 40* out?!?) . Anytime I wanted to cop-out when the wind got really strong-> I reminded myself of all those brave soles who finished Boston last year.  

Then Stella and I went out for a little snowshoe later on before watching the pats at the super bowl!  

Don’t worry- Brady rested up the whole day for the game.  

Alex’s two friends from High School (who love back in Maine) are visiting this week, so I was mainly solo this weekend and will be this week as they head off for a few days to ski at Park City!  

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How was your weekend?!? 

Favorite Pinterest recipe you’ve found?! 

Any Super Bowl fans out there ? I just love how amazing the commercials are every year.  

Then VS Now, I'm Excited For THIS, And The Easiest/Best Lunch Ever?

Happy Friday-eve! I’m honestly most excited to do absolutely nothing this entire weekend. I kinda just want to hole-up on Saturday with a good book, hot cocoa, and some good appetizer platters (our favorite ‘Saturday afternoon snack/replacement of lunch’). I’ve been so busy (and overly stressed) at work lately that my runs have been so needed. It helps so much to just ‘zone out’ and not think about anything when running. I think sometimes that’s my favorite thing about getting out for a run. We’re in the midst of getting more snow (yay for skiing, not so yay for driving), so throwing it back to a warmer day where we could see the ground.

I’ve also forgotten how tired and hungry you are when in the midst of marathon training! I’m on week 4 of serious training and WOW my legs feel dead, I’m falling asleep on the couch at 8:30, and am feeling so unbelievably fit already (yay). Here’s to hoping all this training pays off and gets me to the start & finish line of both the Eugene Marathon & my 50 miler races strong and healthy!

Here’s to hoping I’m more in shape for my 50 miler than I was for my 50k….

My lunches for this week have been amazing. I’m not here to brag, but well…I kinda need to because it tastes SO GOOD. It’s also super easy to throw together (less than an hour prep on Sundays too!). I’m kinda one of those people that eat the same thing all the time if I like it, so I’ll probably be eating this for the next year or so. ——> Brown Rice (made a giant batch on Sunday), Green Peppers, Onion, Diced Tomato, Spinach, & Black Beans. I then top it with the most delicious salsa & guacomole. All that I’m missing is Tortilla Chips (but honestly I’ve been munching on salted almonds lately - I just leave them in my car so whenever I’m feeling hungry, I grab a handful- which helps me with any of those salty/crunchy cravings (and is much more nutrient-dense as well)!

Since the 10 Year Challenge came up on both Facebook and Instagram recently, I thought it would be fun to reflect on here!

10 years ago, I was a freshman in college. I wasn’t even a runner at this point! I was actually injured (partially torn meniscus in my knee) from a skating fall (yes, I competed in college as a figure skater)!

I was very driven in my skating, easily persuaded to try new things from new friends (hello, college!), and focused on my studies. My favorite past-times included skating (duh), studying, going out to dinner with friends, rushing in my new sorority (oh hey, Gamma Phi!), and learning what ‘going out’ on the weekends actually means (oh, how naive I was!).

I also sled along the slippery slopes of various eating disorders when I was injured. I was convinced that I would gain ‘a ton of weight’ because I was unable to skate/ train. I was also introduced to running (but it took me a few more years before I would catch ‘the bug’) from my roommate- who was part of the SU Track & Field Team!

Today, I’ve honestly grown so much and am excited to continue to grow, learn, and mature! I realize that food=fuel and that if I need to take a few days off of running, it’s not a big deal.

I’ve learned to love the outdoors- in every way, shape, and form.

I’m so glad with where my life is now and I wouldn’t change a thing. I can’t wait for what the next decade brings!

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What did your life look like 10 years ago?!

Favorite lunch food?

Favorite outdoor activity?

Last weeks training RUNdown 12/16-12/23

This long weekend went by way too fast. Anyone else feel this way?! I also feel that we should have an extra week or two between Christmas & New Years. Two holidays so close together just makes this week pass by way too fast. Last night we continued my family’s tradition of Italian food on Christmas Day- I made homemade Chicken Parmigiana and it was incredible.  

Then we proceeded to eat our weight in homemade Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. Warm cookies fresh out of the oven is my favorite.  

Also we did both cross country AND alpine skiing yesterday?!? We decided to start with a cross country ski on our lake trail (normally they groom it, but they didn’t yesterday).  

Then we decided to skin up the ski mountain that is basically right out our doorstep. I’m not sure when exactly, but someone created the ski area (with lifts and set trails) here at Stagecoach- unfortunately it never actually opened! Fortunately for us, it isn’t open and we are able to hike up it and ski down with basically fresh tracks. It really blows my mind that it took us two years to finally find this trail to hike up.  

We both definitely got spoiled with some amazing gifts yesterday and also really looking forward to spending some money that I got on some new running gear!  

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Monday, 12/17- 5 miles easy at 8:38 60’ up. Originally this was supposed to be an easy 6 mile run, but I only had a short amount of time and decided why not make it a fun little temp-ish run. It was nice to run “faster” again! First time since Vegas!  

Tuesday, 12/18- 6.04 miles easy with 360’ up & 30 minutes of strength in the morning!  

Wednesday, 12/19: Rest Day! 

Thursday, 12/20: 6 miles easy with middle three miles at goal marathon pace (8:40, 8:21, 7:59). 10 minutes of strength  

Friday, 12/21- Skin up the ski mountain & 5 miles easy afterwards at 9:44 84’ up. This was probably one of the coldest runs I’ve done (4* out?!?) and I’m honestly pretty proud of that. I survived!  

Saturday, 12/22- 7 miles easy @ 11:06 625’ up & yoga. I’m trying to listen to my body more and slow down on my runs when I feel like I need it. No shame in slowing that pace down!  

Sunday, 12/23: 4.25 miles with alternating the incline from 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% and back down . 9:56 pace & 30 minutes of strength. All done after teaching skiing all day! Pretty happy that I still managed to get it done despite being tired (also my butt was SO SORE the next day!)  

Total Mileage: 33.29 miles  

Total Elevation: 1,129’ up 

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How was your Holiday? 

Favorite homemade cookie?!? 

Favorite trail running shoe- I need some recommendations!