What I'm Currently......

March 29, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in Feature Friday

Happy Friday! We really have no plans this weekend and 100% OK with that. It’s my final weekend before TWO big weeks of PEAK MILEAGE then I’ll begin tapering for both races! These next two weeks will fly by , so trying to savor the very small amount of mileage I have on tap while I can!

SO here are a few things I’m LOVING lately.

Getting THIS long sleeve for post-Eugene marathon bliss:

Homemade Beet/ Cocoa/ Honey Oatmeal

Testing out THESE headphones as a Bib Rave Pro (find a discount HERE). So far- LOVING them!

Not sure if I’m necessarily LOVING them, but wall squats

Massages. Hands down the best thing I’ve done this past week. Treat yourself!

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Three things you’re loving right now?!?

Any other aftershokz headphone lovers out there?

Are you pro massage?

Checking In On Monthly Goals!

March 28, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in Thoughts

HOW is it already April on Monday?!? Also- WHY does March always go by so fast? I have so many questions and so little answers. I guess it’s time to check back on my goals for March and look ahead to my goals for April. This last month has been STRESSFUL. I barely hit any of my goals and honestly some days, just felt like I was trying to stay afloat. I hope April will be better, but honestly I think the next few months will FLY by and I may not hit most of my goals (which is OK! I’m human!). Also it’s all good because we have the cutest kitties around.

March Goals:

Yoga 1x /week - YES! I hit ONE of my goals! I’ve been LOVING yoga. Yay.
Meditate 1x/ week- I think I got 3 of the 4 weeks. Not bad, but not great.
Ski @ 1 new-to-me Mtn- nope…
Do 3 pulls up- HA. no. I’m SO SCARED to try them at the gym! I need your tips to get over my very irrational fear.
Daily gratitude of 5 things- Yes. I love to do this and look back on my day and find 5 things I’m grateful for (even if it was an unbelievably crappy day)!
Visualize Race- I did this more-so the beginning of the month, but have been struggling a bit more with it the past week or so. Hoping to get back on track next month.
Save $$$- Did OK with this. Always room for improvement!

April Goals:

Yoga 1 x / week
Meditate 1x /week
Read 2 books
Do 3 pull-ups
Visualize Race Course
PR THE MARATHON!
Save $$$$$$$

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What are some of your goals for April???

Any tips to get past my fear of trying to do a pull-up at the gym? Should I just get one of those pull-up bars to have at home instead??!?

Eugene/50 Miler Training RUNdown Week 13: 3/18-3/24

March 27, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in 50 miler training, Training Rundown

Happy Humpday! This week is FLYING by. I’m partially happy about that and sad because that means that my recovery week is coming to an end. I got a massage yesterday and WOW did that make a HUGE difference! I’m so glad that I listened to my body and booked one ASAP. Massages & sleep are two of my favorite ways to speed up recovery (and stay injury-free)- along with also increasing my GOOD calories. I’m eating so much lately it’s slightly ridiculous, but I know that food = fuel = less likely to get injured.

Last weeks training went pretty amazing. I was within ~.5 mile of breaking my weekly mileage training high (I peaked for MS Run The US at 67 miles!). I will absolutely cross that barrier during the next two weeks of training and then I’ll do a mini-taper for Eugene (mid 50s for mileage). Then a mini-ramp up again (mid 60s) for my 50 miler before tapering again. My training plan had the next 3 weeks as a big training block, but since I’m wanting to race Eugene I will be cutting one of those weeks out and switching back to Hanson’s Marathon Method for the two weeks leading up to Eugene (my taper). Then I’ll pick back up with the training plan from this book following Eugene (with run/walking for the first week or so to aid in recovery). I’ve done something similar with my MS Run The US training, but using myself as a guinea pig (to hopefully someday become a running coach!).

Monday, 3/18: 6.36 miles easy 10:11 328’ RUNch. Ran to the library & back!

Tuesday, 3/19: 12 miles with 1.5 warmup / 9 miles @ goal marathon effort (8:30 today)/ 1.5 miles down & strength

Wednesday, 3/20: yoga to start the day & 6.95 miles easy 9:58 198’ up RUNch miles

Thursday, 3/21: 8 miles. 20 minute warmup / 4 x 6 min uphill (3 min 6% run & 3 min 12% hike) with 3 min recovery / 5 min easy / 3 x 2 min 3% run (90 sec recovery)/ 5 min easy cool down & a tiny bit of strength. I tried to get this done in the morning, but got a mile into my run and was STARVING. So, I took that as a sign and cut the run to get in some good fuel. Had the afternoon free, so got my run in on the treadmill instead.

Friday, 3/22: 10.16 mi easy 10:45 min/mi 169’ up. I struggled with this one. There was so much black ice that I had to cut it after 6 outside (and my plan for my long long run this morning) and then got in the remaining 4 on the treadmill.

Saturday, 3/23: 22 miles easy 11:37 3, 329’ up & strength. This run was on the slower end, but mentally I felt AWESOME. Who else can run 22 miles on their own with insane hills like that?! This run was a HUGE mental boost for my 50 miler because it gains around 5,000’ in elevation so I didn’t have too many more hills left to go to get there (and that’s spread out over 50 miles!). Recovered with some delicious brunch, foam rolling, legs up the wall, and epsom salt bath. Loving Spring Energy as fuel, but I didn’t fuel as much as I really should have for this run (so much weather elements- wind, rain, snow, ice, sun, clouds!)

Sunday, 3/24: Rest day! Yoga.

Total Mileage: 66.47 miles

Total Elevation: 5, 031’ up

Training Tuesday: Top FIVE Favorite PUMP UP Jams

March 26, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in Running Playlists, Training Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! I thought it would be fun to share with you my current top 5 favorite songs that help get my butt running when I’d much rather cuddle with the kitties.

Wild Horses- Bishop Briggs

Glorious - Macklemore . still obsessed with this one!

Cheap Thrills - Sia

One Last Time - Ariana Grande

Born This Way - Lady Gaga

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My legs are still SORE from my 22 miler on Saturday! Ha. I’ve booked a massage for today and struggled through a bit over half of my marathon effort miles before calling it quits (definitely felt like I was running the tail-end of a marathon). Ha. Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow!

-What are YOUR favorite pump up jams!?!?

7 THINGS

March 25, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in Weekend Things, 50 miler training

Happy Monday! Eugene Marathon is officially 33 DAYS AWAY! I can’t wait. Also I really need to start planning activities for AFTER the run- do you have any suggestions or must-sees for Oregon PNW area?! Let’s recap 7 things that happened over the weekend.

Dirt Roads!