Tag Archives: training

Footprints: Monday Recap

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Last week was unfortunately not a great week of training. With travel, unexpected extra work at the office and the snooze button defeating me a couple mornings, I didn’t get as much in as I wanted. My long run is on tap for tomorrow though, so I’m not completely giving up on it!

Here’s the day by day breakdown of my less than stellar week:

Monday: 3 miles easy in the AM followed by a great track workout. I ran 6X800s with a 3-minute jog recovery in between each repeat. My splits came in at 3:24, 3:19, 3:21, 3:19, 3:19, 3:18. Thanks to the Labor Day holiday I also got a mid-morning Body Ride in at Revolve.

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 5.3 mile progressively faster, hilly run.

Thursday: Rest Day

I've been wearing my new Oiselle Flyte tank for way too many of my workouts! Thank goodness for in-unit laundry finally!

I’ve been wearing my new Oiselle Flyte tank for way too many of my workouts! Thank goodness for in-unit laundry finally!

Friday: Rest/Travel Day

Saturday: 6.6 mile slow, sluggish run in the heat and humidity in Minnesota. Of course the weekend it finally cools down in D.C., it’s hot and humid in the midwest.

Sunday: 4 miles hard and fast around a lake in Minnesota with 4 striders at the end.

Footprints: Monday Recap

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Wow, so this is my 200th post! It’s hard to believe I’ve written that many since starting. Hope you’re enjoying reading along with my journey. Let me know what types of posts you enjoy and what you’d like me to write more about!

Now, on to the recap! Last week was another strong week along the way to training for Marine Corps Marathon. I had to make up a couple of the previous week’s workouts at the beginning of last week, so I again pushed some of last week’s into this morning, which worked out well since I had the day off and plenty of time to work out. More on that in next week’s recap though.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class – Real Ride at Revolve. Core Workout

Tuesday: I split my longer mid-week run from the previous week between an easy 3.5 miler in the AM and a tougher 6.6 miles after work. I also got in a morning track workout, which felt great. My goal was 5X1000 with a 4-minute jog recovery at 4:16 each. I was tight on time so I cut the recovery jogs down to 3-3:30 each and still nailed all my splits: 4:13, 4:16, 4:11, 4:12, 4:12.

Wednesday: Rest day for my team bocce playoffs. They did not go well. Fun season, but lets just say, I will not be missing a workout next week for round 2.

Shopping Spree! So much new Oiselle goodness arrived this week!

Shopping Spree! So much new Oiselle goodness arrived this week!

Thursday: Rest day today because I hit snooze one too many times meaning I had to hit the track early the following Monday before spin to make it up.

Friday: I was out of work early, so I met up with new friend/Oiselle teammate Stephanie on Friday afternoon so we could get our long run out of the way before the weekend really started. We put in a great 18 miles despite the heat and humidity.

Saturday: I tried out a new yoga studio for a 75-minute hot yoga class. I really loved this class and boy was it challenging.

Sunday: I again set out in the midday heat and humidity (I’ll never learn) and slogged along for 10.1 miles along the Custis and W&OD trails. I stopped at a water fountain to fill my bottle at one point with another 4-5 miles to go still and found myself so sweaty I couldn’t grip the bottle well enough to open it. Thankfully a biker on his way by was able to help me out, so I didn’t have to go without water for the second half of my run!! I always appreciate when random people are kind.

Marine Corps Marathon Course Change Announcement

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On August 20, the Marine Corps Marathon announced a flatter course with the return of Rock Creek Parkway. I for one am thrilled about the change. It makes the course flatter and hopefully faster, while taking out a tough early hill that was way too easy to go too hard on and pay for later.

The removal of the Canal Road/Georgetown Reservoir section of the course makes it similar to the first time I ran the race in 2006 when I first fell in love with this marathon, and at the same time takes away my least favorite part of my 2011 run there. That’s what I call a win-win!

Check out the interactive course map here!

Run Washington did a story on their website covering the announcement and were nice enough to include me in it:

Run Washington Banner

RunWashingtonArticle1

RunWashingtonArticle2

Check out the full article on their site.

Change of Scenery on the Run

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The monotony of the same old route can be tough during marathon training, so I try and mix things up as much as possible. While sometimes I like to do my most familiar routes to test my fitness and make comparisons to previous times running there, I also like to run in completely different places on long runs. The not knowing what’s ahead can be intimidating, but the new scenery can help take my mind off of how far I have to run and help the miles fly by. Thankfully the D.C. area has an abundance of areas to run in so I never get bored.

At the beginning of August I made a trip home to Syracuse so I really got to mix things up and run around my old stomping grounds. I’ve lived in Arlington since 2006 now, so I really don’t run back home all that often. I got in a great track workout at my old high school overlooking the softball field I spent many hours playing and practicing on back in the day. We were still in the midst of some very hot and humid weather in D.C. at that point, so the nicest part of that workout was the 60 degree temps and slight, but cool breeze.

fmtrack

I also got a long run in while I was home in the beautiful, but super hilly Green Lakes State Park. I actually worked at Green Lakes for three summers during college and it’s where I met my fiancé, so it holds a special place in my heart. It was a relatively mild day again, but a touch humid. I ran 17.2 miles over some major hills along the main road that runs through the park by the golf course before looping around the beach trails, which has to be one of the best spots to run ever. I also ventured up into some of the hiking trails by the campgrounds that I hadn’t explored before, which was fun and very challenging for this runner girl who usually sticks to the road. If you ever find yourself near Fayetteville, NY, find time to fit in a run here! You won’t regret it. I did my best to snap some shots on the run, so here are a few that didn’t come out super blurry!

GreenLakesRun_beach

GreenLakesRun_Path

GreenLakesRun_trail

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GreenLakesRun_trail2

 

Fall Races!

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While I hate that summer is almost over meaning less daylight hours and winter just around the corner, fall is my hands-down favorite weather season of the year. It also means it’s fall racing season! I haven’t raced throughout the entire month of August and am getting a little stir-crazy, so I’m excited that my fall line-up of races is almost here.

This is where I’ll be racing this fall…

September 14 – Navy-Air Force Half Marathon
I’m a little terrified that I have a half marathon so soon, but then when I think about it I’ve been running further than that during my long runs for a month and a half now including a couple 17 milers. I’m a little concerned about keeping the pace I want so this will be a great test of my fitness. Most of the course is along the Marine Corps Marathon route as well, so it’ll be great practice!

September 28 – Pacers Clarendon Day Double
I’ll be running both the 5k and the 10k put on by Pacers as part of the Clarendon Day Festival. I’m so excited for this race. I’ve never done two races in one day before and I’m really looking forward to the speedy, mostly downhill courses. The 5k is up first so I’m going to shoot for a PR in that and then just see how the 10k goes after I’ve gotten myself back up the hill for the start of that one!

October 13 – Undecided
Acumen Solutions Race for  A Cause 8k … OR … Boo! Run for Life 10k
My coach suggested I look for an 8k or 10k this week and I’ve found one of each – both pretty close to home and roughly the same price. The 8k is closer but the 10k is flatter and a familiar course for me. Advice is appreciated! If you’ve done either of these races in the past, let me know what you think about them.

October 27 – Marine Corps Marathon
This is the big one – the race I’ve been waiting all year for since I had to defer my entry last year while stuck in physical therapy. It’s my chance to finally get my Boston Qualifier in my 10th marathon. I simultaneously can’t wait for it to get here and am terrified of it getting here too soon. I love this race though. It’ll be my third MCM and I LOVE the course change announcements recently unveiled that make it more similar to my first go at MCM in 2006. They’ve done away with  the Canal Road portion of the race, which I was never a big fan of, and added in Rock Creek Parkway. Let the countdown commence!

Here I was near the finish two year’s ago after Marine Corps…

After - wrapped in my space blanket, happy to be done!

After – wrapped in my space blanket, happy to be done!

Let me know where you’ll be racing this fall!! Any big PR goals?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week started off pretty rough as I was fighting a cold and despite sleeping 10 hours a night still felt exhausted and missed a few workouts as a result. I came back strong over the weekend though to get myself back on track. I’m hurting pretty good today from all the weekend miles, but here’s hoping lots of stretching, rolling and some cross training today will help take care of that.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin on my own – 25 minutes, Elliptical – 35 minutes, Full-body strength workout

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Rest

Friday: I hoped to get my track workout in today, but ran over to the W&L track to find an event going on, so I just kept going and got about 45 minutes in. I felt great on this run, but was just wearing a regular stopwatch so I have no idea how far I went.

Saturday: I put off my run for most of the day wasting a really beautiful August day in D.C. and landing in the gym that night for 12.3 treadmill miles.

Sunday: Not my smartest move… after the 12 treadmill miles the night before I got up early to get most of my long run in before meeting up with a few of my new Oiselle teammates for a few miles along the Mall. It was a bit of a rainy morning, but still warm enough out that it felt good. I got 12 in on my own running through Arlington, Georgetown and Hains Point and was so relieved to have some running buddies for the last 5 miles along the Mall. I’m not sure I could have kept going on my own!

Rainy Run with some members of the Oiselle flock!

Rainy Run with some members of the Oiselle flock!

Resolution Check-In

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Wow, August 1st, this year is just flying! Time to check in on those resolutions.

Last month’s big focus was cross training and strength training. I started strong but then let things slip a little near the end of the month. I need to come back strong on that this month to help boost my Marine Corps Marathon training and make sure I stay on track with my New Year’s Resolutions to get healthy and build a stronger core. I’ve been doing great about running smarter not harder so far this year and I certainly don’t want to fall behind and land myself on the injured list again.

Rocking my I Run This Body Tee!

Rocking my I Run This Body Tee!

I’m still working on the soda, but am doing a bit better. I still have free soda just around the corner from my desk at my new job so that doesn’t help matters, but I’ve been drinking fountain soda at restaurants a lot less so that’s a positive.

My Boston Qualifier goal is coming up quickly with Marine Corps Marathon training in full swing. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous and worried about my speed, but I am already putting in a lot of good, quality miles. I also know I shouldn’t judge too soon especially with the summer heart wave that kicked off my training.

Seeing as how important that goal is to me my main focus for this month will be my long runs. So far so good on this front, but I’m far enough into my training where I already have a few under my belt but far enough away from my race that it can be easy to let one slip if I’m feeling unmotivated. So here’s to another good month of long runs!

Hope everyone’s doing well on your Resolutions!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week was a pretty solid training week featuring a mid-week track race and a long run that included some trails that I don’t run on nearly often enough. I’d like to start speeding things up, but am happy with the mileage base that I have.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class at Revolve – real ride.

Tuesday: I ran home from work again – this week it was “only” 90 degrees out when I set out and I got an entire extra mile in in the same amount of time. I finished up with 10 miles – love being able to hit double digits during the week.

Wednesday: DC Road Runners Track Championship! I ran the mile in 6:21 for a 3rd place finish in my heat. Check out the full recap.

track

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Strength training – core and upper body.

Saturday: 16.5 mile long run. I got myself going a bit earlier this week and was on the road before 8. I took a route I’ve only done once before and even mixed in some trails along the Glover Archbold Trail before running through the zoo and home via Rock Creek Parkway. I don’t run trails very often so it was a pretty challenging run for me, and I’m probably a little too proud that I didn’t fall this time and I only got lost once!

Sunday: 45 minute treadmill run.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Holy heat wave Batman! Last week was Hot and Humid – in a much worse than usual kind of way. I’m talking triple digits with the heat index and really high humidity. I somehow managed to still get a lot of runs in outside, but the heat definitely made a difference. I’m running a lot slower than I want to be, but am trying to listen to my coach that it’s just the heat and I’ll see improvements when it cools down.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Mostly a rest day with a little bit of core and strength work.

Tuesday: On a scorching hot night I ran home from work getting 9 hot and hilly miles in. It was a straight into the shower with my clothes on when I got home kind of run!

Wednesday: Rest day with a bit of walking.

Thursday: Track workout. 102 degrees with the heat index. I can’t tell you how thankful I was for the cloud cover that came in right as we finished our warm up. I started off with a 2-miler and was a bit off the mark – mostly slowing down on the second mile. After a 10-minute slow recovery jog I went right into a 1-miler that was also a bit slower than my target. I told my coach about my concerns about my times on recent runs and feeling like I was breaking down, so instead of calling it a night he had me do two more 400s. This was a huge confidence boost as I felt a lot better and much more speedy finishing the second even faster than the first.

Friday: Spin Class at Revolve – feels so good to be spinning again!

revolvestudio

Saturday: Despite  knowing that it was going to already be in the high 80s at 6 a.m., I hit snooze one too many times then dragged my feet about getting going so I finally started my long run at 11. Great time of day for a super hot and humid long run. I made it 15 miles though so I felt pretty good about it. I was wiped for the rest of the day though for sure. I downed some chocolate milk when I got home, took a long shower and then headed out with Ian for a big lunch at Fireworks.

Sunday: 45 minutes on the treadmill.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Yes, I know it’s Wednesday night. I had great intentions of getting this post up on Monday, especially since I haven’t posted anything in forever. I’m behind…on everything. I have a bunch of unanswered emails in my inbox, which is a huge pet peeve of mine and a to do list a mile long that has way too many things not crossed off. After my four trips in four weeks exhaustion started to catch up to me at the same time I was moving, starting a new job and new car shopping. Needless to say it’s been a busy but awesome couple of weeks, and unfortunately I’ve fallen behind on the blog. I’m hoping to turn that around and get going on things again though, so let me know if there are any posts you want to see this month!

Now on to the weekly recap! I missed posting this last Monday, but there wasn’t much to report. I only got 3 runs in for about 11 miles all on treadmills, but was sorer than ever from moving. I did not realize the new place didn’t have an elevator – thank goodness we’re only on the second floor! Last week was a lot better although this heat wave has not been helping my speed any! Still, I got some quality runs and strength training in.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: I got in an easy one-hour run on the treadmill for a little more than 7 miles followed by a 20-minute strength training workout.

Tuesday: Tonight I did an hour boot camp style strength training workout.

Wednesday: I ran home from the new office for the first time. It’s a bit further run commute than the old 3-mile one that I used to have to add loops to. This ended up being 9 hot and hilly miles with the last couple miles especially being a tough uphill route. Despite the heat I really love this run and look forward to doing it more – this will be a great one for my longer weekday run each week.

Thursday: Rest Day.

Friday: Rest Day.

Saturday: Spin Class followed by a track workout. This was a bad idea and I instantly regretted sleeping in to late so that I couldn’t do the track first. It was great to be back at Revolve though – had been way too long. I walked from there to the track for 2X2 mile repeats with a 2 minute break that were supposed to each be 14:50. The first one I hit dead on, but then the spin class caught up to me and I locked up on lap 4 of the second set struggling to finish it in 15:23. Not surprisingly my Coach recommended that I don’t do my track workouts following another workout from now on after I sent in my recap.

At the track realizing this was not such a great plan! Next time track first, then spin class!

At the track realizing this was not such a great plan! Next time track first, then spin class!

Sunday: I split my long run into 2 runs today – the first about 55 minutes and the next just under an hour. I’m glad I made it outside for them both, but am looking forward to a true long run this week.