New Shoes and New Strategy

June 30, 2011
Rachel
Today's mileage: 8.0 miles


Today was my longest run yet and it felt great (and sorta horrible at the same time). It was my first run in my new shoes, which always make me feel like I can just go forever. New shoes are not necessarily in the budget right now, but I knew that the old shoes I was using were bound to lead to injury.

I also used this run to experiment with hydrating during my run. When I ran 7.5 miles last week, I felt very dizzy, disoriented, and cold towards the end of my run. It was recommended to me that after an hour of running, you need to find a way to rehydrate, which is anything over 6 miles for me. So, today, instead of running 4 miles each way, I tried something different. I stashed a gatorade in the bushes near the starting point and ran 3 miles each way, out and back. I stopped for about 20-30 seconds to guzzle half the gatorade, and then ran another 1 mile each way in the other direction, for a total of 8 miles.

I was nervous about doing this because I really do not like stopping when I'm running, for any reason. It just feels SO HORRIBLE to start up again. But, although the first quarter mile or so after my brief stop was pretty rough (especially 6 miles into the run), I think it was worth it. I think that shot of electrolytes was what helped me make it the full 8 miles. I felt much better at the end of this run than I did a week ago.

I'm feeling pretty rough tonight, though....I'm limping around the house and groaning every time I have to move very much. But I've stretched really well, will continue to hydrate, and will do some mild activity tomorrow to keep my muscles loose.

I love that I've set the goal of running my first half marathon over labor day...that goal is truly what keeps me going during these long runs. I spend a lot of time during run imagining myself running the race and finishing it! And today was actually the first time I started to feel like it might be possible. I plan to add a half mile each week or every other week, which makes getting to 11 miles before the race seem within reach.

Listen Up!

Selena

Mileage/Time: 3.1mi/32min.

I'm throwing out the 10% training rule. I found this random article online, and the author has some valid pointers on why following that rule can short-change your potential. Instead, I'm going to go by the article's axiom: "Listen to your body!!!" This rather vague concept needs elaboration, though...

Sure, we can "listen to our bodies" and surrender after some sloppy trotting because we're tired, our gait feels jangly, it's too hot outside, etc., but is that really listening to our body? Or is it more so listening to evil thought-demons? See, I'm really good at listening to the latter, but not so good at the former. In the past, I've ignored tiny aches that quickly metamorphed into a stabbing pain called a stress fracture. I've run the exact same cement course, oblivious to my body's reaction to the sidewalk's cant (that slight slope of the surface to aid in rainwater draining) and acclimatization to the routine-ness But now I'm going to be a better listener; I'm going to tune out those inconsequential thought-demons and turn up the volume on those bodily, physiological clues. Am I sweating because my muscles are happily singing in searing work, or because my joints can't take this much pounding yet? I think diversifying my running course, my distance, my speed will all be in aid of this.

The author offers some pointers on how to increase distance without the 10% rule, and I like his/her tactic:

"Week 1 : 3 - 3 - 3 - 3. Total = 12 miles

Week 2 : 3 - 4 - 3 - 4. Total = 14 miles
Increase of two miles. More than the 10 % rule, but that's fine, you are only increasing your mileage on two of your four runs.

Week 3 : 3 - 5 - 3 - 5. Total = 16 miles
Again an increase of two miles. Again more than the 10 % rule. By the way, see the hard/easy principle starting to shape.

Week 4 : 3 - 3 - 3 - 3. Total = 12 miles
Cut back to 75 % of your training load. Twelve miles suddenly feels a lot lighter than three weeks ago !

Week 5 : 3 - 5 - 4 - 6. Total = 18 miles
Increase one of the shorter runs so that your shorter and longer runs don't get too far apart

Week 6 : 4 - 5 - 4 - 7. Total = 20 miles
Again an increase in one of the shorter runs as well as in the longest run. Keep in mind that your longest run can be in somewhat lower intensity than the other runs. You are trying to cover distance here, not trying to get there as fast as possible.

Week 7 : 4 - 6 - 4 - 8. Total = 22 miles
Steadily increasing with 2 miles per week we are already doing ten miles more than six weeks ago !

Week 8 : 3 - 4 - 3 - 5. Total = 15 miles
Again a significant cut-back in the fourth week. Give those legs a fresher-upper.

Week 9 : 4 - 6 - 5 - 9. Total = 24 miles
After the rest week you are fresh again and add another 2 miles to your mileage.

Week 10 : 4 - 6 - 5 - 10. Total = 25 miles
And you have done it. 25 miles per week."

I'm synthesizing this plan with my run/walk thing (to prevent the flare up of past injuries) and with some workouts I remember doing in high school cross country:

• Fartlek Training: If you can find a good stretch of empty road with electricity line poles demarcating even intervals, trotting to one pole then sprinting to the next, rinse, repeat, is a great way to get in a short workout without sacrificing a good energy push. This can also be done for longer distances without the sprints.
• Hills: this was a sorta derivative of Fartlek in which we'd find a good, quarter-mile hill, and then run up it as fast as we could, trot back down to the bottom, rinse, repeat. Brutal, but great for the ass.

I also like Michelle's track-sprint routine and I'm going to be heading to the neighboring high school to reenact it this week.

What Did I Sign Up For?

What Did I Sign Up For?
I need to keep an eye on my alter ego


Wednesday, June 29th
Michelle
2 Miles


A wimpy 2 mile run today. The whole time I was feeling heavy and I couldn't find my rhythm. The whole time I was thinking...who signed me up for this? What did I get myself into? Is there a way to train without running?

Then I had to kick myself into gear and channel my thoughts into somewhere positive. I finished my run, but wasn't very happy with it.

Good thing there is tomorrow... and good thing I have 2 other people to be accountable to!

Uphill and Into the Wind Both Ways

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Rachel
Today's Mileage: 4.0 miles

Today was just one of those days. I won't complain too much here, because this is a place for inspiration! But...I seriously felt like I was running into the wind and uphill the entire route. How does that happen? ugh. Bound to feel better tomorrow....

Hiking Counts

Capitol Peak 14,156 feet

Hiking Counts
Especially 14ers


Sunday, March 26th
Michelle
5.5 miles (hiking)

I have a goal to climb all 55 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. With that goal, you can imagine how much I am hiking and climbing every summer. The shortest 14er we have ever done took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes (Castle Peak) and the longest took us 18 hours (Capitol Peak).

When Jer and I hike, we don't go for a leisurely stroll, we get to the top and back as fast as we can (not compromising our knees of course). The elevation gain and speed builds endurance and strength and therefore is a key part of the training for my half marathon. We also have an unspoken rule that when the trail is flat, we run it. All in all, hiking/climbing compliments my runs perfectly.

On the calendar: Seven 14ers, a trip to the Tetons, and Four 13ers.

Logistics.

Selena

Mileage/Time: 48min.

The campaign against injuries continues. I've been forcing myself to incorporate 3-4min. walking breaks in between 10-11min. segments of running. This despite how nerdy I feel: there's something embarrassing about being decked out in my running gear (complete with one of those slick, super-ventilated hats) and then just walking. Obviously this is my own personal hang-up; obviously there's nothing wrong with "just walking"; and obviously I'm probably too self-conscious. But regardless, I can't wait for the day when those walking breaks are eliminated and I can "just run."

I still need to sit down with a calendar and start planning out my training. With just this vague notion of increasing my endurance, I haven't exactly examined the logistics. Like, how long will it take me to up my mileage to 13.1? Are there really enough weeks from now til then to pull it off? And what can I do in between to keep up motivation? To the calendar I go... [update to follow].

Fuel

Friday, June 24, 2011
Rachel
Today's mileage: 3.1 miles

Had a nice short run this morning after not running since Monday evening. I felt a bit sluggish and decided that Monday to Friday might be too long of a running lull for most weeks.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a link to a post I wrote on my other blog about green smoothies. I've been drinking green smoothies on and off for over 3 years and love to tell other people about them. I usually have a green smoothie before every workout and am amazed at how it can fuel my body without making me feel like I'm running around with a stomach full of food. LOVE GREEN SMOOTHIES!

• Green Smoothies are a blended mixture of raw leafy greens, raw fruit or veggies, & water.
• Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, all the valuable nutrients in these fruits and veggies become homogenized, or divided into such small particles that it becomes easy for the body to assimilate these nutrients.
• Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber.
• By consuming two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough of greens for the day to nourish your body, and they will be well assimilated.
• When you consume your greens in the form of green smoothies, you can greatly reduce the consumption of oils and salt in your diet.

Check out the link above to get a lot more information about green smoothies and how to make them correctly so they taste delicious!

Enter Sprints

Enter Sprints
My Faster Shoes


Friday, June 24th
Michelle
10 - 50 yard sprints


Today I managed to break out sprints! And for the record, I don't know if they were 50 yards, I am just guessing. I can measure some other time.

Felt great and it is a nice change of pace (ha) from my runs. Combine this with a regular sit-up routine and I will have swimsuit abs in no time. Oh and by the way, I can probably count on my one hand the times I will be in that swimsuit, but none-the-less, it is a goal.

Flexibility

Thursday, June 23, 2011
Rachel
Today's mileage: rest day, walk 2 miles

I have a really great, well thought out training calendar that takes me right up to race day on September 5th. I'm such a planner and organizer, that having this calendar at my fingertips at all times makes me feel more confident about this crazy undertaking. But...I'm also a really busy working mama with lots of hobbies and other extracurricular commitments. So, my mantra for life these days is FLEXIBILITY.

I was supposed to go the gym Monday morning, but I was too sleepy. So I ran that afternoon instead, getting my long run for the week in on Monday evening instead of Tuesday morning. I was supposed to get up do a short run this morning. But I drank beer and ate chocolate with my girlfriends until midnight last night and needed some sleep. So, I'll get up tomorrow morning and count today as a rest day. I'll walk two miles during lunch today to get my heart rate up a little bit. I've made a promise to myself to get my short, medium, and long runs in each week. But I'm recognizing that this is a busy, crazy time of year for me, and if I'm going to make it happen, I need to be flexible!

It's All in the Form

Selena
Mileage/Time: 42 min.

Like Michelle, I'm focusing on time, not distance. My feet, my knees, my hamstrings aren't used to this kind of aerobic strain, so my first step is getting up their endurance. I did this by doing a pseudo interval run: I briskly walked for 4 min, jogged for 10, trotted for 4, jogged for 10, trotted for 4, jogged for 10, and then had a 5 min cool down of more brisk walking. It seemed to work out well. My knee isn't pissed at me--though that could change once the lactic acid starts swarming around the surrounding muscles. My feet, on the other hand, fared less well: I've got a wicked blister on my arch. I guess that'll just be part of the endurance training, though. It'll soon probably morph into a callous and I won't feel a thing anymore. Ah, well. Cute, sassy, strappy sandals be damned...

Another thing I found myself focusing on was my form. Due to my propensity for slouching, I often find myself slackening my core muscles and hunching over as I run. This, in turn, causes my knees to knock inwards and my foot-strike to be towards my toes. By concentrating on keeping my abs tight, I find everything else falls into place, and then I have that moment, when I look at the trail ahead and my entire body feels bio-mechanically "slick," like anyone who happened to see me would really be convinced that I'm a runner. "Geez," they'd say as I cruised by, "that person's a runner! Like, whoa..."

While I couldn't keep up that glorious moment for the entire run, I found I could keep it going for longer than I had before. And it's that goal of maintaining proper, healthy form for the whole run, of feeling like your body isn't a jumbled up bunch of joints and muscles and sinews but is, instead, a perfectly tuned up machine--that's what keeps me going. Because once I stop (thinking I'm just too busy or just too tired), having to start up again brings me back to the beginning of the whole herky-jerky process.

It's All Down Hill From Here

It's All Down Hill From Here
Starting Downhill


Wednesday, June 22nd
Michelle
Today's Milage: 5.1

Let's start by wishing all those pedaling today a safe and happy bike to work day. 

When I leave my house, I have no idea where I am going. I choose a route that I have never done and go for it. Right now, I am focused on how long I run, not how far I go. I have to train my body to just keep moving.

This morning I chose a run that started downhill. This can only mean one of two things:

A. I have to face this hill on my way back
B. I have to go out of my way to avoid the hill again

I chose the latter and made a HUGE loop hoping for some downhill on the way back. It paid off. I had a pleasant downhill stride the last mile.

My preference is to tackle my hills in the beginning than the end, but I don't get to choose race day. Can't wait for my first real hill workout ugh!

Dirty Thirty: Oh, the Pain

Selena

Mileage: 0 (rest day)

Last Sunday I turned 30. And yes, I freaked out. I thought about hiding in my darkened apartment, curled up in the fetal position, downing whiskey, but then thought better of it. Instead, I went out to a dive bar, drank the whiskey in public, and warbled sad, drunken songs for their Sunday karaoke night. Clearly this was a better choice.

The next day, after suffering through work with a throbbing headache, I went for a long walk (since I had left my car at the bar the night before and I had to walk--er, I mean, I wanted to walk. Yeah, totally. Because I'm training for a half-marathon, and stuff, you know?) and did some thinking. 30 may not be that old--"30's the new 20!" said one friend. Who's 24. Pfft.--but it's definitely an age where one-night-stands with whiskey or long-distance running workouts are felt in completely different ways than that felt by my 20-year-old body. Sheesh. I remember being able to do silly, alcohol fueled antics until the wee-hours of the morning with only a furry tongue and vaguely reduced motor-skills as my punishment. I used to gallop on pavement, dangerously increasing my distance by miles upon miles per week, and being none the worse for wear. (Just to be clear: that last part was, ahem, about running, not drinking...)

Ah, but now? Now, my flat, overpronating feet shout obscenities at me (I've had two stress fractures on the metatarsals), my knee tries to start fights, and my iliotibial band is about as tight as a non-twist beer bottle top...

As my shameful walk came to an end that day (and I saw that my car hadn't been towed), I faced up to the cold, hard, 30-year-old truth: my training will have to be slow and steady. And probably whiskey-free. My doctor (who is an avid runner) once told me that the body can handle a 10% exercise increase per week; in other words, if you're running for 20 minutes this week, you should run 22 minutes the next, and 24 the next, etc.

Hmmmm... I need to do some serious math calculations! I'm only at 30 minutes?? And our race is how soon?! Yikers.

Pushing My Limits

Monday, June 20, 2011
Rachel
Today's mileage: 7.5 miles

I'm already SO happy I've committed to running my first half-marathon over labor day weekend and that I've committed to training "virtually" with Selena and Michelle. I skipped the gym this morning, but threw some running clothes in my bag on the way out the door. Knowing that my race will be here before I know it; wanting to be accountable to myself, these ladies, and this blog; and also needing to burn off some of what I ate (and drank) during this past weekend which was full of celebrations; I talked myself into leaving work a bit early to get a long run in.

The weather was perfect; cool and humid after raining all day in Denver. And I pushed myself to complete the longest run I have done in at least 15 years. Really!!! It was tough...I definitely had to dig deep for the last couple miles. But I kept reminding myself how awesome I would feel when I could collapse on the couch tonight after a hot shower, knowing that I did it! And what a glorious feeling it is....

During my run, I reflected on what an amazing thing the human body is. I remembered that six months ago, I couldn't even run 2 miles. I reveled in how amazing I feel after losing nearly 50 pounds since I started this journey of health and healing. And I imagined myself running 13.1 miles. It seems pretty far out of reach right now. But I know that if I keep pushing myself further and further each week, I'll get there. And I can't wait.....

The Alarm Dispute

The Alarm Dispute
Before you face the run, you have to face the alarm.

Monday, June 20th
Michelle Marison
Today's milage: 3 miles

Setting: My bedroom, 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night. Rain softly hitting the roof, an exhausted couple lies in bed. One has a book propped up against her knees, the other is staring up at the vacant ceiling. 

Jeremy: What time is the alarm set for?

Michelle: 5:15 a.m.

Jeremy: What? I wish I would have known that. I would have gone to bed 45 minutes ago.

Michelle: But I want to get in a good run in the morning before work.

Jeremy: Set it for 5:45 and just get out of bed. No snooze, just get up.

Michelle grunts and reluctantly rolls out of bed to set the alarm on her phone for 5:45 a.m. 


She snoozes the alarm until 6:15 a.m. the next morning and her shoes hit the pavement 1 hour later than she wanted to.


End scene.


This is an all too familiar conversation Jeremy and I engage in at night followed by an all to familiar morning routine. Time to break the routine. When a half marathon is on the line snoozing ... it's not an option. So long snooze. Oh and there is also an alarm negotiation that needs to take place. Before I can face my run, I have to face my alarm.

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! We are three friends in Colorado who are virtually training together to run a half marathon during the fall of 2011. Some of us are veteran half marathoners, and for some, this will be our first. We'll be using this blog to document our training and nutrition, our struggles, and to inspire each other and you!