Cleveland Marathon training week 6

It was an up and down week for me training-wise. I have come to some very important decisions this week regarding my training, though, that make me feel better about everything. Being a good mom and wife are my top priorities, however, I find that without my running, I am not as good at either of those so I am constantly trying to find a good balance to keep everyone happy. During my SIXTH week (how did that happen? didn't I just start training?) I didn't have a good balance and lost sight of the important things in life. Luckily, I was reminded of the important things in life (see this post). I'm sure I'll have more on my decisions in another post when I get a minute!

I must be learning something during this round of training. When I hit 40 miles during my training for Air Force Marathon, I was EXHAUSTED. This week, I couldn't believe that I was going to get to 40 miles. Happy surprise!

Week 6 stats:

Monday: 7.2 miles 
Tuesday: 2.8 miles plus strength training
Wednesday: 8.01 miles
Thursday: 3.1 total (1.6 with kids and single jogger, 1.5 miles on treadmill) 
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 16 miles 
Sunday: 3 miles

Total for week 6 of marathon training: 40.12


How's your training so far?


Have a fantastic week training!
~Anne

The Perfect Run

On the heels of my disappointing run yesterday, I was ready to get back out there for a good ol' Recovery Run today. Well, life got in the way as it sometimes does (oldest up part of the night, mom too tired to get up early) and I had to adjust my plans. Remember how I talked about flexibility as the key to happy running for me?

The sun was out, temperatures in the mid-40s with no wind, so I suggested to the kids that we head to the playground. Zachary would ride his bike while I pushed Jacob in the jogging stroller. They both thought that sounded like a great idea! (Thanks, Jen S for the idea!)

My Running Partners

The playground is .8miles from our house, so it's the perfect distance for an almost 5 year old on his bike. We started and stopped, we looked at leaves, rocks and sticks. We took breaks. It was WONDERFUL! Such a gorgeous day in central OH (in February!), we just had a great time. Not caring about time or distance for once and just appreciated that I was able to run and keep up with Zachary on his bike made me appreciate life even more. Just over two years ago, I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him had we been trying the same thing. That kind of put things into perspective and makes me feel silly for being upset about yesterday's run! I CAN run. In fact, I LOVE to run. The rest (times, distances, PRs) it's all the icing on the cake. The fact that I am in the best shape of my life, having wonderful adventures with my family, that's what it's all about.

We played at the playground for quite a while, trying to keep Captain Hook from climbing aboard our Pirate Ship (love the imaginations they have!). We slide raced, they traveled the monkey bars, the swings, basically everything. When they were done, we loaded up for our run/walk/bike/stop and look adventure home.

Today I was reminded of WHY I started running...of why I started eating healthy and taking care of myself. It's not just for me, it's for my family and the fun times we can have together. Today, I had the perfect run!


(Now, I just need to keep coming back and reading this post for the reminders!)

Love My Abs Challenge, week 3

I can't believe that week there of Denise's Ab Challenge is done and I'm still going strong. Yay! Week three included our moms' weekend away, but I only missed one day! There was really nothing too exciting this week other than increasing the total number per day to 160 total repeats. For some reason, increasing from 140 to 160 added a bigger challenge as I have been sore a few days, or it could be from the variation in core exercises. As February is quickly coming to a close, I know that I will need to keep the momentum going for March. I can definitely see an improvement in my form and my running. 160++ every day may be too much to continue with, but maybe every other day. 

Day 15: 20 Legs Down, 50 crunches, 50 Diagonal Get-ups (25 each side), 25 bicycle crunches, 1:30 plank on hands, Total 145 + plank

Day 16: 2:00 plank on elbows (yay!), 20 Legs Down, 50 crunches, 25 bridges, 10 plank rows, 25 Left side crunches, 25 right side crunches, Total 155 + planks

Day 17: 50 crunches, 50 Cross Overs, 25 Bridges, 15 Supermans, 1:30 plank on hands, Total 140 + plank

Day 18: Moms' Weekend...we made the executive decision to relax (after our long run) and enjoy

Day 19: 50 Crunches, 25 Bridges, 50 Cross Overs, 25 Russian Twists, 1:00 plank on elbows, Total 150 + plank

Day 20: 50 Russian Twists, 25 Bridges, 50 Side Crunches (25 each side), 35 Crunches, 1:30 plank on hands, Total 165 + plank

Day 21: Strength training day... Total of 160 various crunches + planks

Week three total = 915 crunches plus planks

One of THOSE runs

Just when I thought I got my Running Mojo back (see post for more on that), I had one of THOSE runs. You know the kind, where you want to just quit the run and pretend that you never even started it? The kind of run where you start having a million imaginary aches and pains so you can have an excuse to quit? There were several times during my run today that I thought "I'll just head home and try again later", or "I'll run half the planned mileage and try again tomorrow". I actually stopped a few times for a minute or two to try and convince myself that I could do it. Luckily, we had plans for later today, so I knew it would just be better to get my run done in the morning instead of trying to squeeze everything in to a busy afternoon. Plus, I would have to take two showers, and frankly, that just seemed like too much effort. Kinda of ironic isn't it, that my laziness pushed me to finish an eight mile run?!

Today was a planned 8 mile run with 5 tempo miles in the middle. Easy enough. Or so I thought..... I was actually EXCITED about this run. Tempo runs have been my favorite runs lately, I even had a fantastic tempo run last week when my "mojo" was lost. So what happened today? I wish I knew. I could list many ideas as to what might have have an effect on my run, but I won't.

www.fotosearch.com

Plain and simple, I couldn't get the tempo where I wanted it to be. However, I did NOT quit! I ran EIGHT miles this morning before most people got out of bed. I may did not have run as fast as I wanted to, but I still got my planned mileage in and that made me feel somewhat better. Looking at my splits, they weren't as bad as I thought they would be based on my perceived effort during the run, but they were not where I wanted them to be today. Splits should have been between 8:30-8:50mm and they were: 8:55, 8:53, 9:12, 9:09, 8:58, 9:25, 9:16. I had extremely high hopes for today based on my last tempo run, but I fought for EVERY mile today. Some days are like that. I had to remind myself that running is NOT easy, if it was, then everyone would do it, right?

I was very disappointed in my run when I walked back in the door this morning. However, after talking to my wonderful husband, and comments from friends and tweeps, I realize it WAS a good run. (Time and perspective are such wonderful things, aren't they?!) I pushed through my intense desire to quit and finished the run. To me,

FINISHING=WINNING. EVERY TIME. 

Now I have the itch to go do this same run again so I can prove to myself that I CAN finish the tempo paces. I WILL do it!

Cleveland Marathon Training, week 5

I lost my running mojo sometime between the end of week four and the beginning of week five. That was approximately 36 hours of time for me to go from super excited to super unmotivated. Strange how our minds work, isn't it? Last week I wrote this post (here) talking about it so I won't rehash it. Suffice to say, it was a different week than the previous weeks so far in my Cleveland Marathon training.

Saturday was by far the easiest run of the week. Most likely because I was running with my best running friends Jamie and Kate. We were away with a few other mom friends a girls' weekend getaway, and we got up for our long run on Saturday morning. I know, I know....we could have slept in, we could have stayed up late "celebrating" being on our own. But, we decided to get up before the rest of the house was up and go run many miles! (It's a sickness....this running addiction!)

Me, Kate & Jamie before our run

We had a great time on our run. Kate ran her farthest distance ever at EIGHT miles. Yay, Kate!!!!! I LOVE running with friends as they hit new distance milestones, so exciting! I told her that am hoping to be there for her first double digit run, but it looks like it's the same weekend of our Half Marathon in March. Hopefully we can work something out! The Kokosing Gap Trail is fantastic if you are anywhere in the east/central part of Ohio. It is an old rail line that they have made into a paved trail for cycling, walking, running, etc. It is mostly flat and goes for many miles. We ran northeast with Kate, turned around, were able to drop her off at the cars and then went south for the rest of our miles. For me, the first 2-3 miles were rough (as usual on a long run), but once I got warmed up I was fine. The straightness (is that really a word?!) of the trail drives me crazy, but it was just a nice easy run. The sky was clear and the sun was out for a good portion of our run. So nice to see in February!

Hoping that my running mojo is back for week six as my long run distance increases. Keep your fingers crossed for me that my new shoes and my weekend away did the trick!

Week 5 stats:

Monday: 5 miles on the treadmill
Tuesday: 3.25 miles plus strength training
Wednesday: 6 tempo miles
Thursday: 5.5 miles plus more strength training
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 14 miles (bumped my 12 to 14 to run the whole distance with Jamie)
Sunday: REST!

Total for week 5 of marathon training: 33.75

The Smell of Potential!

As I typed up my Daily Mile report this morning, I asked if anyone has seen my running mojo as I seem to have lost it this week. I've been running long enough and training for enough races that I know (and almost expect) I will have bad runs and even bad training weeks. Except, I did not expect it to come this early in my training! For crying out loud, it's ONLY week 5! I have had ZERO desire to get out of bed for my runs this week which is very strange for me. Usually, once I'm out the door, I'm ok, but getting out the door this week has been a very big battle!

I noticed on my run (after I finally hauled my butt out the door) that it is definitely time to rotate out my Brooks Ravenna 2s and get out one of the new pairs I have stashed in my closet. I am always sad when I rotate out a pair of shoes...they have seen me though many run times and LOTS of miles! I know I missed some of the miles while tracking on this pair of shoes, but they have seen me through at least 340 miles. That's a lot of bonding time!

As sad as it is to rotate out an old pair, I LOVE new shoes (I am SUCH a girl as Jamie would say!).

Look how pretty they are?! Even though they are the EXACT same shoe, down to the color, as my current Brooks Adrenaline 11s, there are so many possibilities with these shoes!

First, they have that wonderful new shoe smell...until Saturday, anyway! And yes, I always smell my new running shoes; doesn't everyone? (or I am just weird?!) Just thinking of the bonding that I will be doing with these shoes is exciting. Heck, these could even be my Marathon shoes!

Opening up the box, I smell the thrill of anticipation. The different roads and miles that these shoes will take me on. The experiences of good runs. The experiences of bad runs. The time with my good friends. I LOVE it! And yes, I am EXCITED for my long run on Saturday in these new shoes.

So, today I say goodbye to my trusty "old" Ravennas. Funny how road running shoes typically do not look old when they need replaced, isn't it? Looking at them, they still look good! They will now go into my walking shoe pile and every time I put old my old trainers, I am reminded of the miles we've had together.

Maybe pulling out my new shoes will be all I need to get my Mojo back. Only time and miles will tell!

Have you ever lost your "Running Mojo"? What did you do to get it back?

Love My Abs Challenge, week 2

It was definitely harder to get week two of the Abs Challenge completed than it was for week one, but I got six out of seven days. I'll consider it a win! The day I missed was after spending the weekend at an indoor water-park with the family and some friends. We had a TON of fun, but were completely exhausted by the time we got home and I just could not force myself to the floor for 120 crunches of any kind! Other than that day, it's been going well. I can feel myself getting a stronger core again which is obviously half of the point (other being summer is coming...eventually!). I added a few new core exercises this week, (thanks, Amanda for the Flutter Kick video. Check it out here: Flutter Kick). We also upped the total number again this week; supposed to be completing at least 140 crunches per day. Love the added challenge of increasing the total number per day.

Day 8: 50 crunches, 20 flutter kicks, 25 bicycle crunches, 25 bridges, 25 super mans with arm extension, 1:30 plank on hands, Total 145 + planks

Day 9: 1:30 plank on elbows, 1:00 plank on hands,  20 legs down, 50 crunches, 25 left oblique crunches, 25 right oblique crunches, Total 120 + planks

Day 10: 50 crunches, 20 bridges, 25 right side "get-ups" (as per a Jillian Michaels' video), 25 left side "get-ups", 1:00 plank on elbows, Total 120 + plank

Day 11: 20 Flutter Kicks, 50 Crunches, 25 right oblique crunches, 25 left oblique crunches, 1:00 plank on elbows, Total 120 + planks

Day 12: Oops! We'll just call this a rest day, shall we?

Day 13: 50 crunches, 50 bridges, 25 left oblique crunches, 25 right oblique crunches, Total 150

Day 14: Strength training day... 30 plank rows, 30 sit-ups, 50 crunches, 40 flutter kicks, 25 bicycle crunches, Total 145 + plank rows

Week two total = 800 crunches plus planks

Cleveland Marathon Training, week 4

What a whirl-wind of a week! More crazy weather here in central Ohio made for an(other) interesting training week. How did this happen? I just finished my first month of marathon training and didn't even realize it! Where does the time go?

While I was super busy being a mom, I somehow found the time and energy to run all of my planned training miles. On the mom-front, we transitioned our toddler to a "big-boy bed" (*sniff*) and that is actually going much better than I had anticipated. Even if his new room is still not done and our guest room is a disaster....there's always tomorrow, right?!

Monday morning, I finally ran my recovery miles from my previous weekend of hard, fun running. It felt good to get out and stretch the legs for an easy paced run.

Tuesday morning I went in for my first ever physical with my doctor. I can't believe that I have made it to 3*, and never had most of these tests done. However, I had to fast....until 11:00 am! WHAT?! No coffee, no food, only water. That was hard (luckily it was a cross-training day, so I didn't have to try to figure out when to fit in my miles). Other than the blood-work, he pronounced me in great health and if I feel the need to run a marathon (he has no idea why!), then he has no problems with me continuing training (again). I received the call a few days later that my blood tests had fantastic results, so hopefully that's a good sign for my future health!

Wednesday, I had 7 miles on the plan with 4 of them as tempo miles. Per McMillan, I should run my tempo miles between 8:47-9:00mm. I totally nailed this run, and even tacked an extra mile onto it with splits of 8:57, 8:54, 8:42, 8:43 and 8:39. Surprisingly, at the end of the five miles, I felt like I could run a couple more at that pace. I'm trying not to get too excited for my half marathon in March, but if I can continue with runs like this, MAYBE a PR is in my future?!

We had a family weekend away planned, so Jeff and I decided that I should move my long run to Friday afternoon when he got home from work. I was originally going to meet up with a runner from our local group (he's running Boston 2012!) at a metro park, but Jeff had a meeting pop-up and would be home later than normal for a Friday. When he got home, I was quickly losing the motivation to get out and get my run done, but knew this was the only time I would have to fit it in. Finally, I got myself out the door for my favorite county roads loop. It was snowing and in the upper 20s when I started out and the snow started sticking to the shoulder of the road. About halfway through my run, I called Jeff to tell him I would detour into town (traffic was picking up, the shoulder was slippery) and asked them to pick me up. I had no set pace goal on my run, other than trying to maintain a consistent, comfortable pace. It was such a fantastic run! I don't know if I have ever run 14 miles and felt that wonderful afterward. Maybe part of it was the different route? I love variations in my running routes. Hopefully, I can do more miles in town, it was fun!  This run certainly gave me some much needed confidence for my spring races. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going!


Week 4 stats:

Monday: 5.15 recovery miles
Tuesday: strength training
Wednesday: 7 tempo miles
Thursday: 4.41 miles
Friday: 14.2 miles
Saturday: 3.5 miles
Sunday: REST!

Total for week 4 of marathon training: 34.26

Love My Abs week 1 recap

One full week of the Love My Abs Challenge is done. I can tell I'm getting a stronger core as they are getting a little easier every day!  I'm definitely not as brave as Denise and did not take before/during pictures. You'll just have to trust me on this one!

Day 1: 15 Legs Down, 25 Bicycle crunches, 25 crunches, 15 bridges, 10 left oblique crunches, 10 right oblique crunches, Total 100

Day 2: 30 plank rows, 30 sit-ups, 30 legs down, 20 crunches, 20 bicycle crunches, Total 100 + plank rows

Day 3: 25 crunches, 25 bridges, 25 right oblique crunches, 25 left oblique crunches, Total 100 + 1:30 plank on hands

Day 4: 50 crunches, 25 left oblique, 25 right oblique, Total 100 + 1:00 elbow plank

Day 5: 25 crunches, 25 bridges, 25 left, 25 right, Total 100 + 1:00 plank on hands

Day 6: 50 crunches, 25 left oblique, 25 right oblique, 25 bridges, Total 125 + 1:30 plank on elbows

Day 7: 50 crunches, 25 left oblique, 25 right oblique, 25 bridges, Total 125 + 1:00 plank on hands

Week one total: 750 crunches plus planks.

The key to happy running!

No matter how long you have been a runner, I think there will always be something new to learn or discover. As I've only been running for just over two years consistently, I am constantly learning new things and hope that I will for the rest of my running life. One of the most important running lessons I have learned is flexibility!

I started running to lose weight. That was it, no big goals other than lose weight, maybe run some 5Ks and hopefully, one day, to comfortably run 5 miles. Running was something that I tried to make fit into my life; some days it fit, other days it did not. Fast forward two and a half years, and running is actively scheduled into my week. I find that if I put it on the calendar, it makes life so much easier. No longer am I wondering how/when I will be able to fit in a run, Jeff knows when I'm running and we plan things around it. Or I plan my running around our schedule. Either way, but it is scheduled. Running is important to me. My running is important to my family, too, as it makes me a less cranky happier wife and mommy!

That being said, in training for my second marathon, I have learned that flexibility is key for me. I am really enjoying being able to swap days if a group run comes up that I want to join, or if our family schedule changes. Last year while training for Air Force Marathon I stuck to THE PLAN. I only deviated from THE PLAN if I was hurt. I did not switch days. I did not take a day off when tired (if THE PLAN said, run, I ran.) I did not do speed work. I got through my training...I was a slave to my training plan. Now, I am just in week four of my training plan, but I am really hoping that as my mileage increases, I continue to feel the same way. Not many people know that I almost decided NOT to run The Cleveland Marathon because I could not face the fact of running when I HAD to, instead of when I WANTED to like I had been doing since Air Force Marathon. Running had become really fun for me again and I did not want that to change just because I started training again.

So far, it seems to be working for me. I am hitting my mileage goals, I am hitting my goals on my speed workouts. I am HAVING FUN! There will be weeks when I struggle, when I do not hit my goals, but I believe that if I maintain my flexibility and continue to have fun, that it will be easier to get back on track.

Do you train strictly by THE PLAN, or do you keep your training flexible?

Cleveland Marathon Training, week 3

Week three is done, and what a fun week it was! With the crazy weather we are having in central Ohio this winter, I was able to get out for my longest run with the jogging stroller on Wednesday morning. We took Zachary to school, then Jacob and I loaded up with a couple toys and snacks and hit the multi-purpose path for some miles. I had six miles on my plan for the day and didn't know if we would be able to get it done. We did! My longest stroller run before this was 3.5-4 miles. He was great entertainment, we talked about everything we saw during our run. Also, he is a great coach; telling me to run down a hill another time when I was thinking about skipping it! Such a little trooper, not even complaining until about the 5.5 mile mark and at that point, I told him we were headed home. It was fun to have him with me, but wow! was it hard work!

Saturday we ran at Sharon Woods Metro Park. It's a paved, hilly path. Some runners don't consider Sharon Woods to be hilly, but compared to my flat as a pancake neighborhood, it's a great hill workout! There were eight of us for our run this week running anywhere between 5 and 12 miles. Definitely my fastest and most challenging long run that I've had for a while! Good confidence booster!

Sunday was another group run at the "Trails of Terror". It's a mountain bike trail at the state park and it is FUN! According to the park's website, the trail is about 6 miles. Going by GPS, it's anywhere from 5.2-5.6miles. It was a nice slow run through the mud, jumping over logs, sliding down some hills, and using trees to get up others. For a girl that normally hates wet feet and mud, on the trails, I honestly don't mind! And this time, no falls (from me, at least)! I thought for sure with all the mud and sliding, that I would go down at least once.

Hard to tell in the picture, but it felt like about 10 pounds
of mud per shoe by the end of the run!

Week 3 stats:

Monday: 6.11 miles with 5x800 repeats

Tuesday: 4.41miles (50* in January, I HAD to run!)

Wednesday: 6 miles with the jogging stroller

Thursday: Strength training

Friday: Rest Day (I actually took one!)

Saturday: 12 miles

Sunday: 5.34 miles

Total for week 3: 33.86 miles

Love My Abs Challenge

Last year, there were several of us on twitter doing monthly ab/core exercise challenges. The goal was to do 100 various ab exercises (crunches, bridges, really, anything to work the core muscles) every day and report in when they were done. It didn't matter if 100 were done at the same time or if they were done in sets of 10 over the course of the day. Most days I was able to get my 100 in and could tell a difference with my running form. Then, marathon training picked up and I slacked off towards the end of the summer. (and yes, I could tell in my long runs that I wasn't being as consistent with core strength exercises.)

Denise of RunDMT posted on twitter this week that she wanted to start the February Love My Abs Challenge. I figured, why not? This will be a great way to hold myself accountable as my training miles picks up and hopefully I won't slack off this time! And, I'm telling the world about it, so that should keep me going, right?! Denise decided to add a twist this time; we will complete 100 crunches (or whatever) everyday for the first week, then add 20 every week! By the end of the month, we will have completed over 3000 ab exercises. Abs of steel, right?! I can only hope.....

If you would like to join us in showing your core some love, head on over to RunDMT to sign up!

Feb 1, 100 ab exercises=DONE!

Will you be joining us? What are your favorite core exercises? Let's share our favorites so we can add more variety!
        My current favorites are regular crunches, bridges & Russian Twists.