16 miles on the marathon course

Today was a 16 mile run.  We drove up the canyon so we could run on the marathon course.  13 of our 16 miles today were on the marathon course.  There are a couple of uphills on the course and the more I run them the more mentally strong I will be on race day.  


The run felt good. I took a GU at mile 7 and then again at mile 12.  I drank about 16 oz of water during the run and then a Gatorade when I got home.  And I haven't had any cramping at all today.  Hooray!!  Also, I wore my new pink compression socks today and honestly my legs feel pretty darn good right now.  Maybe they really do work.


For recovery I took a 10 minute ice bath and drank my usual chocolate milk recovery drink.  


I am way excited that my average pace (even with walking while I took my GU) was 8:30.  Most of the run was a gradual downhill which helps but it is very exciting to be running that pace.  (ignore the current pace - I was standing in my bathroom after the run).  


P.S. This month I ran 170 miles!!  And I'm already at 456 miles for the year.  


P.S.S. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my Garmin 305.  I hope it never breaks because I don't want to change.  

Marathon Outfit...

 Don't judge me for my crazy pose - it was after my workout and I can't be held responsible for my thoughts. I wanted to show off the ruffles but not do a butt shot.  I don't know.  

Anyways, I got my new skirt in the mail a few days ago so I tried it out today.  It was great!  I'm not sure if you can tell just how cute those ruffles are but seriously I think I have my outfit.  Yes I know the marathon is still 10 weeks away but I want to run several long runs in my "outfit" before the race to be sure it doesn't bug.  What do you think?  Is it marathon worthy?

Today's workout was speed work.  I did 10 miles total on the treadmill.  1 mile warm up then 1 mile intervals @ 7:24 pace (8.1 on the treadmill and I pushed it to 8.2 for the last quarter mile of each one) with a 1/2 mile jog between each.  5 sets total then another 1 1/2 miles to finish it off. 

Tomorrow I'm going to run with my sister since she'll be in town - somewhere between 6-10 miles.

Sold Out

Well the marathon is sold out so if you were hoping to join me too bad.  Ha.  I can't believe I am 10 weeks away from the race.   Part of me feels like I've been training forever and part of me is worried I won't be ready.  But it is what it is and I'm going to push hard my last 10 weeks of training and get 'er done. 

Today's workout:  spin (lots of hills and endurance) & lift

Tomorrow:  speed workout

Compression Socks?

Lately I've seen a lot of distance runners in compression socks.  I bought a pair last year for Ragnar and thought with all the miles I'm putting in right now I should pull them back out.  So this morning on our 10 miler I wore mine.  They felt fine and so far my legs aren't too tired - but I feel like 10 miles is where my base is right now so I'm not sure it would matter or not.

I'm going to keep wearing them for the next few weeks of training to see how I feel in them.

I *might* have bought 2 more pair last week because they were pink and on sale so I sure hope they help!!

Today:  10 miles

Tomorrow: spin & lift

Do you wear compression socks?  Do you notice a difference?


P.S.  this picture was taken last year on a road trip to California after a triple run day.  I'm sure I looked crazy but my legs felt fine after a long day sitting in the car.

Saturday Group Run

 We had our first big Saturday group run.  I love group runs!!  6 of us started up at the top of South Fork and did 14 miles down to Magleby's for breakfast.  It was fun as we got down the canyon to run into the other girls out doing their runs too.  I loved seeing their smiling faces on the trail! 

Then we had our "meeting" over breakfast and took a picture with 10 of the 12 from our Ragnar team! 

The run itself wasn't my best run.  I felt good until about mile 12 then had to force myself to get through the last 2 miles.  I took a gu (peanut butter - it was a delicious surprise!) at mile 8.5 and a caffeine pill (blu-2-go 35 mg).  Both of them were from my free stash from my parents.  Hooray for good free stuff! I dressed too warm but I was stressing about the temp up the canyon.  My fleece was too hot and I wish I hadn't worn full tights.  I felt great for the first 2-3 miles and then was too hot the last 11-12 miles.  UGH.  Oh well lesson learned.  Overall it was a good run and a great morning with friends.  I love our Ragnar "meetings".  I have the best group of running girls around.  Love them!

If it's not hurting....

Well this week's runs must be working because I am hurting.  My poor quads still haven't recovered from the run/hike up the mountain on Saturday.  I have been stretching, rolling, using my stick - everything I'm supposed to do and still they kill!  So I guess that workout worked.

Then today's run was a tempo run on the treadmill.  I was hurting and a sweaty mess by the end of the run (but at least I wore all black so you couldn't see my sweaty boobs).  I ran a mile warm up then 6 miles at an 8:00 pace (there is no 8:04 pace on the treadmill....oh well).  Then I walked for a bit to catch my breath and finished at 10 miles total.  During the middle of the tempo run (miles 3-4) I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it.  I was feeling tired and worn out.  But I just kept putting one foot in front of the other - took a nice big swig of my zip fizz and plugged in my iPod.  Somehow it worked and I finished the entire run.  I might not always love the way I feel during a run but I love how I feel when I'm finished.  

Tomorrow:  6 miles and weights

Friday:  REST!!!

Saturday: 14 miles

My Spin Room

Today was a spin/lift day.  For my spin workout we did endurance intervals.

The workout:

Warm up - 5 min (light tension)

Power Intervals

     2 on 1 off - 5 x's

Pyramid Intervals

     Easy Flat - Fast Flat - Hill Sprint

     30 s. each/ 30 s. each/ 1 m. each/ 2 m. each

Standing Run on bike

Tempo Hill

     Start @ 60% tension with the tempo of the music and tap it up every minute keeping at the same tempo (7 minutes total)

Last night I got a text with a picture of the spin room at the gym Todd works out at in DC so I thought I'd snap a shot of my spin room this morning for him.  Look at all those bikes just waiting to be ridden at 5:30 in the morning :)

Yesterday we did the usual 10 miler.  It snowed all night but looking out my window there was only snow on the grass and none on the street so we opted to still run outside.  After the 1st mile of our loop (which took us north towards the canyon) we were in 4-6 inches of snow until we came back the last mile.  UGH.  It made for some slow going miles and very wet/cold feet (thank goodness for my smartwool socks).  It was the slowest I've run in years but at least I got miles in outside instead of being on the treadmill. 

Yesterday I hit 102 miles for the month of March and I still have almost 2 full weeks left!

Tomorrow's workout:  TEMPO RUN 10 miles total w/6 @ 8:04 pace