Fall Marathon Pros and Cons + Fargo Marathon Race Photos

Last week, my office ex-hubby and I were recapping my marathon and discussing what's next. Prior to Fargo, I had come to terms with the fact that with starting grad school in the fall while still working full time, I was going to have to scale back the running. I thought I'd see how the first semester goes and maybe maybe be able to train for the Green Bay Marathon in the spring if I could balance my life. However, in our conversation, I confessed that I was so bummed in my race in Fargo, that I'd run a race this weekend if my body would allow it (don't worry, I won't/didn't).

Well of course, Tom, being the enabler starts spouting off fall races. While I'd love to run Twin Cities Marathon, there is just too good of a chance for hot and humid weather the beginning of October. And then he mentioned Mankato Marathon.

Well.... shoot.

Time for a good ol' Jeri crafted Pros and Cons list!

Pros

• The race is in late October.  High probability of cool (or even COLD and snowy) weather.  Perfect-o!
• It's far enough after the Sioux Falls half, which was originally my goal race for the fall.
• It's cheap.
• I wouldn't have to train through the whole summer (only about half of it).
• It's semi-close to home. Meaning I could convince my parents and Kyle to come.  (sidenote: while almost in tears at mile 24 of Fargo, I vowed to NEVER run another marathon without massive support on the course. Hah.... drama queen).
• It's far enough out that I can heal, recovery, and repair whatever is wrong with me so it doesn't happen the next go around.
• Without a solid marathon time, Danielle will SURELY beat me in our challenge! ;)

Cons

• I will be working at least 40 hours a week.  Attending classes 6 hours a week.  Studying an unknown amount of hours a week, and training for a marathon takes 7-8 1/2 hours of just running a week (not including stretching, long run prep, ice baths, post long run naps).  Oh and that Kyle guy..... I'd like to see him more than 12 minutes a day.
• Less flexibility in my racing schedule.  I would probably only be able to run the Sioux Falls half in the fall while doing marathon training.
• I will have to train in July and August.  As in, even if I wake up at 4am it's still 85+ degrees and 100% humidity.  :/
• Long runs and long run recovery will surely cut in to my Wild Water West time.  This could be catastrophic.

The jury is still out as of now, but feel free to pipe in with your two cents, especially if you're planning on doing Mankato.  If not, make sure to let me know if you're doing any other super sweet (primarily half marathon) races in the fall in my general area.  If I don't do the Mankato, I'd like to run a half in August, September, and maybe two in October.  :/

And can we talk for a minute about how sweet my running friends are?  When I was originally throwing this idea around, I had asked Danielle to send me a copy of the 12/55 Pfitz training program, because that's what I was toying around with doing.  Imagine my surprise when I get a package from Amazon with the whole g.d. book. Looooooooooooooove you kitten. :)

 

 And now on to some horrendous Fargo Marathon race photos.  I was really bummed.  If you remember, my C goal was to take good race photos if all else went to poo poo.  Well there were very few pictures, and they kind of all sucked.  No money from me this time folks!

Kyle's comment: This must be early in the race. You don't look like you're going to kill someone.

What's that?  Someone took away my birthday??

Saaaaaaaaaaad Panda.

Finish line photo.  Of course they didn't capture the arms in the air exuberance of finishing.  Instead they got me stopping my watch.  Also the left foot kick out.... might you be the stem of my knee hip problems??

Fargo Marathon Expo

After driving through some torrential downpours on our trip up north, (thank GOD Megan was driving, I seriously closed my eyes at times) we made it safe and sound to the Fargo Dome!  I knew that EO was shortly behind us on the interstate, and no sooner had we picked up our bibs that I found him.  Why yes, I am jealous that the Boston jackets this year were green, how did you know?  I made sure to stand reeeeeeal close to him in our picture just in case speedy sub-3 genes can be transferred by osmosis.

Megan and I meandered through the Expo and I managed to buy only one thing.  Whoo!  I found a super cute tech shirt with a funky Fargo Marathon map on the back.  Since the race shirts were zip-up long sleeves (super de duper cute!), I figured I was justified in my shirt purchase.  Although, I must say that I am fairly jealous of the guys who got lime green jackets (we had a royal blue color).  And I'm fairly certain the 10k'ers got kelly green.  Green with envy.....

My precious......(es).......

There were some really fab-o signage, so clearly I managed to snap a pic in front of all of them.

Megan and I looking ready to go.

I dare you to count all the turns.... might take you 4 1/2 hours.... ;)

As Megan and I were getting ready to leave the expo, we randomly ran in to Ed, a friend from Dailymile.  He was looking ready to run, as well.

And then of course we randomly ran in to Jeff, one of our favorite running friends who moved away last fall.  It was nice to catch up briefly and to listen to him and Megan talk about missing the marathon maniac aka Jenn.  Luckily for me, I had never been with Jenn pre-race so I didn't get to observe her psychosis first hand, but I had to laugh and it definitely helped to calm me down, since my brain is equally as crazed pre-race. :)

As we were set to leave, the skies opened up to a downpour, so we decided to take a seat and wait for it to let up.  Lucky that I did, because I ended up getting to meet Lisa, a bloggy friend.  Lisa was running her FIRST MARATHON and seemed cool as a cucumber about it.  Also, I'm glad we got to meet up here, because I ended up running in to her 3-4 more times throughout the weekend, and each time I was super scatter-brained and out of it.  Check out her blog because she ROCKED the race, seriously.

After we left the expo it was off to our hotel and then to dinner.  We expected to have a crazy long wait to get seated and to get our food, but we got right in, and our entrees came out when we were on bite #2 of our salad.  It was really really good.  Made me wish we were having that for post-race so I could enjoy some deliciously dairy filled fettucine alfredo and cheesecake for dessert... Mmmmmm.

It was back to our hotel and jammin' to a Lady Gaga concert on HBO while getting everything laid out for our race morning.  Megan and I snuggled up in our full size bed (definitely a snafu on the hotel's part) only to realize that Jenn had tried to call both of us!  We got to skype with her briefly which was great.  So wish she had been there for the weekend.  :)  

Race Report: Fargo Marathon

Saturday morning I got up 8 minutes before our alarms were set to sound and noticed that I already had good luck tweets from people, including the coolest depiction of me as a llama from Jodee, seriously...wow.  Just wow.  IT'S MARATHON MORNING!  Race morning went off without a hitch and we were off to the Fargodome.  We easily met up with some of the area Dailymilers, and were all ready to rock the race course.

Me and Ang looking ready to go in our green.

Me and Megan.

Some of the Dailymile crew.

1st day of school photo er.... pre-race photo.

About 20 minutes before the start I headed outside to find Kier and find our place in the starting line.  Kier was calm and excited to go, and I was just ready to rock out my 9 minute miles.  The sun briefly peeked out from behind the clouds and we were on our way.  Marathon #3, let's do this!

The first couple of miles were fairly congested, but Kier and I made our way through the people while staying on pace.  In the midst of mile 2, I saw our pace ~8:47 and knew I needed to slow down and let Kier go on her merry (fast) way.  :)  I started up my iPod and settled in to my 9 minute pace.  There were a ton (and I mean a TON) of turns on the course, so I made sure to keep my head up to see which direction the next turn was to make my way to that side of the road.  No tangent failing here!

Some of the early miles were in to the wind, and I started to wish I would've discussed a windy race plan with Jason.  Back off slightly in to the wind, and let the wind at my back make up the time?  I tried to find that "comfortably hard" pace and zone in on it.  My legs did not feel very fresh from the get go.  I'm not sure if I should've scaled back the first couple of miles until I was warmed up or what.

I knew my first split was at the 10k mark and that was going to be the first update some Team Green and Team Glitterfart members were going to see.

10k split:  56:26. 9:06 pace.


Around mile 7 I was feeling like my legs didn't have it in them for a sub 4 finish.  I'm not sure if I was on my feet too much at the expo, or if I'm doing something wrong with my taper, but definitely something I need to evaluate as my legs were shot at mile 1 of the Vegas Marathon, as well.  However, a 9:15-9:20 pace was still feeling easy, so I knew I could hang on to a slightly over 4 hour finish, and still knock out a monster PR.

Because there were so many out and back portions of the course, I got to see almost everyone I knew who was running the full.  This was such a great motivator!

It was a fairly warm day (especially compared to what I've been training in) with 65* temps at the start, and 80-90% humidity.  My one complaint for an otherwise really great and really well organized race, was that there weren't nearly enough water stops. especially early on in the course.  If I could go back in time, I absolutely would've carried my own handheld.  On my long runs, I usually only have a little sip every couple of miles, but I am also sweating much much less than I was on this warm and humid morning.

Around mile 9 I randomly saw my friend Justin, and was super de duper happy to see him.  I barely got his attention before I went barreling by.  Seeing friends on the course make so much of a difference when you're racing.  Seriously.  I get so spoiled at local races, I don't even realize it.

Around miles 11 or 12 my IT bands started to get... I'm not sure how to describe it.... stiff?  labored? tight?  I feel like my stride started to get a little bit choppy at this point.  Right before the halfway point, the 4:00 pace group passed me.  Sniffle.

Half marathon split: 2:01:53. Pace of 9:19.


It was here that my hopes for a PR were dashed, very abruptly.  I began to have a sharp pain in my left hip, almost feeling like my hip bone was popping out of alignment.  Neat-o.  I continued to run, but had to shorten my stride drastically, we're talking 10-10:30 max pace.  :(  Some quick mental math had me bummed out.

I totally wish I would've had my phone with me, because I needed some support big time.  Also, I wanted to let Jenn know that she could finally head off to bed (she was up at like 2am trying to follow my sub 4 finish on the other side of the world :P).  I just tried to keep my head down and block out the pain as best as I could.

Around 16 and 17 I started walking through the water stops so I could drink a couple of glasses of water at a time.  I was so thirsty and salty.  Getting going again made me realize that not only was my hip hurting, but my right knee was sporting some shooting pain of its own, likely from me changing my gait to alleviate some of the hip pain.

20 mile split:  3:15:27 (just slightly behind the 3 hour mark I originally was hoping for :P). 9:47 pace.


I thought to myself, hmmm.... if I could run my originally planned 9:40 pace for the next 10 miles, I could have a Fargo Marathon twinsy time with Jenn!  And I was off!  This pace lasted for about a half mile before I thought I was going to start crying from pain.  Hah.  (So not funny at the time, but ya know....).  I kept calculating my estimated finish time based on a 10 minute pace, even though I was clearly incapable of maintaining a 10 minute pace.

These last 6 miles seriously lasted sooooo freaking looooooong.  Cumulatively, probably the slowest 6 consecutive miles of my life, so that's something exciting too.  :P  The crowd support was awesome.  Almost shoulder to shoulder for the entire race.  Amazing.  There were people out handing out freezy pops.  Little dixie cups of water.  Kleenexes.  Jolly Rancher Candies.  Seriously...the best.  The bibs had a place for us to put our names, and hearing someone cheering for me when I wanted to die helped me to smile and put an ever so small pep in my step. :)

Through some of these water stops, I walked and also took a small stretching break to try to loosen up my hips.  It would help ever so slightly but the knee pain really kicked it up a notch, especially after the walk breaks.  With about a mile and a half to go, I realized that if I could run a 10:00 min pace, I could come in under 4:25.

True story:  When the race started falling apart for me, I told myself I HAD to finish under 4:30, because I had heard the rapture was to begin at noon (7:30am race start), and I was going to be damned if I posted my first race DNF! (pun intended).

There were so many people lined up the final mile of the race, it was great.  Coming up to the Fargodome I was ready to be d.o.n.e.  I knew I was going to hurt whether I walked it in, or ran my hardest, so I tried to kick it in to gear.  Luckily, I wasn't very tired since I had been slacking off the final 12 miles.  ;)  I ran by a girl at mile 26 who was walking and told her that she had 2 minutes left, and she could do anything for 2 minutes.  About 10 seconds later she ran past me..... uh no!  Competitive Jeri kicked it in to high gear and flew by her.  The finish line is a bit of a blur, but I do remember throwing my hands in the air and screaming out "whooooooooo!"  (Whoo girl for life, yo!)

Final time: 4:25:09.  10:07 pace.

To be honest, I'm really bummed out and shed a few tears writing this up.  I felt really confident in my ability.  It's very obvious that there are issues with a) my running form causing these issues during race/post race/and in training and/or b) I have some weaknesses in my legs that are causing other muscles to be too fatigued to quickly causing the pain.  Very much a wake up call to get it diagnosed and remedied asap.

It's definitely not the end of the end of the world, nor will it be the last time that I take on 26.2 miles.

And finally, the biggest and most sincerest thanks to all of you that were cheering me on.  Seriously, I get all teary eyed just thinking about the love and support that you all have given me leading up to this race.  Reading back through the tweets from during the race crack me the EFF up.  And the thing that ran through my head the most during the latter miles was how bummed you were all going to be for me that I wasn't going to make my goal.  You're all the best, and as a thank you present, I'm sending glitter farts to each and every one of you. :D  Bahahahah.

Fargo Marathon Race Goals

I am packing my final green items in my suitcase and am getting ready to jump in my car to meet up with my racing/road trip buddy to embark on our trip north.  FARGO BOUND! 

But before I go, here are my race goals for tomorrow's ::gulp:: marathon.

Maximum Glitter and Sparkles Goal (Goal A):  In case you've been living under a rock, I'm trying to finish this puppy sub 4!  3:5x or BUST.  My race strategy, as previously mentioned, is to run 9 minute miles until I can run no more.  Hopefully this is after the 26.2 point.  ;) 

Rainbow Covered Unicorn Goal (Goal B):  PR Party, current PR is 4:12:00. 

Giggling Penguin Goal (Goal C):  Finish and take great race photos.  Whenever you're not running fast, you might as well look cute doing it.  My personal motto. 

See you on the flippy flip of 26.2!  Tweet me if you're at the expo and want to meet up.

Run-domness

Attention:  I apologize slightly for the randomness of this post. You see, I've been practicing doing everything in 9 minute increments to prepare for my SUB 4 finish on Saturday, so clearly my brain can only fire in quick 9 minute flashes as well. ;)



Kudos and threeve bonus points to Bree and Sarah who were brilliant enough to get my sweet Will Ferrell SNL Jeopardy! skit quote.  There was a time in college (really a full semester and a half) where Will Ferrell's Best of SNL dvd was playing on a loop in our dorm room. 

This weekend I was the laziest runner girl tapering for a marathon in the history of the world (bold statements... I LOVE EM!)  Seriously, I went from Thursday to Saturday without a run.  It was a pretty easy decision given the dark/cold/gloomy/rainy/windy conditions.  And likewise, the taper crazies have been lifted as well.  I (and mostly KK) am/are seriously beyond thankful for that.  KK cracked a joke that I should never plan to run a marathon while pregnant, because the crazy hormones from pregnant plus the lose-your-mind insanity of the taper would cause me to end the world.  I told him to shut up and stop joking about me being knocked up.  So that's that.

Go figure, I was rewarded for slacking off on my runs all weekend with a gorgeous sunshiny day on Sunday.  Ignore the fact that it was 20-30 mph winds throughout, that's just come to be expected, ya know? (working on my Canadian/Fargo-ian accent for next weekend!)  I did 8 slow-ish miles for my last long run.  During the last mile I was bored so I did some 100 m. stride/pick ups to keep me from falling asleep on my feet.

Sounds like the plan for the expo on Friday is to be there in the 2-2:30 range.  This gives us 30 minutes of potty breaks en route to the great north.  This will probably not be enough.  Neat.  Let me know (if you haven't yet) if you want to meet up with me and Miss Megan!

And finally (as if this post weren't random enough), I have a fun little poll for you guys.  Except it's not truly a poll at all, but merely a question that I hope you will answer via comments or tweets.  When do you typically start to doubt yourself and your finish goal time in a marathon?  My thoughts: I'm hoping your responses will calm me and prepare me for when those doubts creep up on Saturday, and I'm able to say (in my head of course, because I don't want to be that creepy girl talking to herself while running a marathon), "Well [insert super fast runner friend here] wanted to give up at [insert mile marker here] and didn't and went on to run [insert super fab-o marathon time here] so suck it up and sub 4!"  Annnnnnnnnnnnd go!

Fargo Running Buddy

Uh... where the h did this heat come from?  I just knew that we'd move abruptly from the freezing cold and windy winter-like conditions to the super hot and humid and windy summer conditions, skipping right by my favorite: spring.  ::shaking fists with fury::

Return of (drum roll please.......) The Sweaty RUNNER.

Sooooooo hot.  ;)  Literally.  And figuratively.

Sunday I went out for a 5 miles shake out run.  My legs felt pretty darn good, except for the IT band giving a little bit of attitude.  Monday I had my AC cranked on the way home from work.... and was still sweating through my work clothes.  Classy... that's how I roll.  I jetted out the door for 6 miles in as little clothes as I feel comfortable running in.  Within about 17 seconds I was soaked.  Apparently the ol' sweat glands still work.  Neat-o.  I ran into the 20-30 mph winds (yes, the wind *is* getting old, thanks for asking) for the first 3 miles.  When I turned around to head for home, I realized that the heavy winds were at least cooling me off.  Drowning commence!

Most of the remaining miles had to be run with my mouth shut, breathing through my nose because the gnats were so thick, and I got sick of sucking them down after random bug #2 made me sputter and cough.  Have you ever tried to breathe through your nose while running?  If not, it sucks.  I got home and started sweating puddles on to my yoga mat while I was stretching.  And my chest/neck/face/hands/arms were a gnat graveyard. 

Attention little buggies:  you will drown upon impact.  I'm a sweaty beast.  Consider yourself warned.

However, the Fargo forecast (that I've been obsessively stalking 3-5 times per day since race day was 15 days out) is calling for rain and possibly a warmer day than what I've been running in (because I don't expect 40s like I've been training in).  So I figure either way this run will help me out.  Sweating that much has to assimulate being soaked from the rain, no? :)

And I'm super de duper excited to have a running buddy for Fargooooooooooo!  A girl that I went to college with, and worked with throughout college is running Fargo as well.  Head over to Kier's blog, she's got some great food/recipe posts and gorgo photos.  Anywhosits, she's a lot faster than me, but has dealt with some injuries this go-around for training, so her new race day goal is sub-4 (a PR for both of us, as her marathon PR is pretty darn close to mine).  I figured we might as well keep each other company!  YAYZIES!

Game plan:  Run a mile in 9 minutes.  Repeat 26 times.  Also .2 for good measure.  Throw hands in the air for totally awesomesauce finisher photo. Beer->hand.  Repeat.

While I'm on the topic of Fargooooooooooo (when really when am I not talking about it at this point?), shoot me an email if you want to meet up at the expo on Friday.  I'm so stinkin' excited to meet all you Fargo fools!! :D

The Whiny Runner

If you know me IRL, you'll know that I've been a little not-myself when it comes to running.  Glitter and Sunshine?  Where?  Just call me the Whiny Runner, bestie to The Angry Runner.  Saturday I gorged on all things fatty and salty.  And then napped.  And then was boggled when my marathon pace run didn't go so swell.  (Perhaps I should change to The Dumb Runner....)

Saturday night I was lamenting to KK and confessed that I was seriously considering dropping from the full to the half in Fargo.  Up to this point I had 4 failed long runs (sucky 14 miler, 16 turned to 6 on the TM and 10 at super mondo slow pace, 18 that ended in my eating shit hardcore, and a 20 miler that I just plain didn't do.)  Yeah.  I distinctly remember saying last weekend that if it was cold and/or snowy and/or windy next weekend, that I would gladly hang up my running shoes and embrace a life of sedentary bliss.  Saturday's forecast:  High of 30.  20 mph wind gusts.  Wind chill: hope you aren't too fond of the skin on yo' face!

I told him that I was over running.  I've had one strong run in roughly the last 4 months, and it has become a chore to get myself out the door (heyo, I'm dr. suess!).  He let me vent and then in unison we said, "but it's probably just the weather..." (precious level: 17, jk).  I decided that whatever the weather was on Sunday at least I wouldn't be running on snow/slushy/ice hybrid as I had previous long runs.  I even planned out a running route I was excited about.... it was creepy.  It was cold, but I've run in much colder.  It was windy, but I've done much windier (when it was much colder...ick).  And it was hilly (which is typically not my cup o' tea).  But it was kind of awesome.

I wanted to run ~9:45 pace for the 16 miles, and I didn't want to see a mile above 10 even for the super mondo hills.  No joke, I hit every major hill in town except one.  I started the run in to the wind and it suckkkkked, but then I had it out of the way for the next 8-9 miles.  Neat!  I set a PR in snot rockets blown, including one that took up residence on my cheek.  Which I didn't notice....for quite some time.  Ooooh!  Maybe I'll be The Sexy Runner.  Hey hey hey!

I did 16 miles in 2:33:58 for a pace of 9:37.

The first 4 miles and last 1 were flat as a 12 y.r. Jerbear so I didn't map the elevation on those, but look at those HILLS!  My legs are still shaking their fists (?) at me for that route.  Hills make heros!

And maybe some of the gentle persuasion towards running the full occurred via retail therapy this weekend.....  See I can justify buying something new for marathons because it's a lot of darn work.  Half marathons?  No new outfit for you!  And I just couldn't pass up these super sweet Brooks shorts in my favorite color of green.  And I quickly realized they'd be the perfect match for the green tank top my green sister Nikki got me last fall.  (FYI: when looking at this photo, I realize this outfit is only missing my high school home town name before it looks like my track uniform.... bahahahahha...)

This Week's Wish List AKA Weekly I Want

I find the most obscure fabulous things that I want I want I want I want.  Too bad I don't have all the monies to buy all of the things I want I want I want I want.  I might do a semi-regular posting with all the fun finds I've found (alliteration...oof!).  Fab!  (ok too far).

Buy it here.

I want to put this on my new Coach purse as a charm-dealy-bobby.  So cuuuuuuuuuuute!

Peacock Rain boots

Buy em here

Ooops.  I wanted these so much I got them.  And they came in the mail the next day.  And the shipping was fo FREE.  Jerbear = in love.

A 365 day calendar that you fill in sections of the heart each day based on: Time together, Conversation, Caress-Kisses and Sex.  l-o-v-e.  Too bad the shipping is insane b/c it's in Europe. :(

Buy it here

I tend to love most things bicycle related....  ooh!  I think I still have a groupon for skreened!!

Buy it here

This print would look fabuloso in my living room.

Drat. I can't find the link for this anymore.  Please let me know if you know its whereabouts so I can link it!

I also want this to hang up in my soon-to-be mini-office area.

Buy it here.

Thursday night I did my first "pace" workout.  For the rest of my training, these workouts will typically be done the day before my long runs, so I have tired legs to start with, but since I revamped my program I thought that would be a baaaaaaad baaaaaaad idea after just getting back in to the swing of things.  I had 4 miles at marathon pace on deck (approx. 8:59).

I did a quick 1/2 mile warm up before stretching the junk out of my legs left over from my 800s and then I was on.  Since I was stuck on the treadmill, I had to be just slightly faster than my pace.  It was super fun to run at marathon pace.  It's easy (easy for 4 miles, we'll see if it's easy for slightly less than 4 hours) but not mindlessly easy.  I could still read a trashy gossip mag while running, but just not as easily.  ;)

I did 4.5 miles in 40:36 for a pace of 9:00.  My 4 pace miles were 8:52, 8:56, 8:57, 8:56.

Great run minus the intensely painful stomach cramps I endured throughout.  Lunabar... I'm looking at you (which is sad because you're usually so gentle on my tummy... sad face....)

Marathon Training Program Break Down

February 14th marked day 1 of my 14 week training program to my SUB 4 FINISH IN FARGOOOOOOO.  Ahem.  Now Fargo is only my 3rd marathon, so I am in no way an expert on marathons.  Or even an "experienced" marathon IMO, unless you're throwing that around in the sense that.... yaysies!  She experienced a marathon (or two)!

The first go around I used the trusty runnersworld.com training program to map out my schedule.  I had been using the site for many recent half marathon and 5ks with great results, and I know better than to mess with a good thing.  The training program got me to the finish line happy and healthy, and roughly in the amount of time I thought it'd take me.

Marathon #2 I enlisted the help of  Runners World yet again, and then had some issues with my IT Bands and knee that cause me to downsize my already short training program to 9 weeks.  Uff.  There were a lot of variables behind the suckfest that was Vegas, but for #3 I decided I wanted to try something new!

At one point I thought about giving the reigns over to Luke or Jason and see what their brilliant minds and speedy selves could come up with, but then I realized a) I'm a control freak (duh!) and b) half of the fun of training is working on the training program!  I started to see what was out there.  I read a lot of books.

 

I took notes!  Because I'm a total nerd.  And then I found an old friend in Hal Higdon.  I was a religious Hal Higdon user for numerous half marathons, 5ks, pretty much everything before I got back in to running "seriously" about two years ago.  And when I saw what was listed in the Advanced-I training program, I was more than intrigued.... I was a little bit smitten.

Through reading and reading and reading.  And chatting with some fasty running pals, I evaluated what I thought I was "missing" from my training.  Or at the very least, what could be tweaked to make me queen bee fasty of SoDak... errr something. 

• Hill repeats.  I don't do them.  I hate them.  They're dumb.  But I should.  Hal has 'em.
• Tempo runs.  I psych myself out so much on long tempo runs that I often will end up skipping them.  Shorter, slightly faster tempos may be the ticket.  While I think tempo runs are grade-A for me for half marathon training and shorter, I don't see the connection as much in marathon training.  Hal...check!
• 800 m. repeats.  Mile repeats = satan's track workout.  Again, I psych myself out of them.  If I like to do shorter repeats, than I should.  And that's that.  Hal has 'em.
• Pace workouts.  This is something I've never done, and I couldn't give you an answer as to why.  When reflecting on Vegas, I was shocked to realize that not a single workout done in training was at the 9:09 mgp.  How are your legs supposed to lock on to a go pace if you're running 7:30s for mile repeats, 8:10s for tempo, and 9:30s for long runs?!?!?  Answer: They don't.  Hal?  You betcha.
• Long runs on fatigued legs.  Somewhere along the way I turned in to a wuss.  If my legs felt like crap at the start of a long run, I would cut it short and move it to the next day.  When my legs felt like junk at the start of Vegas I panicked!  In this schedule every other long run will have a 4-8 mile pace run the day before, so I'll be getting my mental toughness on.

I did a lot of revamping of Hal's schedule to make it fit me, but all in all, I think we may have a winner.  On paper at the very least, we'll see how my body responds to it.  :)  I guess we'll find out in 14 weeks.


Tonight I did my first bit of speedwork in.... uh.... um.... weeks and was unsure how it'd turn out.  I had 5 miles to do with 4 at tempo pace.  According to the McMillan calculator my tempos should be 8:09-8:31 pace.  I was shooting for a pace somewhere in the slower 8:20s.  The wind was intense.  And that's an understatement.  We're talking 17 mph winds with 30 mph wind gusts.  Guess which miles were really into the wind:  9:25 (warm up), 8:14, 8:19, 8:42, 8:11.
If you guessed miles 4 and 5 you'd be correct.  Well and half of mile 3 technically.  Don't ask how I can run an 8:42 followed by an 8:11 in to the same amount of the wind.  Ok do ask:  I'm a slacker.  Ooops.  I should really work on that.


During my run I saw half of a rabbit on the bike trail.  Which prompted me to wonder what was out on the trails feasting on not-so-small furry rabbits.  Which prompted me to wonder if they would also be partial to Jerbears.  And then upon further inspection and thought (clearly this was during the 8:42 mile) I realized it only had one foot.


HOT DOG I JUST FOUND ME A LUCKY RABBIT'S FOOT!
Poor not so lucky 1/2 of a rabbit slash 1/4 of limb rabbit. :(

Fargooooooooooo Marathon Training Begins

Marathon training started on the day of loooooooove (February 14th) but my last couple weeks of training didn't go exactly as planned.  I had week 1 of training just shy of 40 miles, but after posting 4 miles last week (thanks Ninja Death Star Flu) and 21 the week before (feel "out of it" from the possible impending NDSF) I didn't think 40 miles was very... uh.. smart.  I chatted a bit with Jason who has become my marathon training program aficionado this go around, and he suggested I stay right around 25 miles for this week.  Works for me!

My new motivation secured to my bathroom mirror.  Ignore that I need to clean my mirror immensely.

I went through the first 5 weeks of my training program and adjusted them to fit a ~15% weekly mileage increase and before I even began, my training program was revamped.  Ugh.  Oh well.  I did an easy peasy 3 miler to kick off training.  It was warm but there were huge areas of super duper slick ice so I toggled between a 9:40 pace when I was running, and who knows what pace when I was tippy toeing across the ice.

And another thing I've been wondering, is anyone else able to tell that they're getting sick, a few days before they actually get sick just based on how poor your runs feel.  On the Saturday that I attempted my ten mile long run and cut it short at 3 miles, I was going extremely slow, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, and my shirt was soaked after 27 minutes of running (surprisingly not common for me after only a slow poke 3 miler).  Yet, I didn't start feeling sick until Monday.  Interesting?  Or am I just loco?

This is how happy I am to be running after only doing 4 miles in 10 days FYI.

And in other fun news, I was contacted by Megan at Build a Sign to create some sweet signage for my bloggy.  I knew they had to have 3 things:  be green (duh!), list my blog addy, and include my running mantra....Don't think just run!  I was super excited at how they turned out!! :)




I was sent stickers and sweet window clings.  Upon receipt I immediately stuck one on KK's bedroom mirror so he has to think of me and my running obsession every time he looks at himself.  I'm a genius... I know.  If anyone wants one of these puppies, I'll send one out the the first 10 that want them.  Let me know what your running mantra is!  If you don't happen to be one of the first 10 and really really really want one (likely my Mom, because really who else would?!?!) feel free to beg in the comments... I'm feeling extra sweet.  ;)