So, last month I publicly declared my goal of running a marathon based on Hal Higdon's guide Marathon, and I figured you were all just dying to learn about my progress (don't you just love pretend self-deprecation? Like I give a shit if you people want to know, I'm bored waiting for my husband to get home and want to yammer on about it). Here we are:
- I have been consistently planning out my mileage and writing it on a board in my workout room. This is actually pretty motivating because if I flake out I have to erase it. So shameful. Right now I'm hovering around 30 miles a week. I need to throw in one or two 40 miler weeks in, but I need to plan it around the half I'm scheduled for next month.
- Last Sunday I ran my PDR (personal distance record) of 14 miles. I find this hilarious; I've run 10 half marathons but have never done anything about 13.1 miles. It's like the kids that are perfectly happy getting a D-. It's passing! It wasn't horrible and I managed to get through a couple of Gossip Girl episodes, so that was great (I listen and watch complete crap when I run- my brain cannot run and watch Breaking Bad at the same time).
- I went to yoga 8-ish times over my three week break- not too shabby. Then, during Wednesday's harder-than-hell class I somehow tweaked my ankle (I realized this the next morning when a lump the size of half a golf ball was protruding from my arch). I made each of my TAs during the four periods I have them go to the nurse's office to get me ice and then forced myself to keep it in the pool for awhile when I got home. Presto, chango, today it's 95% better. I'll take it. Especially since...
- I'm supposed to run 15 miles tomorrow, but if the foot's not 100% I'll push it back to Sunday or Monday. It's hard for me to change my training plan, but I know if it's not ready I'll hurt it more and set everything back longer. I was worried that it was a torn ligament at first, but considering the improvement I'm writing it off as a fluke (perhaps punishment for not dancing around that night in class trying to find my shakra.. or something like that).
- I did an awesome interval workout the other day that made me runner faster than I've ever moved my poor little legs (and by "little" I mean "upper end of average") before. I think years of suffering from asthma has programmed me to not try to get too out of breath. Well I did, and I lived. And I proved my legs can actually run sub-8 minute miles for spurts of time.
- I generally fuel with Shot Bloks on my long runs, but they're not exactly cheap and I rarely have any in the house (unless I have an actual real run coming up). So, I decided to use Starbursts- 1 per mile after mileage over 8. If anything, opening the wrapper while running is distracting, as is the stomachache I eventually end up with. They were my husband's; I don't even like Starbursts.
- The Olympic Marathon Trials are this weekend! I'm actually pretty psyched about the summer Olympics, since it has beach volleyball (I got really obsessed about watching it during the last one) and track. I think I'm going to actually try to find the trials on TV; I'm hoping Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and Deena Kastor make the team, but I have a feeling the only sure thing is Flanagan. I know, I know. No one cares.
- I've actively started counting calories with an ap called "Calorie Count" that actually lets me scan in bar codes. I know, I know, this sounds crazy during marathon training, when I'm burning more calories than ever. I'm doing it for two reasons: first, I would like to drop a few pounds; I'd go faster if I had less weight to haul around. It's physics, folks. Second reason is because it gives me an in-depth nutritional breakdown of what I'm eating, which has been extremely informative. For starters, I am getting nowhere near enough protein- generally less than 30 grams a day, which is ridiculous for the amount of physical activity I'm currently subjecting myself to (I'm aware that it's because of the lack of meat, thanks). I am, though, getting a ton of iron from the excessive amounts of cereal I eat, and I consume a lot less fat than I thought. It's been eye opening and I've stuck with it for five days. I usually put in everything I plan to eat from breakfast to dinner in the morning and am too lazy to change it. Isn't this fascinating? What, you don't want to know about my calcium intake?
So, until next time, I run.
- I have been consistently planning out my mileage and writing it on a board in my workout room. This is actually pretty motivating because if I flake out I have to erase it. So shameful. Right now I'm hovering around 30 miles a week. I need to throw in one or two 40 miler weeks in, but I need to plan it around the half I'm scheduled for next month.
- Last Sunday I ran my PDR (personal distance record) of 14 miles. I find this hilarious; I've run 10 half marathons but have never done anything about 13.1 miles. It's like the kids that are perfectly happy getting a D-. It's passing! It wasn't horrible and I managed to get through a couple of Gossip Girl episodes, so that was great (I listen and watch complete crap when I run- my brain cannot run and watch Breaking Bad at the same time).
- I went to yoga 8-ish times over my three week break- not too shabby. Then, during Wednesday's harder-than-hell class I somehow tweaked my ankle (I realized this the next morning when a lump the size of half a golf ball was protruding from my arch). I made each of my TAs during the four periods I have them go to the nurse's office to get me ice and then forced myself to keep it in the pool for awhile when I got home. Presto, chango, today it's 95% better. I'll take it. Especially since...
- I'm supposed to run 15 miles tomorrow, but if the foot's not 100% I'll push it back to Sunday or Monday. It's hard for me to change my training plan, but I know if it's not ready I'll hurt it more and set everything back longer. I was worried that it was a torn ligament at first, but considering the improvement I'm writing it off as a fluke (perhaps punishment for not dancing around that night in class trying to find my shakra.. or something like that).
- I did an awesome interval workout the other day that made me runner faster than I've ever moved my poor little legs (and by "little" I mean "upper end of average") before. I think years of suffering from asthma has programmed me to not try to get too out of breath. Well I did, and I lived. And I proved my legs can actually run sub-8 minute miles for spurts of time.
- I generally fuel with Shot Bloks on my long runs, but they're not exactly cheap and I rarely have any in the house (unless I have an actual real run coming up). So, I decided to use Starbursts- 1 per mile after mileage over 8. If anything, opening the wrapper while running is distracting, as is the stomachache I eventually end up with. They were my husband's; I don't even like Starbursts.
- The Olympic Marathon Trials are this weekend! I'm actually pretty psyched about the summer Olympics, since it has beach volleyball (I got really obsessed about watching it during the last one) and track. I think I'm going to actually try to find the trials on TV; I'm hoping Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and Deena Kastor make the team, but I have a feeling the only sure thing is Flanagan. I know, I know. No one cares.
- I've actively started counting calories with an ap called "Calorie Count" that actually lets me scan in bar codes. I know, I know, this sounds crazy during marathon training, when I'm burning more calories than ever. I'm doing it for two reasons: first, I would like to drop a few pounds; I'd go faster if I had less weight to haul around. It's physics, folks. Second reason is because it gives me an in-depth nutritional breakdown of what I'm eating, which has been extremely informative. For starters, I am getting nowhere near enough protein- generally less than 30 grams a day, which is ridiculous for the amount of physical activity I'm currently subjecting myself to (I'm aware that it's because of the lack of meat, thanks). I am, though, getting a ton of iron from the excessive amounts of cereal I eat, and I consume a lot less fat than I thought. It's been eye opening and I've stuck with it for five days. I usually put in everything I plan to eat from breakfast to dinner in the morning and am too lazy to change it. Isn't this fascinating? What, you don't want to know about my calcium intake?
So, until next time, I run.
From what I understand there will be some delayed coverage of the trials tomorrow at 3 on NBC. I'll be watching!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your full training is starting off right! PDR's are the best! Reaching that new distance takes the sting out of the crazy mileage.
ReplyDeleteI do gu instead of shot blocks, but that's because chewing is too much work for me. But I will say that shot blocks taste a whole heck of a lot better than gu.
I hope you keep posting about your training. I want to know more! When is the big race?*
reat site!!! this information really helped me , I really appreciate it,
ReplyDelete