Around the Interwebs: 37 Things Only Runners Know

Thought Catalog compiled a list of things that only runners know.  Here are some of my favorites:

10. The treadmill is to you what that chocolate cake was to the boy in Matilda: you may dislike every single second you’re strapped to that contraption, but damn it if you’re not going to do it anyway.

17. Getting the little nod of approval from a runner heading in the opposite direction is enough to make you feel as if you’re floating. 

21. There will always be that one song you rely on to pump you up like no other. 

 Check out the full list here.

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 7)

My first 20-mile run of this training cycle actually was okay.  I felt good up until Mile 18, at which point I told myself to keep running because there was a cheeseburger waiting for me in Eastern Market.  (I ran with my coworker who is training for February's Miami marathon, so we started and ended our run in her neck of the woods.)  The best part? I still have two more 20-mile runs on my training plan....

...yay?

Week 8 (the mid-point) is actually pretty relaxed compared to last week.  I have a total of 25 miles planned, spread out over three days.  Here's what it looks like:

Monday: Rest, stretching
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday: Cross and strength training
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 9 miles
Sunday: Cross and strength training

The Great CSA Adventure: Collard Greens (Week 1)

Solidifying my yuppie status, I joined a CSA program for the winter.  Every week, I pick up locally-grown fruits and vegetables (and sometimes dairy items, honey, jam, and meat) from the market near my office.  My hope is that the CSA will inspire me to get out of my food comfort zone.  It will also give me an excuse to try ALL of the recipes featured in Plenty, which I received from a good friend as a Christmas gift. 

The first batch included pink lady apples (some of which I tossed with kale and dried cranberries), beets, onions, purple viking potatoes, watercress, and collard greens.

Growing up, collard greens were featured in every big, family meal.  Of course, I never ate them because, you know, green vegetables are pretty much kryptonite for kids. Now that I'm old enough to cook my own meals, I never think to buy collards and rarely look for recipes where they are the main ingredient.   (This also meant that I had no idea what to do with them when I pulled them out of my bag.)

So, I went for pesto, tossing the collards, garlic, pecans, parmesan, salt, and black pepper into my food processor and mixing with penne.   Easy and delicious. 

Next up: figuring out what I can do with watercress that doesn't involve it being in a sandwich (which apparently tastes like buttered grass).

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 6)

This comes somewhat belatedly, but happy new year!

It’s funny – when I graduated from college in 2009 and thought about returned for my five year reunion, 2014 seemed so distant. But, it’s here – which also means that I’m also at the half-way point in my training.

Week 7 includes my first of three (planned) 20-mile runs. Thankfully, this weekend will be much warmer than it has been. I’m not going to say that I enjoyed running 17 miles in below freezing temperatures last weekend, but the temperature did provide a nice incentive to keep moving and finish as quickly as possible.

Here’s the full plan for the week (most of which is already done):

Monday – Rest
Tuesday – 3 miles
Wednesday – Stretching and foam rolling. (I started physical therapy and learned that I am dealing with ITBS in my right knee, but it’s largely due to weak gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles. I have a plan and, hopefully, will be able to correct the problem without too much difficulty.)
Thursday – 6 miles (speed workout)
Friday – Cross-training and strength training
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – 20 miles (eeeeeep!)

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 4 and 5)

I'm back from spending a week with my family in Connecticut, where I ate many slices of cake and didn't run as often as I planned.  (As it turns out, when you spend two days "cross training" and eating your weight in holiday leftovers and then try to run, things don't go as well as they should.)  The bright side of not working out too hard while I was home is that I finally got rid of the cold that I developed weeks ago.

I finished this week with Yasso 800s at the gym.  If there's any truth to the workout, I'm in great shape to run a sub-4:30 marathon.  Now, I just need to get myself to the sub-4:00 range.

Here's the plan for Week 6:

Monday: X-train, weights
Tuesday: 6 miles (easy)
Wednesday: X-training, stretching
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18 miles
Sunday: Rest

Oh, hey, Climate Change, heyyyy!

Let's just take note of this.

It is December 21, 2013 in Washington, DC.

This is what I wore today on my long run:

Don't get me wrong - it was amazing...and terrifying.
But, it was mostly amazing.

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 3)

Week 3 didn't go exactly as planned, which is okay.  Although I planned to run 25 miles, I was only able to run 15.  The short story is that I came down with a nasty cold on Monday.  With headaches, a slight fever, and constant coughing, I decided to take it the week off until I felt better.  By Friday, I was strong enough to attempt running but it was way harder than it should have been.  Saturday wasn't any better, but I was able to get in eight miles - slowly - today.  I feel good about it, and I've been trying to figure out what's the best way to move forward with my training plan.

My training plan has a few recovery weeks built in, so i think I may count this weekend's runs as that. For Week 4, I'll try the Week 3 plan again with a few modifications.

Monday - Off

Tuesday - 6 miles (speed work)

Wednesday - 5 miles (holiday fun run)

Thursday - X-training

Friday - Off

Saturday - 15 miles

Sunday -X-training 

Judging by my run today, I should be back to normal health-wise by Monday.  I'm crossing my fingers. Plus, the bright side of being sick was that I was able to give my IT band several rest days, and it didn't bother me at all on my runs this week.

Music to Run By

It's been a while since I've done a music-related post, but I'm starting to get tired of my training playlists.  (First world problem, right?)  So far, I've been running without music during shorter runs, and it's been a welcome change.  When I'm run at the gym, though, or head out for long runs, I like having something other than my inner monologue to keep me going.

I'm building a new playlist (clever name to come) and would love recommendations.  Here's what I'm starting with:

1. "Burn" - Ellie Goulding
2. "We Can't Stop" - Miley Cyrus 
3. "Howl" - Florence + The Machine 4. "Shake It Out" - Florence + The Machine
5. "Can't Hold Us Back" - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
6. "The Monster" - Eminem (feat. Rihanna)
7. "Some Nights" - Fun.
8. "Run the World (Girls)" - Beyoncé  9. "Fighter" - Christina Aguilera  10. "Foundations" - Kate Nash

So, tell me, what are your favorite tunes for running, working out, or singing karaoke into a broom handle while sweeping in your apartment (what, just me)?

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 2)

Two weeks down, 14 more to go...

So far, following the more difficult of my training plans has worked out well.  (It's still early, so we'll see if I'm singing the same tune when the mileage starts to increase.)  Having the break between running workouts has really helped me feel more rested.  The one thing that I did learn, though, is that I need at least one more day between my speed workout and my long run.  By the end of my 13-miler on Saturday, I felt more tired than I should have and had to will myself not to hop on public transportation.

This is what things look like for Week 3:

Total miles: 25
Tuesday: 5 miles (easy)
Wednesday: 6 miles (speed workout)
Saturday: 14 miles
(Stretching, cross-training: Monday and Thursday)

Marathon No. 5: Let the Wild Rumpus Begin

One, two, three, four, five - everybody get your shoes
So come on
Let's run on the trails and in the neighborhood...

See what I did there? Har, har har...

I registered for the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon a few months ago, which will be my fifth marathon.  I figured that since I've run the half three times now, it's time to switch things up and go the full distance. I'm still feeling really good about my performance at the Richmond Half so I actually want to train for this one - hard - to see what I can do.

Stef and I often review our respective performances at the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon. I ran a PR race -- 54 minutes faster than my performance at the 2010 Baltimore Marathon.  (Baltimore was my first race so I expected some improvement in the next marathon but no where near that much.)  We've concluded that part of the reason we both did so well is that we actually trained.  We skipped one long run and only because I spent the first two miles hacking up my lungs. (I had a chest cold).  We raced often.  (We both PR'ed after running to the start -- and we ran more after the race.)  I half-assed my training for Providence and the Marine Corps Marathon, both in 2012, and didn't come close to a PR.

Moral of the story: I should train for this race.

My goal for my next marathon is to PR.  At minimum, I'd like to run faster than Oprah (a 4:29 marathoner), but my goal is to run a 4:00 race.  Both of my training plans estimate that I should be able to finish the race in 3:52 but I would be very happy with a four hour race. I can do it if I put in the work.

So far, I'm off to a good start.

Week 1 of marathon training happened to coincide with my trip home to New Haven (for Yale-Harvard and Thanksgiving).  I don't know what I was thinking when I packed but I could have used more warm running clothes.  Still, I managed to get in a few runs and cross-trained when I decided not to run outside.

For Week 2, I'm going to attempt to follow the "harder" of my two training plans.  This plan has me running just three days each week (one easy run, one speed workout, and one long run).  I'll also spend three days doing some combination of strength training, stretching and foam rolling, or low-impact cardio.

Here's what I have planned for running:

Total mileage: 23 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles (easy)
Thursday: 6 miles (tempo)
Saturday: 12 miles

I'm also going to try to write more this time around.  Publicly declaring my training plan works really well as an accountability tool.