500th Mile

I'm a little behind schedule on my goal to run 1,000 miles in 2011.  I slacked off a bit in May and June, but I don't think I'll have a problem reaching my goal now that I'm well into marathon training.

In celebration of running 503 miles as of this morning, I give you....

The Proclaimers!

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (4)

Over the last seven days, I spent just three at home in D.C. On Tuesday and Wednesday, my coworker and I traveled to Nottoway, Virginia to complete site observations for one of our projects. Then, on Saturday, I took a train to Boston to spend the weekend with my senior year housemates and people who probably should have lived in our house. It was so good to see everyone and spend some time catching up, reminding ourselves of the excellent time we had in college, and creating a new batch of stories to tell the next time we get together. (Seriously, guys, why don’t we do this more often? Like, all of the time.)

I plan to spend this week getting myself back into my usual routine. I love traveling, but it always does a number of my eating, running, and sleeping patterns. (It's been at least a week since I've cooked a meal for myself. I should really get back into doing that.) The good news is that I proved to myself that I am capable of getting out of bed super early to get my workouts in. Clearly, I should be able to do this more often – especially now that the temperature is D.C. threatens any attempts to safely run outside.

So, workouts:

I did all three of my running workouts on the treadmill last week, and all three focused on speed. On Wednesday and Thursday, I went for this:

Warm-Up – 5 Minutes

Intervals x 3
2 minutes at 5.0 MPH
2 minutes at 6.0 MPH
1 minute at 7.0 MPH
1 minute at 8.0 MPH
2 minutes at 7.0 MPH
2 minutes at 6.0 MPH

After Thursday’s workout, I decided that I was ready to increase each interval by 0.5 MPH – which is exactly what I did on Saturday (8 miles was not going to happen on the treadmill). I felt good after Saturday’s workout, which also included time on the stationary bike and strength work.

Also -- I took a look at my training schedule and made a few changes to allow for more speed work and more strength training.

Hopefully, things will cool down in D.C. If not, I’m going to start training myself to get out of bed early so that I can run before it becomes unbearable to do so.

Week 5:

Monday: X-Training and Strength Training
Tuesday: 4 Miles
Wednesday: 5 Miles
Thursday: Tempo Run 45 Minutes
Friday: Off
Saturday: 15 Miles
Sunday: X-Training and Strength Training

Lady Business

Hey folks!

I'm unwinding from a business trip to Nottoway, Virginia and attempting to get my training schedule/life back in order.

Okay, so my life is never as out of order as I sometimes make it sound; more than anything, I just need to feel like things are progressing at a decent pace.

In the meantime:

Just in case you missed it, the NYT posted an article about the relationship between that oh-so special time of the month and athletic performance.  Check it out.

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (3)

Week 3 is done, and I’m moving to Week 4.

My training schedule needed a bit of rearranging this week while I was away on business. I moved my tempo workout to Tuesday (completed in a very swanky hotel fitness center), skipped my run on Wednesday, did my strength training and cardio workout on Thursday, ran on Friday (which is normally my rest day), tried a new route during my 13-miler on Saturday, and ran today (planned as a rest day this week).

There’s a clear lesson here – one that I’m starting to see applies to my life outside of running. Life happens, and it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as you scheduled. More later.

For now, here’s the training schedule for week 4:

Monday: X-Train and Strength Training
Tuesday: Speed Workout – 30 minutes
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 Miles
Sunday: X-Train and Strength

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (2)

I can’t believe it’s already Sunday. The four-day work week and my usual weekend antics helped the week go by quickly, but - as always - I wish I had one more day to lounge on the couch and stream episodes of Arrested Development.

My workouts went well this week, and I’m starting to rebuild my tolerance for running with humidity.  I need to figure out how to not be the sweaty kid at the end of all of my workouts.  Well, sweaty kid might be an understatement.  I should really work on not looking like I dived in a pool in my gear after all of my runs. 

I’m doing a bit of traveling over the next couple of weeks for work and for funsies, so I may need to move around some of my runs depending on the treadmill situation in hotels and how confident I feel running in new areas.

Week 3:

Monday – X-Train and Strength Training

Tuesday – 3 miles

Wednesday – 5 miles

Thursday – Tempo Workout, 30 minutes

Friday – Rest

Saturday – 13 Miles

Sunday – Rest

Fall Four: Weekly Round-Up (1)

My first week of training is done, and it feels great to be back in training mode.  There were a few bumps this week, so I hope you can forgive me for whining about my first world problems while I walk through this week's workouts.

I had a really great session on Monday. For the first time in months, I increased the resistance on the stationary bike.  It was a little challenging at first, but it went well.  Then, it was onto working muscle groups that I have neglected for quite some time.

On Tuesday, there were threats of thunderstorms so I hit the treadmill for my three-miler.  Not too far into my workout, I remembered how boring treadmill running can be.  I also had some weird side pain going on, and my iPod playlist did nothing for me. Did I mention that running on a treadmill is boring? Anyway, my three-miler turned into a two-miler because I’m lame. 

Wednesday, I went back to Ladies Night after a very long absence.  I was excited to go back, and they organized a great route -- if only I wasn't such a fail. Although I missed a turn on the loop back, I ended up running farther than I planned (success!)

On Thursday, I did my tempo workout.  I looked forward to it, but hated that I had to waste an absolutely gorgeous day on the treadmill -- especially when only one of the three treadmills in my apartments fitness center worked...sort of. The newer treadmills – which have also just been repaired – have some disconnect between the belt and the main screen.  It would have been fine if I didn’t care about my pace, but I wanted to know exactly how fast I was going. The third treadmill shut off every 4 minutes.  This actually was fine because my workout consisted of five 3-minute repeats at 7.0 MPH, followed by a one-minute recovery jog.  It's much easier to count to five when the machine stops abruptly and you nearly tumble to the floor.

Saturday was incredible.  It started with a brunch at my apartment to watch the US Women's National team play Colombia in the Women's World Cup. I tried a few new recipes, and I think it went very well.  The USWNT won their game - which is always a bonus - and have secured a place in the quarterfinals. Whoo!! After cleaning my apartment, I took a long walk and then went out for a run before dinner.  It was one of the best runs that I've had in a very long time.  I felt fast again, and I was able to charge up several hills with little trouble.  

On Sunday, I completed my long run.  I decided to run a route that I haven't run since training for Baltimore -- the one that starts with running on an incline for three miles.  (The only good thing about running uphill for three miles is the promise of running downhill.) It was a little humid, and I need rebuild my tolerance for running in the heat.  Overall, it was a great run.

Onto Week 2:

Monday: Rest (Happy Independence Day!)

Tuesday: Speed Work - 30 minutes (Time to hit the track!)

Wednesday: 5 miles

Thursday: 3 miles

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 8 miles

Sunday: 3 miles

Starting Out on a Journey

June seemed to go by very quickly, and it struck me how little I actually ran this month. If you’ve been following for a while, you’ll recall that one of my goals for this year is to run 1,000 miles. As of today, I’ve run 428 miles. I imagined that I would have more mileage at this point in the year, but I’m not worried since I know that I’m going to kick my training into high gear starting tomorrow.

Week 1 should be an easy transition back into heavy training:

Monday: Cross and Strength Training
Tuesday: 3 Miles
Wednesday: 5 Miles
Thursday: Tempo Run, 30 Minutes
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10 Miles
Sunday: 3 miles
Total Miles (excluding Tempo): 21 miles

In other news, I can’t remember the last time that I cooked an actual meal at home. (Last week was a little crazy, and bowls of pasta with tomato sauce were the way to go most nights.) So, I tried a recipe that I picked up from Eat, Live, Run for a quinoa and black bean salad. I can’t say that I’ve also been my best at eating vegetables lately, so this was exactly what I needed this week. You can check out the full recipe here, but photos of food are never a bad thing.

The salad combines corn, red peppers, red onion, avocado, black beans, grapefruit, and quinoa.  The flavor combination was incredible.

 The vegetables and fruit are the first to go into the bowl for mixing.

 Followed by the quinoa and a lime juice-based dressing.

The salad keeps for about five days in the refrigerator, which is great because the recipe yielded more than I can ever consume in a few days.  Yum!

Happy Anniversary, Dear Blog! Let's Run Another Marathon!

It’s hard to believe that it was a year ago that I committed to running my first marathon. And, unlike my previous attempts to run 26.2 miles just to prove that I can, I actually went through with it.

I have you- my friends and lovely readers - to thank for helping me cross the finish line.

Writing about my experience and sharing this journey with you has been a motivating force that encouraged me to put on my running shoes and hit the asphalt. Thank you for taking the time to read my tl;dr posts and, for those of who talk to me regularly, listen to me blab on about my training and races. (Honestly, I still don’t know how some of you put up with me. Seriously.) Thank you for all of your page clicks and your comments. Thank you all for your words of encouragement.

Thank you for helping me to get through it all. And, for many of you, that goes beyond running.

It really does mean a lot to me to know that you're in my corner.

I think it’s appropriate that one year after starting this blog and my first journey to 26.2 miles I’m making my final preparations to start training for the four races that I’ll be running this fall. Over the weekend, I finalized my training schedule – all 21 weeks between now and the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20th. Knowing that I’m capable of making it across the finish line – even if it did take me five and a half hours the first time – my goal for Philadelphia is to finish (of course) and to shave an hour off of my time. I’ve also joked that it would be amazing if I could shave two hours off my time and Boston Qualify.

(To be honest, I’ve half-joked about this. There’s a part of me that wonders if I’m capable of a BQ. I mean, what else am I going to do this summer? Have a social life?)

When I trained for Baltimore last year, I did zero speed work and focused more on putting in the miles. My goal was to finish. That was it.  Strength training was also a rarity. (I some insecurities about using the free weights and strength equipment in my apartment’s fitness center around all of the large men. Happily, I’ve gotten over that and lift heavy objects with the best of them.) Omitting those things from my training last year definitely hurt me in the end, so this year, weekly tempo runs, speed workouts, and strength training sessions will be a huge part of my training.

I also made a mistake not running the second 20-miler that I scheduled. Maybe, just maybe it would have helped me get over that oh-so-special wall in Baltimore. It's completely my fault, though, between the poor planning and sheer ignorance that one should taper before a huge race. This time around – one of the perks of starting so early – I have two 20-milers planned with more than enough time to recover from my shorter races and taper before Philadelphia.

So, what does the race calendar look like?

As it stands, I'm committed to four races. I'm looking forward to all of these and the chance to run with friends and coworkers at each.

September 4 – Rock and Roll Half-Marathon, Virginia Beach
October 9 – Army 10-Miler, Washington DC
October 15 – Baltimore Half-Marathon
November 20 – Philadelphia Marathon

(Yalies, it just hit me that I probably won’t make it to The Game this year. We’ll see though, since I have a knack for making awesomely terrible decisions that backfire very quickly.)

Believe it or not, the first week of training kicks off on Monday. Once I start, I'll be posting more regularly than I have these last few weeks. And you know what that means? More inspiring people, more carb night recipes, more running misadventures, and - if all goes according to plan - more race recaps.

Ladies and gentleman, in the timeless words of Kel Kimble: "Aw, here it goes!"

Tuesday Inspiration: Falling in Love Is Like Owning a Dog

This is incredibly beautiful and needs to be shared. I'll just file this under "Non-Running Commentary."

Love and I have a very strained relationship. Very strained. The details are irrelevant, but I sometimes find myself wondering why I even bother. Thankfully, there are plenty of things all around to remind me that when Love and I settle our differences, it'll be worth every second.

This is one of those things.

Falling in love is like owning a dog

an epithalamion by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,

especially in a city like New York.

So think long and hard before deciding on love.

On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:

when you're walking down the street late at night

and you have a leash on love

ain't no one going to mess with you.

Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.

Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.

It lies between you and lives and breathes

and makes funny noises.

Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.

It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.

But come home and love is always happy to see you.

It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,

but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!

Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.

Love leaves you little surprises here and there.

Love needs lots of cleaning up after.

Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.

Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper

and swat love on the nose,

not so much to cause pain,

just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.

Because love loves exercise.

It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.

It pulls you in several different directions at once,

or winds around and around you

until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.

People who have nothing in common but love

stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,

again, and again, and again.

But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.

And in return, love loves you and never stops.

Run with Dad 5K Round-Up

Let me start this post by saying that I am incredibly proud of my dad.

There’s a lot to be proud of him for, of course, but on Father’s Day, I added finishing his first 5K to my list.

I was reminded that I am my father’s daughter Sunday morning when we cut it very close for our arrival to the starting line and both of us were super stressed out about it. (I, at least, have cut it close multiple times so knew that the only thing you can do is get there and dash across the starting line before the cutoff.)

We made it across the finish line about a minute after the official start in the race and caught up with the pack fairly quickly. Once we were in a good place, I let my dad set the pace and call the shots when it came to taking walk breaks and stopping for water. The course started at a track at one of the local high schools and followed its cross-country trails. It was absolutely beautiful.

On the loop back to the finish, my brothers and mom managed to take a few fantastic photos of my dad in action. I think he was pretty tired at the end, but he pushed himself and we crossed the finish line together.

The race by the numbers:

Alisha
Gun Time: 32:06
Net Time: 31:08
Average Pace: 10:12

Dad:
Gun Time: 32:05
Net Time: 31:07
Average Pace: 10:12

Clearly, the next step is getting my dad to train for a marathon. I think he's ready!