This week has been pretty solid.    My hill workout on Tuesday was a little disappointing.....my legs were tired and heavy.......but I found my strong and got it done.  (Just a warning.....I am a little obsessed with Saucony's new ad campaign and will probably be using the slogan an obnoxious number of times in my posts.)   I told my partner Brittany that sometimes Finding Your Stong just means finishing the workout and that was definitely the case.   So, while I didn't run up the 6th avenue hill as fast as I would have liked, I ran up it the 6 times my workout called for and that is all that really matters.   The other thing that really matters is Susannah got to go see the petting zoo goats after our run.   And oh, how she loves them!

  

The day before the hill workout, I did a 6.5 mile run with 5 at race pace.   Felt pretty satisfied with this effort.    Here are splits for that one:
9:35
8:51
8:31
8:14
8:24
8:18

Then Wednesday came the first 20 miler.  I was mentally prepared because the weather report said 100% chance of rain and predicted the rain to be "heavy and steady" for the hours I was planning to run.   So I was ready......dreading it, but ready.   Waterproof jacket.....check.    Hat.....check.   ziplock bag for phone.....check    A determination to run 20 miles even if it meant pneumonia......check.  
After all my meticulous planning and prayers for strength and will power though, God decided to give me a break.   So even though the weather forecast on my phone was still reading a "100% chance" of rain, I enjoyed 20 miles of sunshine with only one 5 minute shower that came at the perfect time and provided the perfect amount of refreshment I needed at mile 11.   Thank you Lord!!

The surprisingly good weather must have been symbolic of the entire run, too.   Despite my fears of heavy legs after running hard Monday and Tuesday, I was pleasantly surprised with my performance.   I averaged a 9:35 for the first 15 miles.   I felt good but wanted to stay conservative because I knew that this week was a 3:1 workout so I was supposed to run the last 5 miles at race pace.   And while my training plan author, Hal Higdon, would definitely frown on it, I decided to go pretty much all out for the last 5 miles so I could do a little mental training in preparation for the pain of race day.   It was tough, but I gave it my all and this was the result:
Mile 16  8:34
Mile 17 8:25
Mile 18  8:09
Mile 19  8:05
Mile 20 7:50
I think I Found My Strong on this run.   ;)

I took Thursday off to rest my legs and then did a 6 mile easy run yesterday.   Felt pretty heavy but averaged a 9:15 pace which felt slow and easy.

Today I was supposed to run 10 easy miles, but we are having a serious wind storm and the jogging stroller creates quite the resistance, so I ended up only doing 8.   My hamstrings are a little whiny with me so I decided cutting it short was the wise choice.   I averaged a 10:05 but that was with the crazy, crazy wind and several stops to give Susannah snacks.   I don't think she liked the wind either so she was whining along with my hamstrings.

Taking tomorrow off and then hitting it hard on Monday with 7 x 800 repeats.   Happy Running everybody!

I'm Back

So, what has happened with my training in the three weeks that have passed since my last post?   Thankfully, I am happy to report that I'm still on track and feeling strong for my first of three 20 milers this week.  

I just returned from a two and a half week visit to Georgia and Tennessee.   I didn't post from there because I don't like advertising on the internet that we have an empty house waiting to be burglarized.   But now we are home and Meadow is posted at the door, so I figure it is time to play some catch up.  
I'm not going to document every single run from the trip, but would like to highlight a few points.   First of all, I discovered that I miss hills.   After living in two flat cities, I had convinced myself that hills were the enemy, so I was sort of dreading my runs during our trip.....especially the fast runs.   But I was pleasantly surprised.  My first run in LaGrange was a tempo run and I was so happy when I remembered that, while the uphills are tough, the downhills provide a full rest period or a great time to make up for any speed that was lost on the uphill.   Luckily I had lots of grandparents willing to keep Susannah so I didn't have to tackle the hills with the extra 30 lbs.   I managed to hit all my target paces for my runs while I was home.  
My two long run days while I was away were great.   The first was a 17 miler that I did in Callaway Gardens.   It was so beautiful.....all the spring flowers were in bloom and the azaleas were so vibrant and bright.   I kept a sub 10 minute pace the entire first 13 miles and felt really good.   Listened to two good sermons and enjoyed the scenery and the rolling hills.   This week was a 3/1 run so I knew I needed to pick it up to race pace for the last 4 miles.   Considering the hills, I had decided to give myself a break if I was feeling tired, but luckily, I still had lots of gas so I reset my GPS, turned up some music and took off.   I was super happy with the results......an average of 8:22 pace for the last 4 miles with the last mile being a 7:45 pace.   Yay!

The next week's long run was a half marathon. This was the most perfect timing ever because that weekend happened to be the Knoxville Marathon weekend. Over Christmas vacation I had convinced my cousin Caleb to run his first half marathon and I was so excited to run with him. It was a great course and such a fun morning......I was so proud of Caleb for pushing through the pain of the last few miles and we were rewarded with cheers of friends and family at the finish and a delicious lunch prepared by Grandmama! I think cornbread is definitely my favorite post race recovery meal.

Caleb and me pre-race

Celebrating afterward with my best friend from childhood, Lyndsey and her precious daughter Ellie.

I also did one speed workout while I was home.....6 800's.   I was pretty pleased with the results, but also a little wary because I was depending on my GPS for distance.   According to Nike Plus though, I did all 6 under my training goal......I'm supposed to do my 800's between 3:30 and 3:40.   Here are my splits:

3:35

3:19

3:18

3:10

3:19

3:29

Last week we arrived home on Wednesday, got organized on Thursday and then Friday I did my longest run yet....19 miles.   My friend Brittany was awesome enough to come along on the bike to keep me company.   I was so thankful.   We chatted the entire way and it was such a successful strategy because I didn't even start to feel tired until Mile 14 or so.  And even then I felt relatively good.   It was a beautiful sunny day so that probably helped too.   My legs were super tired after I finished though and stayed pretty achy throughout the rest of the day.    Didn't have any soreness Saturday though and managed to push my legs (and Susannah) on a 7 mile tempo run.  I was expecting to feel super heavy and was considering changing from a tempo run to a recovery run, but I ended up feeling okay so I went ahead with the tempo.     

9:42

9:12

8:17

7:48

8;44

9:23

8:58

Tomorrow is 6 hill repeats and Wednesday is that first 20 miler.   It is supposed to rain and I don't have a partner for that one.   Going to need to use Saucony's slogan and "FIND MY STRONG."  I'm a total fan of their new ad campaign.  Happy running everybody!

. 

Some 800's, some hills, and a lost Luna bar......

This is a busy week, in both my training schedule and my other life, so I'm going to make this entry snappy.  

Last Saturday I did 4 800's with my friend Brittany.   It was a beautiful morning and despite battling a headcold, it turned out to be a great work out.   We ended up using a straight and flat street for the repeats instead of my normal route, which requires a couple of turns.   With a stroller especially, I think this makes a difference.  I was using my nike app for measurement, so I know it was probably a little off, but I am still pleased with my performance.   Much improved from last round of 800's.  
According to McMillan, I should be doing my 800's between 3:35-3:45.    Here were my times:
3:23
3:20
3:27
3:22

I took Sunday off and on Monday did 5 hill repeats.   It was a good workout.   Not seeing much improvement in my speed up the hill, but I could feel that my legs were still a little fatigued by the 800s.   The highlight of this workout was the post-run visit to the zoo.   Susannah played with the goat, slid down the big-girl slide and saw the tigers.  

Tuesday I did an 8 mile pace run.   My legs were definitely feeling heavy but I pushed through and felt pretty good after the first couple of miles.   Here are the splits:
8:54
8:19
8:28
8:31
8:49
8:28
8:22
8:19
All for an average pace of......drumroll please.......8:31!!  Yay!   I know it sounds crazy, but anytime I hit 8:31 right on the head, I know it isn't coincidence.....God is orchestrating those results and it makes me so excited for race day!

Then Wednesday, I had to do 16 miles.   I know that doing all of these runs back to back is a stupid idea, but with childcare and scheduling, it is the only way for me to make it work right now.   I figure if it doesn't completely debilitate me, it will only make me race better when my legs are actually refreshed from a nice long taper.   From the moment I took off I knew I was in for a tough morning.   I didn't feel awful, but I definintely wasn't excited about this long run.   (Usually long runs are my favorite work-out.)   I prayed that God would give me the strength I needed and that he would give me the faith to rely on his strength rather than my own.   Little did I know he was going to use my prayers for a little cosmic comic relief........I never felt great, but I never really felt awful either.   I had planned to take a break and eat the Luna Bar I brought with me at mile 10 so during the first 10 miles I was basically telling myself to make it to that point and then I could rest and refuel.   So you can imagine my dismay and horror when I grabbed for my White Chocolate Luna Bar and realized it had fallen out of my pocket somewhere on the trail.   All I could do was laugh.   I immediately remembered my earlier prayers and knew that God was laughing at me.   Now, for these last 6 miles I would HAVE TO depend on his strength.   I have never run 16 miles with no fuel.   My immediate future felt very daunting.  But I knew that finishing was my only option so I took one last swig of water from the fountain, turned up my music, and hit the trail.    My leg fatigue, the strong headwind, and my lack of nourishment combined into some pretty slow miles at the end, but I'm proud to have finished.   I'm refusing to listen to that voice in my head that says that my time goal is out of reach since I didn't stay in my pace range on this run (I dipped into the 10's 5 times).   I'm going to stay positive and remember that I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.  
Here are the splits:
9:15
9:18
9:24
9:26
9:23
9:24
9:26
9:46
10:05
9:53
10:01
10:04
10:17
10:13
9:42
9:31

Tomorrow is an 8 mile tempo........    Then:  2 days of REST!   Yay Rest!!

A bumpy fall back week

This week is supposed to be an easy week with a 10 mile long run and no added mileage for the other weekly runs.   And it is a good thing considering the week we have had so far.   Monday's run was supposed to be 7 mile pace run.    By mile three though, I knew I was way too fast, and since I was feeling good, decided to make a mid-run change and call it my 60 minute tempo run instead.  (I was planning on doing the tempo the following day.)    I felt good the whole time.   Definitely a confidence building run.   Here are the splits:
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:00
Mile 3: 8:04
Mile 4: 7:31
Mile 5:  8:21
Mile 6: 8:19
Mile 7: 8:48

I was looking forward to a 7 mile pace run on Tuesday since I had already gotten my tempo run for the week out of the way.   Unfortunately, Susannah did not react well to her 3 vaccination shots on Monday afternoon, so we were up most of Monday night with fever.   I made a mid-run pitstop at Rite Aid and ended up cutting the run short.   So my 7 mile pace run became a 4.25 mile run.   (avg pace 8:43)   It was windy and cold and Susannah and I both felt tired and yucky.   I could hear Hal Higdon's voice (Not really....I've never heard his voice.....probably more accurate to say I could see the words on his website.) saying "It is better to do less than more.   Always ere on the side of taking it too easy."   So I feel good about my decision not to push it.  

Today was my 10 mile run.   Susannah's Wednesday play date was cancelled because her friend was sick, so that meant that I was doing my 10 miler with the stroller.   It was a beautiful sunny morning and we were both feeling much better after a good night's sleep.   I felt good and was happy to hear that my "easy pace" was in the low 9 minute mile range.   For long runs I do an out and back down the silver strand bike path that connects Imperial Beach to Coronado.   There is almost always a headwind on the way back to Coronado, but today it was pretty strong.   And the stroller canopy acts as a parachute so the run back was significantly more difficult.   I still felt perfectly fine, but my speed was obviously affected by the wind.   As evidenced by these splits:

Mile 1: 9:41
Mile 2: 9:03
Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 9:00
Mile 5: 8:55
Mile 6: 9:06
Mile 7: 9:26
Mile 8: 9:22
Mile 9: 9:39
Mile 10: 9:25

After looking at these splits, I've decided to start praying now for a non-windy race day. Thankful for all these stroller runs though, because I know they are making me stronger. Susannah was such a good sport too. She brought her baby doll along and only threw her out of the stroller once. I thought I would share a couple of photos of the views I enjoy on my long runs every Wednesday.....I can't imagine a more beautiful place to train.

The mountain backed bay on one side......

 And the beautiful Pacific on the other.   Perfect!

But I count it all as loss......

Last Sunday at church, the sermon was on the book of Ecclesiastes and the pastor attempted to answer the question of finding meaning in our lives.   According to Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, the key to a meaningful life is a relationship with God, our creator.  The apostle Paul, in the New Testament, takes this idea a step further by saying that all of the meaning in our lives should come from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.   The pastor ended his sermon with this verse from Phillipians:
"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ."   Phillipians 3:8

During the next few days after church, I spent a lot of time pondering over whether I could make the same claim as Paul.   Do I really count EVERYTHING in my life as a loss when I compare it with my my love for and from Jesus?   Do I really find my identity and self worth ONLY in my relationship with him?   Almost immediately I was able to answer these questions with a big, fat, resounding "NO."   I decided to make a list of all the things, that, if I'm honest, I do not count as a loss when compared to my faith.   And, for those of you who are wondering when I'm going to tie all this to running, one of the first things on the list was running, specifically my training for the marathon in June.  

After making this realization I felt sad and guilty and humbled all at once.   So during my Wednesdsay long run, I spent a significant amount of time praying, confessing to God and asking him to purify my heart and my intentions.   I told him that I knew this hobby was a gift from him and I wanted it to be only for his glory and his good purposes in my life.   Not for my own glory.   Because, when we are honest, setting personal records is all about pride.   It is all about us and what we can do and how much faster we are than the other runners on the course.   God allowed me to see the futility of this mindset.   After praying, I felt comforted, that God's grace would be sufficient to change my attitude towards running.   I felt a peace that he would, in his timing, transform my perspective to one that honored him and him alone.   I continued running, enjoying the beautiful desert scenery.   (and keeping a watch out for my beloved jack-rabbits.  The sighting count for this run was 2.  So cute!)   

I had been planning to run the last 3 miles at race pace.   (My training plan calls for this every three weeks as a way to train the body to run hard even on tired legs.)   I was sort of dreading it because I didn't feel super fresh and I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to hold an 8:31.    But God is good and he had a plan to answer my prayers, right there on the dusty Silver Strand bike path.   At mile 9, I accidentally ended the workout on my GPS and when I restarted the app, it occurred to me that this was a perfect opportunity to go ahead and pick up the pace a little.   I could let the last 5 miles be a different run in my mind; hoping that maybe the fresh technological start to the run would spread to my legs and they too, would feel a little more fresh.   I didn't want to speed up to race pace right away so I just decided to stop holding back and just run exactly what felt comfortable.   (on my long runs, I am almost always holding back to a certain degree to ensure that I stay in the mid 9's)   I was expecting the mile update to tell me I was running around a 9 minute mile exactly.   Imagine my shock when my Nikeplus man said, "1 mile completed.   In 8 minutes and 31 seconds.   Your pace is 8:31 per mile."   I know this may seem like a stretch for some of you, but I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was not a coincidence.     A few short miles before this, I had humbled myself before God, surrendered my prideful attitude and self-glorifying goals and what did he do?   He gave me the desires of my heart.   This was the first time that 8:31 didn't feel fast for me.   And it was on mile 10 of a 14 mile run.   And, to make it even better, check out my splits for the last 5 miles of the run:

Mile 10: 8:31
Mile 11: 8:47 (I think I slowed down because I was looking around thinking, "OMG! God is on this bike path with me!)  
Mile 12: 8:21
Mile 13: 8:09
Mile 14: 8:08
And they didn't even feel that fast!!!
But, the most amazing part?   The part that is even more awesome than the physical accomplishments of Wednesday morning's run?   After that morning, I can easily say that "compared with the infinate value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord, I count a PR in June as a loss.....as garbage."   But I also feel gloriously free to keep training, relying on God's strength to motivate and encourage me; and to hope that it will be his will for me to run a fast marathon in June....for his glory.   Oh, how fun it is to run knowing that it is a gift from God, not something that I'm holding back for myself. And, as icing on this unbelievably delicious cake of a run, check out what I saw during mile 12......I had to take a photo. 

Yep....this is what you think it is.....UGA's cousin out for a morning paddleboard session.   Oh, what can't these dogs do?

Since this is already the world's longest post, I'm going to spare you any details of my 7 mile easy run on Saturday. It was 7 miles. It was easy. I averaged 9:04 pace. Susannah had a snack and a snooze. Fun time was had by all.


Definitely the best running partner I've ever had.  
  

Happy Running this week everybody!

Settling in

Thankfully, I'm starting to feel pretty comfortable in these pace ranges.    Have I mentioned that I'm using the Mcmillan Calculator to find these?   Check it out here.  It is such a useful tool.   I wish that I had started using it with my very first race.  I think I have mentioned before that my race pace is 8:31.   (I feel silly saying 8:31 instead of 8:30, but I figure on race day at mile 23, that one second per mile might be the key to holding the pace.)   Saturday called for a 7 mile run at race pace.   I decided to run mile 1 easyish and then find 8:31 at mile 2. 

When I heard my nikeplus guy say that mile 1 was done in 8:57, I thought, "Great, right where I wanted to be."    Letting that first mile be a true warmup no matter what the workout has really been such a wonderful thing.   So, mile 2 I concentrated on picking it up, but only a little bit.   I really wanted to resist my body's natural urge to push into the tempo pace range.   If I felt myself getting winded at all, I would put on the brakes a little.   I was happy at mile 2 to hear that I had done an 8:23.   I don't think I tried to pick it up for mile 3, I tried to remain steady, but probably due to the lack of sea breeze in mile 3 and my overall feeling of "this is a good running day" pushed me to a 8:17 third mile.   Here are the rest of the splits.....
Mile 4: 8:23
Mile 5: 8:18
Mile 6: 8:20
Mile 7: 8:20

These splits are very encouraging to me.   While this pace still feels like a pretty good clip, it is starting to feel more and more comfortable as the training weeks go by.   It definitely isn't an intimidating pace; at least for 7 miles......26.2 might be a different story.   But that's what the next 3 months are for, right?

After taking Sunday off  (and by off I mean no running and lots of yummy food at our church potluck....fried chicken, enchiladas, and chocolate chip cookies to name a few of the favorites), today I had a 60 minute tempo run planned.   I was a little nervous that my over-indulgent eating would make my legs feel heavy, but I think that it may have been much needed fuel because I felt GREAT today.   (I've been dieting the past couple of weeks and I think I may need to add more calories because I felt so strong after yesterday's buffet....I want to feel that way every run.   It is so hard to find that happy medium though.)    My plan was to do the first mile as a slow warmup, then an 8:45, then an 8 minute mile, then a 7:45 minute mile, then let the last 2 miles be easy.    My splits were:
Mile 1: 9:41
Mile 2: 8:36
Mile 3: 7:45
Mile 4: 7:43
Mile 5: 8:14
Mile 6: 8:18

And the best part was that I never felt like I was pushing super hard.   I was a little winded during mile 3 and 4, but in that "this feels great" way.   And then the last 2 miles I just ran what felt comfortable and was oh so pleased to hear that "what felt comfortable" was an 8:15.     Yay!

Tomorrow I have a 6 miler with 3 miles being race pace.   Then Wednesday, a 14 miler.  Hopefully my legs will feel less brick-like than during last week's long run.  Happy running everybody!  ;)

Heavy Legs

So maybe I was a little too optimistic on Monday after my tempo run...... Or maybe I was a little lacking in the wisdom department when I designed a schedule that called for 2 fast runs followed by a long run with no rest days in between.   Either way, yesterday's 13 miler was a tough one.   Let me start with Tuesday's hill workout though.    My schedule calls for hill repeats once every three weeks, but since I procrastinated and pushed the first set of repeats back until last week, that meant I had to do hills this week again.   Luckily my friend Brittany braved them with me.   We did the same workout as last week, except that we did 4 repeats instead of 3.   My goal was to do all 4 in under 2 minutes.   Definitely not there yet.......
Repeat 1: 2:09
Repeat 2: 2:11
Repeat 3: 2:13
Repeat 4: 2:13

All I can say about those numbers is: "Probably need to keep working on the hills."   Lucky for me, I changed my marathon plans and have signed up for the Ojai to Ocean marathon in Ventura Beach instead of the Rock N Roll here in San Diego.   The Ojai to Ocean has a negative elevation with very few hills, so that means I don't have to worry too much about these repeats, right?   Also, Susannah is heavy!   Safe to say I'm relieved that I have 2 weeks before I have to meet with the 6th Avenue hill again. 

Yesterday I was excited about my 13 miler because it was going to be uninterrupted.....I drove Susannah to my friend's house so I started my run from there.   This meant all 13 miles with no stroller, so sippy cup retrievals or string cheese opening pauses.   Yae!   Unfortunately, before I even hit my stride I could already tell that this was going to be a tough day.   My legs felt heavy, the sun felt hot, and the miles felt long.   I pushed through though, managing to keep each mile split between 9:22 and 9:25.   But I felt tired.   Really, really tired.    The one highlight of the run was that I saw several jack rabbits.   They are so cute and so so fast.   I really want to take a picture but I don't think my reflexes are fast enough.  

Next week is a 14 miler and I'm hoping it will be a little less daunting.   I haven't run this far since my November half marathon, so maybe it is normal for me to be feeling this tired.   I have to say though, that running a full marathon at a pace that is an entire minute per mile faster than what I did yesterday seems close to impossible right now.  Lucky for me I have 3 more months of training and I have the promise that "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."