Hanging Out With a Pro

Okay, so I didn’t really hang out with a professional runner, but I was front and center at a Q&A a couple of weeks ago! 😀

I’m lucky in that there are some pretty awesome running stores around me that host cool events. I met Jeff Galloway last month at one store, and also last month at a different one, I got to meet Abdi Abdirahman.

He most recently ran New York Marathon and finished 7th overall and was the first American to finish.

Light blue shirt, orange Nikes (Source)

I didn’t know him prior to hearing about him through the Sole Sports Running’s event page, but when I saw he was a professional runner, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet him and hear him speak. And let’s be real here, I could talk and listen about all things running all day!

Andplusalso, he’s from Arizona!!

Let’s ignore the UofA shirt–Go Sun Devils!! (Source)

It was an intimate Q&A, which I thought was cool because it had a real personal feel. There were maybe 15 people there. I sat right in front of him and even got to ask a few questions (like, What is a race day ritual? He said, new socks!)

What stood out from the conversation was that he was a late starter. He didn’t actually start running til his late teens! I laughed when he said that running wasn’t a dream he had all his life and that it wasn’t like he’d always wanted to be a runner. A friend asked him for company on a run and the rest is history!

He’s an older runner, in his forties, and he said that although he respects and admires Meb, he likes beating him even more, lol! I was inspired by Abdi’s confidence; he repeated several times that despite his age, he feels like he still has a lot in him to compete at the high level. He was not satisfied with 7th place at New York (even though I thought that was pretty impressive!); he finished 3rd last year in 2:11.

Abdi will be running Boston next year and joins a long list of pros I’m excited to see!

Oh just me and a pro 😀

Pretty cool, huh?! Have you ever met a pro runner? (I’ve also high-fived Meb once!)

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Week 8: #itsgoingdownatphx

The 10 week countdown begins!!!

Monday, December 11th–Stretch, Roll

I took the day after Scottsdale Half Marathon off to recover. I rolled like the good runner I am 😀

Tuesday, December 12th–5 miles

Thankfully, the plan called for easy miles and I milked it. Met up with my early morning crew for a fiver at 9:15 pace.

Wednesday, December 13th–Strength train, stretch, and roll

Did some MYRTLES and some core vids. Exciting stuff. Although, I do have to say that I feel my hips/glutes getting stronger. I try and devote an hour to this stuff on the days that it calls for.

Thursday, December 14th–7 miles

This was a tough workout that I was excited/nervous about–2×1 mile at 10k pace (7:10) and 4×400 at (6:55).

7:07
6:55

6:42
6:36
6:36
6:20

It was hard but it was actually….fun?

Friday, December 15th–Nada

I chaperoned my daughter’s Kindergarten field trip so that was my morning. In the evening, I went to a holiday party with some friends and had a pre-birthday celebration 🙂

Saturday, December 16th–12.16 miles

I met up with two Moms Run This Town friends and got in two miles before I ventured out on my own for the last 10. This was an AMAZING run and was the best way to start year 33 😀

I don’t know who I’ve become.

Later, I had two holiday parties and I realized that I didn’t even take an official birthday picture, lol!! True sign of aging, jaja!!!

Sunday, December 17th–5 miles (Heroes in Recovery 6k)

Did a warm up mile before this special race. I ran it last year in celebration of my brother and father’s sobriety and now, more than a year later, they are both still going strong ❤ Because of them, I am a believer of prayer, of God’s strength–and I thank Him everyday for His power to ignite change in my two heroes.

I wanted to negative split this 3.7 mile race and I was well under way, until I saw the course was going to be long and then my spirits sank, i.e I ran out of gas, LOL

Nevertheless, I managed to finish 9th FOA and 2nd in my AG–all of which of course was for my my dad and brother ❤ I often think of them when things get hard in a race. How hard must it be to give up an addiction, to continue every day without something you thought you couldn’t live without? That’s hard. So I go to them in tough times and find strength in their strength.

Weekly Total: 29.25 miles

–Do you run a race that means something special to you?

 

Week 7: #itsgoingdownatphx

Last week was pretty cray cray–with what was a full week of training and a half marathon PR tacked on at the end!

Monday, December 4–3 miles easy

Just an easy run around the hood. This was supposed to be a tempo run but my heart wasn’t in it for some reason, and I decided to move it to the following day. Which ended up being a great idea.

Tuesday, December 5–6 miles

I met up with my local run club at 4:40 a.m and nailed this workout. Two miles WU, two miles @7:30, 7:25, two miles CD. The two miles were continuous w/o a RI so I was really happy I was able to keep the pace and even negative split (it was a little fast actually, target pace was 7:40).

Wednesday, December 6–Strength train, stretch, roll

The not so fun stuff, lol!

Thursday, December 7th–7.50 miles

This was a doozy. I was NOT looking forward to this run because it just seemed…hard, lol!! But I met up with some buddies (again at 4:40 a.m.) and my pacer friend Tomio agreed once more to take on this workout on with me.

2 mile WU
2x5min @7:10-15 w/RI (7:05, 7:11)
3x3min @7:00 w/RI (7:04, 7:18, 7:34)
5x1min @6:30-50 w/RI (6:33, 6:43, 6:30, 6:26, 6:25)
1 mile CD

I struggled a bit with the 3 minuters, but I was pretty euphoric after this run. It was hard but I did it!

Friday, December 8th–Stretch, roll

I stuck to stretching and rolling and gave myself a rest day from strength, lol!

Saturday, December 9th–4 miles

Easy 4 miles with my MRTT crew.

Sunday, December 10th–13.1 miles (Scottsdale Half Marathon)

Elle made a good point (she’s so smart) on my race recap, in that I didn’t have an actual taper leading up to the half marathon and despite that, I was able to PR. I hadn’t thought about that but she was right. I had a full week’s worth of workouts leading up to the race!

I love this pic.


So far, I’m feeling pretty good post race. I’m excited for the progress I’ve made and I’m excited to continue my training. It is such a difference from the last cycle where I was really struggling–on many levels–but one of which was my job, which I no longer have. I’ve decided to retire from teaching and stay home with my kids a little longer. I’m not sure yet what my future career-wise will look like, but I know from past experience that whenever I’m home, I make running my full-time job, lol! I’m thankful for another go at stay-at-home-status and the opportunity to devote some extra time to training. ❤

–Have you benefitted from marathon training and PRd on a race during?

–Have you walked away from something you once loved? (I taught for 9 years!)