Category Archives: Running

Week 3–St. George Marathon Training: No Excuses Allowed!

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , , , ,

Holy eff, I’m tired. I don’t think I felt this tired til like week 13 of Hanson’s! So many things are different now compared to then–for one, my kids are older and no longer nap 😦 That was huge when I was doing all that running. I lived for nap time.

And I’m also training for a 3:30 marathon, not a 3:50 like I was then. Big difference. Sometimes I think maybe it’s too big of a difference and I’m overshooting myself. But I’m already in so might as well see where it takes me, lol!

So those are my excuses. I hate excuses. You may have known that, or not. But, I do. I’ve always felt like people deal with so many different life situations, and still make it work, so there’s no reason why I can’t. I have this friend who has kids the exact same age as mine (5 and 3) and she has a third kid that’s one and a half. So not only does she have one kid on me, she has a full time job just like I do/will-with similar schedules, her husband works just like mine, and she runs marathons (and has already Boston qualified-last February, so like 5 months ago). So when I start to let excuses like kids, no naps, etc. creep in, I think of how other people make it work. And that’s just what you gotta do.

Monday, June 19th–2 miles WU, 3 miles Tempo (7:40), 1 mile CD

I programmed my watch to yell at me while I did the tempo miles and when I was running, I realized it wasn’t beeping at each mile–it just did the 3 straight through. So when I checked my splits afterward, it just gave the average for all three, not individually. This kind of bummed me out because I like to really work on keeping consistent/negative splits. That’s kinda my thing. But oh well, the positive thing was that the average pace was where it needed to be–and I did it without a watch yelling, lol–and now I know to program the tempo miles separately. 🙂

4:30 a.m start…again…

Tuesday, June 20th–4 miles Easy, 9:25 avg.; strength training

I’m still working on this cross training thing, lol. I did do some core exercises and stretches at home though. And got a haircut!

Buh bye, 6 inches!!!

Wednesday, June 21st–2 miles WU, 1600-1200-1000-800-400 (@7:00), CD for 6 miles total

This. Was. Hard.

I was glad to see the 1600 first to get the toughest part out of the way, but the whole thing was tough. I almost cried.

But somehow, somehow, I hit my paces for all of them!! I seriously thought Garmin was wrong when I looked at it after my run.

Shit had gotten real after the 1200. I was so beat and when I saw the 1000 was next, my motivation was low. I hate 1000s. It’s such an awkward distance. Not two full circles, not three full circles. It sucks. Well, when I finished that one, seriously wanting to die, a runner in the group said to me, “You look so strong out there! You’re so inspiring!”

I thought she was legit mocking me. It took me a full minute to register what she said and realize she was actually serious. I told her thanks and that it was hard to believe because I wanted to quit so badly on that last interval. But it made me think of how awesome and fascinating perspective is. She saw someone working hard and giving it their all. Isn’t that amazing?

Thursday, June 22nd–Strength Training

I did not bike, but I did do my core exercises and stretching. I’ve been pretty good about doing them on these days and it’s a plus if I get myself on a bike too.

Friday, June 23rd–3 Easy Miles, 10:14 avg

It’s hard for me to wake up early for 3 miles. So I got a late start on this one and hit the road at 8 a.m.–practically afternoon.

I always think how my easy runs are often…different compared to others. I take them super seriously and have no shame about my paces on these. I learned from Hanson’s how important it is to legit take easy runs easy and I’ve seen the difference it’s made taking them so seriously.

Saturday, June 24th–12 miles Long Run, 8:56 avg

This was sooooo hard. I met up with my marathon training buddy at 4:20 a.m. to try and beat the heat. I’m thinking it was that and the accumulation of a tough week of training that got me. I couldn’t keep up. Eventually, I told her to go on without me. I was please to see consistency in my splits though, so that was a positive #glasshalffull

 

#makeithappen

Sunday, June 25th–Rest Day, Foam Roll and Stretch

I didn’t run run, but I still did run, lol! I met up with my running group and pushed my kids with my husband. We did a little run/walk because they love when we run and kept yelling, faster!

My run club was having a discount day at our local Road Runner Sports so we hung out for the raffle hoping we’d win. We didn’t, lol!

I have to share this cool dollar store find though. My kids sometimes get antsy waiting at a store (that’s not a toy store, lol) so I brought along these mini white boards for them to play with. Total win! They stayed occupied with them the whole time!

alphabet practice ftw!

——————————————

31 miles for the week! I’m hoping I adjust to this new tired soon and become one with this tough marathon training cycle, lol! I’m loving how hard it is though, because I’m seeing myself do things I never thought I’d do. That’s makes it much easier to accept the fatigue, jaja!!!

–How much does fatigue affect your training?

–Do you find yourself making excuses during training? Or do you tell yourself to get over it and just do what you gotta do? (that’s my life mantra)

 

 

Saying No

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , ,

There’s a lot of things I’ve been saying no to lately. This wasn’t always an easy thing for me to do. Still isn’t.

But as the years have gone by, I’ve found it necessary to say no to things that inhibit my growth as a person, a parent, a teacher, and a runner.

Here are few things I’ve said no to recently:

Saying no….to over scheduling. With school out, I’ve felt a little pressure to sign my kids up for all the things. At my daughter’s Pre-K graduation, several parents asked what camps my daughter would attend. Ummm…none? It didn’t even cross my mind to sign her up for anything. I just figured we’d hang out all summer together. It made me start questioning myself, “Should I put her in something? Am I being a bad mom for not signing her up for a class/camp?” But, no. She’s fine. I’m fine. She’ll be plenty busy when school resumes and summer time will be family time.

You guys, I have a Kindergartner!

Saying no….to all the the races. When I was training for New York City Marathon, I did not race at all during my training cycle. My eye was on the sub-4 prize and I didn’t want to lose my focus. I have the same feelings now about St. George. I’m on a mission to Boston Qualify and I don’t want to worry about races/PRs before that happens. I was signed up for Rock and Roll San Diego, a race I’ve been really wanting to do. As a Rock and Roll ambassador (Rock ‘n’ Blogger–did I even tell you guys I was selected?!?) I have the ability to go to any race. I jumped on San Diego…. But then life stuff came up and San Diego no longer fit in that plan–so I pulled out of the race. I have a ton of friends going this weekend and the FOMO is for real. But, I have to stay firm on my no. Beyond the life circumstances that came up preventing me from going, I also have to keep my eye on the BQ prize. So as of right now, I have zero races leading up to St. George.

Saying no….to negative thoughts. I mentioned in previous posts that I’m trying to get my diet together. I gained some weight after New York City and Phoenix Marathon and I’ve felt it (and seen it, sadly). It’s tough to put on clothes and them not fitting as they should–the negative thoughts start creeping in and it’s easy to let them overtake you. But no, I’m fine. I’m doing what I can (healthily) to lose those pounds I’ve gained, and I just need to be patient.

Saying no….to fear. I’ll be back to teaching this fall. Yay!!! And while I’m excited, I’m super scared and nervous to be at a new school, teaching a new subject–still English, but I’ll have two sections of beginner writing for non-English speakers. This is a foreign territory for me (see what I did there? I crack myself up!) and I have a thing about the unknown. I like knowing. Unfortunately, that’s just not how life works, lol!

Saying no….to comparisons. I’m really good about not comparing myself to others. I love following people’s training journey, and I’m able to be happy for their successes without feeling like I’m lacking or slow in comparison. I have a very good friend who is also training to BQ at St. George and people have joked if we’ll remain friends afterward. I think that’s so silly–we don’t compete against each other. We really don’t. We are genuinely happy when one has a good run or race. We don’t base our progress/success on whether one is faster than the other.

BQ training buddy ❤ #makeithappen

BUT, it’s very difficult for me to not compare myself to myself. I’ve written about this before. I’ve come off two marathon training cycles and I’ve allowed myself to rest/recover. Right now, as I begin my next cycle, I feel like I’m starting over–which I am. And I have to allow myself to be okay with that. I can’t expect my fitness to maintain year-round; my body needs some down time. I look at pictures/paces from last year (and even a few months ago) and I wonder if I’ll ever get back to those times. I know it’s dumb, but those negative thoughts again…they creep in. I re-read the post I wrote last year and I found myself nodding at my words:

“…right now it’s important for me to focus on the present. I shouldn’t be working on becoming someone I was a long time ago, I should work to be a better version of me–”

And as always with time and growth– each year, each marathon, you learn.

“I’m a better version of myself now than back then because I know more. I know more about training, diet, mental strength. I’m stronger on a lot of levels. And I know that with hard work, I can be faster than back then.”

I can say yes to all of that!

–What have you said ‘no’ to lately? Is there something you feel you should say ‘no’ to?

 

 

Squat & Diet

Posted by hellyontherun in Healthy Eating, Marathon Training, Running and tagged with , , , , ,

Yep that’s pretty much what’s been going on over here….

I’ve been running, but what I’ve really been doing is squatting like I’ve never squatted before and trying to eat better. I have no idea who I’ve become.

So my coach right now is really focusing on pre-habbing (you know, doing the stuff people do when they get injured but BEFORE they get injured). Every Tuesday and Thursday I’m supposed to cross-train/strength train and like a good student, I’ve been doing all of my assignments. There’s more that I do besides squatting, but there’s def more of those than anything else. My Moms Run This Town chapter also has a month long squat challenge so everything has coincided quite nicely (or not? lol!).

Nothing has humbled me more than single-legged squats. Holy shit, those are hard.

I’ve become one with squats. After almost a month of squatting, I no longer dread them but accept them as part of my daily routine. While I have two scheduled days of strength training, I’ve found myself squatting and doing core work every single day. And after almost 4 weeks, I can finally begin to feel the hard work paying off.

It took me longer to get as motivated for the diet part, though. No surprise. But, last week was my first full week of being mindful of what I was putting in my mouth. My coach gave me a list of food ideas–this I love because I’m totally a person who likes being told what to do, in this case, eat.

Tuna has become my best friend. I’ve made this quite a few times. I’ve also been making a lot of smoothies which pairs great with our 105 degree temperatures 😀

1 cup almond milk
1 banana
mixed berries (to your liking)
spinach (or kale–I switch b/w them)

and voila! A yummy smoothie! Sometimes I’ll throw in chia seeds or Greek yogurt for funsies but with or without, it’s yummy.

I’ve been easing myself back into running. My coach has given me a break from speed work and tempos to concentrate on getting everything healed (foot feels amazing!). I finally feel like I’m getting back to normal with everything. I definitely felt my mojo drop a little and now that summer is arriving (my happy season), I’m ready to get to work.

100+ degrees? No sweat!

–Do you like squats? (They were seriously my death but now I don’t hate them as much anymore) Am I the only one who dances around trying to hold a single legged squat?

–What’s in your favorite smoothie?

–Your thoughts/feelings on summer approaching?