Mediocre Runners

I signed up for the Austin 2010 Marathon on V-day, so I have about four and a half months to train, woo woo! going to be perusing through Runner’s World and some books to come up with a tailored training plan–my one main goal will be to incorporate yoga, pilates, and strength training as religiously as I check off the long runs. if *anyone* is interested in running it with me, let a sista’ know (jetarte, ahem?) I’m pretty pumped

Just got back from a three-day conference down at Ft. Bragg, NC and it’s SO good to be home, *sigh* I was fairly ambitious and planned on working out all three days down there, but lack of sleep and gross-heavy military food (think grey salisbury steak, fried pork cutlets, and over-boiled, buttery canned vegetables) got in the way of that. I tried to go for a run yesterday (4 hrs after lunch), and could only run about a mile and half before a weird nausea-heartburn thing started kicking in. So fast-forward to today: got home (made sure to grub on Lara bars, nuts, and apples on the six hour drive up) and went for a five-mile run in FORTY-FIVE minutes!! 9 minute-miles x 5 – woo woo! (can you tell I’m proud?) Moral of the story: sleep + healthy/whole foods = good workouts–for me at least, in my mediocre state….I know a lot of harder-core peeps who can run on 5 hrs of sleep, eat a cheeseburger an hour before their run and pump out 6 miles no prob. But that’s what this blog is all about, figuring out what works for me

Poplin-Green Wedding this weekend at a Winery in Berryville, but will post next week’s workout goals on Sunday evening.

It’s late, I’m mediocre, haven’t posted in a while – BUT did happen to hit the gym on Friday night for a crazy-hard 40 min interval session on the Stairclimber (vs. Master) and went back for more today, only for 30 min. Once again, common theme: skimp on strength training. This week is crazy bc of PhD applications and getting ready for a conference next week, BUT I will strive to at least accomplish the following:

Mon – 30 min Cap Hill workout, planks, push-ups, and Pilates
Tues – 40 min fartlek run (after 10 min warm-up and last 10 min cool-down)
Wed – PM Spinning class, Abs class – RESULTS Gym all the way…
Thurs – Off
Fri – Pilates 6:30 AM class, 30 min. Stair climber
Sat – leisurely jog w/ Travis, 5-6 miles
Sun – off

So it’s down on the blog, gotta represent for MR now and gitter’ dun.

I know a lot of people are confused these days about what foods are good for you, bad for you, aren’t even food to begin with, etc. – it seems like it changes EVERY week, so when I came across this article in TIME Magazine that broke down the strongest arguments for sustainable agriculture and eating whole, local foods I knew I *had* to post it. The article is cogent, digestable….and it just makes sense. Would be very interested in any thoughts/comments!!! (I actually am pretty passionate about this subject and will be posting more helpful links, articles, book reviews, etc. – so def more to follow…)

Well, folks, I successfully completed my SECOND half-marathon this past Sunday in VA Beach and finished at 2 hrs and 22 minutes, which I know, is pretty mediocre. And to be honest, I am really proud of Brie and me (my BFF who I ran with) because we logged the training miles, proved that ‘non-runners’ could in fact complete a long-distance event, and were smiling and laughing the whole way–it was truly a fun, uplifting race.

But at the same time I remember realizing throughout the entire run that my lungs were never being pushed (there was a moment at like mile 9 when I realized I was having a full-on conversation with Brie w/o any shortness of breath…at all) and instead I started developing this nagging pain in my left hip at mile 6 or 7 that slowly got worse as the run progressed. I knew I would finish, but I was surprised at how sore I was getting only half-way in and I know if I want to train for a full marathon I’m going to need to go see a running professional and talk shoes, stretching, stride.

Speaking of which, I am officially committed to the Feb. 2010 Austin Marathon. Thought I was going to do the Tucson Dec. 2009 one, but decided I didn’t want to push anything too soon and Travis agreed to run it with me! Huzzah! I know there are a number of different ways to train for marathons, but I’m not down for the five-runs-a-week types and would rather def get one long run in a week and maybe two other days of hills & fartleks, but that’s it for running. I’ll spend the rest of my workout time on crosstraining (spinning, stairclimbing, hiking) and possibly/potentially CrossFit or another form of strength training.

But I really want to push myself hard on the strength training. Ever since I started working out regularly I’ve always skimped on strength training–if I didn’t have enough time, ST got dropped, if I’m a lil’ extra tired, I forgive myself for throwing in the towel and going home after one set of squats.  I’ve become entirely more committed when it comes to cardio, and I’ve got to balance those two out.

Sooo, I’m piecing together some fitness goals and I’m thinking they’re going to be centered around this upcoming marathon (not only finishing, but getting faster) and committing to ST, but don’t know how to quite quantify the second one yet.  Dinner with Pat & Jon tomorrow night to discuss over sushi and sake bombs (for Jon), red wine for me.  Paleo-style.

Today’s run was amazing. I don’t know if it was the fact that I haven’t worked out in about five days or the combination of sun, breeze, and lack of humidity, but I pumped out 6 miles wayyy faster than I have ever run at any point this past summer. I am in the final phase of training for the VA Beach 1/2 Marathon, which is this Sunday, and today was a big boost to feeling ready for the race. I felt so awesome today that at the end of the run, I sprinted to my gym and finished it up with a 15 min. abs class. In other news, looking forward to joining these two mediocre gentlemen in their CrossFit journey. Post-race I’m going to get a membership at a CrossFit gym and start training for a FULL marathon in Dec. More on that soon, gotta pull together these goals in a coherent fashion.