Hi!
Running this week started off pretty well. I got three six milers in and a ten miler with fartleks. Then we came to Sunday and my last long run. I intended to run 22 miles. This is where things got a bit ugly. I knew it was going to be hot, so I sacrificed sleep in order to get on the road early. Even so, it got over 80 degrees while I was running. I planned my run so that I would be back at my house to refill my water bottles at 16 miles. I have a fuel belt (which I discussed in a previous post) that is supposed to be able to hold 32 ounces. However, based on other graduated containers I know it doesn't actually hold quite that much. Typically, it should have been plenty for 16 miles though. Unfortunately, I ran out of water at 12 miles. Sometime early on I decided to cut the run down to 20 miles. While I would have liked to do 22, it just didn't seem in the cards and five 20 milers is pretty solid in my opinion. When I got back to my house at 16 miles, I nearly vomited at the end of the driveway and decided to call it a day. I got into my house, took off my shoes, drank some juice and started to feel a bit better. I decided to struggle through the last 4 miles, so I refilled my bottles, laced up my shoes and headed out. The last miles were slow and consisted of walking, running and dumping water on my head. It was ugly, but at least I got the time on my feet.
My plantar fasciitis issues are haunting me again too. I hadn't really had pain while running until yesterday. I changed my shoes from my usual trainers (Brooks Defyance) into the Nike Free's for the last 4 miles, which helped a lot. This led me to wonder what to do for the marathon though, since I had planned to run in the Defyance. I don't want to run a marathon in Free's since they allow so much lateral motion. I decided to buy some racing flats and try them out. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my socks to the store. I wear Thorlos, which are fairly thick for running socks. I borrowed some sock at the running store, but they were a bit thinner. When I got home and put on the flat with my Thorlos, they seem slightly too small. I'm going to go back tomorrow and try the next half size larger. Hopefully that will work out. I've also been icing and stretching my foot like crazy. I plan to take some ibuprofin as well, but I don't have any right now. Hopefully the PF will calm down over the next three weeks.
So, I head into taper for Grandma's. I'm more collapsing into the taper than going into it with a bang as I'd prefer, but I should be fine. This training cycle has had some real high points and some real low ones. I learned that maybe the Pfitz plan exactly as written isn't for me and that 24 weeks is way too long for me to focus on training for a single race. Overall, I feel pretty good and I'm getting excited for the race. More in-depth reflection is to follow....
Happy Running!
Jen
Monday, May 31, 2010
Running at Altitude
Hello!
Last week Joe and I were out in Boulder getting to know the area a bit and looking for a place to live. First, it is GORGEOUS and I'm surprised that I didn't hit anything while driving the rental car from the airport to the hotel since I was looking at the mountains the entire time. Second, housing is EXPENSIVE! I knew this ahead of time, but it really hits when you're looking for a place. I guess we'll just have to adjust to that though.
Then there's the whole running at altitude issue. I was very curious as to what this would feel like. I wasn't exactly gasping for air or anything, but I did feel slightly out of shape. Seeing as how I've been marathon training for months now, I'm in pretty decent running shape. I've read that it takes about 14-60 days to adjust to altitude (from Running Times' website) and even then your performance is slower than it would be at sea level. I was only there for 7 days and it did seem to get easier as time passed. It'll be interesting to see what training up there full time is like. I was listening to an episode of the Marathon Talk podcast where they interviewed Ryan Hall while I was out there and he mentioned that when he comes down from altitude he feels like he has a third lung and an extra gear. Of course, he's training at an even higher altitude (I think about 7000 feet) but I do hope to head up into the mountains once a week or so and do a trail run. I know that there is inconclusive evidence on the effect of altitude training, but it seems to work for some of the elites. It didn't help that it was fairly warm and I did almost all my runs in the midday heat.
The area is amazing and I love the athletic culture. The majority of people seem to be active and it's easy to see why with the mountains in your backyard. Joe and I went on a couple of easy hikes and that was fun. Hopefully our hiking skills will progress and we'll be able to progress to some harder ones. I think our dog will love it too.
A few pictures:
I didn't get the greatest workouts in there, partly because I was on vacation and partly due to the altitude, but I did get a bunch of runs and two hikes in the bank while out there, so I'm pretty happy with the week overall.
Happy Running!
Jen
Last week Joe and I were out in Boulder getting to know the area a bit and looking for a place to live. First, it is GORGEOUS and I'm surprised that I didn't hit anything while driving the rental car from the airport to the hotel since I was looking at the mountains the entire time. Second, housing is EXPENSIVE! I knew this ahead of time, but it really hits when you're looking for a place. I guess we'll just have to adjust to that though.
Then there's the whole running at altitude issue. I was very curious as to what this would feel like. I wasn't exactly gasping for air or anything, but I did feel slightly out of shape. Seeing as how I've been marathon training for months now, I'm in pretty decent running shape. I've read that it takes about 14-60 days to adjust to altitude (from Running Times' website) and even then your performance is slower than it would be at sea level. I was only there for 7 days and it did seem to get easier as time passed. It'll be interesting to see what training up there full time is like. I was listening to an episode of the Marathon Talk podcast where they interviewed Ryan Hall while I was out there and he mentioned that when he comes down from altitude he feels like he has a third lung and an extra gear. Of course, he's training at an even higher altitude (I think about 7000 feet) but I do hope to head up into the mountains once a week or so and do a trail run. I know that there is inconclusive evidence on the effect of altitude training, but it seems to work for some of the elites. It didn't help that it was fairly warm and I did almost all my runs in the midday heat.
The area is amazing and I love the athletic culture. The majority of people seem to be active and it's easy to see why with the mountains in your backyard. Joe and I went on a couple of easy hikes and that was fun. Hopefully our hiking skills will progress and we'll be able to progress to some harder ones. I think our dog will love it too.
A few pictures:
Me beating the Frank Shorter statue at CU in a race:
Now I know what to do if I run into a Mountain Lion!!!
Another great thing about the Boulder area is the abundance of breweries and the apparent love of very hoppy beers. Did I mention that I love hoppy beers? We tried out Oskar Blues, Mountain Sun and Avery.
I didn't get the greatest workouts in there, partly because I was on vacation and partly due to the altitude, but I did get a bunch of runs and two hikes in the bank while out there, so I'm pretty happy with the week overall.
Happy Running!
Jen
Friday, May 28, 2010
Syttende Mai
Bring on the lefse and lutefisk!
Syttende Mai is 'May 17' in Norwegian. It is the Norwegian Constitution Day. Wisconsin has a fair amount of Norwegian ancestry and in particular the village of Stoughton has a strong Norwegian influence. Every year Stoughton has a huge Syttende Mai festival and part of this festival is a 17 mile walk and 20 mile run. I've been wanting to do this run for awhile now, but it's never worked out until this year. Since I was in the point of my training for Grandma's where I was doing 20 milers, I decided to do the Syttende Mai run this year.
I went down to Janesville to my parent's house on Friday night so that I wouldn't have so far to drive on Saturday morning. I drove to Stoughton and took a bus to the capitol square in Madison, where the race started.
Since this was just a training run, it wasn't too exciting, but overall it was a good time. And I love getting in a supported long run. My Garmin died at about 12 miles, so I don't have too many details, but my official finishing time was 3:00:51 for a 9:03 min/mile average pce. This is great, since I typically like to do 20 miles in about 3 hours.
This walk and run is awesome in that the participants really represent a wide cross section. There are super speedy runners and there are people that you look at and think 'They are going to run 20 miles?!?'. The walk attracts even more people. It's great to see so many people excited to get out there for an endurance event.
There was no beer after the race, which was my only complaint. :)
Happy Running!
Jen
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Short Update
Hi!
I'm still alive and training! Grandma's Marathon isn't too far off now. I'm definitely getting excited. I am very stressed and busy right now with trying to sell the house and planning a move to Colorado. I'm very excited though.
Training is going relatively well. I had a short but harrowing bout with plantar fasciitis. I think it was caused by some flats that I bought recently. Not running flats, just flats for work. With icing and avoiding those shoes, it seems to be resolving itself.
I have completed three 20-milers so far. One was very bad, one was good and one was fine, but during a downpour! I plan to do another 20 miler and probably a 22 miler before the race.
I have kind of veered off of the Pfitzinger plan. I just basically decided that I don't like doing a half marathon distance run in the middle of the week. It's just too much and I don't enjoy it anymore. I completely believe in the merits of the plan and I think it would probably suit me well if I didn't have to work for a living! But, the reality is that I am not yet able to be a lady of leisure. Therefore, I'm just trying to get a couple of mid-distance runs, a long run and some recovery runs each week.
I'm planning on running the Syttende Mai run as my next 20-miler. It is at a Norweigian festival in Stoughton. Stoughton is a community with a very strong Norweigian heritage. I've wanted to do this run for several years now, but it's never really worked out until now. I wonder if they'll have lefse and lutefisk at the finish line?
Anyway, that's all I've got for now!
Happy Running!
Jen
I'm still alive and training! Grandma's Marathon isn't too far off now. I'm definitely getting excited. I am very stressed and busy right now with trying to sell the house and planning a move to Colorado. I'm very excited though.
Training is going relatively well. I had a short but harrowing bout with plantar fasciitis. I think it was caused by some flats that I bought recently. Not running flats, just flats for work. With icing and avoiding those shoes, it seems to be resolving itself.
I have completed three 20-milers so far. One was very bad, one was good and one was fine, but during a downpour! I plan to do another 20 miler and probably a 22 miler before the race.
I have kind of veered off of the Pfitzinger plan. I just basically decided that I don't like doing a half marathon distance run in the middle of the week. It's just too much and I don't enjoy it anymore. I completely believe in the merits of the plan and I think it would probably suit me well if I didn't have to work for a living! But, the reality is that I am not yet able to be a lady of leisure. Therefore, I'm just trying to get a couple of mid-distance runs, a long run and some recovery runs each week.
I'm planning on running the Syttende Mai run as my next 20-miler. It is at a Norweigian festival in Stoughton. Stoughton is a community with a very strong Norweigian heritage. I've wanted to do this run for several years now, but it's never really worked out until now. I wonder if they'll have lefse and lutefisk at the finish line?
Anyway, that's all I've got for now!
Happy Running!
Jen
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