Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Thirteen

September 1, 20141 Comment

Another week complete, and another week closer to race day. The goal of this week was to get out of my funk. It was definitely an interesting week, but ended up better than they have been.

Monday I passed on Body Fusion, I was beyond exhausted from Sunday’s early wake up call, so I used the time to catch up on sleep.

Tuesday I headed to the track. Mallory had already started her workout so we were on different sets, but it was still nice to have someone out there. I knew my time could be limited because of storms rolling in, but halfway through my workout, dark clouds and lightning came rolling in. The skies turned nasty quickly so there was no chance of finishing the workout. My legs and splits felt great, so I was definitely bummed I had to cut it short.

Storm clouds are coming!

Wednesday I switched up my recovery run and tried out the trails of Huffman. I met up with Dan and Marsha who led me through uncharted territory. I felt really great on the single track and learned how to better run the trails. That is, until I clipped a bridge in the last quarter mile and landed straight on my face. I slammed down pretty hard on my right knee and left hand, but everyone has to fall at least once, right?

The perfect Wednesday night

Thursday I took off because my knee was swollen and sore. I’m sure it was still the shock of falling on it, and probably nothing major, but I’d rather take an extra day to recover, rather than run on it and cause unnecessary pain. Friday was a scheduled rest day, so I took it, and enjoyed a much need night out.

Saturday I caught up on sleep and although I only slept in until 6:30, I felt better than I had in a long time. I took a short run around my neighborhood to test the knee and shake out my legs before Sunday’s long run.

Sunday was my long run. I’ve been trying to push them to Sundays if possible to prepare myself for race day. I decided to take new approach to my long run and focus on time on my feet rather than miles. I’ve been putting so much pressure on hitting a certain number or splits, that I stress myself out more than I need to.

I met up with a bunch of MCRR and we took to the trails of Hinckley. I’m still not as familiar with the trails as I’d like, so I bounced around within the group looking for a comfortable pace, but also spent time catching up with everyone.

MCRR takes over Hinckely!

We covered the bridal trails, lake loops, single track and the ledges. I focused on running with comfortable effort and actually felt great for most of the run. My legs, which have felt tired for weeks felt fantastic, and didn’t start to feel fatigued until three hours in.

Love for the ledges

The weather was humid, but it didn’t bother me as much as it usually does. Luckily we found some fountains along the run, so we were able to fill up throughout the day. I went through three fill ups and I probably could have used one more. I also stayed on my normal fueling plan of sport beans every four miles. I probably could have switched it to every forty minutes instead, but I’ll learn for next time I’m on the trails.

Hinckley Lake

I ended up with a little over 16 miles in the time of 3.5 hours. A slower pace than road miles, but again, my focus was time on my feet, and 3.5 hours is a long time. Despite a lot of ups and downs and uneven ground my legs felt good most of the run. It was very reassuring that my legs could handle the time on my feet and not get too worn out. But the best part was that I had zero stomach issues, which is something that keeps holding me back lately. I’ll be back to road miles for my long runs again, but I needed this run to pull me out of my funk and remind me that I am capable of long runs, I just need to trust my legs and not stress so much!

Long run love is back!

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 3 Miles, 1 mile w/u, 4×800(4:11, 4:08, 4:08, 4:10)

Wednesday: 4 Miles

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: 2 Miles

Sunday: 16.3 Miles

Total Miles: 25 Miles

I started this week with a few let downs, but I finished it feeling great and full of confidence. Training has been tough and really a mental struggle at times. Sometimes you just need a great run to remind you that it’s possible, you just have to take it each run at a time.

This next week I want to make sure I nail every single run, including the River Run Half Marathon on Sunday. I’ve got just a little over a month left and things won’t be slowing down any time soon!

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Twelve

August 25, 2014Leave a comment

What a week. If there is one word to describe my training lately, it’s a roller coaster. After last week’s let down, I was hoping to come back strong and nail every run. I’d say I was about 50/50 for runs this week.

I started the week with Body Fusion, and was a little disappointed with class. We used exercise bands and I felt more awkward than anything. Hopefully next week we’ll be back to normal weights and I can feel the burn rather than feel that I look ridiculous.

Tuesday we were at the track. Working my way up on 800 repeats I was able to keep all of them under 4:10 pace, and almost consistent. Motivation was lacking for all of us, and I never felt fantastic, but I got them done.

Closing down Tuesday night

Wednesday I took off, but Thursday I was able to meet up with Second Sole. We had a group of 4 that stayed together and it was finally a good run. It was also the first run in over a week and a half I didn’t have stomach issues.

Friday was a rest day and my last chance to rest up before the weekend of back to back hard runs. Saturday was a local 5k for Type 1 Diabetes, the recap will come later this week.

Sunday was my long run, and I originally planned to do 20. Active Runner had a group run from Strongsville to Medina, and had both a 20 mile and 10 mile option. With a wake up call of 3:45, I managed to get myself up and ready and to Strongsville by 5:45 for a 6am start. Despite being extremely tired, I was ready….until I noticed my Garmin had a frozen screen and nothing I did fixed it. Luckily I could just count the miles with everyone else, but I knew my fueling would be a bit off.

I started with the 11:00 minute pace group because I knew it would be a hilly route. Within the first mile I was already sweating from humidity and knew it would be a rough day. Over the course of the next 6 miles, I tried to count when everyone’s Garmin beeped so I could fuel with water at every mile and Sport Beans every four. I made the mistake of waiting until mile six to take my salt tab, but it starting working a few minutes after taking it.

By this point I could feel that I wasn’t having a great day. The route was hilly and I felt so thirsty. I could also feel my knees starting to hurt and a slight pain in my arch showed up by mile 7-8. At mile 10 I knew I’d have a chance to end my run if I wanted, and well, I took it. I knew with how my body was feeling I wouldn’t have a full 20 in me. I figured I would attempt a few more miles at home.

So I got home, was extrememly tempted to go back to bed, but instead ran out on the trail. Even though I didn’t have my Garmin, I knew the trail well enough that I knew where I needed to go for 2-3 miles. Unfortunately I was only able to get 2 more miles in. I was struggling with the heat/humidity and my arch was starting to flare up again. I called it for the day, disappointed in myself.

Monday: Body Fusion Class – 30 minutes of lifting/abs/squats & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 5 Miles, 1 mile w/u, 7×800(3:57, 4:03, 4:09, 4:10, 4:02, 4:09, 4:08) .5 mile c/d

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 4.5 Miles

Friday: Off

Saturday: Type 1 Diabetes Awareness 5k

Sunday: 12 Miles

Total Miles: 24.5 Miles

This week was a little rough, and it didn’t end like I had hoped. But the more I look back on my long run, the better I feel. I was extremely disappointed in myself for bailing out, but I know I did it for the right reasons. PF is the reason I had to bail on Akron last year, and after running such high mileage in the past couple months, I know it’s likely to pop up again at any moment. I’m glad I played it safe and didn’t force it. I’ve hit all my long runs so far, even if I had to move a few things around. One bad long run cut short isn’t going to break my training.

I’ve got a lot of thoughts going around with this cycle, and I’ll eventually get them all together and share them. For now, I’m just going to focus on this next week and take it run by run. My spirit isn’t damaged, but it has a few dents.

Heart & Sole Half Marathon Recap

August 22, 20142 Comments

Saturday I ran the Buehler’s Heart & Sole Half Marathon down in Wooster. I ran this race last year, so I knew what to expect from the course. I also ran the race with a pretty bad case of PF, which ended my Akron training, so knowing I had healthy legs, I was excited to see what I could do.

I had an early wake up call of 4am to make sure I was ready and out the door before 6am. The weather was absolutely perfect hovering between 49-50 degrees and the morning had every intention of being the perfect race.

Sunrise on the way to Wooster

I was on the road by 6am, headed down the back roads, and could feel the excitement of the race. Even with a long 45 minute drive, I can’t help but sign up for races in Wooster. After spending two years running almost every other weekend around town, I can’t help but have a sense of home when I go there.

I got in town and found a parking spot by 6:45 and made my way to the start line to get my bib, shirt and get in line for the bathrooms. I met up with some MCRR ladies before the start and was ready to go!

Lovely ladies of MCRR

I lined up between the 2:05 and 2:10 pacer, knowing that I could probably keep up with the 2:05 pace, but the hills would slow me down a bit. Just as we were about to start, my Garmin turned off. I restarted it, but unfortunately lost between .10-.20 of the course, so none of my splits or mile marks were correct. So I decided to just run by how I felt and see where that led me.

The course was exactly the same as last year, so we made our way out of downtown from Market to Bowman to Christmas Run Park. We made our way through parts of the development and out to Oak Hill Drive. I was feeling pretty good and finding a pace I felt comfortable with. I took a sip of my water at every mile (marked on the road) and tried to keep a steady effort as we started with a gradual incline.

We had a couple of hills coming up soon, so I didn’t want to use up all my energy so quickly, but also wanted to get the hills over with. At about 2.5 miles in, we turned in the hilly development. We went up and turned and continued to go up some more. We were met with some flat ground at the third mile marker, but turned another corner to face more hill. Finally on the way out we have some decline, but it was at this point I needed to use the port-a-potty that was conveniently located by the water stop.

I got back on my way and felt better, knowing I was behind, I started to pick people off one by one as we made our way up Oak Hill. The incline was ever so slight, but surprisingly my legs were still feeling great. I took Sport Beans around mile 4 and continued past Oak Hill Park.

We turned onto Oldman Road and it was about this point that the first runners started coming back. I saw a lot of MCRR and Jess and Ryan, which was a great confidence booster. The road also had the only section of flat course, so my pace started to pick up to take advantage of it.

Next we turned onto 83 and headed to the park around the soccer fields. This was our half way point and we reached 6 miles just as we headed into the park. I took some water, a salt tab and Honey Stinger Chews. I was still feeling pretty good and was navigating the rolling hills of the park pretty well. We were almost on our way out of the park, and that’s when I started to feel sick. I had almost a mile until the next water stop and port-a-potty, but luckily we were on our way back. I stopped for a bathroom break and then got back on the road.

I felt better and continued along. Most of the course would be downhill now, with the exception of the hilly development. I tried to pick up my pace and make up for lost time. Despite the hills and the stop and starts, my legs weren’t tired, which I knew would be good for the upcoming hills.

I made my way around the development, which was without a doubt harder the second time. Last year I walked a bunch, but this year I kept it steady, even if I had slowed down by some. I started to pick up speed in the final downhill of the development and made a last minute stop at the port-a-potty, more of fear for “what if”. After a waste of a stop, I was back on the road with 2.5 miles left. It was here that I started to beat myself up for the time I wasted.

I kept my pace steady, picking it up ever so slightly. I was frustrated that my legs felt so great, yet my stomach, and partially my head got in the way of my race. As we made our way back towards downtown, I took advantage of all the downhill I could. In the last mile I really tired to pick up my pace and wanted to give it all I had. With my Garmin not matching up, I really had no idea what time I’d come in. I rounded the last corner and started the finish down. I kicked in my finish and gave the last quarter mile everything that was left in me.

I crossed the line at 2:08:16. My 4th fastest half. And three minutes faster than last year.

Overall, I love this race. Both times I’ve run it, I haven’t run my best, but I still keep coming back. Wooster is hilly, and the development is the absolute hardest part of the course.

Just keep going up (2013 Elevation, same course as this year)

However, the course is clean, it’s well marked, and the support has been great. I also may be a little biased because I have an absolute love for Wooster. Even though I didn’t have my best race, I was impressed with how great my legs felt on course. It may not have been my day, but Saturday was a great way to see how far I’ve come this year with my training. As long as I’m available, I plan to be back at this race again next year.

Half number 19

Results

Official Time: 2:08:16

Age Group 20-29: 15/21

Female: 64/105

Overall: 176/233

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Eleven

August 18, 20141 Comment

What a week. My body took a long time to recover from my 20 miler, and it took more out of my weekday runs than I expected. I took Monday off from Body Fusion to let my legs recover, they were still a little stiff from Saturday’s run.

Tuesday we were at the track and this time I focused on mile repeats. Instead of going all out like I had been, I tried to keep them as close as I could in pace. I started to loosen up the more I ran, and actually felt pretty good. I was pretty satisfied with my splits, and think that I could definitely bring my 5k time down soon.

Wednesday I headed to the trail and ran some recovery miles. I felt pretty good and thought about running even further than I originally planned, but decided to head back home after mile three after I started to feel a little sick.

Thursday I took off for a much needed girls nights and wine tasting. Stress levels have been above normal lately, so it was exactly what I needed. Sorry running shoes.

Friday was a rest day in prep for Saturday’s race. I’ll have my recap up later this week. I had originally planned on running Sunday as recovery, but after having company all weekend, spending all day Sunday in the sun, and feeling a bit sore from Saturday’s race, I decided to take it off. I felt guilty for a while, but after looking ahead to this week, I know I needed the extra rest.

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 5 Miles, 1 mile w/u, 3×1600(8:06, 8:07, 8:09), 1 mile c/d

Wednesday: 4 Miles

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Buehler’s Heart & Sole Half Marathon

Sunday: Off

Total Miles: 22 Miles

My weekly mileage was low, and not where I wanted it to be, but my stomach was not on the same page as my legs this week. I’m hoping to work a few things out, and hopefully get back to some really good training runs. Not every week will be great, so I deal with it, and focus on the next.

Looking ahead to this week, I’ll have 2-3 week days runs, a local 5k on Saturday and a hilly 20 miler on Sunday. Sounds like it should be an interesting week!

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Nine

August 4, 2014Leave a comment

We’re officially halfway through this training cycle and honestly, I wasn’t sure how this week would go. All last week I had a weak feeling in my right knee, which was cleared out after my massage. But then I was greeted with some major pain on my left knee that showed up the day after my 18 miler. These knees really know how to put a damper in a training cycle.

Well, luckily, things turned around. I iced, rolled and stocked up on Ibuprofen all day Sunday and Monday and woke up pain free on Tuesday. Also, the rec center was closed all week for annual cleaning, so I took Monday as a complete recovery day and it did wonders for my knees.

Tuesday I headed to the track to test the waters. After my warm up mile (my 100th mile for the month!) I felt good enough to give 800’s a shot. Previously I felt my pace was a little slow and I wasn’t working hard enough, so this time the goal pace was 4:15 for six repeats. Well, I was definitely quicker than my pace time, but not too uncomfortable that I couldn’t handle it. So it looks like I’ll be working around this quicker pace for future 800 repeats, and hopefully try for more next time.

Wednesday I did my recovery run with Elayna and Ella in the metro parks. We took it easy and I’m glad we did because I had almost forgotten what it was like to run in the heat and humidity. It was good to catch up and the perfect place to get away from my normal running routes.

The memories of these parks

Thursday I had planned on running with Second Sole, but got stuck in traffic on 71 and in town due to the fair. Sometimes, an hour just isn’t enough time to get from work to run group. So I ended up running around town on my own, which was pretty good except for the uneven sidewalks and crazy drivers. I wanted to do between 4-5, but the uneven steps gave me a slight twinge in my hip and I decided to call it a day.

Saturday was an interesting run. I had a bad Friday night that led me to not be very well prepared for a long run Saturday morning. Throw in an extra early 4:15am wake up call, and some stomach issues and you’ve got the perfect recipe to the start of a long run turned recovery.

I started with some MCRR at Buckeye Woods, but quickly learned that I wouldn’t last long on the back roads. So instead I turned around and stayed close to the park for when I needed to make a pit stop. All week I had been going back and forth about using this week as a recovery week. My right leg had an off feeling all week and in the back of my mind, I know that running 20 wouldn’t have helped it. I may have been feeling pretty miserable Saturday morning, but I know it was just my body’s way of telling me to take a break. After all, I haven’t had a cut back week in almost a month and a half. And even if the run wasn’t pretty, watching the sunrise over the fog was.

Perk of a 6am morning run

Worth the early morning wake up call

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 1 mile w/u, 6×800(4:09,4:11,4:06,4:02,4:01, 3:58), 1 mile c/d

Wednesday: 3 Miles

Thursday: 3 Miles

Friday: Off

Saturday: 7 Miles

Sunday: Off

Total Miles: 18 Miles

So this week was an semi intentional cut back week. I still have a twinge in my right leg, but it comes and goes. Luckily it isn’t very painful, but more of the feeling that not everything is clicking the way it should. I’ve been rolling it and icing the pain points, but unfortunately, the most uncomfortable feeling comes from when I’m driving. With almost 10 hours a week just for my work commute, I can’t avoid the odd feeling in my hip/quad/knee. So I’ll do what I can in between and hope it doesn’t cause any injury down the road. I can still run pain free, and have no intention of backing off training, I just need to figure out what I’m doing to cause the weird feeling in my leg.

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Eight

July 28, 2014Leave a comment

Two months of training are done and time is just flying by! This week wasn’t how I originally planned, but I did what I could. Monday I was still a little sore from my trail race, but got a great workout in at Body Fusion. It was probably one of my hardest classes, but the yoga section was beyond rewarding.

Tuesday I had weird legs pains all day. The pain would move from my hip, to my knee, to my quad and start all over again. I was a little concerned for my workout, but decided to play it by ear. I got to the track and magically everything felt great. We ran 7×800’s around my goal marathon time, and honestly, I think they may have been too slow. I know I didn’t want to over do it with the heat, but I definitely think I could have pushed myself a little harder. Iced, stretched and rolled after and of course nothing hurt.

Wednesday I wasn’t sure how my body would feel so I planned on taking it easy. I had some small twinges, but after stretching a lot at work, I felt ok enough to run. I decided to keep it close to home in case I needed to turn around, but thankfully I didn’t need to. The first few steps on the sidewalk were stiff, but once I got to my trail I felt great and knocked out 4 beautiful miles in the almost fall like weather.

My own slice of Heaven.

Thursday I had some minor pain in my knee and didn’t want to risk it too much, so I treated myself to an hour massage. I know my body has been beat up in the last few weeks with hills, higher mileage and some major trails, so I needed to get my legs out of this funk. Getting a massage was the best decision I made because I came out of there with absolutely no pain at all. My quads were as tight as can be and had some huge knots, so it felt great to get those all worked out.

Friday I took as a rest day as a precaution from the week’s pain, but I was definitely feeling much better, and pain free for my long run on Saturday.

Monday: Body Fusion Class – 30 minutes of lifting/abs/squats & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 4.75 Miles, .5 mile w/u, 7×800(4:17, 4:18, 4:23, 4:20, 4:18, 4:10, 4:08), .75 mile c/d

Wednesday: 4 Miles

Thursday: 1 Hour Massage

Friday: Off

Saturday: 18 Miles

Sunday: Off

Total Miles: 27 Miles

I did my long run on Saturday hoping to avoid the rain that was supposed to hit us all weekend. Jeanne met at my house and we started our 18 mile journey, with the goal pace of staying around 10:00 minute miles. The weather was beautiful, still a little humid, but Saturday morning at 6:30am could be one of the best looking times of the day!

Perfect view to start 18 miles

I was feeling pretty strong and really tried to keep my focus on my pace. Jeanne is quicker than me, so I didn’t want to push myself too early on and struggle halfway through. Our first loop was on back roads and traffic was relatively quiet. It took my legs a few miles to warm up, but I had no pain, so I felt great.

After our loop we headed to the trail nearby and ran an out an back of just about 7 miles. It felt so great to be in the shade and feel the crushed limestone under my feet. We fueled at 5 miles, and stopped for a port-a-potty break at 7 miles before turning back on the trail. Between mile 8-9 I could feel myself become a little tired, but the thought of getting to stop at home for ice cold water at mile 10.5 kept me going.

We stopped at my house at 10.5 miles and filled up on cold water and fueled again. I started to get nervous wondering if I could actually complete the full 18 miles, but Jeanne reassured me it was all in my head and my legs would take me the full long run.

The next part of the run was a 4 mile out and back through some nearby developments, and I focused so hard on thinking it was just 4 miles. There was a slight incline that started to wear down my legs and by mile 13 I was struggling. At this point everything hurt and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it the last 5 miles. This was also the point where my pace was closer to 10:30 than 10:00 and I could definitely feel a difference.

We refueled at mile 14 and filled up on ice water again. We also adjusted our last out and back so we could get back on the trail and take advantage of the shade. It was at this point in my run that I focused on each mile as though it was it’s own. It was no longer about making it to 18, but rather making it to the next mile. And so we went back and forth on the trail over and over until we hit that magical number.

Finishing that 18 miler was probably more important to me than finishing 20. Last year I completely failed at 18, and this year, I needed it more than anything. What surprised me the most was my pace, I had no idea I’d actually be close to finishing in 3 hours. And although I struggled in the last four miles, I was pretty much where I hoped to be and ended up with an average of 10:10 pace.

The only downside to the run was I was completely dehydrated afterward. I tried to drink lots of water, but it wasn’t enough. I also only took a salt tab at the first hour instead of taking them each hour. Lesson learned, I need to stick with my salt tabs and drink lots of water during my run, because the rest of the weekend my body was out of it.

Sunday I had planned on an evening recovery run, but woke up with a strong pain on the inside of my left knee. Nice to see that when one knee is pain free, the other picks up something new. I’m slightly concerned because I’ve had this pain before and know that it can lead to some major issues. I just don’t know how it happened, but I’m assuming it was at some point in my 18 miles.

This next week will most likely have to change due to my knee. I’m still pretty far out from race day, but don’t want to do anything now that I’ll regret later on. I also feel that my legs need a bit of a break. They’re still beat up from the Trail Monster race, and I’m hoping I didn’t do anything too harmful to jeopardize my marathon.

Trail Monster 5k/15k Recap

July 23, 20141 Comment

Last Saturday I took my long run to the trails and raced a 5k and 15k down in Wooster at the Spangler-Memorial Park. Considering I spent almost every other weekend in Wooster for two years, I thought I’d have a pretty good understanding of what the lay of the land would be like. I was wrong. Memorial Park was way out of town and much more technical than I expected.

I got to the park around 7:30, stretched for a bit, and ran into an old Muskingum classmate. The 5k started at 8:00 and had a pretty good turnout. We were told the trails were muddy from the rain all night/morning and the bridges were pretty slick. Once everyone was lined up, we were off.

I started out with a 9:40 pace and quickly lost satellite when I entered the woods, so my pace was not recorded accurately. The first two miles were all single track and we started with some smaller hills, and followed it with a long downhill that was a little too steep to take at a normal speed with the mud. I slowed down a bunch here, but was able to pick up my pace once I got to the bottom.

After the first mile everyone spread out and I ended up alone. I had a few people behind me, and one person in front of me, just almost out of eye sight. We continued with more hills including a major hill along a ridge where everyone started walking. The trail was wet, but not as bad as I had expected it to be. There were were a lot of rocks and roots so I kept my eyes on the ground most of the time, but when I got a chance to look up, the views were amazing. There was so much green and the trees had a way of wanting you to get lost in them. There were also sections of fog that were picture perfect if I had my phone with me.

Right around mile two, we came out into a field and I noticed that my time was right around my normal finish time. Talk about a huge difference between road and trail races! We continued in the field for about a half mile, going back and forth. My pace was able to pick up some, but I thought it was harder on the legs because of the bumps in the grass.

We came back into the woods and made our way to the final half mile. The trail wasn’t as technical so I felt more confident with my stride. We had one final hill before we finished near the parking lot. I came in and picked up my stride as I clocked my slowest 5k ever.

5k Course

5k Elevation

Results

Time: 33:59

AG 20-29: 5/5

Female: 9/11

Overall: 21/26

I had about 15 minutes between the 5k and the 15k so I fueled up, stretched and rolled my legs. My right calf was pretty tight from the hills so I was a little concerned how it would do during the next race. Luckily after stretching and rolling, my legs felt pretty fresh.

We lined up, had a short chat about the course and were off. The first half mile was on pavement which felt amazing! I was at a sub 10 pace and knew this was the only time I’d have any sort of speed for the next hour or so.

After a half mile we were back on the trails and I quickly slowed down. I’ll be honest, the miles in the woods all blurred together and since I spent most of my time staring at the ground, I don’t remember much from each mile. I do have moments that stuck out to me that really taught me how different trail racing is compared to road racing.

Within the first two miles everyone had already separated and I found myself with two other runners. We spent almost the entire race together and it helped to motivate me to keep going.

There were a ton of hills and running on the side of ridges. Some parts of the trail were at an angle, and some consisted of giant puddles of mud. The longer we were out there, the messier the trail became and it was hard to keep solid footing without sliding around. Thankfully I didn’t fall, but there were a few times I thought I was close.

The hills were tough! My legs burned every time we had a big hill and I wasn’t ashamed of walking, just like everyone else. But once we got to the “flatter” sections, my legs felt amazing and I thought I could go on forever!

We crossed streams/rivers about 7 times, with 5 of those crossings being very wide and ankle deep. Normally I would have tried to jump or find rocks to walk across. Some this was possible, others your feet were getting soaked no matter what.

The last half mile of the race came out of the woods where we entered, and unfortunately I had to stop to use the port-a-potty. I had consumed so much water in the woods I didn’t think I could make it another half mile. Looking back, I probably could have, but didn’t want to be the runner with wet shorts.

That last half mile though, was almost effortless. Other people were walking or shuffling, but I was kicking in my speed. I think it was obvious at this point that I was a road runner, and not much of a trail runner. But as we made our way back into the park, I couldn’t help but smile, knowing I had just run 12.5 miles of hard, technical, single track trails and feeling like a million bucks!

15k Course

15k Elevation

Results

Time: 2:07:47

AG 20-29: 5/6

Female: 17/20

Overall: 50/56

These races were hard, there’s no doubt about it. And this trail was the hardest, most technical trail I’ve ever run. But I enjoyed every moment of it. Yes my times were incredibly slow, but that’s to be expected. I’m not upset over my times or how I paced, but rather excited that I was able to spend some time on the trails, learning more about this side of running and letting myself go. I used to be so cautious on trails, fearing I’d fall, but this race, especially the 15k, let me relax and just enjoy the adventure.

I think this was a great race and would have loved to try the other two in the series. My body is still recovering, but honestly, I’m ready to tackle some more trails! The only issue I had was my Garmin losing Satellite in the woods, which is probably a common issue. I’d definitely suggest this race if you’re big on trails. And if you’re just starting like me, I think this was a great way to get my feet wet!

Top 5 favorite race shirts!

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Seven

July 21, 20141 Comment

Week seven in complete, and it was a strong one! This week was a big game changer for me, and I feel more confident about my training than I have the previous weeks. Like always, I started the week with Body Fusion. I finally used heavier weights, but class was still a little easy for the newer classmates. I left wanting to sweat more, so hopefully things will ramp up again over the next few weeks.

Tuesday was 800 repeats day on the track. We all started together, but when Bob and Beth showed up, they broke us up and helped us work on the pace that best suited our marathon goals. Even after 6 repeats I felt comfortable with my pace, and wanted to do more. This workout was the key to figuring out how I need to refocus my track workouts. I’ve been too concerned with going as fast as I can rather than focus on a pace that will help my marathon time.

My Tuesday’s

Wednesday I headed out to Chippewa Lake and ran a new trail that I noticed on Sunday. Unfortunately the trail was only a half mile long, but it did have some beautiful views of the lake. Instead of running the same path back and forth, I packed up and went to Buckeye Woods where I finished the rest of my run on my favorite dirt trails.

Hidden gem of Chippewa Lake

Thursday and Friday I was off, but I had big plans for Saturday. I ran the Trail Monster 5k and 15k down in Wooster. I’ve been craving some trails lately, and since I knew I had 16 miles on the schedule, I decided to run both and finish up the last of my needed mileage after the races. I’ll have a recap later this week, but wow was it tough. I finished up the last miles on the road outside the park and felt pretty good. My legs welcomed an even, solid path to run and although the time on my feet was longer than last week, I felt good after my long run.

Sunday I did a short recovery run around the neighborhood. I ran the first mile with Darren and finished up the last mile plus on my own. My legs were incredibly sore and for the rest of the day I had some weird twinge in my right leg. I’m still tight/sore, but hoping after some more foam rolling and stretching, my body will be back to normal.

Monday: Body Fusion Class – 30 minutes of lifting/abs/squats & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 6 Miles,1 mile w/u, 6×800 repeats(4:06,4:06,3:58,4:28,4:30,4:27)with 4×400 recovery, 1 mile c/d

Wednesday: 3.6 Miles

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Trail Monster 5k/15k + 3.6 Miles

Sunday: 2 Miles

Total Miles: 28 Miles

This next week my weeknight schedule is finally back to normal so I don’t have to stress about moving around runs. I also want to focus on keeping my track workout at the same pace and increasing the amount of 800’s I run. And of course, I’ll have the pressure of the long run waiting over my head all week, 18 miles seems to be the most stressful for me.

How do you prepare for your long run? What distance training run makes you the most nervous?

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Six

July 14, 20142 Comments

This week was a little challenging, but it started off with some great news! Monday I had the opportunity to join Oiselle as one of their Flock members. Oiselle has been a company I admired for over the past year or so. Not only do they provide running clothing for women, but their team is comprised of runners from all over. The passion they have and share is absolutely amazing, and I’m so honored to be part of this team!

Anyway, back to training, I didn’t get all of my workouts in, but when I did, they were spot on. I started the week with Body Fusion. We had a bunch of new people in class so it was relatively easy and lighter than normal. Next week it’s time to step up the weights again!

Tuesday I was at the track. After last week’s failed attempt at mile repeats, I was a little nervous. I started out a little too quick, but I managed my first sub 7:30 mile in quite some time. I can tell my speed is getting quicker, I just have to work on keeping my times closer together.

Wednesday I went out to my favorite hill to work on some repeats. Each repeat is a half mile long, so I started with a warm up, attacked the hill six times, and followed it up with a mile cool down. The first three repeats I felt strong, at number four I could feel myself fading a bit. I had to dig deep for number five, but finished strong for my last one. This hill is one of my favorites because it winds up and around a development, the top is so far from the beginning, you can’t help but push yourself the entire time.

Hill repeats for dinner

Thursday I had evening plans, but had full intention of running Friday before going out of town for the weekend. But then I was plagued with a horrible headache until Saturday afternoon that kept me from running.

Monday: Body Fusion Class – 30 minutes of lifting/abs/squats & 30 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 4.5 Miles, 1 Mile W/U, 3×1600(7:27, 7:36, 7:45), .5 Mile C/D

Wednesday: 5 Miles, 1 Mile W/U, 6x .5 Mile Hill Repeats, 1 Mile C/D

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Off

Sunday: 15 Miles

Total Miles: 24.5 Miles

Sunday was my scheduled long run for the weekend, and I was able to meet up with some MCRR members for a nice long run. I was a little unsure about the run because I only had four hours of sleep, and about a pound of deeply buttered popcorn in my stomach. (Note to self, stay away from popcorn the night before a long run!)

When I started I felt ok, and we had a big group of about 12. Within the first mile we started to break apart, and the core group of 7 stayed together for the first twelve miles. We began our run at Buckeye Woods and headed down the inlet towards the back roads to Chippewa Lake. The views were absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately I left my phone in the car, so I couldn’t take any pictures.

We managed to make our way on the back roads and around the lake, it was relatively flat with a few rollings hills. We kept an easy pace and my legs felt great, but my stomach was not so happy. Between miles 6-9 I had some major cramping, and running was the last thing I wanted to do. I managed to make it through and we finished up back in the parking lot with 11 miles.

At this point, I refilled my water with ice and Nuun, and we stretched for a few moments before the last four of us went out for our remaining miles. We went back on the inlet for two miles and made our way back, finishing with a solid 15 miles for the day.

Sunday’s group

This long run was rough. We started with an easy pace, but by mile 12/13, I was getting pretty worn down. We lucked out on weather, even though it was quite humid. We dodged the heat and storms with the occasional sprinkle which helped to cool us down.

My only two issues with this run was my stomach and how sore I felt after I finished. When I do my long runs on Sunday I need to focus more on what I eat all weekend and try to drink more water the day before.

Even though I didn’t get as many workouts in this week, every single workout was where it needed to be. I’ll be pumping up my mileage again this week and I have a trail race on Saturday. I’m only weeks away from my first 20 miler of the cycle, so hopefully my long runs will become a little easier each time. I’m now a third of the way done with training, and so far I feel like I’m on the right track.

Do you prefer track or hill workouts more? What do you do when a long run doesn’t go like you planned?

Twin Sizzler 5k/10k Recap

July 8, 20142 Comments

I started my 4th of July weekend by running the Twin Sizzler and this year I decided on the 5k and 10k. Because I was going to be adding additional miles in between races, I had a different approach than a normal race day.

I started with a half mile warm up and made my way to the start line for the 5k. Knowing I’d be doing a ton of miles that day, I didn’t want to go all out. I also knew the course wasn’t flat, so running a PR wasn’t on my radar.

We started on the square and headed South on 57. The first mile begins with a downhill, but then has a continual uphill that really makes you work for it. I felt pretty comfortable with my pace, but the humidity was a bit deceiving so I felt warmer than I had expected. I grabbed a cup of water, took a sip and kept going.

Mile 1-8:52

After we hit the first mile marker, the field started to spread out. I could concentrate on my breathing and making sure I was staying at a decent pace. My second mile is usually my slowest, so I did everything I could to keep my pace quicker than the first mile. The course was relatively flat, and I still felt pretty good.

Mile 2-8:44

The last mile started on an incline, but quickly flattened out once we got onto South Court. We were shaded by the tree lined street, so I was able to pick up my pace and not feel like I was wasting too much energy. We made our way onto South Broadway and were met with the brick road. I always love running this street because it reminds me of Muskingum, but it’s not always the easiest to run on. Knowing we’d be finishing uphill, I tried to work on my speed here before I got to the finish.

Mile 3-8:34

I picked up my pace, focused on the finish and crossed the line with negative splits!

Last .06-8:10 pace

Coming into the finish

5k Results

Official Time: 26:45

Age Group 25-29: 11/34

Female: 100/342

Overall: 273/659

I followed up the 10k with a mile and a half with Mo, an MCRR member. We took it easy, and tried to figure out how one races a 10k, and what pace you should be at. I still didn’t know how to race a 10k, but figured I’d take it around my half marathon pace and keep it easy for the additional miles I’d still have to run once I was finished.

We lined up for the 10k, and we were off. I tried to keep a conservative pace, but couldn’t help but speed up a bit by everyone else that was running by. The first mile was the same as the 5k’s, and this time I had my water so I didn’t stop for a drink.

Mile 1-9:20

I knew we continued on 57 for a bit, but when I saw the sign for Montville Township, I knew we were in for some major hills! We started going up, and I did everything I could from walking, luckily I saw Renee at the top of the hill and that helped to push me through.

Mile 2-9:43

We kept going past the second mile marker and turned onto Lexington. I knew there was another hill, but wasn’t sure how big. At this point we had been running uphill for about a mile, and my legs were starting to crumble. We continued through the development, winding on the roads and continued to go uphill. Once we hit the third mile marker, we finally had a downhill.

Mile 3-9:47

By this point my legs were toast, so I stopped to stretch them. I slowed by pace down, but they were still in pain. I took a sport bean around this time, hoping I’d get some energy, but really looked at keeping a decent pace.

I was more focused on how many miles I had run for the day, rather than what mile I was running for the race. I was sitting between 8-9 miles and with all the hills, it felt like I had run about 11-12 by this point.

Mile 4-10:19

I made it to mile 4 and I think it was around this point that I saw Christy. Seeing her helped to motivate me, but my legs were hurting worse now. We had smaller rolling hills, but by this point, my knee and arch started to ache a bit. I stopped to stretch some more and slowed my pace.

Mile 5-11:14

By now I was counting down the miles until I was done, my legs were in a ton of pain, and I just wanted to sit down and stretch for about 10 minutes. But I kept going, slow and steady, knowing that the last mile would be the same as the 5k.

Mile 6-10:15

We made our way onto South Court and I could feel my legs getting lighter. I finally had some flat ground and I could pick up my pace. We got to the brick road, and I did what I could to keep my pace from slowing down. I braced myself for the final hill and made my way to the finish.

Last .25-10:29 pace

Final push!

10k Results

Official Time: 1:03:13

Age Group 25-29: 18/24

Female: 101/142

Overall: 233/290

I finished up the day with an additional two miles around town and the final mile in my development. I managed to get 14 for the day, but my legs were incredibly beat up.

Overall, I’m glad I ran both the 5k and the 10k. After the 10k, the 5k felt easy, and although I didn’t push myself too hard in the 5k, I was able to negative split and focus on my pacing.

As for the 10k, it was hard, and a lot hillier than I had expected. When you have an elevation chart like this, it’s not hard to see why my legs were so sore.

Hills, hills, and hills

The Twin Sizzler has become one of my new favorite traditions in town, and I plan to run it every year I can. Except next year, I think I’ll stick with just the 5k.