Tag Archives: training plan

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NWM DC Training Plan

I ran 3 miles yesterday and today, so I can check those off my pre-training plan I posted yesterday!

Picture 5

I ran outside today and it was very windy! I took one walk break during mile 2 and was happy to keep it under a 10 minute mile.  I looked at my stats later and saw I walked almost 2 minutes, so I must have picked up the pace to keep that mile down.  I need to push myself more often so I get used to running in the low 9′s.

It was snowing yesterday, so I ran my 3 miles on the treadmill.  I ran 1.5 miles, got off and did 10 minutes of abs/planks and then got back on the treadmill to finish.  I did a 1:30 plank, then one CXWORX ab track I have memorized and one BodyPump ab track.  I am sore today!

My Training Plan for the Nike Women’s DC Half Marathon…

NWMplan

I based this plan off of Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 Half Marathon plan, but added just a bit to the mid-week runs.  I’m hoping to cross train at least once a week, but twice would be great too! My cross training will be CXWORX, BodyPump or yoga :)

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Lazy

Hope you had a great Christmas! If you are feeling the same way I am… you are feeling LAZY!  I need to get back into gear and just follow a training plan! Since I am running the Nike Women’s DC Half on April 28, I will decide on a 12 week training plan soon.  However, that leaves me 6 weeks to get ready for a training plan!  Since I am still in my sweats and on the couch today (snowed in!) I made up a pre-half marathon plan for me to follow until February.  This might sound a bit crazy, but in the past I have been very good at following training plans.  After last May’s marathon, I took a big break from running on a regular basis.  I am ready to kick it back into gear and get serious about it again!

Winter Running Plan

 

This is what happens when I have extra time on my hands.  I think it is pretty cute, so I hope it will motivate me to follow it!

Thursdays and Fridays I may switch because CXWORX is offered both nights at my gym and that is going to be my main cross training.  I may also throw in some yoga or BodyPump too!  Saturday/Sunday long runs have always been something I switch around based on how I am feeling that weekend.  Since it is such short mileage (which I need!) I’m hoping to just do it on Saturdays.

 

Do you follow training plans? Are you good at following them?

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Marathon Tomorrow!!

I run the Bob Potts Marathon tomorrow!! Woo hoo!  I’ve been training for this marathon for the past 18 weeks and tomorrow is finally the big day!  The race is an out and back on a trail trail and finishes at a college stadium.  I really hope everything goes well and my friend Amy and I finish together!! It is supposed to be HOT HOT HOT, so I am trying to get my race day outfit together.  I ordered this tank top a few weeks ago for the race…

Brooks Glycerin tank – I already have this one in a black and white print but I wanted to order it in a bigger size so it was a bit longer.  I ran in it last weekend and really liked it.  I love that it has a zipper pocket in the back.

Some things I’m loving this week:

CARBS

shrimp risotto

Mini bagels!

(I’m probably carbing up a bit much, but I like the excuse) I’ve been loving the white pasta a lot this week.

I’m loving my black sparkle TOMS and wore them almost every day to school this week. They are SO comfortable! When I first got them, they rubbed on the back of my heel a bit, so I wore socks with them in the winter.  I guess they just needed to stretch out a little, so they are perfect now and I really want a new summery lighter color.

Also loving the low mileage from this past week.  I ran 3.5 and 2.5 this week and loved taking it easy on the treadmill.  I really wanted to do some Yoga this week, but it always makes me sore when I’m not used to it so I avoided it.  I hope my legs feel fresh tomorrow!

Loving the great sleep I’ve been having over the past two weeks.  After my body calmed down after the 20 miler, I started sleeping again.  I was really having trouble staying asleep throughout the entire night when my mileage was higher, but it has been so much better the past two weeks.  I’m sure the marathon will upset my sleep patterns for the next few nights, but that’s okay.

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Hungry All The Time

Tuesday: 2 mile walk and 20 minute YogaDownload video on YouTube

Wednesday: 6 miles (58:09)

I could not get myself to run yesterday.  I always take Monday off and I was just so exhausted after school yesterday, I just came home and sat on the couch.  I convinced myself I could just go for a walk and do some yoga to stretch out my legs and it would be okay.  I have not been following my training plan very well this spring, between the pulled calf muscle and just feeling too busy I haven’t been able to run as much as I should.  After I hurt my calf and took off a full week, I almost always took off one of my shorter mid-week runs each week.  I always did the mid-week long and the weekend long.  So, I would not suggest trying to train for a marathon this way, because it almost always ends in injury.  Luckily, the race is soon and I my legs are feeling pretty good.

I forgot to post this picture with my 20 mile post, but this was the food I packed to take with me to the rail trail for my 20 miles last Saturday.  I am loving the mini bagels with Peanut Butter and Co (best peanut butter ever… and now Target sells it!!!) and had one next to my bed to eat at 5:30 am Saturday morning before I went downstairs at 6am to try to eat some oatmeal.

Love my lemon-lime gatorade, vanilla GU, PB Luna protein bars and GOLDFISH CRACKERS. Yes, I’m still obsessed with them and I am currently out and very sad.  Those little fishies hold me over at school because… I AM HUNGRY ALL THE TIME.  It’s actually really annoying, but I feel like my appetite is starting to calm down.  I wasn’t that hungry Saturday after running the 20, but I was starving Sunday-Tuesday.  I seriously want to eat every hour.  I’m currently eating these…

I might as well just finish the bag tonight since I’m sad that I’m out of goldfish crackers.

 As I’ve mentioned before, I am completely in love with my Walmart compression socks.  Yes, I have the cute pink running compression sleeves but there is no stopping these tan babies.  They are awesome and super tight.  I went to Walmart Saturday night and spotted these gorgeous OPEN TOE socks!! I’ve been telling my friend Amy to buy them for the past 6 months and when I found these (across from the pharmacy), I had to take a picture to send to her.  Just look at that picture! A couple wearing those open toe tan beasts and they are playing footsies under a table?! Amy couldn’t resist and she bought her and her husband a pair.  She is obviously required to reenact this photo and send it to me so I can post :)

On a serious note, I have been having major sleep issues over the past month or so.  I can fall asleep, but I can’t stay asleep more than 4 hours.  I’m exhausted and I’m noticing a pattern where it is worse the day or two after a long run.  I’ve never had this happen before!  I’m hoping it goes away after the marathon, because I would love to sleep past 3 am.  Does anyone have trouble sleeping or staying asleep after long runs?

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20 Miles!

Saturday: 20 miles!!!!! (And it was actually faster than the extremely hot 18 miler two weeks ago!)

I couldn’t be happier with my 20 miler!! Amy and I had PERFECT weather Saturday morning!  I set my alarm for 5:30 am and had a bagel with pb waiting for me on my night stand.  I wanted to make sure I ate food early enough because we were aiming to run by 8:00.  I ate my pb bagel and laid in bed until 6:00, ate half a bowl of overnight oats and drank lots of water.  We were at the railtrail and running by 7:50 and the weather was about 40-something degrees. Crazy, but that is absolutely perfect to me! It only got to almost 50 degrees by the end of our run. I was very happy with my splits (I always hit the lap button by accident so that is why there is an extra “lap” at 11) and we stopped our watches once at mile 10 at the car and again at 13 for a bathroom break.  The 11 mile splits were a quick walk to put down our gatorade bottles and deal with GU packets in my SPIbelt.  We finished the run with smiles on our faces and we were still waving to other runners that passed us on the trail at the end!  That is how you know your 20 miler went well… no crying, no limping just smiles and conversation with a great friend :)

My parents invited Colby and I over for dinner Sunday night after I FINISHED MY FINAL GRAD PAPER FOR MY LAST COURSE OF MY MASTER’S DEGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’ve never been happier to submit a 26 paper! My parents just got a new walkway and grill in their backyard, so my Mom made Dad and Colby burgers and we had veggie quesadillas.

We grilled the quesadillas on the grill in a pan she got at Williams Sonoma for the grill and they were great.

She also made this orzo salad from this cookbook that was really good…

I also got to spend some quality time with this little man.  What a tough but rewarding weekend! As long as my final paper is okay, I finished my Master’s Degree and had a successful 20 miler! Woo hoo!

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Week 15

Wednesday: 10 miles 

Thursday/Friday: off

This week is the highest mileage of my Hal Higdon Marathon training plan.  Week 15 is supposed to be: 5, 10, 5 and 20.  I am feeling really run down this week and was tired after the 10 miles on Wednesday, so I took the other 5 off on Thursday.  I just want to have a successful 20 miler tomorrow morning, so I’ve been trying to take it easy today.

If I could just DOUBLE this tomorrow, I would be so happy!!  Amy and I are heading to the railtrail early in the morning so we can start running by 8:00.  Hopefully we will be finished before 11:30!! Our 18 miler was on that hot Boston Marathon weekend and it took forever.  That was my first long long run in a few weeks because I didn’t run my 16 miler when I pulled my calf.  I feel more prepared for my 20 tomorrow and I’m hoping it goes well!!

 

I had stones/gravel in my shoes when I was running my 10 miler on Wednesday and had to take off my shoe and dump it out mid-run. I really hope that doesn’t happen on race day.  I was exhausted after teaching all day and running 10 miles mid-week and got home to blisters on my foot.  These were the only band aids I could find in our house.  I opened up the case and found Disney princess and Barbie band aids along with Twilight… I hardly ever buy normal band aids, so The Little Mermaid is currently keeping my toe happy right now.

I took care of my legs after the 10 with an ice bath, princess band aids and my favorite Walmart compression socks.  Seriously, don’t buy cute pink running compression socks for bed… go with these hot tan ones.  They are so much tighter than my running ones.

 

I’ve been making a list of what we eat during the week on a post-it for our fridge each week.  My Mom always cooks for us Monday, so we usually just worry about Tuesday-Friday and figure out the rest.  We couldn’t come up with anything for Wednesday, so Colby said he would figure it out because I was getting home late after the 10 miles.

He ordered pizza and I had a few slices and left over chicken soup from the night before.  I made pasta last night because Colby ran his 20 this morning and he had a great run! I decided to go with enchiladas for tonight and they are just coming out of the oven … right now!   :)

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Happy Running

Wednesday: 3 mile run (26:31)

I’m currently on week 7 on Hal Higdon’s Marathon Novice I training plan.  I have been feeling GREAT the past few weeks and I’m so happy!!

(Week 7: Plan says to rest on Monday and Friday and cross-train on Sunday)

Since there was supposed to be rain all day today, I ran my 6 with Amy yesterday.  It was nice enough to go outside after school today and I did an unexpected quick 3.  I will run 3 slow, recovery miles on the treadmill tomorrow and take a BodyPump class.

Last weekend, Amy and I ran a back down 7 miler to get ready for this weekend’s 12.  Since we have been running together a lot, we end up talking the whole time.  I really think running and talking on a regular basis is making me stronger!  I’ve also been getting in our hot tub after most of my runs (so thankful for the previous house owners).  My legs feel great and only my calves feel a little sore after running.  Of course, then I just throw on my attractive Walmart compression socks…

 

I’m not so secretly in love with my Walmart compression socks.  I always put them on after long runs.  They are just so much tighter than my actual running compression sleeves.

This was my 6 miler with Amy on Tuesday.  Mile 4 and 5 were mostly uphill the entire time, so we were pretty happy with our splits.

This was my run from today and I didn’t expect to push myself so much.  I ran with Colby, but didn’t talk as much because I wanted to push the pace.  Of course, this is still super comfortable for him, so I knew he would help me hold the faster pace and talk to keep me company.  I was surprised to see how comfortable I felt at these paces.  Comfortable, as in I could talk a little bit but not as much as usual.

Do you think running with other people and talking helps you get stronger?  I am LOVING running with my friend Amy :)  I have no idea how I trained for my marathon last year by myself!

Also, I’m still on Pinterest non-stop this week.  Going crazy pinning wedding stuff…

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Blog Love

My week so far …

Feb. 20-26 (Week 6 of Training Plan)

Monday- yoga and 3 miles (28:10)

Tuesday- BodyPump

Wednesday-off

Thursday- 5 miles (49 min on TM) and BodyPump

Friday- 3 miles (27:45)

Saturday- off

Sunday- Will be a 7 mile run with Amy :)

Very happy with my runs this week outside.  I haven’t pushed myself too much on the treadmill when I go to bodypump on the same day.  I do feel like I pushed myself on my two shorter runs outside and it felt great! I really need to stretch/foam roll more and I am rocking my walmart/grandma compression socks tonight.

Blogs

My google reader has been blowing up with new blogs lately!  I blame it on Pinterest.  I’ve been on Pinterest since September when I got engaged.  I loved creating a wedding board to keep track of all the good ideas I find.  (My wedding dress is on there… can you guess which one?!)

Some newer blogs I’m loving…

The Beauty Department

This is Lauren Conrad’s beauty blog and it is unbelievable.  I have seen so many amazing hair and nail pictures on pinterest.  As soon as I added it to my google reader I spent HOURS looking at all the gorgeous braids.  Seriously, go on this site.

Maskcara

Another beauty blog with fantastic hair tutorials!

Sweet Tater – Food, Fitness, Etc.

I met this sweet girl at the Healthy Living Summit this past summer. I’ve been reading all of her old posts this past weekend instead of writing my grad class paper.

Running For Cupcakes

So glad Katie is blogging again :)

Thrifty and Chic

Really cute decorating blog.

What are some of your favorite blogs?? Do you venture out of “healthy living/running” blogs?

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Week 5

Week 5 of my marathon training looks like this so far…

Feb. 13 – 19 (Week 5 of Training Plan)

Monday- off

Tuesday- 3 miles on TM and BodyPump

Wednesday-off

Thursday- 5 miles on TM and BodyPump

Friday- 3 miles (26:58)

Saturday- 10 miles ( TBA )

Sunday- (yoga ?)

I keep track of my workouts on my Exercise Log tab at the top of my blog page.  Since I am running on the treadmill once or twice a week, I don’t really rely on my Garmin page to count mileage.  This has worked for me since I started my blog, but sometimes I forget to put it all in and have to write it at the end of the week.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL today (almost 50!!) and Amy and I went out for a quicker 3 mile run after school.  My legs have been feeling great lately, so maybe all those miles I missed from being sick the past two weeks were a good thing! I’ve been taking it a little easier on my lunge and squat tracks at BodyPump and focusing on adding weight to the upper body tracks.  I was starting to get obsessive trying to up my weights a few months ago and I was starting to feel it in my knees. Nooo nooo. So I immediately calmed it down and I have been feeling fantastic! Also, loving the crazy lunge track with the jumps right now.  If my mileage starts to get too high for me to run and do BodyPump twice a week in the next month or so, I’ll just drop one or both classes.  The marathon training is more important and I want to feel good!

Here are our stats from our run this afternoon.  I think the mix of good weather and running on a road motivated us and we were sooo happy to have negative splits! I was tired but in a good way.  :)   We are going to run our 10 miler on the rail trail tomorrow.  That is where the marathon will be in May! I’m really excited to run on the very flat trail to see how we do for a long run.  The weather is also supposed to be SO much nicer than last weekend when we ran on ice in the crazy wind.

Besides the treadmill, we have been running fairly hilly routes in neighborhoods and I am excited to see how it will feel running a long run on a very flat path.  Also very very happy to have such a good running partner … it is just so much more enjoyable having someone to talk with for those long runs! Amy also pushes me to not walk at all.   :)

I recently bought a Tofu Xpress off Amazon a few weeks ago and gave it a try for the first time this week.  Seriously, what a difference!!  No more pressing tofu between my grad class books and paper towels…

I love that after I pressed it overnight, I put some soy sauce and nutritional yeast in the container to marinade in the same container.  The bottom of the press can be taken off and used as a lid when you take the spring out to marinade.  It was so easy and the next day I cut it up, dipped it in egg and then corn starch mixed with seasoning.  Then I put it in a pan with some olive oil and got each side super crispy. SO GOOD. I could not get over how much better it was because all the water had been pressed out.  The texture was great and I ate the rest for leftovers the next day.

Have a good weekend! I’m excited to get my long run out of the way tomorrow and to have Monday off!

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Blast!

I thought I got rid of my cold last week, but it was still going on and turning into a sinus infection.  I finally sucked it up and went to the doctor this afternoon for an antibiotic.  I am hoping it kicks in soon and I get back to normal!

It kinda freaks me out that I am on week 4 of my marathon training plan and I missed two runs this week. If I am feeling up to it, I might try to do a short mid-week tomorrow and still do my 9 mile long run on Sunday.

My Mom took Colby and I to my favorite restaurant for my birthday (it was Wednesday).

After eating salad and appetizers, we ordered a creme brulee and it was decorated pretty for me.  It had a cookie and a candle on top.

My Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I told her I wanted to go see one of my favorite shows.  Blast! is basically a broadway show made up of a drum corps.  I wrote a post last summer about what drum corps is and my experience with it as a musician.  Basically, it is insanely crazy marching band made up of brass and percussion instruments with guard members.  Read about it here and you will definitely think of me as more of a music nerd.

Here is a video of Blast…

 

I made a crockpot recipe of chicken/vegetable soup tonight.  Colby has been sick too, so we are going to rest up, eat our soup and hopefully be all better soon!

 

I love salt when I am sick, so I ate tortilla chips with my soup tonight.  I also ate a million brownies because I’ve gotten so many for my birthday this week :)   I am not a cake/ice cream person. Give me brownies. Lots and lots of Ghiradelli brownies :)