{week 6} Training for the Santa Rosa 1/2 Marathon

There's a sweet moment in training when you feel all the work and effort is starting to pay off in stamina, speed and strength. Both Dani and I are half-way through our training for the Santa Rosa 1/2 Marathon and we both hit it this past week. We've had to overcome injuries, focus on correcting imbalances and add time for rest and recovery (It's taken me all these years of running to finally GET this). With 33 days until race day, we both feel we can run a strong race. 

As I wrote before, this week marks my last week of training specifically for the half-marathon because next week I start 18-weeks of training for the California International Marathon. I'm excited for CIM because: 1) I had to defer last year's race due to injury 2) I love running in Sacramento and 3) A large group of my Oiselle Volée teammates are running it this year. My goal for 2016 is to run a strong marathon. Marathon success is based on good pacing and nutrition. Both of which I need to work on improving and both of which are my focus in the weeks ahead. I'm particularly excited to focus on nutrition because I am going to start working with a nutritionist in August to help me figure out the best fueling strategies for me (races, long runs, etc). As for pacing, I'm going to start running with pacing groups again. 

Week 6 Training

Monday, July 25: Rest or Cross-train
Tuesday, July 26: 4 miles, easy
Wednesday, July 27: 5 miles, easy
Thursday, July 28: 8 miles with intervals (1x400, 5x800, 1x400)
Friday, July 29: Rest or Cross-train
Saturday, July 30: 16 miles, long-run
Sunday, July 31: 6 miles, easy

{week 5} will run for beer

Post-race, finish line beer!

On a long-ish run with my Saturday running group, most of the discussion centered around beer. The run was long-ish for me because I had a 5k race--more on that later--on Sunday and ended my run early. It centered on beer because a good portion of runners that day are training for the Santa Rosa Marathon. According to Jim, the beer festival after the race is the best part of the marathon. This excites me. I love trying and tasting different beers. 

So of course, I jumped at the chance to sign-up for the inaugural San Diego Craft Classic 5k and 1/2 Marathon hosted by Green Flash Brewery. I chose the 5k because it fit perfectly with my 1/2 marathon training plan, I was scheduled to run 8 miles with 3 miles at tempo. Tempo runs are hard and so are 5ks, but I love racing 5ks and I wanted to see if my racing legs were back after my injuries. I had a feeling I would race well because my speed training days were going so well and I was feeling strong and fit. 

Long story short--I came in second in my age group and 13th overall. It was my second best 5K time. It was a hard course with lots of hills. I'm stoked about the 13th place because that means I was faster than a lot of younger women.

I set up my Garmin to lap at a 1000m so I could break up the race into smaller than a mile chunks. My goal was to run each of the 1000m in 4:33-4:55. 

Dialing in my pre-race nutrition

My splits-->4:12, 5:11 {insane hill}, 4:39, 4:26, 4:40.

I feel more than ready to start marathon training in August! 

Week 5 Training

Monday, July 18: Rest or cross-train

Tuesday, July 19: 4 miles, easy

Wednesday, July 20: 5 miles, easy

Thursday, July 21: 9 miles with intervals (mile build-up: 1x400, 1x800, 1x1200, 1x1600, 1x800, 1x400)

Friday, July 22: Rest or cross-train

Saturday, July 23: 14 mile long-run

Sunday, July 24: 6 miles, easy

{week 4} or the week Pokémon Go happened

Nerd Alert! If you have been hiding under a rock, you may not realize that the game of the summer was released a few days ago.

Pokémon Go, an augmented reality game for your smart phone in which one goal is to catch cartoon monsters. Another goal is to get people off the couch and walking outside. 

Both my husband, Paul, and my training partner, Dani, were early adopters. In fact I made fun of them when we were all driving back from a get together on Friday night and we had to pull over to search a field for Pokémon.  

University of Redlands is a high Pokémon activity area

I was a little late to the party and didn't start playing until yesterday, but now I am addicted and planning my running routes to go through high-Pokémon dense locations and going on short runs with my dog in order to hunt Pokémon or collect items at Pokéstops. Who is the nerd now?

Even Runner's World online is getting into action with this article which states that runners have an advantage because for certain things to happen in the game you need to cover a set amount of distance (2k, 5k, 10k--to hatch eggs with evolved Pokémon) and I don't need to state that runners typically cover a whole lot of distance. 

As of today, I've reached Level 5.

Other than playing games, training for the Santa Rosa 1/2 Marathon is going well. I'm feeling stronger and ready to start marathon training in August. :)

Week 4 Training Plan

Monday, July 11: Rest or Cross-train. I went on a 1.2 mile run to catch Pokémon.

Tuesday, July 12: 4 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile)

Wednesday, July 13: 4-5 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile)

Thursday, July 14: 7 miles with intervals (2 x 400m, 1 x 800, 1 x 1200m, 1 x 800, 2 x 400)

Friday, July 15: Rest or Cross-train

Saturday, July 16: 6 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile)

Sunday, July 17: 8 miles with 3 miles at tempo (San Diego Craft Classic 5k race!)

Do you Pokémon?

Me (Only Faster)

I'm always a bit nervous before a scheduled track workout. I worry about not being able to handle it, to hit the pace targets. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter if I bonk or crush a workout. That's what I tell myself as I lace up my shoes and start running. I also remind myself that progress not perfection is what's important.

Thursday morning I ran a workout that my training plan calls Yasso Halves. It's 3 x 400 meters and then 3 x 800 meters. The purpose is to start with a few 800s and build to more later in training. It's a mini-version (or taste) of Yasso 800s.

It turns out I've done this same workout. Makes sense because I used this same training plan in the past. I knew I was speedy (for me) today but comparing my stats from  1 1/2 years ago you can note my progress.

I'm not running more than I did last year~I was running 50+ miles/week back then. In fact, I'm still building up my mileage from taking a break due to injury. I owe my progress to all the "extras" I'm doing: strength training, plyos (including box jumps), core work, physical therapy. 

I'm going to continue my work on improving my recovery/reset activities. I'm on Day 7 of the #jasyogajuly Yoga Where You Go Challenge. I'm also focusing on nutrition, particularly my carbohydrate intake. This comes from reading The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition. Based on my activity level and weight, my daily carb goal is 290 grams to 350 grams. I'm finding it tough to hit the low number. I think I *maybe* hit it once in the previous 7 days. I eat approximately 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day.

What do you do to make sure you are eating enough carbs?
What extras or non-running activities do you do to help your running?

{week 3} FastK8 and 800's

Happy 4th of July!

Just a quick status update. Training for the Santa Rosa 1/2 Marathon is now in Week 3. It's going well and I'm feeling strong. 

I'm looking forward to this week's track workout which includes some 800 meter intervals. I'm going to try to emulate Kate Grace, Oiselle Haute Volée teammate, who smoked the competition and won the 800 meters final at the US Olympic Track & Field Trials: New Olympian Kate Grace is Going to Rio! She has demonstrated an awesome final kick in the last 200 meters of the race in both the prelims and final (usually she is 5th or 6th and comes from behind to win or place!) that I am going to attempt (instead of slogging through to the end).

She lives and trains in Sacramento, CA and I had the opportunity to meet her at last year's CIM--we cowbelled at Mile 20 and brunched together! /fangirl

Also, I'm working on pacing this week and testing my lactate threshold heart rate. This is all for when I start CIM Training in August--I want to make sure I take it easy on most runs and only push hard when scheduled. All to make sure I don't get injured like last year. 

Week 3 Training Plan

Monday, July 4: 3-4 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile)
Tuesday, July 5: 4 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile) 
Wednesday, July 6: 3-5 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile) 
Thursday, July 7: 7 miles with Yasso Halfs (3x400 btw 1:46-1:52, 3x800 btw 3:41-3:52 + w/u & c/d)
Friday, July 8: Rest or cross-train
Saturday, July 9: 12-14 miles long run (9:15-10:33/mile)
Sunday, July 10: 4-5 miles easy (9:13-10:09/mile)

TGIF + Long Weekend: Friday 5

1. I'm starting the Yoga Where You Go Challenge today! Goal: at least 5 
minutes of yoga every day in July. I'm a big Jasyoga and Erin Taylor fan. I love the videos and I'm working my way through the Hit Reset book. Making this a daily habit will help me RUN! #jasyogajuly

2. My Run! playlist on Spotify. I've created a playlist of only songs with "run" or "running" in the lyrics. What songs am I missing?

3. OMG. It's HOT! and it's only the second week of summer.

4. Nutrition. Learning more about it. I eat healthy, but want to go to the next level. Power up! Am I eating too much protein? Am I eating at the right times? About to start reading: The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition: A Cutting-Edge Plan to Fuel Your Body Beyond "the Wall" - by Matt Fitzgerald. 

5. Olympic Track & Field Trials start today in Eugene, OR. Getting ready to fangirl and cowbell like crazy! {from home :(} Oiselle has 14 sponsored athletes competing at the trials: HERE for details. Follow #totallytrials16 to see all the shenanigans! Sorry I'm missing it.