Archive for April 2010

Week 7: Phase II

Into week 7/phase II of marathon training. My right hip/knee is starting to act up again so I'm taking it a little slower this week. I'm trying to be conscience of my form and figure out why this is bothering me. I think my hips might be "off" but I really don't want to have to go see a chiropractor again.

Have less than 2 weeks until Riverbank and the start of my new job! I'm excited about the possibilities this job might open up for me and the motivation it will give to my running career.

Focus this week: Cross train, do some leg exercises to strengthen my right side,ice, and get more sleep!

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Week Six: Sore

The Striders Classic 10 mile went pretty well on Saturday. Finished first in my age group with a time of 1:07:14. Just a little faster than the year before, but felt 10x better during the race. I tried keeping track of my mile split, which for some reason I've never thought to do in an actually race:

6:35
6:45
6:46
6:50
6:33
7:08 (hills?)
6:43
6:49
6:32
6:25

Little sore today, but got out for about 5 mile on some trails with Zach. Planning to up the mileage a tad this week and will try to keep this momentum until Riverbank. I would like to keep this pace for Riverbank...idealistically hitting 6:30's would be great, but I do need to keep the marathon training first priority. I don't want to wear myself out, but I think I'm going to have to up my weekly mileage because I am easily hitting every week.

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Week Five: Waiting for the Weekend

I'm looking forward to my first long road race for this year! The Striders Classic 10miler will be a test to see how well my training has held up since January and give me a little aderaline rush in week 5 for my marathon training. I know that I'm probably pushing my training for this marathon, but I really wanted to get Striders and Riverbank races in again for this year. I'll probably be taking it down a notch after the Riverbank and get more on track for my marathon training. Last week went pretty well with a 12 miler on Saturday. Weather has been cooperating fairly well and it looks like it will in the high 50's, low 60's for Saturday's race. My aspirations for this race is to do better than last year. My PR for this race is 1:07:54, so hopefully I can run under that (shooting for 6:30 to 6:40 pace). I'll want to run fast so I can hurry home, take a nap, and wait for Zach to get here. It will be nice to run with him while he is in Holland. Can't wait!

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Week Four: Sun!

Beginning of week four of my training...stoked that the weather has been so nice, but I am afraid this will not last. Last week's training went pretty well, just need to control my "antsy-ness." For example, I had planned speed days for Tues/Thursday, but ended up getting too excited and ran back to back speed days. Took Friday off, ran my 10miler on Saturday (in the horrid rain), and was pleasantly surprised on how fast I did it in...even though it felt like crap the whole way.

Since reading "Born to Run" I've been interested in different types of footwear and the capabilities of the human body. It is mind blowing to think that some people have run barefoot for years or that there are runners out there who compete in races well over 50 miles. Reading this book has led me to others about marathons and ultras...peaking my interest in what my body could possibly withstand. So many people in our society think that running a mere 5 miles is ridiculous. I believe anyone in moderately good health could run this distance...this is not an unattainable goal.

My boyfriend and several friends have been running occasionally in the Vibram Five Fingers. Awaiting my pair, since they have been back-ordered for a while now, I ponder on how I should incorporate them into my training. I don't want them to "screw up" my training, but then again I don't want to be too hesitate and not try these babies out! I love the idea of being closer with the ground I'm running on and how "free" I'll probably feel in them. I've gone through countless types of shoes and am anxious to see how these will stack up.

Since high school I've been put into a pretty high cushion shoe. Being in between a neutral and supinator, I have slowly backed off the higher grades and tried other brands and grades of cushion. I've also been more conscious of how my foot is striking the ground, in an effort to make my gait more neutral. I'd like to wear a lightweight trainer for this marathon, but am worried how my feet will take to such a minimalist shoe. I've got a while to shop around...

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