Half Marathon Training & A Birthday!

It has started.  Colleen's PR half marathon training.  My current half marathon PR is 1:37:10.  I set that in October of 2008 at the Columbus Half Marathon.  I actually have no idea how I ran that fast (I even just went back to my running2win training log and looked and it was pretty weak compared to what I know I could do), but I had good company to run it with and just wanted to stay with them, so I imagine that was how.

Anyways, that's the past.  And now I'm going to beat that time at the Rock 'N Roll Phoenix Half Marathon.  That is the goal at least.  I know some races just don't go well, but my goal is to train hard for the next 11 weeks and then run super fast there with Liz (while Molly runs the full and Emma and Brigitte cheer us on!)

I don't have a super specific time goal, but I know I want to PR.  It's been over 5 years since I ran that half marathon time; I think it's overdue.  I came really close in the North Shore Half Marathon this past June - only 29 seconds off - and that course had a monstrous hill right in the middle of it.  I think I should be able to run under a 1:35.  I really have no idea what the course in Phoenix is like, but hopefully it's favorable!  Since I like to show tweets, here's one I liked from my UD friend Lauren who rocked the NYC Marathon this weekend:

It's so true that the course can really impact how you run - the terrain, the scenery, the spectators, the elevation change, etc.  A lot can happen over 26.2 miles.

But back to focusing on the half marathon for now.  I made up a training plan.  And I'm going to follow it as best as I can.  Realistically who knows what will happen with it getting cold and the holidays, but I guess that's where my friend the treadmill comes in.  We are not actually friends.

Here's what I did last week:

Monday - 5.75 mile run

Tuesday - 1 mile warm-up; free weights

Wednesday -  5.3 mile run in the rain

And then I didn't work out Thursday through Sunday...
Total Mileage = ~12 miles

So...the week started off strong, but then I fell off the horse.  But that's OK since it was just my first week really coming back to running since the Chicago Marathon.

Here's my plan for this week:

Monday -6 miles + core work + arm work
(I haven't done this yet, so I have a busy night ahead...plus the Bears/Packers game)

Tuesday -8 miles - 1 mile easy; 6 miles cut-down 10 seconds per mile starting at marathon pace; 1 mile easy

Wednesday -  6 miles + core work + arm work

Thursday - REST
(Maybe I'll do a short workout at lunch, but I'm having margaritas and sushi with Stephanie - we are very cultural - Wednesday night, so a Thursday morning workout is highly unlikely.  And then Thursday night is the Old St. Pat's Crossroads Runners post-marathon party!)

Friday - 5 miles - 1 mile easy; 3 miles race pace; 1 mile easy + core work

Saturday - 10 miles + core work

Sunday -  REST
(Christina's birthday party is Saturday night.  And then Bears game tailgating/watching on Sunday, so a workout is unlikely.  So obviously I'm scheduling my rest days around my social calendar.)

Here's what I'm gonna try to go with for my training paces:

Normal run: 8:00 pace

Marathon pace: 7:30 - My actual Chicago Marathon pace averaged to 7:45, but I held right around 7:30-7:35 for 18 miles, so I'm gonna try to aim for 7:30 as my marathon pace for training purposes

Race pace: 7:10

Easy: anywhere from 8:00 - 8:45 - I usually don't like to go slower than that, but I am also learning the value of pace variety in training instead of running 8 minute pace all the time.

And speaking of Christina's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of my most loyal readers (and friends)!!!!!!!!!

Since I was so busy writing about Chicago Marathon stuff recently, I don't think I wrote about the fact that about 2 weeks ago, Christina, Jim, Emily, and I went to the Bon Jovi concert as Jim's birthday present to Christina!  The concert was a lot of fun and I knew way more songs than I thought I would.  Basically I thought I'd only know Livin' on a Prayer.  I really do love birthdays, especially mine, but also other peoples' so I can't wait to celebrate with Christina!

What is your longest-standing PR?

If you could go to any concert right now, what would it be? 

Hump Day Happenings and Weekly Recap/Plan

Guess what day IT IS.  HUMP DAYYYY.  But I'm going to tell you about Tuesday and why it was different than a normal Tuesday in my life.

Erin and I ordered matching lululemon tank tops for the St. Louis Half Marathon in October!  Besides a pair of their yoga pants, I don't have anything from there since it is so expensive, but we looked at the sale items and found a cute tank we both liked!  The color selection was a bit limited for our size, but we found a cute one  :)  I just hope it won't be too chilly for tank tops by that time!  But if you're going to do a race with someone and don't have matching outfits, you are obviously doing something wrong.

Speaking of, I plan to do this race with Christina and anyone else who would like to join!  I'm hoping some of my cousins will run as well.  It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we already have a big Smith family event planned that evening, so why not add even more fun to the day?

I did an easy (but hot) 4 mile run after work last night.  The highlight of the run was seeing someone wearing a UD t-shirt.  I was too late in spotting it though to yell out to him.  I had also seen a guy wearing a UD shirt a few weeks ago when I did a super long run on a weeknight and that time I was too far into go-mode to stop, even for a fellow Flyer.  Next time I will though so I can make new friends.

I bought an amazing little loaf of pumpkin gingerbread from a farmer's market.  Knowing that I could get home and eat that was pretty much the only way I convinced myself that I really needed to run.

I also made an awesome dinner last night.  It was chicken fajita flavored rice + grilled chicken + onions + feta cheese all wrapped in a tortilla.  And then the pumpkin gingerbread for dessert...and I ate some while I cooked...and for breakfast this morning.  So this was way better than my usual meal of plain pasta.

I finally finished all of Desperate Housewives on Netflix and now I need a new show suggestion so please help me!

And now for some running schedules...

Last Week Recap:

Monday - 4.5 miles including twice up a HUGE hill

Tuesday - 10.4 miles normal

Wednesday - REST

Thursday - 6.75 miles tempo

Friday - biked 10 miles easy

Saturday - 2 miles easy

Sunday - Chicago Half Marathon

Total Miles -  about 37-38ish

Good thing I do log all of my runs otherwise I would have no idea what I did.  AND since I posted my plan for the week on her last week, now I can compare how I did...let's just say like usual, I didn't follow it.  But I did get the important workouts in at least I think -a mid-week mid-distance run, a tempo run, and a race!  I even got in some cross training.

Week Who Knows What Number, But 4.5 Weeks Left Plan:

Monday - REST

Tuesday - 4 miles

Wednesday -8 miles

Thursday - 6 miles @ GMP (goal marathon pace)

Friday - REST

Saturday - 6 miles

Sunday -20 miles

Total Miles -  44

So that's all I have to say about that.  Happy Hump Day!

What Should I Do This Weekend?

Here's a quick summary of my workouts last week:

Monday - 6.3 miles tempo-ish run
Tuesday - 5.6 miles normal (included in the same post as Monday's run)
Wednesday - 19.25 miles !!
Thursday - REST
Friday - REST
Saturday - 4 miles normal w/ Angela and Olivia in northern Michigan - also, some paddleboarding = arm workout
Sunday - cross train - 12 miles biking, leisurely on a tandem bike

Even though I didn't get a run in on Friday as planned, I'm still really happy with the runs I did this past week and glad to have gotten my mileage up (both long run mileage and total weekly mileage which was about 35 miles).  I would still like to get that weekly mileage up a little more over the next 3-4 weeks before I taper.  But I say that every week.

I haven't decided yet what I want to do this weekend.  I might go to Madison, WI to watch the Ironman Wisconsin and in that case I would probably shoot for a 20 mile long run on Saturday.  But after all the driving this past weekend, a day trip to Michigan planned for the following weekend, and then UD Parents Weekend at the end of September, I think a weekend without traveling will be nice.  So if I stay here in Chicago this weekend, I can do a half marathon on Sunday or do a long run either day.  Here's my plan for Monday through Friday at least.  Obviously Monday already happened, so I just put in what I already did.

Monday - hill workout ~4.5 miles
Tuesday - 10-12 miles
Wednesday -6 miles
Thursday - Speed Workout - Mile Repeats
Friday - 5 miles

And now it's September!  As far as August running mileage, I ended up with 140 miles. If you've read some of my other posts, you know that I am comparing these couple months of marathon training to how I did during 2010 when I was training for the Columbus Marathon. In August of that year, I ran 145 miles, so I'm pretty much at exactly the same.  I was hoping to be significantly higher for the August mileage, but the beginning of the month was pretty low-mileage.

September should be a big increase over 2010 because I only had 98 miles that month. I want to shoot for close to 200 miles this September.

I decided I needed another picture and thought I'd include another one from the lake weekend, but then I thought - why not find a picture from last September?  My soul was sold away to the public accounting world for most of the month, but then I got to go to Nashville to celebrate Grace's Bachelorette party!!  Are you aware that according to whatever spell check system this blogging software uses, bachelorette is not a word?  It wants to correct it to bachelor.  That is weird.  And now I just typed it in Microsoft Word and it is a word there.  Google Blogger must not think that girls have fun too.

What are you planning to do this week?  Or this weekend?

Have you ever been to Nashville? 

It's Crunch Time

I fell out of the habit of posting my weekly recap and weekly plan.  So now, with 7 weeks to go before the Chicago Marathon, it's crunch time and I need to really ramp up my training.

Here's what I did last week:

Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - REST
Wednesday - Track workout - 2 x 800m; 8 x 400m
Thursday - REST
Friday - 3 miles
Saturday - REST
Sunday - 10 miles

Total Mileage for the Week - 24 miles

So, last week was a little weak.  I didn't run Thursday and Saturday because I thought resting my legs would help them not feel so tight.  I did a lot of foam rolling too.  But last week is over and now it's time to just look forward.  I talked to Angela on the phone on Friday which got me really pumped for the marathon again!!! And I've been talking to Alex about training a lot lately.  She has been doing awesome with her training for Columbus so it has helped motivate me too.

Here's my plan for this week:

Monday - 6 miles tempo
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday -Speed Workout
Thursday - 6 miles
Friday - Cross Train
Saturday - 18 miles
Sunday - 6 miles

Total Mileage for the Week -  ~50 miles

The total mileage for the week might be a tad aggressive based on my training so far, but I've done it before.  I actually just went back through my running log from 2010 again (when I was training for Columbus) and I did have one 50-mile week right around this point.

I still need to work on this whole pace variation thing a bit more instead of always running my 8 minute pace.  I'm going to try to make today a tempo run.  I'm thinking a mile warm-up, 4 miles at tempo pace (hopefully 7-7:15), then a mile cool-down.  It's supposed to be close to 90 this afternoon, so it might be a little rough.

For Wednesday's speed workout, we have 400s on the schedule.  I might switch that up since I just did 400s last week and do something like mile repeats instead.

Some other goals for the week:

• Do core-work every day.  Angela had made a good core work-out routine that I will try to follow as closely as possible.  She also had a pretty good arm strength training routine too that I did a few times.
• Bring my lunch every day instead of eating out.  I bought (actually my mom bought - perks of going home to do grocery shopping with her) some pre-made salads, and all the fixings for some quality turkey sandwiches.  (As I write this, I am talking to my nutritionist friend Steph who is giving me some good snack ideas too!)
• Figure out a fundraising idea to raise more money for my Chicago Marathon charity team - the Crossroads Runners of Old St. Pat's Church

I have a few other things to get done this week and a few social things, so I think this is going to be a really busy week!  But then a 3-day weekend!!  That will be my motivation to get through the week and get all these runs done.  By Saturday at like 10am, I will be feeling more accomplished and ready to enjoy the weekend.

What are your goals this week?

The Courage to Start

I have been given the task of creating a training schedule for my friend (my brother's girlfriend) Erin's first half marathon!!  I'm really excited for this, for multiple reasons.

First of all, I am thrilled that she has decided to take on this commitment! I encourage everyone to start running :) Erin texted me maybe a month or 2 ago and said she was going to do a half marathon in St. Louis. This week I was looking up the dates for future Rock 'N Roll races and saw that the St. Louis event is on October 27th. I texted her to see if this is the one she was planning on running and she said that she wasn't so sure any more. I managed to convince her that she could and that I would come to St. Louis that weekend to run with her!

Another reason I am excited for this is that I kind of get to act as her "coach" and make her a training plan! I love running and am glad I have this opportunity to help her get into it more also. And it's an item to cross off her bucket list! So, I started working on her plan, and find that it's much different making up a plan for a new distance runner (she runs/works out regularly, but she has never ran more than 2 miles at a time) than when I try to come up with plans or workouts for myself. She gave me an indication of what pace she can run, but it's hard to judge what others are capable of as opposed to what I know I am capable of or what might be just a bit to much. It will be a fun challenge. Maybe what will be more fun is making her a training plan for her SECOND half marathon after she gets through this one and wants to go faster!!

Woo go Erin!! - "The miracle isn't that I finished. It is that I had the courage to start."

I'm not quite sure if I'll register for the race or not. I don't like paying for a race that I won't technically be "racing." All these races get expensive! But I'd get a t-shirt I guess, that's always a nice perk.  And a medal.  Even though I was looking up some future races, I decided not to commit to anything until after the Chicago Marathon. But I think this would be a good chance to visit St. Louis (and all my friends and cousins there) and help Erin run her first half marathon! I have lately been thinking that my running has always been mostly competitive, whether with myself or with others, and I have not been having as much "fun" with it as I should (although starting this blog has added fun to my running!) The Chicago Marathon will be a "compete against my own self/PR" race still, but also should be loads of fun to run with Angela wearing our amazing matching outfits...which I will maybe reveal later this week...so get pumped for that! Anyways, I think deciding to run this race with Erin and help her get through it will be a great experience!

On a somewhat related note to training plans, I made a training plan for myself for the Chicago Marathon way back in June, but haven't been doing the greatest job at sticking to it...that's the hard part, isn't it?  But now, as of tomorrow, there will be 7 weeks left until the marathon.  That gives me 4-5 solid weeks of training before I have to taper.  So I'm going to make them the best 4-5 weeks yet.  And to help do so, I'm going to go back to posting the plan week by week here.  I kind of fell out of that habit when I was just running however I felt instead of following my plan.

I did some damage at Dick's this morning. They really rope you in with their coupons. I think these are the shorts I'll wear in the marathon. They'll go nicely with the matching singlets I alluded to above. Also, 13 new pairs of socks!! At Christmas, I got like a million new pairs of socks and threw away all my old socks because let's face it, they almost all had a hole or were just old. And somehow in the last 8 months, all of THOSE pairs managed to get holes. So, time for another sock purge.

On the schedule for tomorrow is 18 miles! That will be my longest training run yet, but I've had a few runs of 15-16 that have gone well, so I think it should be manageable. And I will have Mac to run with instead of my last couple long runs that have been done alone.

What is easier for you - making a training plan or sticking to it?

How often do you have to buy new socks?

A Nice Sunday Morning Run and This Week's Training

I met Mac this morning at the Elk Grove Forest Preserve to run the 7.7 mile loop.  It was a great conversational run - I learned a bit about Mac's ranch days in Montana which involved some elk hunting (legal elk hunting, of course).  We ran the entire loop without any regard to how fast we were going or our pace.  We estimated the first half was about 8 minute pace and then we picked it up to a faster pace for the last few miles.  There was less talking and more heavy breathing during that last mile! I could not wait to get home and make some breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes.

I had more than just that little one...but I had to eat it while it was hot and the next one was on the skillet so I snapped a quick pic and then dug in.

It was such perfect fall-like weather again today.  It's terrible as far as summer weather goes, but it's absolutely perfect for running.  If the marathon day could be weather just like this - about 60 degrees, partly sunny - I would be a happy camper.  Or runner.  I think ideal marathon conditions would actually be about 45-55 degrees, but I would take 60 degrees too.  Unfortunately, we won't know what the race-day conditions will be like until 11 weeks from now.

Recap of Week 7 of training:

Monday - 7 miles normal
Tuesday - Track Workout - 3.25 miles total
Wednesday - REST
Thursday - ran about 2 miles, then walked an hour w/ Catherine
Friday - REST
Saturday - 16 miles
Sunday - 7.7 miles w/ Mac
Total Weekly Mileage - 36

So now here we go into a plan for Week 8:

Monday - cross train
Tuesday - track workout
Wednesday - 6 miles
Thursday - cross train
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 18 miles
Sunday - REST

I decided that I'll use tomorrow as a cross training day since I had 2 good runs this weekend and I really want to get in some biking!  I still never did a fartlek like I said I was going to do last week, so maybe I will try to make Wednesday or Friday into one.  I'm getting a little nervous for the higher long run mileage now since I haven't done these long of runs in about 2 years.  But having Angela to run with this weekend and then my training group should hopefully help me out and keep me going strong.

What is your favorite thing to eat after a run or workout?

Week 7 Plan and Fartlek Workouts

So I did not run this past week.  Well, I ran about a grand total of 5 miles but it was so miniscule that I'm not even counting it really.  It was way too hot this week and I guess I just needed a mental break.  But now there are 12 weeks of training left for the Chicago Marathon.  I have a solid base so far, but now I really need to step up the mileage.  I say that every week, don't I?  So here's what I'm thinking for Week 7:

Monday - 7.5 miles normal
Tuesday - Track Workout
Wednesday - 7.5 miles fartlek
Thursday - REST
Friday - 6 miles normal
Saturday - 16 miles normal
Sunday - REST

This would put me around 40-45 miles for the week.  I'd really like to get up to at least 40 miles a week here on out, but I seem to be struggling with getting in 5 or 6 quality days a week.  I did make a new running playlist though, so maybe that will get me going.  What's on it, you ask?  I'll share that tomorrow because obviously it's awesome and I like to push my musical preferences onto others.  I'm going with 7.5 miles for my runs on Monday and Wednesday because I figure I will just do the forest preserve loop.  I'll try to make Wednesday a fartlek workout.  Here are some of my favorite fartlek workouts:

• 10 x :30 hard with 1:30 easy = 20 minutes total
• 10 x 1:00 hard with 1:00 easy = 20 minutes total
• 3 x 3:00 hard, 3:00 easy, 2:00 hard, 2:00 easy, 1:00 hard, 1:00 easy = 36 minutes total
• 6:00 hard, 6:00 easy, 5:00 hard, 5:00 easy, and so on down to 1:00 =  42 minutes total

Each of those workouts would also include a warm-up and cool down.  And for my lovely friends or family reading this who aren't really runners and don't know what a fartlek is, here is a general idea taken from the always reliable Wikipedia.  "Fartlek" is a Swedish word meaning "speed play" that blends continuous training with interval training.  This causes stress on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.  Technically then, I guess the Yasso 800s I did a week ago could be considered a fartlek since it was continuous running with fast intervals.

In other athletic news, I bought rollerblades last week!!  I am excited to use them, but it makes me a little nervous because I know rollerblading is just completely different muscles than running and I don't want to get injured if I fall or something.  But I definitely want to try them out sometime this week.  Katie will be home from St. Louis this weekend for 2 WEEKS and she has rollerblades so I'm envisioning some trips to Lake Arlington or the forest preserve together coming up.  Apparently, inline skating marathons are a thing.  So now added to my list of ultimate life goals is to complete a marathon on rollerblades.  I seem to think that it would be easier than running, or at least is a shorter time span than it would take to run a marathon.

What is your favorite fartlek workout?

Do you have rollerblades?

Week 4 Recap and Week 5 Plan

I'm not even going to do a real week 4 recap because (a) I don't have access to my Excel file with my plan (and won't for about 2 weeks - but I'll probably make a new make-shift one for now) and (b) there were extenuating circumstances throughout most of last week that caused me to not run at all Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I had a decent run on Monday which I wrote a bit about right after the run but never got around to posting it.  Maybe I will add to it after tomorrow's normal run and then post about both.  Thursday and Sunday I did races, which went as expected and Saturday I did the 10.5 mile long run.  So all the runs I did were good, but I also took 3 days off which was more than I would've liked and felt very exhausted all week.  I finished the week with 29 miles, so for 4 days I'd say that's decent.  If I would've gotten in the extra 1-2 days of running I definitely would've hit 35-40.  So it really was a true step back week and now I need to step it up.

Here's the plan I came up with for this week.  Once again, I don't even know what my original plan had, but I think it might even be better if I just make my plans week by week anyways.  I do already have my long run mileage figured out for each weekend leading up to the marathon, but the other days maybe I'll just go by how I feel each week as it comes.

If I do all these runs, that would put me at 45-50 miles which would be pretty high for what I have been doing the last couple weeks.  I put the long run on Thursday because as of now I am planning to visit Kristin and Tim in Cincinnati this weekend.  I am sure we would go out on Friday night and not be in long-run condition Saturday morning and I also don't want to do a long run there by myself (on hills) or risk not doing it at all.  I think I can convince Kristin to at least do a normal run with me ;)  So, goal is to do the long run Thursday evening.  I think I'll go to the Elk Grove Forest Preserve where there is an 8.3 mile loop and just go for it twice.  My plan for tomorrow actually is to go there and do 1 loop.  I just hope it isn't TOO hot in the evening.  I do imagine I'll ending making Friday a rest day so I can sleep in before driving to Cincy and being active all weekend, but maybe I'll have more energy this week and really want to get in another run.

Mac was talking about meeting up to do the Yasso 800s on a track this week and I said Tuesday would be the perfect night for me to do them.  Not sure yet if he'll be able to, otherwise I will plan to go and try to do them myself.  I've never done the Yasso 800s before and am a little nervous for them, but especially after today's 5K race I know that some speed training would really help me right now.  In case you were wondering what the Yasso 800s even are, I will post about them after I actually do the workout but in the meantime you can Google if you are super curious.

And now since this has been all boring running talk, I did at least do a few fun things besides run this weekend.  My favorite was after Saturday morning's long run, I met Steph and Catherine for brunch at Honey n' Jam in Lincoln Park.  I hadn't been there before but I would definitely recommend it.  I love all breakfast food though so I'd really recommend going for brunch anywhere, anytime.  Catherine and I had both done long runs that morning so after brunch we decided to go for a little walk to stretch out and talk.  Then I walked home...so much walking...but I stopped and treated myself to ice cream on the way.

So I leave you with a nice picture of my omelet (with bacon, cheese, and onion), potatoes, and toast.  What a great post-long run meal.

Do you like to plan out your days/weeks way ahead of time or just do what you feel?

Week 3 Recap and Week 4 Plan

Here is my recap of Week 3:



I think I need to figure out how to make my recap/plan show up a little bigger.  Or just stick to it exactly so that I can just say that it was perfect and not show all the variance.  I'm going to consider last week an exception to my normal routine though so I'm OK with it.  I didn't do any core or strength training either.  I actually did feel like I was "stronger" on my run yesterday during The Joe.  Maybe that's because I had just done the long run and could feel every muscle.  Luckily, it wasn't a feeling of soreness, but just a definite feeling that my muscles are working hard.

This week is also going to be a little varied because of the holiday and some 4th of July races.  So here is the plan I came up with for Week 4:



I was talked into registering for the 4 on the 4th race this week, so I think that will at least be a good way to get in a solid 4 mile fast run.  Catherine and Matt will probably register as well, and of course we will dress festively in Red, White, and Blue.  Holiday races are the best kind.  I was already planning to do the Arlington Heights Stampede Run 5K on Sunday so I guess that means racing twice this week.  It's a great course and a lot of family members do it or come out to cheer each year.  Here's a picture from 2 summers ago...the Smith family just loves running.

So I guess some general goals for the week will be:

• 40 running miles.  I haven't hit this yet in the past few weeks because I've pretty much only been running 5 days a week.  I'd really like to make sure I get in 6 days this week.  The race days will be lower mileage, and the long run is only 12 miles, but I this plan for the week would put me at 42 miles.


• Get in core and arm weight workouts.


• Run each of the races under 7 minute pace.  I think I can do closer to 6:45, but we'll see.  As long as I'm under 7 I think I'll be happy.


• Celebrate America.  Besides Christmas, this is my favorite holiday.  I imagine after the race, I will go to the parade and then to the pool all day.  Luckily, it looks like we will have good weather finally.

What is your favorite thing to do for 4th of July?

Week 1 Recap and Week 2 Plan

Week 1 Recap:



Week 1 ended up being a little less mileage than planned, mainly due to the triathlon.  It's still early though, and I'm still running more than I was at this time of year while training for the Columbus Marathon.  And even though the triathlon wasn't all running, it was still about 1 hour and 38 minutes of physical activity, with 3 good miles of running after I was already worn out, so that should be good for endurance.  I'll write about the triathlon in a separate post later...with pictures too.

Here is the plan for Week 2:



My goal for this week is going to be to do more of the core and weight training.  I didn't make it past Monday and Tuesday with it last week.  I'm going to have to do my long run after work on Friday so I had to change the schedule around slightly.  Michael said he would run with me Saturday morning, but not a long run...and not quite sure I'll actually be able to convince him to do any run, but I'll try.  It would be nice to get a good run in before all the
cake eating and champagne/cocktail drinkingwedding festivities of the day!  :)

Official Training Days 1 and 2

Plan for the week:



This was taken from the plan that I made based off some plans I looked at online and the plan from Coach Brendan, who will be coaching the Crossroads Runners.  I plan to meet up with that group on some Saturdays for long runs.  I made a plan for the entire 18 weeks, but I am pretty sure I will alter it depending on how each week goes (I already haven't stuck it to exactly).  My main focus will be making sure I get the long run in on the weekend and doing enough mileage the other 4-5 days of running to get 40 miles a week at the very least.

Angela also sent me a plan she will follow that includes a lot of core work (M,W,F) and weight training (T,Th) in addition to running and cross training.  She said she'll focus on core and weight training a lot in these first couple weeks and then cut back on that when mileage gets a bit higher.  I think that's a good idea so I'm going to try to get those workouts in also.

So here's the runs I did yesterday and today.  I just use www.mapmyrun.com and I never know quite how accurate they are, etc. but I try to be somewhat conservative with it.  Maybe I'll get a Garmin eventually.

Monday - 6.8 miles in 52:10 (~7:40 pace).  I went after work because I was so tired from the weekend to get up early.  There was crazy fog by the lake.  I thought I was going to get hit by a biker because you could not see far distances in it.  I ended my run at Xsport to do my first core workout.  I definitely could not do all of the exercises.  And I had no idea what some that were listed were, so I just did a plank or other type of sit-up/crunch as a replacement for those.

Tuesday - 7 miles in 55:25 (~7:55 pace).  Did this run in the morning...nothing too exciting.  I was sore.  Then after work I went to the fitness center in my work building for first time.  Here there are on a post-it I took to the gym with me:

The fitness center has very nice equipment!  All of the arm exercises I did used free weights so that was easy, but there was a ton of other nice equipment I will try to use too!