Finished 15 miles yesterday morning. Crazy! It was definitely hot by the end and was tough the last few miles, but I got through it in under 3 hours. Having a little extra encouragement on the last 6 miles definitely helped too. It's a little overwhelming to think about running 11 more miles than that, but I am trying to just focus on the next training run and not worry about the full 26 miles yet.
Looking at the training schedule, there are 14 more weeks until the race and 13 more long runs. I am definitely not wishing away the rest of the summer and fall, but it's crazy to think that November isn't really that far away. I also love the warm weather, but would really love for it to be about 15-20 degrees cooler during my runs. Who knows...maybe I will run like a speed demon if it were just a little cooler?!
Lisa
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Back on track
The past two weeks felt a little off with training because of the heat mostly. But I also think I finally hit a few days where I didn't really feel like going out to run, but dragged myself out anyway.
This week I feel like I am back on track. I was off from work for 3 days at the beginning of the week and was up in the Adirondacks. I got in 3 miles total in the pouring rain up at Racquette Lake on Monday. I had planned on the 5 in my schedule, but I had to abruptly book it back to the campground when I hear thunder. On Wednesday I ran 5.6 miles with Melissa up at Saratoga Spa State Park. It was such a great place for a run with great company. Tonight I got in 8 miles which felt pretty good too.
The real test will be Saturday when I have to run 15 miles. Yep that's right. 15 miles. That will be my longest run so far and would also push me over 30 miles for the week which would be a first for me too. The plan is to run a 14.2 mile loop on the Charles between North Beacon and the Science Museum. I am going to add a trip over the Mass. Ave bridge and back to get up to 15 miles. I will have a running buddy for the last 5.7 miles which will be a help for the last bit too. After this run Saturday, there are only 13 more long runs until the marathon!
Lisa
This week I feel like I am back on track. I was off from work for 3 days at the beginning of the week and was up in the Adirondacks. I got in 3 miles total in the pouring rain up at Racquette Lake on Monday. I had planned on the 5 in my schedule, but I had to abruptly book it back to the campground when I hear thunder. On Wednesday I ran 5.6 miles with Melissa up at Saratoga Spa State Park. It was such a great place for a run with great company. Tonight I got in 8 miles which felt pretty good too.
The real test will be Saturday when I have to run 15 miles. Yep that's right. 15 miles. That will be my longest run so far and would also push me over 30 miles for the week which would be a first for me too. The plan is to run a 14.2 mile loop on the Charles between North Beacon and the Science Museum. I am going to add a trip over the Mass. Ave bridge and back to get up to 15 miles. I will have a running buddy for the last 5.7 miles which will be a help for the last bit too. After this run Saturday, there are only 13 more long runs until the marathon!
Lisa
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Death by Treadmill
OK so there was a crazy heat wave last week here in Boston. My schedule had me running 14 miles on 7/23. Well as we know heat waves and running don't necessarily mix. As a result, I decided about mid-week to run on the treadmill on Saturday. I managed to run 7.2 miles on Wednesday night, but it was definitely a hot one.
In addition to a pool....it turns out I have a gym membership that I pay for each month. Of course I haven't run inside since January, so I haven't used it in a while (I know I should cancel it), but I busted out the membership card just for this past weekend. I was at the gym at 7AM sharp and I managed to get through 10.1 miles on the treadmill total. I got through the second hour mostly because Kara showed up at the gym at 8AM to run next to me. I can't tell you how much it helps having someone to run with. I basically counted down the first hour to how many minutes until Kara got there and then had someone to chat with once she got there. If anyone has any questions about what was headline news in Boston on Sat. morning between 7-9AM, I can definitely fill you in too because I watched WAY too much local TV news during that time.
I don't plan to ever have to run that far on a treadmill again. I think 3 or 4 miles would be my max, but I managed it and hopefully won't have to do that again!
Lisa
In addition to a pool....it turns out I have a gym membership that I pay for each month. Of course I haven't run inside since January, so I haven't used it in a while (I know I should cancel it), but I busted out the membership card just for this past weekend. I was at the gym at 7AM sharp and I managed to get through 10.1 miles on the treadmill total. I got through the second hour mostly because Kara showed up at the gym at 8AM to run next to me. I can't tell you how much it helps having someone to run with. I basically counted down the first hour to how many minutes until Kara got there and then had someone to chat with once she got there. If anyone has any questions about what was headline news in Boston on Sat. morning between 7-9AM, I can definitely fill you in too because I watched WAY too much local TV news during that time.
I don't plan to ever have to run that far on a treadmill again. I think 3 or 4 miles would be my max, but I managed it and hopefully won't have to do that again!
Lisa
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Melrose Place and Dunkin Donuts
The plan for this Saturday's run was 12 miles. My route was to go from my house, to the Charles, down to the Museum of Science, and back. I made a slight miscalculation and that ended up only being 10.5 miles and not 12 as I thought. Oh well. Next Saturday is 14 miles and I have that one down for sure, so I figure it's ok.
I tried the run/walk plan for the first time on a long run. I set my watch to run 7 minutes and walk for a minute. I have to say it made the running a little choppy. I think it is supposed to make me run faster since I have the walk break, but I think it actually made me want to just stop and walk all the time. I am going to extend the time to 8/1 for next weekend and see how that goes. I think I just need to get used to it.
I added something else to my "post long run" routine this week. So it turns out I have a pool at my condo! I actually knew this already, but I never use it. Well we might as well call it Melrose Place. I didn't go in the pool all last summer, but went for a swim for the first time yesterday. You would think that going to Melrose Place would be annoying because it is crowded and you almost gag from the smell of all the oil. Actually no! The huge benefit of Melrose Place is that no one is actually in the water....they are all roasting in the sun by the side of the pool drinking 40's of Coors Light. What a benefit for me! The only important thing to keep in mind if you want to swim at Melrose Place is you have to go early enough before they bust out the Beirut raft.
One other fact that I noticed this past Saturday morning.....I think if someone did an official study, they would see that 99.999% of people walking on the sidewalks in Boston between the hours of 8AM-10AM on a Saturday morning are carrying the most delicious looking Dunkin Donuts Iced coffee. I mean really people. I think I passed about 50 of them before the end of my run when I was actually able to drink one. I know this seems like a stupid thing to obsess about, but what else is there to think about when you are running for almost 2 hours?
Lisa
I tried the run/walk plan for the first time on a long run. I set my watch to run 7 minutes and walk for a minute. I have to say it made the running a little choppy. I think it is supposed to make me run faster since I have the walk break, but I think it actually made me want to just stop and walk all the time. I am going to extend the time to 8/1 for next weekend and see how that goes. I think I just need to get used to it.
I added something else to my "post long run" routine this week. So it turns out I have a pool at my condo! I actually knew this already, but I never use it. Well we might as well call it Melrose Place. I didn't go in the pool all last summer, but went for a swim for the first time yesterday. You would think that going to Melrose Place would be annoying because it is crowded and you almost gag from the smell of all the oil. Actually no! The huge benefit of Melrose Place is that no one is actually in the water....they are all roasting in the sun by the side of the pool drinking 40's of Coors Light. What a benefit for me! The only important thing to keep in mind if you want to swim at Melrose Place is you have to go early enough before they bust out the Beirut raft.
One other fact that I noticed this past Saturday morning.....I think if someone did an official study, they would see that 99.999% of people walking on the sidewalks in Boston between the hours of 8AM-10AM on a Saturday morning are carrying the most delicious looking Dunkin Donuts Iced coffee. I mean really people. I think I passed about 50 of them before the end of my run when I was actually able to drink one. I know this seems like a stupid thing to obsess about, but what else is there to think about when you are running for almost 2 hours?
Lisa
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Ok it's getting serious now....
This Sat. was a 13 mile training run. And it's the beginning of running at least 13 miles for the next 15 of 17 Saturdays. Really? Yes. I guess this marathon training thing finally hit me this week. I mean I've been looking at the training schedule every day, but the long training runs just finally sunk in. The 13 mile run yesterday actually went pretty well. I ran around the Charles the loop between North Beacon Street and the Longfellow Bridge. Kara was able to join me for the last 6 miles which was a huge help!
My time for the run was 2:28. I am hoping to run the marathon in around 5 hours or a little under, so I'm pretty on track, but we'll see how the rest of the long runs go. For the next long runs, I need to work on the walk break part too. I had intended to do the run/walk Jeff Galloway method for the long runs, but haven't really gotten into it yet. I got some advice from my friend who runs faster than a speeding bullet (you know who you are :)) and she said I need to get on track with the run/walk. The exact words may have been "do I need to get on your case about the walk breaks?" Apparently my GPS watch can even be set up to beep when it's time to walk and run again. So I got out the watch manual and I think I'm set for the next long run. I have the intervals set up so I can run for 7 minutes and then walk for 1. That's going to be my plan for next weekend, so we'll see how it goes!
One last thing...I also discovered my favorite part of my "post race routine". Getting a Boston creme donut! I mean I always get an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, but when else are you going to go for the donut except after a long run. Nothing like a shot of empty calories to make you feel like a million bucks after running!
Lisa
My time for the run was 2:28. I am hoping to run the marathon in around 5 hours or a little under, so I'm pretty on track, but we'll see how the rest of the long runs go. For the next long runs, I need to work on the walk break part too. I had intended to do the run/walk Jeff Galloway method for the long runs, but haven't really gotten into it yet. I got some advice from my friend who runs faster than a speeding bullet (you know who you are :)) and she said I need to get on track with the run/walk. The exact words may have been "do I need to get on your case about the walk breaks?" Apparently my GPS watch can even be set up to beep when it's time to walk and run again. So I got out the watch manual and I think I'm set for the next long run. I have the intervals set up so I can run for 7 minutes and then walk for 1. That's going to be my plan for next weekend, so we'll see how it goes!
One last thing...I also discovered my favorite part of my "post race routine". Getting a Boston creme donut! I mean I always get an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, but when else are you going to go for the donut except after a long run. Nothing like a shot of empty calories to make you feel like a million bucks after running!
Lisa
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Got the Uniform
I picked up a great package from UPS today. Included in the package was a letter stating that enclosed was my official Fred's Team uniform which included a short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, and a pair of shorts. Here's one of the shirts.
![]()
It's so exciting to have the "official" outfit and be part of the team!
Lisa
It's so exciting to have the "official" outfit and be part of the team!
Lisa
4th of July in Washington, DC
It was another great 4th of July in DC visiting John and Jay. This was the 4th year in a row that I've gone down for a visit over the 4th! Since I had to run 11 miles on Sunday, which was my longest run so far, John helped to map out a great route that went by all the monuments and he biked while I ran. Here's where we went.....we started around V and 15th street, down to Pennsylvania Avenue, up and around Capitol Hill, down next to the mall past the monument, around the Jefferson Memorial, over Memorial bridge to Arlington National Cemetary, past the Lincoln memorial, past the white house and back up 15th street. What a great run! On the 4th, I ran down to the White House and took this picture. And then had great food, with fun people and saw fireworks that night.
Lisa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)