Every Mile Earned

Week 2: June 13 - 19 My training weeks run Monday to Sunday. I posted late last week so last week's long run is getting incorporated into this week too. Saturday, June 11th - Long Run ~ 15 miles From the first step out my door this run was difficult. My legs felt heavy and I was tired. The weather really plays a huge role for me. I like the temps hot and the sun shining.  It was chilly and cloudy and there was a threat of thunderstorms. I said it before, long runs are my weakness. I can't decide if it's mental or if there really is a barrier for me as the runs get up in distance.  I look back at last year and I only have one run, over 14 miles, that I would call successful. Last weekend I didn't run my LR with music so I wanted to try it again. I feel like the run goes faster without music. I typically train (my easy runs) with music but I rarely race or do speed workouts with it. Something about it, when I'm trying to run faster, annoys me. Most of t...

I have been avoiding the blog world for awhile now. Sometimes I just don't know how to type all I'm thinking, there's a huge disconnect between the brain and the keyboard. I have three race reports to still type. I could just let them go but I do like to reread them when running races of equal distance, to remember how I fueled, how the race went, etc. I've begun my next training cycle for my fall marathon.  It's early fall. I'm registered to run the Wineglass Marathon in October.  I've not yet had what I would call a good training cycle for a marathon. My two marathons have had injuries and then this last cycle, I let the weather and other things get in the way of proper training, which is why I downgraded from a full marathon the marathon relay. The race recap for that will be coming soon! So I'm really hoping this will be a good training cycle. I finished June's schedule at the end of May and this week, I finally finished the rough outline for...

I haven't updated in awhile. There's not a lot to update but I like to have this as a log for myself, too. I'm terrible with writing down anything about how I feel during training or a race, it all goes here or it's lost forever.  My training has really suffered this winter and we had a mild winter! It's very frustrating to me that I allowed myself to hide curled up under my blanket all winter instead of out doing what needs to be done. I'll fully feel that lack of training commitment in my marathon in just over a month.  I have a half marathon coming up and even that I don't feel as prepared for as last year and last year I had less miles going into the same race. I know some of my mental issue is that I'm comparing myself to my PR half last September and I'm just not in that shape.  I'm also a bit bummed that I realized that for my full at the end of May, I just have to treat it like a really long run and go easy at it. I don't want to comp...

"Well, I was a runner long before you!", was my response. Ok, you have to know My Musician's heart to know he was busting me in love and playfulness. There was no maliciousness in his comment. If anything it brought a bit of competition into me finishing my test and that competition paid off!!! I PASSED!!!   After a year of waiting and trying to get into the class, I am finally a RRCA Certified Coach with my amazing hubs as not only my partner in life but as a co-coach with me!!

Those who know me have heard this a million times, I hate winter. I hate to be cold and I don't like running when it's cold, the only exceptions are: I love running in a snow storm and I like how clear running in cold weather makes my lungs feel. Living in the Northeast, I may someday learn to like it but I truly prefer and excell in the heat of summer. So all that complaining out of the way, my miles for my upcoming marathon have really suffered. It's been a really hard decision but I'm really going to relax on my pace for this one. I had a goal time in mind but I don't want to chew my legs up that much.  My biggest weakness is endurance of long distance so I'm going to just continue to work on building the strength I'll need for my fall race. I've been working on a couple training plans and one of them mirrors what I'm doing, with the exception that the 2nd one has the appropriate mileage needed. I reached out to my instructors to get some mu...

We got our group picture today from our training in Deal, NJ.  I'm sporting some neon pink Sub Love (in case you have no clue what I'm talking about it's our Runner's World Sub Club on FB).  This was a really great group of runners and two very knowledgable instructors.  Time is ticking by very quickly. We only get a month to complete the test. Randy is wrapping up his test completion, while I'm only half done. In my defense I did have Tink home all week from school and I'm hoping to be able to sit with my test to finish it during the day this week.   I'm thinking my next post will be me announcing and celebrating our success on the test!  

Last weekend we attended the RRCA Coaching Certification course.  It was really informative and the amount of information was extremely overwhelming. I would have liked to have seen the class be 3 or 4 days instead. We attended the course in Deal, NJ.  We drove down on Friday and stayed for the weekend.  On the way down we stopped at The Crossings Premium Outlets in Tannersville, PA.  There's a candy store there that has the best candy apples ever!  We were just there in November on our way back from my marathon yet when we arrived, it was closed!!! I wanted to cry. I'd been looking forward to one but the store was completely empty.  Oh well.... We stayed at a hotel that clean-wise was really scary but at least all the employees were really nice. I seriously was afraid to put my bags on the floor. We had packed our bathing suits for the heated pool but after seeing the pool we decided to skip that activity. We checked in and headed to Deal to locate w...

Today I did a workout I haven't done in 8 months.  It was hard. I thought the hills were going to make my wobbly, tired legs collapse but I did them.  Since I'm starting from scratch with this workout, I only did 4 hill repeats but then the recovery miles afterwards are what I was super excited about. Each one was a progressively faster.  Not as fast as last year but a winter of minimal running and weight gain have really slowed me down.  It's frustrating but it's all my own fault. All I can do is move forward to getting back where I was last year. The other fantastic part about today's run was hearing the red wing black birds while I was running.  Spring is coming and with it better running weather. I love to run in the heat and I can't wait to start training in some hot afternoon sun. Our RRCA class is coming up. I'm really excited that after almost 2 years, this dream is finally so close to fruition! We have our business name picked out but have not y...

I like to do week in review when I'm training but January wasn't really a training month. It was more of survival month.  We had a pretty mild January but anyone who has ever spoken to me for more than 5 minutes, from December to at least the end of February, knows I hate winter. Even a mild winter (as much as I appreciate it) is still winter. If it's not 80 degrees outside, I'm cold. I've been battling congestion, a cold and general ill feeling. My family has been in the same boat.  I know I'm whining but it's so hard to get up and moving when it's dark and cold plus feeling like crud. My road. I don't run here when the weather is bad. I think of all the runs I did, one stands out as a really rough one.  It was in the teens and had snowed the night before. I wear Vibrams, which really lend zero protection from the cold.  I wore my trail ones to try to give myself a bit of traction in any snow I might encounter. It was in the teens my toes...