three things thursday: I’m a CLE Marathon blogger

January 26, 2012 2 Comments

I feel bad, I haven’t talked about it too much, other than in passing, but I’m a Cleveland Marathon blogger again this year. I know I’ve mentioned I’m running the race before as part of my Mohican 50 mile training. But I’m sure there are some new readers out there, so instead of making you dig, I figured I’d dedicate a three things Thursday to my hometown marathon.

1. I ran the half the past two years and CLE was my very first half marathon in 2010. I started running a year before it and I remember sitting in my room at my old apartment in 2009 reading blogs and news stories about the race and thinking, “I’m going to run that someday.” And a year later, I started this blog with about a month left of training and finishing the race was one of my proudest moments and really helped me realize that I can do whatever I set my mind to.

(talk about clueless when it comes to dressing for the weather... ha!)

2. As I mentioned above, the race is part of my 50 mile Mohican Trail Run training. For me, it’ll be just another day on my feet… with a medal at the end. For the essence of time, money and my overall sanity, I’m mixing long runs on roads and trails (I will be running two long days every weekend) until after CLE and then spend the rest of my training on all of the wonderful trails NEO has to offer. But I can’t deny my love of road races: the crowd support, the bands, the signs, the people from all different backgrounds. I’m excited to run the full CLE this year and finally experience everything the race has to offer, not just half of it :P

3. A while back, some of my twitter friends from other parts of Ohio (like Dave mostly), came up with the idea of the Ohio Triple Crown: Capital City Half Marathon, Flying Pig Marathon and the Cleveland Marathon. Before I was contacted about being a CLE Marathon blogger again, I had decided I was for sure doing Cap City and the Flying Pig as my own personal (and much less expensive and less stressful) Goofy challenge. And then I got a great email about running CLE as well. I still hadn’t chosen Mohican as a 50 miler (I was leaning toward one in August I may still do), so I figured, why not go for the triple crown? I don’t know if anyone who else who was included in the tweets is doing it for sure or not, but it’ll be pretty awesome.

 

Full disclosure: The wonderful people at the Cleveland Marathon gave me a race entry and I agreed to blog about my training and race day experiences. And you should know by now that I’m too snarky and opinionated and everything I post on here are my own thoughts and experiences. 

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run-less monday.

January 23, 2012 9 Comments

Long time no blog….

Not much has happened in the past week other than I’ve been doing things like working my butt off, yoga-ing and not running as much as I should be. I took two days off after Regis, went to hot yoga Wednesday morning and then did my first run (5.65 miles) with running club that night.

Oh and in between, I picked up this and had lunch downtown with my dad:

Yup, two years in a row I was at the top of my AG in the Hermes Cleveland Road Race Series. This year was considerably tougher. In 2010, I crushed everyone (sorry for the lack of humbleness), but this year there were more runners in my AG who participated in more races and I took two months off from the series because of plantar fasciitis. But anyway, I missed the awards brunch to run Regis, so I went down to the Hermes office to pick it up. And sad to say, but I will not be participating again this year because of all of my crazy trail races… that and I moved up an age group now and I like Jessica too much to kick her butt ;) (or fail miserably trying to beat her…)

So, back to the run… Running club was great. I felt awesome, fast and held on to the faster group the entire time (though a few guys were missing, but those are minor details). Nothing hurt. I ran a quick 4 on Thursday and had some soreness and a little bit of knee pain going downhill, but nothing to really bother me.

But Saturday, I headed out on another trail run/adventure. I started the run cold and frustrated (it had snowed all night) and very pissed off because I noticed this when I was putting my shoes on:

Yep. Nice big rip/hole in my Brooks trail shoes. I bought them in late October and don’t remember doing anything to my shoe last week that could have caused it (that foot didn’t get caught in either fall during the race). I was planning on replacing them in February, but I guess I get to now.

Around mile 6, my knee was hurting. By mile 9.5, I had enough and took the roads back to my car, only finishing 12.35 and the rest of the group did 15.5.

I was (and still am) pissed. I’m supposed to be training for Mohican. And Fool’s. And Cap City, the Pig and Cleveland.

I went to yoga in the afternoon to see my friends (Jess, Jen and Julie) at a class at the Yoga Room, led by Becca, who is going through YTT and is going to be super awesome! And with some assistance, I did something I never thought I’d do: a headstand.

Part of me wishes I had a photo to prove it, but that’d be obnoxious. Anyway, I’ve been to so many yoga classes before and never ever even attempted a headstand. The closest to an inversion I was always comfortable with was shoulder stand (and plow, but I don’t know if that counts.) I’ve always thought was too fat or too inexperienced to do it.

I guess all I needed was some help. And to be surrounded with people I actually know.

I’m off for more hot yoga. Fingers crossed I’ll be running again later this week!

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being in the present

January 18, 2012 3 Comments

Two days post marathon and I had yet to run. For some reason, my thighs were still reeling from the race Sunday, though my knee I fell on and the ankle I kept rolling were fine the following day. I decided to play it safe and let my first run back be with the Striders tonight.

Before the race, I decided on two goals for Mohican (both of which coincide with the fitness goals I set for myself a few months ago):

  1. Finish.
  2. Run the race in a sports bra.

So that means I need to get to work on my core strength and do some consistent ab work. And you know, go back to picking up a weight and lifting it myself. Not handing it to a client.

I decided to start with a 75-minute hot yoga class this morning at Cleveland Yoga. I’m going to be honest, I really struggled at the beginning of the class. Early on in the class, the instructor said something about breathing and being in the present in the practice. Yoga instructors say that kind of thing all of the time, but for some reason today, I really dwelled on it and thought about it the entire class.

Of course, I kept thinking of this:

I tried my best to focus only on the pose I was doing at that moment, moving with intention and giving it my best, not just going through the motions.

I left the class feeling more calm, relaxed and like I had just gotten my butt kicked with planks and several balance poses.

The more I think about being in the present, the more I want to make it a standard practice of mine in life and in my fitness endeavors. It seems as if my life lately has been more about where I am going, not how I’m getting there. I’m constantly talking/thinking about the next thing, whether it be a job, wedding planning dreaming (I’m not engaged…), apartment (though that is in the next like six months, I should get on that), racing, Badwater, etc.

I don’t know if I’m just mentally putting my life on hold right now, waiting for winter to end and October to roll around and the LT to come home and giving myself things to look forward to, or if I’m just doing a terrible job at focusing.

Either way, I’m about to start a really huge endeavor. I have no answers or way to try and focus on the present all of the time, but I’m going to try. I know there are moments I’m going to hate. Times I wish I hadn’t signed up for the Pig or Cleveland or Mohican. Days when I’d rather just lay in bed and sleep than go outside and run or work or whatever. But if showing up, taking the moment in and being present can add even some value, strength or fulfillment to my life, I’ll give it a shot.

I guess you can say I’ll try a little less bitching and a lot more namaste :)

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Run for Regis recap

January 17, 2012 8 Comments

Sunday, I ran the eighth annual Run for Regis (check out my race preview here!)

The race is a half, full marathon and 50K and runners can change distances during the race. It runs two loops: one 5.1 mile loop (green) and one 8 mile loop (orange) and repeat over and over until you are done.

I was on my own for this one (or at least without Erin. A few people I knew even asked me where she was!), but luckily I had Kirsten and her sister, bro-in-law and friend, Brian, to run with.

It snowed most of Friday and Saturday and Sunday morning, temps were in the low teens. . When I got out of the car, I kicked myself for running this race and not going to the Road Race Series awards brunch so I could get my last RRS first place female AG award (damn).

Shortly after 7:30, 200 or so of my closest friends and I were off into a big, snowy field (which later became a big muddy field):

I’m going to be honest, I don’t remember much from the loops at all. I do remember my hands being cold a lot… especially every time after we stopped and started again. I ran a lot with my hands balled up in a fist inside my glove. Case in point:

At least I’m still smiling?

The first two loops went well. I was feeling pretty good, nothing hurt, nothing was cold other than my hands and the only thing that really sucked was when my handheld froze and I couldn’t get it open. Luckily, the aid stations had hot water and I started filling my bottle with mostly warm water and a little cold to keep it from happening again.

The trails weren’t too bad at all. It was cold enough that the snow was packed, but not icy (yet) and we were moving along. We took a lot of photos, my hair was frozen:

After 13.1, Kirsten’s sister, Kelly, was done and finished with her first trail half! The rest of us lucky ones went out for more. The third loop (or second 5.1 mile loop) went by rather quickly. I don’t remember much about it either other than seeing Vince from Vertical Runner and some of the really fast guys coming through and finishing off the 50K. Oh and at mile 18.62, we saw a guy with a completely frosty and snowy beard.

About three-quarters of a mile into the last 8 mile loop (right by the ledges), we were going down a hill and I started talking to some guy walking up it with a dog. I was leading the pack (at this point, it was just myself, Kirsten and Brian. Mike had ditched us). And of course, next thing I know, I’m half on the ground, holding myself up with my arms. My left knee had crashed on the rock next to me and I don’t know what happened to my right leg, but it was OK. I passed it off like it was nothing and said it was about time one of us fell, brushed off the snow and kept going.

But pretty soon, I was in a world of hurt and so very badly wanted to stop. I decided that after the loop was over, so was my race and Run for Regis would become my third marathon/first trail marathon. I went back and forth in my head, telling myself that if I were feeling OK, I should change my mind and that if Erin were running with me, she wouldn’t let me quit (that and I don’t think I would have complained as much, ha). I became kinda bitchy and snippy and tried to push the pace a little because I wanted to finish the race and go home.

Of course, I fell again a few miles later. This time I didn’t hit anything, but again, caught myself with my hands and yelled some obscenities and nearly started crying in public. Fail. My knee hurt more and more and was just becoming an all over pain.

I started counting down the miles, but did my best to keep up and not completely just give up on it. After coming back up to the Ledges and seeing the open field again to the start/finish, I did what I do best and started kicking. At that point, I was on pure heart. My right leg was sore and my left just radiated in pain. With some words of encouragement from Brian, I pushed as hard as I could to the finish.

And then I crossed the line of my first trail marathon in 6:20:37. Mike, Kirsten and Brian all finished the 50K (so proud!) a little later. I stuck around long enough to eat some food and get my finisher’s gift:

Yes, that’s what you get in small races (especially trail ones). Though the race didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted, I’ll wear it proudly.

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Race Preview: Run for Regis

January 12, 2012 13 Comments

OK. So I decided this year I want to write previews for my races. A kind of who, what, where, etc. thing. Mostly for anyone on the fence about a race or considering one that I happen to be running to learn more about it and join in on its awesomeness. And I swear I have every intention of posting the previews for you to have enough time to register/train before the race sells out.

Just not this one…

So.

What: Run for Regis. It’s a trail race that benefits two causes. One is the Regis Shivers scholarship given to a high school runner to use for college in honor of Regis Shivers. The other cause the race benefits is the Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher House which is a non-profit that provides lodging to patients and family being treated at the Veterans Administration Medical Care Facilities in Cincinnati.

Where: Cuyahoga Valley National Park — Happy Days/Ledges Shelter loop and Kendall Lake/Salt Run trails.

(Click for source. The course goes down these steps. Scary when they’re dry. I’m a little nervous to go down them in the snow.)

When: January 15, 2012. The race is in its eighth year.

Distance: Half marathon, full marathon and 50K.

Other details: Registration is $60 for all distances and you can change distances during the event. All runners receive a Brooks vest upon finishing. The race is limited to 250 entrants (and it sold out within 6 days back in October. When I was in Vegas. I got in via the wait list :) )

Why I’m running: I picked this race for two reasons. 1. It’s in January. 2. It sold out by the time I had my ish together to register when I came home from vacation. That made me want it more. I’ve ran the course twice already and I’m slightly excited/terrified that this weekend, it’ll be covered in snow. Great.

Other bloggers running: Kirsten! It’s her first 50K! Show her some love :)

For more, check out the race website here.

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You mean I need a training plan?

January 10, 2012 8 Comments

Ugh. I often jokingly say things, like, “marathons? people train for those?” or “OMG you’re really tapering! Lame!”

It’s the trail runner in me.

Anyway, I met my friend Julie for coffee the other day and we talked about training plans and running and life and boys and everything women talk about in the comfy chairs at Starbucks. On the subject of race training, she said, “you’re type A, aren’t you?”

I really hate describing myself that way. I’m aggressive, competitive, thrive on a plan and need organization. But since I “trained” for Chicago, started running with a group and started getting away from road running, I’ve found that I’m a lot happier not being on a training plan. Don’t get me wrong, I still have goals, but not having that “OMG I’M GOING TO DIE IF I DON’T DO 6 MILES OF SPEEDWORK TODAY” feeling ever is pretty awesome.

That and I get extremely annoyed when I meet someone and they’re like, “yeah. I’m training for a marathon.” *then brushes dirt off shoulder* Wow. Good for you. So am I and everyone else. (I should note that I’m very happy people are getting out there and getting active, losing weight and achieving their fitness goals. But at the same time, one of the greatest running lessons I ever learned was to be humble. Running a 5K, half, full, ultra, whatever, doesn’t make you God, so don’t act that way. And those times I’m an arrogant asshole about ultras, I’m joking.)

Running is just a part of what I do. I pay to do it, so I figure there’s no need to ever feel like I’m really training.

But then I put my schedule together. When it was just a 50K, a half and two full marathons, I thought, “OK. Easy. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

But then I registered for the Mohican 50. And since I don’t know what I’m doing past the 31 mile mark, I figured I’d take my own advice and invest in some help:

(saw this pic on Skinny Runner‘s blog the other day. Perfect timing.)

I scoured the internet for a high-mileage 50 mile training plan that would work with my race schedule and get me across the finish line. Though I’m sure I could have kept going on the run long Saturday, run not as long, but still pretty long Sunday plan, I had to admit I really have no idea what I’m doing. So after looking at a bunch of plans, OK, there’s not a ton out there, I figured Hal Higdon’s Comrades training plan would be perfect. For starters, Comrades is the same week as Mohican. It’s a few miles longer, but that’ll just mean I’m extra prepared, right?

The plan is 24 weeks and begins right after I’m done with Regis. Luckily, the first few weeks are low in mileage and will give me that time to recover a bit before I’m running 24+ mile long runs again. For the first half, I’ll be worrying about long run mileage and then switching to the “hours on your feet” way of training. As for right now, I’ll be running Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and long on Saturday and Sunday. I still only have just the long runs planned out. So we’ll see how it all goes in June.

I’m not sure how I’ll incorporate road running yet and getting longer runs in there too. I’m big on the “practice where you play” thing, so I’m thinking maybe one weekend day will be roads and one will be trails. We’ll see.

What are your training plans like? Do you plan everything out or do you take it one week at a time?

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Protecting the long run

January 8, 2012 2 Comments

Since I don’t follow a training plan, I have one simple rule:

Protect the long run.

In a way, I don’t care as much about what I do the rest of the week, but as long as I protect the long run and get at least X miles in, I had a good week. When I trained for Chicago, I only planned out two and a half months of long runs and never cut those short. It worked and helped me feel less stressed and overwhelmed with a short training cycle.

And now that I’m staring at 50 mile training that starts in less than two weeks (ugh, I can’t believe I have a training plan for something and that it lasts almost six months, ew), I’m starting to worry about staying healthy and getting to the finish line on one of the toughest courses in the state (apparently). I’ve had a cold that’s lasted longer than a week (unheard of for me in the past two years). I have to nap every day and then 8-9 hours of sleep at night still isn’t enough and I have this constant tired look on my face. Not to mention, I’ve been taping both feet for plantar fasciitis for some time now and been wearing the stupid night splint again.

I’m not happy.

So something had to give. I have to protect the 50.

I’m currently a few hours away from going to bed without running today.

I’m trying not to dwell on it. I don’t want to settle for mediocrity and tell myself that it’s OK that I only lasted 76 days and that’s still a huge accomplishment. I set a goal. I didn’t accomplish it because I set an even bigger one that requires rest and recovery (thanks Hal Higdon).

With weeks pushing 75 miles, it just wasn’t possible. I’m not a machine. I need to keep my heart, my mind and my body healthy. I know the only person I’m really letting down is myself and I’m the one who’s going to have to deal with it. But I’ll get over it. I know I’ll thank myself later when I cross the finish line at Mohican.

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Three things Thursday: ways to stick with it

January 5, 2012 Leave a Comment

As a personal trainer and crazy ultra runner, I get a lot of questions about training, injury prevention, races, food, you name it.

One thing I continually am asked by new exercisers and new runners is, “how do you stay motivated every day?”

By now, it’s second nature and I really don’t have an exact personal answer as to how I do so.

So since it’s a new year and many of you are embarking on a new exercise program or taking on a new distance this year, here’s some tips on sticking to your goals:

1. Don’t listen to anyone. yes, I’m serious. Tell someone “I’m going to run a marathon in may,” or “I started a new weight lifting program,” and you’ll hear numerous tips, things you should do or eat and things you shouldn’t do. Take their advice with a grain of salt (pun intended) and remember what worked for them may not work for you and what’s best for someone else may not be in your best interest. Listen to the pros, read magazines and books and be a good student. Just because your coworker at the office ran a marathon doesn’t mean they’re an authority on training.

2. Invest in help. be it a friend, personal trainer, coach, gym membership, whatever, get help. An outside party will help hold you accountable and should have your goals and best interest in mind. Going it alone sucks, having someone to share the journey with makes you more likely to succeed and reach your goals. (emphasis on the sharing the journey part).

3. Take small steps. I could write months and months worth of posts solely on the topic of how to reach fitness and weight loss goals. But don’t bite off more than you can chew (pun intended again. I am full of bad clichés today..) But with big goals, especially weight loss goals, it’s best to break it into smaller goals that you can accomplish each week or month. For example, for one week, focus on keeping a food journal. If you can keep up with that for a week, the week after, keep journalist and then focus on taking a multivitamin every day. Small goals like that lead to big changes.

What has worked for you? Any more suggestions?

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2012 at the races

January 3, 2012 11 Comments

So, in my last post, I talked about how I finally bought myself a Christmas gift and signed up for my first 50 mile ultra. I’ve been really hesitant for the past two months to sign up for anything or even set a race schedule for myself because of weddings, leave, showers, work, etc.

But I was going crazy not having anything to train for (except for that 50K in a week and a half…). So I wrote a bunch of races on my calendar (in pen) and though I’m only registered for three of them, I’m sure more will follow.

I’ll tell you now, I’m not racing that much this year. In the past two and a half years, I’ve ran 41 races, so I’ve decided to become more choosy on what races I spend my money on. That being said, here’s what I’m doing this year:

Jan. 15: Run for Regis 50K. I’m getting a little nervous about the weather, but other than that, I’m ready for this race and looking forward to it. At least I am when I remember it’s happening and I’m registered for it…

April 1: Fools 50K. Registration opened today… I’ll probably sign up tomorrow. I had originally planned on running this as my first 50K. Haha.

May 5: Capital City Half Marathon. This will probably be the first part of a two-race weekend. But I am so ridiculously excited to run this half marathon again. Of the four I ran in 2011, Cap City was the most fun, best course and had some of the best spectators. I had a really really good time and I’m excited for the changes they’ve made this year and to help celebrate the bicentennial of my state capital.

May 6: Cincinnati Flying Pig. No, I’m not crazy. Traditional ultra training calls for back to back long runs and honestly, a half one day and full the next are not even within the time frames I’m supposed to be training in that weekend. But I’ve always wanted to run the Pig and I figure I may as well just head down to Cincy, since I’ll already be in Columbus.

May 20: Cleveland Marathon. I ran the half the past two years, it’s probably time I run the full. As one of the official bloggers again this year, I’ll be posting about my training (though, let’s be real, I’m more focused on Mohican), so expect a rather unique and not-so-normal training perspective in those posts.

June 15: Mohican 50 Miler. Boom, can’t wait.

July 14: Buckeye Trail 50K. This will be interesting. I’ve ran on bits and pieces of the Buckeye Trail (one day, I want to say I’ve ran the entire thing. Not at once. It goes all the way around Ohio). But from what I hear, it’s a really challenging 50K. Love it.

July 28-29: Burning River 100. No, I’m not running yet. I hope to crew or pace someone. If not, volunteer. But I have to put it in my schedule because well, it lasts for 30 hours… And if you know of anyone looking for crew, I’d love to help!

September 22-23: North Coast 24. I’m on the fence about this one, but it may be a great way to mentally prepare for things to come in 2013.

September 29: Akron Marathon. It’s about damn time.

October 21: Columbus Marathon. I don’t know if I’ll be running the half or the full. I’m leaning toward the half marathon just so I can rest after a big September (like if I do for sure complete 80-90 miles at NC24). But I this race holds a special place in my heart, obviously, so I definitely want to go back.

I’m sure I’ll do the Turkey Trot and Pigskin Classic again. Those are must-do’s every year. Other than that, this obviously isn’t going to be my year of setting new PR’s and getting faster. I’m OK with that, I’d like to focus on just simply going longer.

What’s your race calendar look like for 2012?

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Here’s to 2012

January 1, 2012 7 Comments

Happy New Year!

I couldn’t be happier with the way 2011 ended — I ran 22 miles Saturday on the Regis course. Erin and I joined some new friends, including Kirsten, whose blog I’ve been reading for a very long time and we now finally got to meet and talk and run together:

(Many thanks to her bro-in-law/Facebook for the pic! That was after 14 miles and I was already that muddy. Yuck.)

Those 22 miles rounded out 214 for December. My highest mileage month EVER (my second highest was 170 in November!). Because of laziness in the winter and injury in the spring, I only totaled 1,451.25 for the year. But with all of the crap that happened, I’ll take it. I only had four of 12 months under 100 miles (and March and May were just barely under 100, each had about 96), so I’ll consider it a good effort.

I’m looking forward to 2012 bringing many great things and new challenges. In fact, I plunked down a nice chunk of change and registered for one of those challenges today:

Merry Christmas to me! I’ll be running the 50 mile race on June 16. I know I can do it, but I’m mostly terrified at the thought of it right now.

So, here’s to another year. New races, new distances, new trails, new friends and a whole new journey :)

Happy running!

 

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