A Nice Welcome Back

After taking last week off, I’m back to running. I am off two minds looking back on my self-imposed / snow-imposed hiatus. On the one hand, it felt good to stay up a little later than my usual 8 o’clock bedtime and even better to sleep in 2 hours more than usual. However, I also let myself eat many more cookies than I usually do and by the middle of the week I was feeling sluggish and unhealthy.

I’ve run every morning since Saturday but it wasn’t until this morning that I felt like I was finally back in the groove. The first run post-hiatus went better than I expected, especially since it was raining cats and dogs during the run. I did a five mile run and with the unusually warm temperatures, the rain actually felt nice instead of burdensome. The bike trails were still snow covered before it started raining so I was running through puddles of slush/snow mix. By the end of the five miles, I was happy to be inside some place warm and dry but still thrilled to have completed a run finally.

Sunday was a gorgeous winter morning. Cold but refreshingly crisp (instead of biting), the snow glistened in the snow and ice glistened in the snow as it slowly melted. Birds were out chirping and there were plenty of runners out on the trails, many of whom looking to equally glad to be out running on such a beautiful morning. The bike path had been significantly cleared from the previous day’s warmer temperature and rain so dodging ice was less of an issue than the day before. I only slipped once; the bridges were still covered in snow, slush and ice.

The schedule has a long run of 15 miles for Sunday but I told myself to just go out and run until it felt like it was time to come home. I ended up running a very satisfying 9.5 miles.

Monday I ran an easy 5.3 miles in the early morning hours before work and it made me realize how much I missed my predawn runs. I went out at an easy and relaxed pace – like a little, running monk, Ommmmmm.

I am surprised at how easy it was to get back in to my routine and that none of the runs have been a struggle but it wasn’t until today that I felt like I was really back from a break. This morning’s 10 miles were perfect. I felt like I was gliding along the path this morning instead of pounding away at the pavement. It was effortless and energizing. I didn’t see anyone else on the bike path for close to an hour so it was just me floating along this morning, enjoying the solitude, the dark, the (relative) quiet. Running felt awesome – I felt quick, the hills hardly gave me any issues, I felt like the Energizer Bunny, as trite as that is, it is true! It turns out my pace wasn’t anything surprising (I was secretly hoping it would be even though I wasn’t pushing the pace at all) – a steady 10 minute mile but it felt so easy.

It is good to be back!

Daily Dozen:
10 miles run @ early morning
(planned) Strength Training @ lunch hour(planned) 3 miles run/walk after work w/ Jenn

Confession

I have a confession to make: Today is Wednesday and I haven’t run since last Friday. That’s five days of no running! This the longest stretch of voluntary non-running for me since I started running over three years ago (not including the month of non-running due to injury last year). I have been a victim of the great Blizzard of 2009 and quite frankly, I can’t say I mind too much.

Rather than stress out about it, I have decided that as a Christmas present to myself I am taking this week off and I am not going to stress out about it. The roads, sidewalks and bike paths around me are still horrendous. I have seen a few runners out and about but it looks like they are having a hard enough still trudging through the snow and slush, not to mention the extra effort needed to remain upright because of the (sometimes hidden) patches of ice all over the area.
I will admit that I have easy access to the treadmills in the gym at work and they have been calling my name (I am thinking about succumbing this afternoon) but I have been enjoying this whole non-running thing. Consider it a re-boot for the coming marathon training that starts in January.

Don’t worry though, I haven’t been idle! Saturday and Sunday were spent on lots and lots of snow shoveling. Monday I took a long walk in the snow since I have the day off from work due to the snow. I’ve also been baking cookies and….well, and eating them!

Next week, it’s game on. For now…Merry Christmas and enjoy the holiday!

Daily Dozen:
Not a thing…for now!

Vacation + Running = ??

Vacation and consistent running don’t always mix well for me.

First, I am such a creature of habit. I love having a schedule; knowing exactly what I’m going to be doing and when I’m going to be doing it. When something disrupts that schedule, I get thrown for a loop and don’t get as much accomplished as I could (should? would?) have normally. Without a specific plan on a weekend, I can very easily and quickly waste two whole days as a lazy lump on the couch, not even bothering to get dressed. This is why I like to get my run in first thing on Saturday morning. With my run accomplished, I have the momentum to keep going for the rest of the weekend…well, the rest of Saturday, at least.

Vacations throw the schedule right out the window. Whoosh!

As running has become a larger part of my life and who I am, I’ve been getting better at carving out vacation time to run. I’ve hoped on a few treadmills in hotel gyms (never great) and I managed a run or two in Bar Harbor, Maine, even hopping on a trail in to Acadia National Park (awesome). I’m better about getting in runs while I am in Vermont visiting my parents (mostly because my Mom expects me to run and will ask me whether I’m going out the next day…she even drives me to a great location to run, how could I not run). This past vacation to Miami proved to be the best in terms of running consistently; mainly, because I made running a part of my regular “vacation” schedule.

Since Mike was in a conference most of the time we were in Miami, I got used to waking up and going out for a run. It is what I did every morning – wake up, nibble on something, go out for a run on the beach, come back, shower, eat breakfast, hit the pool or beach by 10. This became my norm – day in, day out.

Not a bad way to vacation, huh?

However, this routine was thrown out the window (whoosh!) when Mike’s conference ended. This brings me to the second reason vacationing and running don’t mix well for me. I am very reluctant for my running to cut in to the time I spend with Mike. It’s why I run in the morning and why I’m so bad with running after work or weekend afternoons. Vacation time equals our time and I hate to intrude on our time with me time. I know Mike wouldn’t mind but I hate to do it anyway.

It’s OK though. I loved my early morning beach runs as much as I loved sleeping in and sitting on beach with Mike the rest of the time. This was my view for most of my time in Miami. Who could resist the urge to be lazy?

We got plenty of walking in and I even managed to sneak in some kayaking.

Vacation Recap:
Sunday – XT, Kayaking
Monday – 9.4 mile run (4.5 miles on the beach – running on the beach is HARD!)
Tuesday – 10 mile run
Wednesday – 9.3 mile run (first 5 miles w/ intervals, 6 minutes easy/1 minute hard)
Thursday – 5.8 mile run (nice and easy, my legs are tired)
Friday – touristy walking
Saturday – mostly just sitting, reading and napping on the beach *sigh*

New Attitude

I have been listening to old episodes of the Running Times podcast and I recently heard one from October 2008. The guest on the show was Bob Kennedy, an American record holder, who was the first non-African to break 13:00 in the 5,000m distance. He discussed his thoughts on the mentality needed in order achieve breakthrough performances in running.

One of his ideas that really stuck with me (and I’m paraphrasing here), is that a runner can show up on any given day with two different attitudes – one, wondering “how much am I going to fail today” or two, “I wonder how much I’m going to succeed today.” Of course, both of these depend on other factors – strength in training, sleep, nutrition, overtraining, proper recovery, etc. but it just reminded me how much of this sport is a mental game as well as a physical one.

How much am I going to succeed today?

What a great perspective. The optimism in that attitude is tremendous. The first attitude is one of fear, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to weed out of my running. Running scared is no way to run. Even if I don’t meet my goals for a particular run or race, at least I started out with a positive attitude. I started out looking to succeed rather than trying to control my fears.

I continue to run strong and consistently and this attitude is exactly what I need to add to my running. How much am I going to succeed today!

As I start this new month, I am looking to take my mileage up to the next level and hold it steady at 45-50 miles a week until I start training in January for the Country Music Marathon. I’m going to ask myself this question, each time I start to question my abilities, each time I start to lose confidence in myself and my running.

My current marathon PR is 4:19:09. My last half marathon time predicts a sub-4 hour marathon time. When I initially saw that prediction, my reaction was “no way!” but now, I want to rethink. Rather than shy away from the sub-4 hour goal, I am going to embrace it. If I don’t get a sub-4 in Nashville, it just means I didn’t succeed as much as I could have succeeded. It doesn’t mean I failed.

Also, this new attitude may have inspired me to try a different kind of race. Who knows? Maybe I’ll give it a shot! We’ll see where this new attitude takes me.

Daily Dozen:
10.36 miles this morning (first run below 30 degrees – definitely wore tights this morning)
XT and push ups and other strength training @ lunch hour

Flirting w/ higher mileage

When I am not actively training for a marathon, the stress of hitting certain miles each run, going to bed early and eating to fuel my runs melts away during the month following the race. It’s not that I let myself go or anything, I am still pretty disciplined (that being part of the point of this very blog; to stay accountable to daily activity) compared to how I lived prior to becoming a runner. It is just that my running tends to get a little “fuzzy.”

After each of my three marathons, my weekly running mile tended to settle in the mid 20s. This was good enough in between marathons but I still felt like I was starting over whenever I started training for the next marathon. During the last few miles of marathons 2 and 3, I’ve started to fade and I think this has more to do with my running base going in to the training phase rather than the training phase itself. Over the summer, fully settling in to 20 mile weeks, I resolved to make a change – I want my next marathon to be strong, from start to finish and the way to get there is through building a better running base.

During August and September, I made an effort to run more miles and I was comfortable running weekly mileage in the 30s; however, my efforts weren’t really focusing. I was still running fuzzy. This Fall, I have made decided effort to gain some focus without being too rigid.

During the month of October, each week I tried to hit 40 miles by Sunday. I was hitting this mileage consistently for the month and my legs were holding up well against the increased mileage. Throughout this month, I’ve been aiming for a weekly mileage of 45 miles. Due to life outside of running, I haven’t been able to hit it as consistently as I was hitting 40 in October but I have running very strong at this higher mileage all month long.

I really couldn’t be more pleased with my running at the moment and it has even had tremendous impact in other ways I didn’t intend. For one, my weight has dropped (almost 5 pounds below what I was over the summer) and seems to be continuing on this downward trend. I have much better muscle tone in my legs, especially in my quads and glutes.

Best of all, my pace has increased (see Breakthrough) at all my paces and even on my training runs. "Just Run" has me running consistently at a 10 minute mile pace. Awesome!

Another change I’ve made, in addition to the higher mileage, is incorporating pushups during the day. My goal, each day, is to get in 100 pushups from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. My core is strong than it ever has been before and on “good” days I can see a “one-pack” starting to peak out.

Things are going well (I really hope I didn’t just jinx it!)

Run Strong!

Daily Dozen:
Cross-training (recumbent bike) and Strength Training @ lunch hour
3.7 miles after work with Jenn (planned)

Lees Woods Trail - Leesylvania State Park - Hike

Saturday we decided to go for a short hike in order to enjoy the unusually nice fall weather – clear and temperatures in the 60s – so we headed south to Leesylvania State Park in Prince William County, VA.

We decided to try the Lees Woods Trail because of the historical significance – the trail would take us by Colonial and Civil War points of interest. The trail head is located near Freestone Point Beach, which we decided to save for last. We started up the trail, which quickly led us past an amphitheater.

This first part of the trail comprised one of the several short but steep inclines along the almost 2 mile long hike, as we made our way to the bluffs overlooking the Potomac River. Atop this hill, there are the remains of a Confederate gun battery which successfully held off the Union ships during the Civil War.

Next the trail took us past the ruins of Light Horse Harry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee. One of the things I love about living on the East Coast is all of the American history that just seems to be lying around in the woods waiting to be discovered over and over again. It is amazing to me that the chimney, the foundation of the house and outlying buildings and even the well are still around.

The best part of this hike was the crunch of leaves underfoot. The trail was blanketed by fallen leaves that we swished our way through, making a tremendous amount of noise. There is something about kicking up leaves that reminds me of being young, raking up the leaves in to a big pile to jump in to. Whenever I hear this sound, I am instantly taken back to those fall days.

Noisily, we made our way along the trail, up to the site of the original Lee plantation. Although there is very little of the house left (only a foundation wall is barely visible across a small ravine), it is still interesting to stand in the same spot as these people did so long ago. Interestingly, one of Lee’s neighbors, only 14 miles north, would often stop by for dinner and lodging on his way to Williamsburg – one Mr. George Washington.

The trail also took us past the small, private cemetery where the Lees are buried. Their headstones have either been lost to time or moved, four people remain buried here including…. It seems like such a beautiful and peaceful spot to be your final resting place, except for all those hikers who come through each year…

As we wound our way along the rest of the path, we couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly nature takes back the land. Both a road from the 1950s and a railroad from the early 1900s ran through what is now Leesylvania State Park and other than the land that was flattened to make way for each, you’d never be able to tell either had existed. Trees have grown back along with flowers and bushes. If no one touched this land, how long would it take before all traces of humans had disappeared? Probably not as long as you’d think.

The trail soon led us back to where we started and for a short, easy hike it was fun because of the beautiful weather and the history along the way.

Before leaving the park; however, we walked over to Freestone Point Beach to check out the fishing peer. The views along the river were wonderful and about a quarter of the way on the pier, we officially crossed the state line from Virginia into Maryland!

Here's another picture I took along the way...

Us - some where along the trial.

Breakthrough

I am so happy with the way my running is progressing this fall. I am running stronger and faster, and it feels good. When I finished my run this morning, I was proud of myself and my running.

When I started running, I read as much as I could about how to start running. I mean, it sounds easy…just go out and run…but it turns out, there is quite a bit to learn. Everything I read aimed at beginner running emphasized that slow was the name of the game. If you wanted to make it the distance and cross the finish line (how ever far away that finish line may be) strong, you had to go slow and avoid crashing.

This is exactly how I ran during the training for my first marathon. I repeated “slow and easy, just take it easy Becki, nice and slow” over and over on every long run; and, it worked. I progressed from 10 to 12 to 15 to 18 to 20 milers and finished each one tired but strong and with confidence.

I was so careful not to go out too fast and that caution developed into apprehension and fear. I honestly believe that I have been afraid to go fast, thinking that if I ran fast I would crash. I was afraid of the fatigue and ache. I was afraid of the pain. It is so silly but somehow so very, very true. As I continued to run after my first marathon, I never really let go of the “slow and easy” approach.

However, something changed after I was injured last year. My running mantra changed from “slow and easy” to “steady and strong” as I rebuilt my running base. I credit this new mantra for helping me improve my marathon time by 15 minutes and finishing strong in my third marathon.

That race was just the beginning because this summer and fall, after recovering from the marathon, I have been focused on increasing my weekly mileage. Forty miles used to be my marathon peak week and now, after slowly building up all summer and fall, for the past month it has been my normal weekly mileage. I feel like a whole new runner – stronger, faster and more confident in my ability.

…and it shows. I have run a PR at every race distance this fall except for the marathon. My 5K PR dropped by two minutes and I know I could have run that one faster (I was just starting to lose my fear of running fast and was still transition to higher mileage). I smashed my 10K PR by over six minutes. I brought my 10 mile race PR down a minute after a tough a race (well, tough for me). However, the one that proves to me I am truly improving is my new half marathon PR, dropping it six minutes and feeling like I could have run forever as I crossed the finish line even after a ridiculous 6.25 mile “warm up” run. I wish I had a marathon planned this fall because I know I could make a serious dent in that PR as well. I think this is sufficient evidence that I’ve had a breakthrough in my running. I’m so excited to see what this new level of running holds for me.

Daily Dozen:
6 miles in the morning (rainy and cold)
Strength Training @ lunch hour