Marathon Training Plan

Yikes! I'm not sure that I'm actually capable of doing this. But, I guess I'll give it a shot. (That doesn't seem like a great attitude to go into this, does it? That's more my way of giving myself an out if I don't follow through, than actually thinking that I'm not capable of accomplishing this if I focus and set my mind to it. But I really do want to do this. Is that all it takes? A certain amount of drive? I hope so.) (Oh my goodness. About to hit Publish, and realized I need to add the label "marathon training". I am a bit scared by the prospect of starting this.)

Anyways, just two more weeks of doing whatever, and then I have to get to it! I have a few races built in - the two halfs are actually semi-deliberate to be used as training runs, and to hopefully set a massive half marathon PR so I can assure myself that I won't take 7 hours to finish the full. The 5k is just a race that I've done before by an organization I like supporting (NW Veg). 

I have a road trip planned with Abe in July, which starts with my high school reunion, so the 16-miler that weekend will be utilized as a way of showing him around my hometown. I'm not sure yet how I'll fit in runs the rest of the trip, but we'll figure it out. I also realized as I was putting the final touches on the plan that I'll be traveling to attend my cousin's wedding the weekend right before I start tapering, so that'll also require careful logistics to fit in that last 20 mile run!

This plan is a largely based on a SmartCoach plan, with some input from a Hal Higdon plan. On non- or light-running days, I also plan to do two strength training and one yoga or pilates workout each week.

Recovery Week

Workouts:

Monday: 30 Day Shred level 1 workout

Tuesday: 3.55 mile run (12:47 pace)

Wednesday: 2 mile treadmill run (0.5% incline, 11:16 average pace, including 4 0.25 intervals at 10:00)

Friday: 30 Day Shred level 1 workout

Sunday: 2.3 mile run (12:00 pace)

Total miles: 7.85

Hippie Chick Half Training: Week 8

Workouts:

Monday: 3 mile run (12:28 pace)

Wednesday: 3.25 mile run (11:55 pace)

Saturday: Hippie Chick Half Marathon (2:58:48 official time, 13:38 pace) - No new PR :( but better than I did at the same race last year (when it was my very first half).

Sunday: 2.54 mile run (13:06 pace) (Yes, this run and my weekly total aren't a multiple of 0.05 - this was necessary to bring my year-to-date total to a proper multiple after the 7.46 mile race last week.)

Total miles: 21.89

Hippie Chick Half 2013

I can think of lots of excuses for how I ran this (it was hot - the high was 84, I didn't do the long runs at the end of tax seasons - too hard to find the time and motivation, my left ankle started twinging again, I ran a 12k race the prior weekend), but I'm not sure any of them are justified. Simply put, I was undertrained. I've done enough half marathons now that it's not really enough to merely finish, and that's all I did, and that's the level of effort I put into training.

Official time: 2:58:48 (13:38 pace)

This is 10 minutes faster than I did Hippie Chick last year (my very first half), 30 seconds slower than my second half, and 6 minutes slower than my current PR (from my third half).

Around mile 6 or 7, during the out and back section of the course - thanks Windy!

Mile Splits
1: 11:55 (yay! if only I'd kept that up)
2: 12:14
3: 12:28
4: 12:36
5: 12:23
6: 12:53
7: 13:10
8: 13:25
9: 13:19
10: 15:14 (I think this was the mile with a bathroom break)
11: 16:12
12: 14:38
13: 14:52
13.1: 13:04 pace (3:24 time for 0.26 mile per my garmin)

In hindsight I do wish I'd switched to the quarter marathon. At 6.55 miles I was around 1:22 (half of my goal time for the half), and still felt good.

Crazy Cat Family [Runner Photo Challenge]

For most of my childhood, my family had a minimum of two cats: (top left photo clockwise from left) Al, George, Ellie, Malcolm. We got Al and George during the summer, I think in between first and second grade. Al was my sister's cat (named after Alexandria, our parents' first cat who had just passed away), and George (Curious George, because I was 7) was my cat. We got Ellie and Malcolm when I was in middle school.

These are my family members' current cats. Sydney is my sister's. Emma and Sophie are my parents'.

And this is my baby, Imogene. I adopted her from the Cat Adoption Team four years ago, when she was about three years old.

My First Bloomsday

I'd already handed off a jacket to my mom,
and it was warm enough that I took off the
armwarmers before going to line up, too.

Bloomsday is a huge event in Spokane, WA - about 50,000 participants! My dad is from Spokane, and I grew up about two hours south of it, so it was one of the first races I'd ever heard of (long before I imagined I'd ever run it myself). My dad ran it several times (before exchanging running for biking, for his knees' sake) and my aunt and uncle even met at Bloomsday about 30 years ago. Since I know I'm currently capable of running the 12k distance, I decided to do it this year to make sure I experienced it at least once. I flew over Saturday morning, and my mom and a family friend drove up to spectate.

In my brief running career, I started with big-ish 5k races in downtown Portland (20,000 - 30,000 people), and quickly learned that my preference is for smaller (500 - 5,000 people) races in the outskirts of the metro area - avoiding the crowds and parking hassles. Thus I was pleasantly surprised by how well-organized Bloomsday was. (It helped that we stayed at a motel about 2/3 of a mile from the start/finish line, so we didn't have to deal with traffic before the race.) You provide an estimate of your finish time when registering, to be placed in one of several color-coded starting waves, which are each given a specific block for lining up, and start times spread over about an hour. Even though the crowd never really thins out, at least if you're slowed down, it's by people that are still within a reasonable range of your desired pace.

Source

I registered with my goal of 1:30 (12:04 pace) and started in the orange group. We were scheduled to start sometime between 9:15 to 9:45 (the very start of the race was 9:00), and actually crossed the start line about 9:35.

Apparently tossing warmup/throwaway clothes into the trees is a tradition.

My overall place of 16,676 is out of 47,165 finishers (top 36% - I'm usually in the bottom 36%! This event attracts a lot of walkers.). 

Doomsday is a hill that starts at about mile 4.5 - I've read in multiple places that it's about 3/4 of a mile long, but the distance being measured in the results (I remember crossing a timing mat near the bottom of the hill, but I don't recall where it was at the top) has to be shorter - I had a few spurts of running but walked up most of it, so given the time of 6:10 it must be less than half a mile being measured.

You have to finish to get the shirt.

Mile splits:
1: 12:20 (I wanted to go a touch faster, but it was too crowded.)
2: 11:36 
3: 12:37 (First, smaller hill.)
4: 12:15
5: 13:00 (Doomsday Hill)
6: 13:12 (Just tired by this point.)
7: 13:09
7.46: 11:51 pace (6:30 time for 0.55 mile per my garmin.)







I think next year I'll make Bloomsday my goal spring race (I need something planned for not too long after April 15, to keep me motivated to run during tax season), and try to break 1:30 total time and under 6 minutes for Doomsday Hill.

Les Miserables Sing Along

Although I politely refrained from subjecting a theater full of strangers from my singing when I first saw the newest version of Les Miserables, I knew I had to host a sing along party once it came out on DVD. (I then also had to wait until the end of tax season - but hosting guests was a great motivation to clean up the hazardous black hole that my apartment turns into by April 15.)

A quick trip to Goodwill provided some basic decor to set the scene: a red tablecloth and silver candlesticks. For food I went with more generally French-inspired, since the movie itself really only provides for bread and wine as refreshments.

Menu:

• Wine
• French toast casserole (from this recipe), with maple syrup
• Potatoes Dauphinoise (a vegan version that I was introduced to as Thousand Layer Potatoes - recipe below)
• Quiche - from Whole Foods freezer section
• Crackers and baguette slices with rosemary olive oil, Bonne Maman French preserves, and spreadable Brie cheese
• Swiss, cheddar, and smoked mozzarella cheese pieces
• Fruit - blackberries, strawberries, and grapes
• Veggies - rainbow carrots, grape tomatoes, and bell pepper
• "Red and Black" dessert - angel food cake dyed red(ish) and brownies
• My friends brought candy and French cookies

Thousand Layer Potatoes

Adapted from recipe by Chef Hugo Gutierrez at Haramara Retreat, Sayulita, Mexico

4 - 5 medium potatoes

1 can coconut milk

1 1/2 Tbsp Thyme

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Peel potatoes and thinly slice using a mandoline, then layer in a casserole dish.

Combine the rest of ingredients, then pour over potatoes. 

Bake until potatoes are soft, about 40 - 50 minutes.