marathoner452

I ran 21 miles yesterday on the NCR Trail. I’ve had better runs. I was just really sleepy for some reason. For the first few miles it felt like I was lugging rocks up a mountain even though I was really just carrying my fuel pack (water and gels) on the pancake-flat trail. Then my left foot decided to rebel. See, I snapped something in my left big toe last fall when I tripped over my purse. I stubbornly ran a 4:14 marathon 2 weeks after that, and it hadn’t given me problems until 2 weeks ago with my 20. Yesterday it kept cramping up unless I wiggled it around every few minutes, and I had to stop at mile 12 and stretch it out.

All things considered, I’ve been very lucky with my marathon training. I ramped up very quickly and other than sore muscles I haven’t had any problems. And hopefully by the time I’m done tapering/icing/popping anti-inflammatories this won’t a problem either.

So here’s to 3 1/2 hour runs, blueberry pancakes and Milky Way tarts. And here’s to still having enough energy afterwards to spend two hours at my brother’s last marching band competition of the season.

See more progress on: run another marathon

Running:
5k last weekend in 25:27. That seems to be an unlucky time for me, as this time I was the second female finisher (out of 24 runners, so don't get too excited) after being the first for probably 2 1/2 miles, and the other time I ran that time I finished fourth in my age group by about 4 seconds and missed getting free Under Armour. Oh well.
9 miles Tuesday, late-night to boot. Kinda made me wish I liked getting up early in the morning, because running when it was so quiet and dark made me feel like I had the neighborhood to myself. And yes worrywarts, my neighborhood is very safe.
10x400 Wednesday afternoon in 1:50-1:53. Very warm and probably my last chance to wear shorts outside for awhile.
21 miles tomorrow. Supposed to be very cold, for Maryland anyway. Will probably have to wear the pants with big pockets that invariably rub a hole in my back. Will definitely get bagels or pancakes and a ginormous pastry afterwards to celebrate. Will skip church to watch NYC Marathon live updates online starting at 10 am Sunday.

Subbing:
All day Monday, Tuesday, and today in elementary school. Loads of fun. There isn't much that's cuter than a small mob of 1st graders swarming around you asking "Ms. S, Ms. S, can you help me?" Today I got to switch classes every hour because of meetings so I taught kindergarten-5th grade in the space of a few hours. Next week so far I'm doing a day of high school French and 1/2 a day of pre-k at the school I worked at today. Loads of fun. I'm really hoping to start teacher education classes in the winter/spring, probably at the community college.

I still think running 20 miles is easier than subbing in the high school. Hence the reason I spend most of my time with elementary kids.

~Bethany

20 miles this morning starting at 8:30 at mile 0 on the NCR Trail.

Gels at miles 4, 8, 12, 16. Gel at 16 was caffeinated, hence I ran 9:16, 9:18, 9:06 for the last 3 miles for a final run time of 3:19:41/9:59 pace. I have never, so far as I can remember, run that far that fast without being in a race. I never felt tired, and I actually could have run farther. Definitely bodes well for race day.

Celebrated afterwards with blueberry pancakes and orange juice at Bagel Works and coconut custard from Snickerdoodles where my sister works.

Marathon is 11/25. Goal is under 4 hours/9:09 pace. 5k next weekend, 21 miles the weekend after that, then taper…just 5 weeks to go!

See more progress on: run another marathon

Some days you have it, some days you just don’t. Ran the first 5.5 miles at an easy pace (10-10:30), then was supposed to pick it up to marathon pace (9:10) for the rest of the race. Well, that didn’t happen. Ran 5 miles at 9-9:20 pace, then just lost it and jogged it in for a finish around 2:10. Not a bad race by any measure, but not my best effort either.

I did get to meet and talk with a bunch of other marathoners-in-training, which is always fun. Long runs/races are boring when you just do them by yourself. Turns out the woman I was running with ran her first marathon last spring in DC in 4:40, ran the Annapolis 10 Miler at the end of August (great race), and is training towards/tapering for Baltimore in 2 weeks. Great fun.

Next up: 6×800 in 4:00 or less with 400 recovery in 2 days.

See more progress on: run another marathon

Current Mood: sore

I'm back from DC, for good this time. That's a good thing because the Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon is in 8 days and there's still a lot to get done to be ready. Like tracking down orange cones and more water jugs, recruiting volunteers and assigning volunteers, coming up with a list of places where we might get donations (I hate cold calls, but I recruited someone else to do that), hoping the tshirts and trophies get here on time, buying food and drinks, baking cookies...you get the point. Organizing a race is a lot of work.

Meanwhile, I had an excellent long run this morning, though it didn't start out so great. Usually Team in Training starts at Sparks, but today of course they decided to break with routine and start at Monkton...leaving no open parking spaces. So I headed down to Sparks and parked up at the old elementary school so I could have a nice cooldown walk afterwards. I was pretty stiff to start too. Chalk that up to a marathon pace workout just a day and a half ago.

About 4 miles in, I met up with a couple of NCR Trail Snails and ran with them for the next 10 miles. It was great to have company. Long runs are essential to marathon training and they're good for you too, but they can get boring if you do them by yourself all the time. It was a perfect, chilly morning for a long run. It rained for about 10 minutes somewhere around mile 8 of 16. We passed a bunch of Army guys out for a hike south of Sparks. We ran 9:30-9:45 miles with just one drink break when we got back to Monkton (about mile 9 for me). Now I'm no expert and I'll probably pay for running that hard when I get out of bed tomorrow, but it felt good. Marathon training is well on it's way. A 4 hour marathon is in sight.

It was worth every one of those 162 minutes of running when I was able to just throw off that I'd run 16 miles that morning when a fellow NC High alum asked what I've been doing. I love the expressions on people's faces when I tell them how far I run. It's priceless.

Then I followed up that long run with chocolate bread pudding from Snickerdoodles (the bakery where my sister works) and Zatarain's red beans and rice. Yummy.

I think I've earned a nap now. A nap and a good book.

~Bethany

I'd forgotten how much I missed early morning long runs on the NCR Trail. 12 miles today at a painfully slow 11 minute mile pace, but I gotta start my comeback somewhere. 3:59 here I come.

It was crazy-humid this morning. Not too hot though, thank goodness. I was glad I started early, around 7:30.

Where the real challenge will lie is in walking down the steps to breakfast tomorrow morning.

~Bethany

Current Mood: tired

NCR Trail Marathon goes out in the mail today. 14 weeks to go.

6 hilly miles last night and 4 more tonight. 11-12 on Saturday morning.

~Bethany

Monday-1 mile w/u, 3x800 w/400 recovery 4:00 for 800s, 1 mile c/d, stretch (1 mile w/u, 3x800 @ 3:57, 3:55, 3:56 w/400 recovery, 1 mile c/d, stretch)
Tuesday-rest and stretch
Wednesday-6 miles, moderate effort, hilly neighborhood loop, stretch (6 hilly miles, stretch)
Thursday-4 miles easy, stretch
Friday-rest and stretch
Saturday-11-12 miles, long slow distance, NCR Trail, stretch
Sunday-Kowomu Trail 4-Miler, not as a race (around 10 mm pace), stretch

5 runs (speedwork, mid-distance, long run), 29-30 miles.

I need a running icon.

~Bethany

EDIT: While you're at it, update your location on the LJ cluster map:

Current Mood: determined

Entries tagged with marathon training 2006

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