Slow and Steady

Friday
On Thursday I was meant to run for 50 minutes (running 9 minutes, walking 1 minute).  But boy were my legs a little tired from the speed workout at the track on Wednesday.  So I used Thursday as a rest day.  It was wonderful.  I even went to bed early and woke up well rested Friday morning to tackle my run.  I wanted to keep this run nice and easy.  I went 4.44 miles.  It was beautiful outside.  I need to remember that running in the morning before work is so worth it. I'm going to try this week to do my Monday and Thursday run in the morning.  The only worrisome thing was my right hip started to hurt a little bit.  I stretched for about 30 minutes after and it felt considerably better.


Friday night I did some baking.  I made zucchini muffins.  I used this recipe.  They turned out yummy.  Not too sweet.  I'm going to use them for snacks and pre-run fuel.


Saturday
I fueled my 10 mile run with 2 of the mini muffins I made last night.  They digested really well and I didn't have any stomach issues.  I went slow and steady today.  I finished in 1:44:34.

I slowed down my pace because I was worried about my hip but it didn't feel achy like it did yesterday.  I know that my hamstrings and IT band get especially tight and I haven't been stretching like I had the first couple weeks of training.  I also need to get new shoes (it's been a year and I've trained and ran for 2 half marathons with these babies).  I will most likely be heading to Elite Runners by the end of the month.

I'm working my way up to an ice bath.  The past two weeks I've just sat in the tub filled with cold water for 10-15 minutes.  It's actually not too bad once you are used to it.  

I'm running a half marathon in 3 weeks!  I'm signed up for the Aliferis Memorial Half Marathon in Alpena, MI.  Last year was the inaugural event for the half.  Hopefully the race directors took our suggestions and have improved it (there were not enough water stations and the course wasn't marked well-->some people ran about 2 miles out of their way).  I'm planning to run 3 miles before the race and then the half to get my 16 miles in.  I'm excited, mostly to see my family and to use my mom's foam roller (though I'm going to try to convince Matt to buy me one today).

'Til Monday! Happy Weekend

It's Official!!

I bought my plan ticket to Santa Barbara last night! It's really sinking in right now that I'm actually going to be running a marathon.

This past weekend, my husband and I were in Michigan for a family reunion. I ran 8 miles on Saturday around my parent's farm. It was a pretty great run. I finished in 1:20:31. The temperature was in the mid-60s and it was overcast. Perfect for a run...not so perfect for a family reunion.

I'm using a training plan I found in Women's Running magazine. It incorporates walking into the long runs. So I run for 9 minutes and walk for 1 minute for the designated mileage. For 8 miles it wasn't so important. But I think for the higher mileage it will be very beneficial mentally.

Confession: I'm supposed to run Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Confession: I didn't run Monday or today.

But I believe that every training plan needs flexibility. I've been really busy with lab because I am submitting a grant that is due tomorrow. So my plan for this week is to run Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We'll see how that goes. I haven't run four days in a row in...forever!