Not a Bad Runner

I didn’t do my 20 miler last weekend.

And I didn’t even have a “good” reason for why I skipped it.
• I’m not developing in injury
• I wasn’t sick (after Friday anyway)
• a crisis needing my immediate attention didn’t come up

So what happened?

Friday afternoon and evening was spent on my couch with a killer headache and waves of nausea. I went to bed that night knowing I wouldn’t do my 20 miler the next morning. I just wanted a good sleep and to feel better.
I told myself I’d do it on Sunday morning, even though Saturday was going to be a long day.

Late Saturday morning, my roommate & I headed to Baltimore for lunch with her co-workers before heading to a bar to watch the VT vs Marshall football game. The Hokies won in 3rd overtime- whew! Then we sat in M&T Bank stadium and got absolutely drenched while cheering on UMD to a victory over WVU.

That night, I set my alarm early, fully intending to do my 20 miler on Sunday.
When the alarm went off, I simply shut it off. I didn’t press snooze, and I didn’t shut it off in a half-asleep stupor. I just didn’t feel like going.

I went back to sleep, then woke up at my leisure, cuddled with Ocean for a bit, and finally started reading Eat, Pray, Love.

And you know what? I’m ok with it. I’m choosing not to feel guilt-ridden over skipping my last long run. Allowing guilt to fester inside will make me doubt my abilities on race day.

Over-thinking coincides with guilt here

I want race day to be a celebration – not a stress-fest. Here’s why I’m just letting the skipped 20 miler be:

• If my race doesn’t go as planned in a few weeks, it won’t be because I didn’t do the final 20 miler. It would likely be from a combination of factors (barring a race-day injury, which I hope doesn’t happen)

• I had the energy on Sunday to go to the track with a friend and do 1600 and 800 meter repeats with some cross-fit inspired moves in between. Much more fun than doing 20 miles alone.

• My tempo run on Tuesday was just fantastic. It was only 5 miles (7 total with warm up/cool down) at a 7:15 pace, but I was on a runner’s high for the last few miles, and that high lasted until I fell asleep at 10 pm. My mouth may have ached from smiling so much. 🙂

• This is no excuse to skip long runs, but the marathon just isn’t my favorite distance. At least not to train for. Maybe it will be one day, and I understand how some people love it- but me, I kind of love training for shorter races at faster paces. I love not worrying about mid-run fueling. I love racing for a PR a couple times per season (different distances of course), rather than once. Knowing that, I don’t feel like the world will come to a screeching halt because I chose to skip a single long run.

• I run because I Love It. Not wanting to do a long run doesn’t make me any less of a runner, or bad runner for not following my training plan. I was happier skipping the 20 miler and just doing short repeats and cross-training one day. Life is short so might as well enjoy it!

Have you deviated from a training plan before for “no good reason” other than you felt like it?
Do you experience guilt over skipped runs/workouts?

In Love

It feels like I’m falling in love with running all over again – and it’s amazing! I might even be happier than when Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes.

Yep.

Running and I had a strained relationship this summer. I was putting in the work, but not really enjoying it. Yes, I was happy after long runs, but I didn’t like going to sleep at 9:30 on Friday nights so I could wake up at 5:30 and be out the door by 6 am to beat the heat (especially when I never really did beat the heat once the sun up was for more than an hour).

I was absolutely dreading my tempo runs for weeks in a row this summer. I was either killing myself to hit the paces, or just failing miserably to meet the goal pace.

I had a hard time accepting that the higher temps combined with humidity would inevitably slow me down…leading me to feel like a failure after many of my runs.

Speed work on the track kept me sane, and mentally movitvated. Short repeats allowed me to actually meet my goal paces without wanting to die, and they reassured me that I wasn’t getting worse.

But enjoying 1 run a week wasn’t keeping me happy.

Now that fall is coming and the air is cooler, I can’t stop smiling on my runs. I feel fantastic, and every run has felt effortless recently. Even Ocean seems to exude happiness on runs now!

I’m starting to see race signs everywhere, advertising tons of upcoming races – racing season gets me so excited. I wish I could afford to race every weekend (both financially and physically), but I can’t. So for now, I’ll be thoroughly enjoying my fall runs and counting down the days (23!) until my big race 🙂

What gets you excited to go outside and run?

1 Month

until the Balitmore Marathon!

My race plan has slowly been coming together:

• race outfit is selected
• fuel has been decided upon
• hydration plan is set
• hotel is booked

All that’s left is putting in the miles (just one 20-miler left!), making a dinner reservation for the day before, and choosing which shoes I should wear!

Saucony Kinvaras or Brooks PureFlow?

I’m leaning towards the Kinvaras since my PureFlow are getting up there in miles and I’ll likely need a new pair shortly before race day , and I’ve gotten bloody toes a couple times on my long runs in them.

The only reason I’m hesitant to use the Kinvaras is because the majority of my long runs were run in my Brooks.

Maybe it’s time to use my Kinavaras on the next few long runs?

Do you have a big race coming up soon?

How far in advance does your race plan come together?

Learn a Little

about me 🙂

The ever positive Jen at Miles & Blessings nominated me for the Sunshine Award! But before I get started, go check out her PRO Compression socks giveaway!

Onto the award:

The Rules:

1. Include award logo in a post or on your blog.
2. Link to the person(s) who nominated you.
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself.
4. Nominate 5 bloggers (some say 5 some say 10…I picked 5) to receive the award. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs letting them know they’ve been nominated.

1. What’s Your Favorite Quote? It’s impossible to pick – I have a board full of quotes I love on Pinterest. But here are a few I like:

I’m terrified of failure, but mistakes are part of progress.

I remind myself of this whenever I want to say “no” to something, when I really have the time/money/means to do it. I used to never try anything new, or go anywhere if I didn’t have it scheduled on the calendar days in advance. Now, I try to say yes to things immediately – to get out, meet people, and experience more of life outside running and work.

A little reminder that nothing can be perfect all the time (or else I’d go crazy). This is huge since I’m a slightly obsessive perfectionist.

2. Would you rather read, or watch TV? Reading for sure. I feel like reading really takes you places (in your mind at least), whereas TV doesn’t.

3. What type of shoes do you have on your feet right now? Flips flops! My shoes of summer if I’m not running.

4. If you could live in any city in the world, where would you live? That’s a toughie. I’m not a city person, but I’d love to live in the Southwest (no humidity!), or maybe the Caribbean 🙂

5. What’s your favorite form of exercise? Running of course 🙂 I like body pump too, and I imagine I’d like a spin class, but I’ve yet to take one.

6. If you could be on a reality TV show, which one would you choose? The Amazing Race- I’d love to see the world and most of their challenges look like a fun way to learn about the culture!

7. Which chore do you enjoy the least, and why? Vacuuming! I don’t like how loud vacuums are (so you can’t do it if someone is sleeping or watching tv) and they are a pain to maneuver!

8. If you could use only one beauty product for the rest of your life, what would you choose? I don’t wear much make up. Does chapstick count?

9. Most of the clothes in your closet are from what three stores/brands? Nike, Under Armour, and American Eagle. I don’t shop often, so I tend to find something I like and I never deviate from it. Boring, I know 🙂

10. What goals are you currently working toward? A 3:30 marathon this October! After that, I’d like to achieve other PRs and mainly become a stronger/faster runner.

I’d love to read your responses to some of (or all of ) the questions – consider yourself nominated if you’re reading this!

A Positive & A Negative

Third 20 miler down! For the most part it was a good run, though not as good as my last one (which is perfectly ok. nothing is rainbows and butterflies all the time!).

As I was running I started noticing I was seeing the same people repeatedly – they were obviously running the same out and back that I was. I didn’t think much of it until just after mile 18 a guy ran up next to me and asked if I was running the Bagel to Beer Race. Huh??

We chatted for a few minutes and turns out there was a free marathon today on the trail, which makes complete sense since I saw the same people over and over again. I guess the free race explains the lack of race bibs 🙂

I said no, I was on training run for him for the Baltimore Marathon. He was using the race as a training run for Baltimore- he’s hoping for a 2:40, but said he’d be happy with anything under 3 hours this October. Wow, I can’t imagine being only 40 minutes off an elite time. At 3:30 I’m well over an hour off 🙂

We ran together for maybe a quarter of a mile before he took off, but that mile split for me was 7:48. He was booking it!

Anyways, for the positive: I think I found my race fuel! The Gu gels went down easily as I was running, and I found a flavor I (kind of) like. I tried Peanut Butter, Chocolate Outrage, and Strawberry Banana.

And the winner is…

I’ll probably try a couple more flavored on my last 20 miler to see if I like anything enough to alternate with the chocolate on race day.
My only complaint if I had one about the Gu is they can be difficult to open with sweaty fingers. But I guess I can use my teeth as a substitute until I find the trick 😉

As for the negative, there’s actually 2. I got bloody toes again! My left foot started aching shortly after 12 miles and I thought it was a blister, because it felt like it was on the bottom on my foot. Turns out it wasn’t. At least it wasn’t hurting the entire run, I didn’t notice it after a while, so it could be worse!
The other negative – chaffing! I’ve been pretty lucky to escape chaffing during marathon training, until today. Guess I need to pick up some body glide next time I grab some Gu gels!

Labor Day Weekend Updates

Somehow trying to write this post without simply numbering each thought seemed too overwhelming…

1. My birthday was earlier this week (the big 25- time for a new age group! Sometimes anyway) and I got some pretty cool books 🙂 I’m the biggest nerd ever in that the only presents I ever want are running gear and books.

I’ve been blazing through 101 Secrets For Your Twenties, by Paul Angone- it is amazing.

I woke up in a grumpy mood one morning, to see a post by Enthusiastic Runner where she linked to the book 101 Secrets For Your Twenties, based on the blog post 21 Secrets for your 20s. After reading the 21 Secrets blog post, I felt like I wasn’t alone- like I wasn’t the only twenty-something wandering aimlessly through this decade and not knowing if this is really what life is supposed to be like.
So I added the book to my wish list (on Amazon) 🙂

Another book I got was The Summit Seeker, by Vanessa Runs. I came across this book when I watched a book review vlog on Matters of Course. I’m always on the lookout for new running-related books, so this was a must-have.

Among the other books I got (I’m really not trying to bore you with my geeky-ness, I promise), was Marathon Man, about Bill Rodgers. I’ll be writing a review once I read it 🙂

2. The holiday weekend had more than just reading – I ran too! Of course, I know, this is a running blog after all…

Saturday – A progressive 15 miler at a 7:51 overall pace. I was visiting my parents for the weekend and I decided to run on the local trail – it is shaded and a great place to just turn your mind off and run.

On the way out, I ran by Dorothy of Mile-Posts – but I didn’t realize it until 10 steps or so after I passed her. Doh! I hoped I’d run into her on the way back so I could say hello, and luckily I did 🙂 I introduced myself quickly as we ran past each other on my way back, saying I followed her blog.

Then I even tweeted about it:

Sunday I ran an easy 5 miles on a crazy hilly route near my parents house – their town is quickly growing. Every time I visit, a new road is paved! (This is big news where my parents live. When we first moved there, I think there were 1 or 2 stoplights in the whole town, and few paved roads).

Monday morning, I met up with Dorothy for 8 miles on the trail near her house. She’s the first blogger I’ve met in person, and it was so much fun running with her. I felt like we were old friends chatting away for the entire run.
Now if only I can find equally friendly Maryland bloggers 🙂

3. I tried some new recipes!

Oven Toasted Ravioli, recipe here. So good, and so easy! But I think my parents had the right idea to put a scoop of marinara sauce on their raviolis instead of my dipping sauce pile. Oh well, live and learn 🙂

…and Chess Squares, recipe here. They are very rich, but I think if I make them again I’ll keep them in the oven a little longer (closer to 45 minutes), mine turned out a little too soft.

How was your holiday weekend?