boston

Marathon Training: It Has Begun

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It is day four of Marathon Training: The Quest For Boston. So far, I am four out of four for completing workouts. Here’s what my week as looked like so far:
Mon: OFF (I’m so good at these days. I kill them.)
Tues: 9K easy
Wed: strength training
Thurs: 11K easy

The runs on Tuesday and Thursday I did in the morning before work. As tough as it is to get out of bed and get moving, it’s definitely better than waiting until the evening to get the workout done. That’s what happened on Wednesday. I couldn’t haul myself out of bed so told myself that I’d do strength training in the evening. That  could have been disastrous but luckily, my favourite show, Republic of Doyle, is on Wednesday nights. So, I made a deal with myself. No Republic of Doyle unless I worked out during or after it. I chose during because an hour long workout after would have had me up until 11PM and I needed to get up early to run in the morning. As Jake got to the bottom of an attempted murder and antagonized poor b’y, Sergeant Hood, I worked my way through the Koalas strength training program.

2 sets of 12-15 reps of the following:
hamstring curls
shoulder press
bench press
shoulder flys
bicep curls
tricep kickbacks
weighted squats
weighted lunges
tricep press
calf exercise from physio on each side.

core:
one set of 88’s
20 sit up twists
1min plank

Last Sunday, prior to the official start of training, I completed a 14.75K run too and had done a long run up to 17K in January as well. Nothing spectacular but definitely confidence boosters for the work that is coming in the next 16 weeks.

So there you have it.

@FitBoundy, @cellagirl, @bigbrnz and @Leslie_Morton – what’s going on with your training???

*deep breath* I have some news

/ hoodieruns / 1 Comment

This is a big deal. *deep breath* I have some news.

No, I’m not pregnant.

I’m going to run the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday 27 May, 2012 and I’m shooting for a Boston Qualifying time. 

Oh my god, I’ve said it. This is a big deal. KB and I are both committing to this goal. She and I are in the same age category and we both need to run absolutely no more than 3:35. That’s an hour and 10 minutes off my marathon time. (cue butterflies in my stomach and general feeling of nausea.)

The last few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for me and as a result, I’ve been running like a madwoman. About four or five days a week, you can find me pounding the pavement, trying desperately to hang on to my sanity.

Two weekends ago I ran 7K with SK and it slipped by so quickly. Last weekend I ran 8K back home in Goderich and wanted to go much further. I was afraid of being accused of trying to run from my demons (aka Mom would get worried about me and drive out to pick me up) so I cut it back. During the week I’m getting in at least two 5K runs, a bike ride on the trainer in the basement, and a 6.6K run. And I’m feeling amazing. So logically, my head turns to “I wonder what we are capable of?” Not to mention a friend, MC, ran his first marathon at Niagara Falls on the 23rd and said, “I’m super proud, but I want to do another one and do it faster.” Which is pretty much exactly what I said after mine. Yet another spark in the fire… Finally, I saw KB on Friday night. She and I chatted about a spring marathon and our parallel goals of ‘better’ and ‘faster’. So that, dear reader, is how I got to “I’m going to do another marathon and I’m going to qualify for Boston while doing it.”

“That’s great Hoodie,” you say, “spout off lots of big talk. Where’s the plan Hoodie? Where’s the PLAN?!?” Well, rest assured good friend. There is a plan and it started yesterday.

The Plan.
Starting yesterday I’m doing the Hal Higdon 12 Week Intermediate Speed Work prep. See below for the bang it started off with…

After the 12 Weeks of Hal, I’m moving on to 18 (more) Weeks of Hal. Again, an intermediate training program.

Status Update:
 Day one: failed to run 5K. I ate Halloween candy, sat on the couch, and gushed over this cuteness:

Day two: because of time constraints, swapped the scheduled workout with the Wednesday workout. Completed 4.3K and 3 x hill sprint repeats.
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To refresh your memory, or to learn about how the marathon went for me the first time, read marathon before 25 – complete.

Check out the pictures at marathon pics almost a month late.

There you go. That’s my big news. Hells yes bitches.

www.runottawa.com

fell off the bandwagon a bit…

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I’ve fallen off the bandwagon a bit. The last couple weeks have been medium busy. A couple great runs in there and a few nights of soccer and one early morning hockey game. It’s not that I’ve been entirely sloth, I just had one run one evening after being in a vile temper, and I ran fast. I mean really FAST. Like 8:40/m pace (Boston qualifying speed!) for 3 miles. My mood improved tenfold and I felt like I’d conquered the world. Since then, it’s been cold and I haven’t been motivated to run… I haven’t felt the fire like I did that night.

Now I’m needing the stress relief again. Work is getting a bit insane again and I feel like I’m always on a learning curve. That’s a good thing but it’d be nice to feel competent! This morning’s developments have ignited the fire again. Running makes me feel like I’m running away (good thing) but in reality, it gives me the clarity I need to problem solve and get perspective (even better thing).

If I know that running is so good for me psychologically and physically, why do I keep breaking up with it? Time. Running is time consuming. So is watching The Biggest Loser Families but that isn’t hard. Boo hoo. Time to get off my bum and push myself! I can focus the churn I’ve got in the workplace and do something positive with it.

So, in preparation for the 2nd turning of the proverbial leaf… some food for thought:

The only way to guarantee that you will have time today to run, whether it’s a Saturday or a Tuesday, whether you’re single or have more kids than the Brady Bunch, whether you work 9-5 or at your leisure, is to wake up before the world does and rip that sucker off. No ifs, ands, or buts.

There are very few work-related reasons to skip a run. The editor-in-chief of a major magazine once told me, “Nobody is so important that they can’t be out of the office for an hour a day.”

You’ll never regret slowing your pace if doing so convinces one more person to believe that, although running is hard, she’s up for the challenge.

–Dimity of Marathon Moms at Runner’s World.