Key Training Workout #2 - RnR Savannah Marathon Training

This morning was a key training session. Holly has 6 key training workouts during marathon training. These are weeks where we have long mileage in between tapers. Because our training plan is 20 weeks, we don't necessarily have to build mileage every single week, but actually get to build a strong base by tapering 2 weeks in between each "long run". The first training workout distance was 8 miles. That was 2 weeks ago. Today's workout was to run 90-110 minutes, record distance and pace.

source - Augusta Rd, Greenville, SC

That was my scenery which was pretty nice. The first 5 miles, my friend, Lori, ran with me. It was immediately hot and muggy. I think the temp was only like, 75 degrees, but the humidity being over 80%, it felt much hotter at 6:30 am. 

We ran through Cleveland park:

source

Falls Park:

source - yes, we did have to climb these steps

and downtown greenville

source

The first 4.5 miles went quickly and although our time wasn't great, I wanted to make sure I started out slow because I know - from reading millions of blogs - that my first marathon isn't about time but finishing. We ran 4 minutes, walked 1. Normally, when I do that, I like to run at a 9:00 pace for 4 and then walk. But today, I wanted to take it slow. I think there were times when we hit 9, but for the most part, teetered between 9:30-10:00 - which was my goal

After I sat with Lori to eat my Gu (actually it was those mountain gu thingys) and drank some water, I started out for my next 5. 5. I ran through neighborhoods and down augusta to get a different view and to avoid some of the hills. We are lucky in Greenville to be at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains so the views are beautiful... running sometimes is not... it's really really hilly. So I tried to go on flatter roads since the first 5 were pretty challenging. 

Things I noticed in this run:

1 - I felt strong, even towards the end. I was tired and my legs were sore, but I felt strong. 

2 - I could feel the ab work I've been doing for the fitabs challenge. They were part of the reason I felt so strong

3 - I did a good job keeping hydrated over the week because I did not carry water, I only drank it when I got home (after the first hour and then when i was done) and I was okay. 

4 - run 4, walk 1 is a goal of mine and I am going to train that way. But I have a feeling on race day that may be adjusted going into the last half of the race. 

5 - my legs felt fatigued. I had to incorporate 60 strides towards the end, but once I did, my body remembered good running form and automatically went there

I came home and immediately iced - I felt a twing in my right knee and some issues with a knot under my right butt (so weird) - and I ate some oatmeal

All in all, it was a good run. I definitely have a long way to go but the good news is, I have 15 weeks. I also definitely think I can do it!

Fitabs Challenge

So I've been doing the Fitabs Challenge for 3 weeks now and I have yet to dedicate an entire blog to it. I really wasn't sure what to blog about today, so I thought now might be a good time to talk about abs.

I've had a few "challenges" when it comes to this "challenge" (haha - give me a courtesy laugh please).

1. Remembering to actually do it. The first week was easy because I was at the beach and I had nothing going on to distract me. I did 600 that first week, easy. I also followed the videos and did everything Coach Ashley did. The second week did not go so well. I forgot, had to make some up, it got crazy and I only did 500. Third week, I forgot the first 3 days. THen monday, I was like, crap. I have to make up 700 sit ups in 4 days so I had to do 175 per day. That was TOUGH. but I remembered. and I did them. BAM

2. Variety: after the first week, I stopped doing some of the recommended exercises. One thing that was awesome was my Nike Training Club bonus workout I earned. It ended up being focused on abs which was awesome because it was a 15 minute exercise video that gave me anywhere from 175-200 sit ups, woot woot!!

I did a lot of full sit ups, leg kicks, bicycles, russian twists, planks, etc on my own. I just didn't want to get stuck in the same ab rut because I don't think that's very beneficial. I had a hard time thinking of different exercises.

That was about it. I do feel like I'm getting stronger and the exercises feel like they're getting easier. Or what I should say is that I can do more reps because I start dying. I'm really glad that I'm participating in this because my weakest part is my core and honestly, a strong core helps avoid hip, back, knee injuries when running.

are you doing the fitabs challenge right now?

have you ever participated in a fitblog challenge before? 

Kitty Kitty

So, yesterday I was inspired by my friend, Jane. I also love seeing posts like this because I just absolutely love animals. By the way, because of Tina, I want a pug and have already started talking about it with my husband. He's not on board yet, but when he is, that's what I want!!

Anywho, as you can see in Jane's post, she had lots of pics of her adorable puppy Lola.

stolen straight from her blog

Just knowing her story and how they got Lola, I totally feel like God put Lola in their lives. They decided to foster a puppy from the Human Society and immediately got a little black puppy who was a runt. They fell in love and voila... you get this little puppy!

stolen from her facebook page

So sweet!!

Anyways, so I want a dog, but don't have one. Part of the reason is I work like, 10 hours a day and I'm up early to workout and usually have a bunch of crap planned at night so I'm never home which isn't fair to a dog... the second reason

My kitty, Leggett. As you can tell, he kind of has an attitude problem, so I'm not sure if he'll like a new puppy. One time, he got mad that we went to San Francisco for 4 days and took a crap on our bed.... twice.

So, anyways, the point of this post is I thought, I'm going to show pics of my kitty. I don't know if people are going to like it as much because cats just don't seem to be as cute and have the "awwww" factor like dogs do. But it's all I got so here he is.

My husband said he's ugly... NO HE'S NOT!

I think he thought I had food

he hunts birds from the inside, we live downtown...he'd get hit

"I wish I was outside"

"Okay lady, we get it with the friggin' camera"

As you'll learn later in the fall, I'm a HUGE clemson fan and I love all sports so my cat, Leggett, is named after our baseball coach, Jack Leggett. I know, it's crazy. I also had the Tiger at my wedding, so I'm weird

Do y'all like cats?

Do you have a dog?

Any weird sports quirks you have? 













Arriba, Arriba...

First of all, let me start by saying this is the time of year that I like to get my revenge on all of the northern/midwesterners who talk about the southeast and how we shut down when it snows. There are a lot of transplants here in the southeast and EVERY WINTER we have to hear about how this isn't really even snow, oh my gosh, I can't believe how people get when it snows, blah blah. So now I'd like to say, midwest and northeast, welcome to the south. This is the weather we have from may to october!!! It's always in the 90's with over 80% humidity. Your heat wave is called summer here in the Upstate of SC. And we're the cool part of the state :)

June

Next Month

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed 1 OBSERVED Hi 97°F Lo 77°F Precip (in) 0in.	Thu 2 OBSERVED Hi 94°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.	Fri 3 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.	Sat 4 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 63°F Precip (in) 0in.
5 OBSERVED Hi 97°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0in.	6 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0in.	7 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 66°F Precip (in) 0in.	8 OBSERVED Hi 96°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0in.	9 OBSERVED Hi 95°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0.26in.	10 OBSERVED Hi 92°F Lo 64°F Precip (in) 1.09in.	11 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0.32in.
12 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0.08in.	13 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0.05in.	14 OBSERVED Hi 89°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0in.	15 OBSERVED Hi 85°F Lo 63°F Precip (in) 0.45in.	16 OBSERVED Hi 88°F Lo 63°F Precip (in) 0in.	17 OBSERVED Hi 85°F Lo 61°F Precip (in) 0in.	18 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 64°F Precip (in) 0.09in.
19 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 67°F Precip (in) 0.16in.	20 OBSERVED Hi 94°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0in.	21 OBSERVED Hi 95°F Lo 71°F Precip (in) 0.21in.	22 OBSERVED Hi 92°F Lo 69°F Precip (in) 0.48in.	23 OBSERVED Hi 81°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0.03in.	24 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0in.	25 OBSERVED Hi 88°F Lo 63°F Precip (in) 0in.
26 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0.16in.	27 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0in.	28 OBSERVED Hi 94°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.	29 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.	30 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.

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July

Next Month

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri 1 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.	Sat 2 OBSERVED Hi 94°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0in.
3 OBSERVED Hi 94°F Lo 71°F Precip (in) 0.84in.	4 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0in.	5 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0.23in.	6 OBSERVED Hi 88°F Lo 68°F Precip (in) 0.22in.	7 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 70°F Precip (in) 0in.	8 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 73°F Precip (in) 0.07in.	9 OBSERVED Hi 91°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0.48in.
10 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 73°F Precip (in) 0in.	11 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 77°F Precip (in) 0in.	12 OBSERVED Hi 97°F Lo 75°F Precip (in) 0in.	13 OBSERVED Hi 98°F Lo 75°F Precip (in) 0.13in.	14 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 75°F Precip (in) 3.15in.	15 OBSERVED Hi 81°F Lo 66°F Precip (in) 0.17in.	16 OBSERVED Hi 81°F Lo 64°F Precip (in) 0in.
17 OBSERVED Hi 84°F Lo 67°F Precip (in) 0in.	18 OBSERVED Hi 90°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0.04in.	19 OBSERVED Hi 93°F Lo 72°F Precip (in) 0.03in.	Today Hi 94°F Lo 75°F Precip 30 %	21 Hi 97°F Lo 76°F Precip 30 %	22 Hi 95°F Lo 74°F Precip 10 %	23 Hi 90°F Lo 73°F Precip 40 %
24 Hi 92°F Lo 74°F Precip 40 %	25 Hi 88°F Lo 73°F Precip 50 %	26 Hi 88°F Lo 70°F Precip 40 %	27 Hi 89°F Lo 71°F Precip 60 %	28 Hi 90°F Lo 71°F Precip 60 %	29 Hi 91°F Lo 72°F Precip 20 %	30 AVERAGES Hi 90°F Lo 69°F RECORDS Hi 100°F Lo 60°F
31 AVERAGES Hi 90°F Lo 69°F RECORDS Hi 100°F Lo 58°F

Anywho, now that I'm done with that, back to the title of my blog post: speedwork. I think that I may be alone in this but I really love speed work. I don't know if it's the fact that I get to walk recover back to my starting point or if it's that it's the idea that I can do anything from 30 seconds - 2 minutes, but I enjoy it.

In my marathon training plan, I have 1 day of "speedwork" and 1 day of Intervals or what some would consider a tempo run but we do it in a different way. This is the stuff I look forward to. When I first started working out, I started out in Crossfit. So for two years, my workout every day was a combination of anaerobic and aerobic activity. It was focused more on "short bursts" of intensity vs just doing cardio for an hour or whatever. So, maybe that's why I enjoy to run that way. Actually, the idea of just getting out and running for an hour doesn't sound anywhere near as fun. I like speed!! But what I will say is that my speed is a lot of people's race pace, so whatever, lol.

that was me monday... winning races

Also, if any of you have been reading my blog, you know that I start Yoga Teacher training in the next month. I am super excited about this. One thing that I really love about yoga is the meditation piece. I started meditating about 2 years ago and it has done wonders for me. It helps with sleep, it helps with my food issues, it helps with my attitude, etc etc. I feel like I have become more patient, calm, understanding, forgiving, all of the things I want to be. That is because 1. I am spending some time with God in the morning and asking for his guidance, 2. I am focusing more on the present and not worrying about the past/future. I usually only do about 5 minutes in the morning because it's all I have time for, but I was talking to someone yesterday who suggested I use the time when I run. I usually run in groups, but this saturday is a key training run and it's my first long run. I'm supposed to run 90-110 minutes and this person suggested I do it without music. That almost sounds a little scary. That means it's just going to be me out there. by myself, running long... in the silence... aauughhh.. But isn't that what it's supposed to be about? I think so. So that's my goal for this saturday. I'm getting up at 6 am, eating, hydrating, getting dressed and running out there with no music, no friends, no nothing. It will be me. by myself. without distraction. I'll have to report back to you on how this goes. This could be me...

source

Do you run long distance in silence or do you use music?