3 weeks away

Today is January 23rd, 2011. I am 3 weeks away from my race, and I only have 1 long run left. This morning was a 10 miler, I ran with my friends, Jeanne and Brian Boughner, and Lori Levasseur (Lori, I hope I spelled that right). This will be the second time I've run 10 miles with most of my runs being between 6-8. I've got a 12 mile run next sunday and ten I taper.

This is the first time that I have trained with a specific nutrition plan in mind and a strategy to attack my run. I have tried a couple of different things, but what has worked the best is below:

Pre run meal: 1 piece of whole wheat bread, peanut butter and a banana

During the run: a GU every 45 minutes

When I eat right, I have more energy and my legs don't feel as tired. I do have to make sure to drink plenty of water which has been really hard for me. It's cold so I'm not as motivated to drink and unless I'm sitting at my desk at work, I don't have water near me. I'm trying to remember to do it though because it does seem to make a difference.

The other thing I have had to incorporate into my training is Yoga. I love yoga and it has so many other benefits beyond exercise, but physically, it keeps me flexible and it keeps my muscles lose. Runners seem to have all kinds of injuries and issues, but the two that I have are shin splints and piriformus tendonitis. My calves get knotted up and my lower legs will start to hurt in any spot, the outside, the inside, my achilles tendon, etc. The last half that I ran (in Nashville), my back started hurting instantly. The piriformus tendon gets knotted up, causes inflamation and pinches my sciatic nerve. I could not walk after the race, I had a tremendous amount of pain. So, my goal for this race is not have that. One of the ways I've been doing that is 1) yoga and 2) going to see Dr Rob at the Joint, my chiropractor. With those two things, my training this time seems to be injurty free and it's rare for me to have issues.

Lastly, my strategy for this run is to run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. It's like te Galloway Method, and I think it's a big reason I haven't been injured this year. At first, I was a little nervous about how I would feel on race day. You start running with the idea that you'll get to a point where you just run. That's how I did the Green Valley Race (10 miles) and the RocknRoll Half in Nashville. I will admit, it was a little humbling doing my first race this way. I did the Turkey Trot 8k and I was so worried about what people were thinking as I stopped and walked in the very first mile. But when I crossed the finish line at a 9:50 pace with a course that hilly, I was sold. My training runs vary, sometimes I run quicker than a 10 minute mile, sometimes slower, but that's my average. If I can keep 10:00 minute pace, I will beat my last half time by 10 minutes. Today, I ran 10.3 miles in 1 hour and 50 minutes. (we actually ran closer to 10.8 miles, but I didn't start my watch for the warm up). I used my Garmin to review my stats and when I was running, I covered 9.15 miles in 1:28 minutes. When I was walking, I covered 1.15 miles in 22 minutes. I was pretty happy with that!! We'll see how it goes on race day. I'd like to beat my time of 2:26 BUT if I can finish the race without pain and be able to walk, I will be happy.

The good news is I reached my fundraising goal! I have raised $1801 and my goal is $1300. I'm super excited because when I signed up, I thought I would NEVER be able to raise that much money. So many people have contributed to my fund and I still have 3 weeks. Team Determination does a lot of stuff to keep the fundraisers together, so we'll have our own tent, we'll have a speedy check in at the expo AND we have a dinner the night before the the race. I'll take lots of pics and show everyone how much money we all raised to help cure cancer!

More than Half Way

I officially have 6 weeks left in my training and I am $59 short of my goal. I'm excited because honestly, when I signed up, I thought, how in the world am I going to hit a $1300 goal, but through some very generous people, a yard sale and I like to think my blog had something to do with it, I am almost there.

This past week, I ran 9.4 miles which is my longest run to date. I did it in 1:38:31 which isn't a great time BUT thanks to Holly, the awesome trainer who put the run together for stoic runner (more on that later), we had to climb these horrendous steps which slowed me down AND I HAVE PROOF OF IT. One of my awesome christmas presents was a Garmin Forerunner 305

It is so awesome and I found out how it tracked my runs. As you know if you read previous blogs, I run 4 minutes on, walk 1 minute off when doing long runs. So as I looked through my information on my new years eve run, it showed each interval as a lap. I was averaging about a 9 minute mile when running and then my walk slowed me down, but that helped keep me at a 10 min mile pace throughout the 9.4 miles. The only time it was under a 9 min mile was when I was obviously climbing the steps, then it dipped down. I was so excited to see that my pace was steady throughout AND I could've done another lap. So, I have 6 weeks left but feel I am prepared to run 13.1 miles today. That is great! Yesterday, I did my tempo workout which was 7 minutes on, 5 minutes off. During that 7 minutes, I averaged a 9 min mile which was really good since the time was extended to 7 minutes. I start to slow down the longer the interval is. I know that I'm not a super fast runner, but what I am excited about is the fact that I have been fairly consistent in the 10 minute mile pace as I increase distance which is key. My goal for the race is to finish in under 2:20 and to be able to walk afterwards, because last time, I was not. I have made it this far in training injury free, and I'm improving significantly. Yay!!

My biggest issue I have right now is staying hydrated. I'm not as motivated to drink water since it's cold outside, but I can absolutely tell a difference in my run when i'm hydrated and when I'm not. So, over the next 6 weeks, my focus is nutrition, staying hydrated, staying flexible through yoga and stretching and continuing to follow my training plan. Holly even sent me a 20 week marathon training plan which I plan on starting after I finish my half and rest. I signed up for the NYC lottery but if I don't get it, I'm going to find another one. I know with the training I've been doing that I can definitely go the distance.

I want to especially thank Brian and Jeanne Boughner because 1) they've donated a lot to my Cancer fund which I appreciate, 2) in addition to supporting me financially, they've also supported me with their time. Jeanne helped me with my yard sale and so did my mom, Terrie Walker, my aunt, Pennie Huggins, and my grandmother Dee Huggins. Without those 4 people, I wouldn't have been able to do it and 3) because of their words of encouragement. Brian and Jeanne have helped me with getting mentally prepared for running, they've helped me when I've gotten discouraged, all of those things. So I am grateful to have them as friends

I also want to thank my family, mom, Aunt Pennie and Grandmama for helping me with the yard sale. It was a lot of work and I really needed them to help me put it together.

Lastly, I want to thank Holly Di Giovine for providing me with words of encouragement, an oustanding training plan, and advice on staying injury free. She's a great trainer and although she's away now, serving her country, she'll be back. You can visit her website, http://www.stoicrunner.com/, a place for people to start running. She has another one as well and all of her information is on the website above.