MCM Training Week 3

Training for: Marine Corps Marathon October 25, 2015 in Washington, D.C

Method: Run Less, Run Faster Novice Marathon Training

Goal: a) Finish b) sub 5:00:00

3 weeks down, 13 to go!! Saturday marked 3 months until Marine Corps!! I had a great week of training. I met all of my running goals, didn’t get any cross training in but I’m happy to have gotten the miles in!

I forgot to mention that I weighed in for my DietBet last Saturday. I have officially lost over 20lbs in my Transformer bet that started in February!! I’m actually down more than 50 pounds since the day I had M (October). I’m under my pre-pregnancy weight and not far from my goal! woo-hoo!

Monday: Speed intervals 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400 with 200m rest. 3.5 miles in 34:43 (9:55 avg)

I enjoyed this workout. Each interval got shorter but faster. It’s a nice challenge and it’s fun to change up the pace. I got this run done immediately after coming off the night shift. It’s nice to not have it hanging over my head all day – and then I enjoyed a nice breakfast with J and M while the boys were at VBS.

Wednesday: Tempo 6 miles in 1:02:58 (10:30 avg) 1/2 mile warm up, 5 @ 10:13, 1/2 mile cool down

I had to suck it up and use my rickety treadmill for this run. It is so ghetto, I just have to laugh or I’ll cry. I bought it only craigslist a few years ago and after moving it twice, it has seen better days. Its safe, I think, and it gets the job done. I would have much preferred running outside or going to the gym but M needed a nap. I decided it was better to set the rest of the day right with her than have my way, lol. My treadmill is in my basement which is a little musty but luckily right next to our *new* bulkhead so I was able to make-believe I was outside. And I got to watch Gilmore Girls to pass the time… things could be worse!

Thursday: rest – After swimming lesson, the kids and I headed out to Sunflowers for Wishes. It is a great charity event hosted by Buttonwoods Farm in CT, supporting the Make-a-Wish Foundation. They have over 14 acres of Sunflowers!! Such an amazing sight.

Friday: Blessing of the Fleet 10 miler in Narragansett. 10 miles in 1:49:10, avg pace 10:49/mi (10.1 miles according to my Garmin). Ended up being a little faster than my plan required (shooting for 1:55:00) but I felt good and I just can’t help myself! We had some thunderstorms for a few miles which may or may not have encouraged a faster pace.

Saturday/Sunday: rest

I’m feeling anxious about the week ahead. I am scheduled for 11 miles. I know I can do it but just thinking about it makes me nervous. It’s much easier to look forward to a long run when there are 4,000 others doing the same crazy thing as you!

Check back tomorrow for the Race Recap Link Up!

GOTR SoleMate

***I’m running Marine Corps Marathon as a member of the Solemates team for Girls on the Run of Montgomery County, MD. If you feel so inclined, please help me reach my goal of $1500 by donating here. Thank you!

Race Recap Link up {10}

Welcome to the 10th Race Recap Link-Up!! 

I love reading recaps from other bloggers. Its a great way to learn about different races, support other runners, and gain motivation.

A recap is the final leg of the race. It’s your chance to relive your race and allow others some insight. The training miles, the race day jitters, the glory of crossing the finish line.

the good – the bad – the ugly

We want to hear it all….

Meet the hosts…

Jessica at The Silvah Lining: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin’

Dee at The Hesitant Runner: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+ | Bloglovin’

Janelle at Run With No Regrets: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Google+ | Bloglovin’

We’d love it if you’d follow us on all social media & let us know you’ve shared a post.

Featured post from last week…

This week I chose Amanda’s recap of The Marine Corps 17.75K Race. With this race she received guarenteed entry to Marine Corps Marathon! I’m so excited to know someone else running MCM, as it will be my first full marathon!!!

About this link up…

It is active every Tuesday – Friday.

Link up your most recent recaps, or throwback to an old favorite. *If your post is unrelated to the theme, it will be deleted.

One recap will be featured on the next link up!

Read at least 3 other posts and leave them some love.

The more the merrier… share on your social media so others can link-up. #TuesdayTales

Grab the code to the link-up image below on your post or somewhere on your blog.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thesilvahlining.wordpress.com" title="The Silvah Lining"><img src="http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af296/jsilva814/race%20recap_zpsky3snowg.jpg" alt="The Silvah Lining" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Thank you for linking up this week – be sure to come back next week.

GOTR SoleMate

Weekly recap {June 22 – 28}

As you may have read, here, I ran my first official 10k last weekend. Now I’m on a break of sorts. In limbo: in between two training schedules. My marathon training starts on July 6th!

So for the time being, I’m just enjoying running what I want, when I want. This week that only amounted to two runs. I went out for a quick 20 minutes before work the other day and then again for 3 miles with a friend on Saturday.

I enjoy the regiment of a training schedule. It keeps me in line, for the most part. I’m looking forward to seeing where my marathon training takes me. I’ll be using a plan from Run Less, Run Faster. I used their 10k training plan and I was very impressed with my results. My 10k was one of my better races. I felt strong. I could control my pace. I knew how I should feel and I got the results I wanted.

I know marathon training will be a whole new beast that I’ll need to face but I am ready for the challenge!

I’ll be running for Girls on The Run of MoCo, MD. If you feel it on your heart to support a great cause, you can donate here!

Thanks for reading. Be sure to come link up a race recap tomorrow!

GOTR SoleMate

B.A.A Distance Medley: The 10k

Run a race in the rain – check!

Not sure if that was really on my bucket list but I knew it was inevitable. When I checked out the weather for race day I saw rain, rain and more rain and 71 with 96% humidity. I would take rain over humidity any day of the week but I never expected the buckets of water that would be dumped on us.

My alarm went off at 4:40 am. Race day had arrived. I had trained for this and I was ready. I quickly got dressed and hit the road. I would be driving over an hour to Boston for the BAA 10k.

It poured the entire way up there – the ride was awful but we made it in good time. My aunt was my coach for the day and she had everything mapped out for me. We were driving up and parking in the same place as the 5k so everything was pretty simple. The garage we parked at was just a few blocks from the start line.

It was only sprinkling when we walked out of the garage but I was prepared with a poncho to wear and plastic bags for my feet. I wanted to keep my shoes dry for as long as possible. The start area was pretty dead when we arrived but it filled up quickly. I am continuously impressed with the organization at B.A.A events. (the same group that hosts The Boston Marathon) They have a great setup: Lots of porta-potties, bag check tent, information tents, bib pick up (I had mine mailed), and t-shirt pick up.

It wasn’t long before the clouds opened up and everyone was soaked. The announcers did a great job at calming our fears of thunder and lightening. They kept us updated on the radar report as we waited for the start. While in the corrals, everyone was just laughing about the weather as it continued to dump on us.

The start went off without right at 8 am with three waves. I started my watch about 30 seconds too late. I thought I hit it when I crossed the start but I looked down and nothing was going on! oops!

I decided to run with the poncho as long as possible. Just shy of mile 1 I started getting warm so I ripped it off and carried it until the water stop after mile 1. My watch was about 0.05 short due to starting it late.

Around mile 2 the lead men were on their way back which would be mile 4 for them. I always love hearing the cheers as they approach. At the water stop at mile 2 I decided to eat a few SportBeans so I walked for a minute while drinking my water. Right about here, I saw one of the wheelchair women in the middle of the wave 1 runners with a look a defeat on her face. You could see that it just wasn’t her day. I wish I could have reached over and given her a high-five and a few words of encouragment.

Between Mile 2 and 3 there is a long, steady climb and you run next to everyone on their way back. This course is perfect for negative splits. Once you reach the turn around, just past the 5k mark, you get to run down the hill that you just ran up.

Mile 1: 10:18

Mile 2: 10:28

Mile 3: 10:28

official 5k chip time 32:31

At this point I’m feeling great. I tell myself to pick up the pace a little and come finish faster than I started. I stopped again to grab water after mile 4 and have a few more SportBeans.

The rain had slowed to a sprinkle. My feet were soaked but they weren’t bothering me at all. I did keep getting a wedgie with my SportSkirt that I kept adjusting. I apologize if you were behind me one of the million times I “adjusted” haha. At one point I said, “ah, screw it just run”.

The race was great with a water stop (and Gatorade) after every mile marker including one just after mile 5 and just before mile 6. Miles were clearly marked and they had an additional marker at the 5k point, 8k point (another chip point) and 800m remaining.

At 800m remaining, I picked up the pace even more. I wanted to empty my tank, give it all I had. I saw my aunt just after the last turn onto the final stretch. and i booked it to the end. At the 5k they were handing out medals right after you crossed the finish which caused some congestion. At the 10k they were much further back which was a great improvement.

I tried to jump for the camera but someone stood right in front of him as I crossed the finish line. boo! move out of the way!

Mile 4: 9:42

Mile 5: 9:26

Mile 6: 9:06

0.23: 1:40

Garmin time 6.23 in 1:01:08 avg pace 9:49/mile

Official finish time: 1:01:37 (which means my second half was 29:06 5k PR!!)

First 10k = automatic PR

I felt amazing after this race. I am soooo happy with my time and my faster second half. I love that my pace was pretty steady for the first half and then each mile got faster. To me, I think that my training has really taught me how my body feels at different paces and it allows me to run smarter.

The finishers area offered lots of goodies. I grabbed my medal, posed for a few pictures and grabbed some grub. Bagels, bananas, Craisins, water, Gatorade, fresh smoothies and Power Bars.

From what I’ve seen at the 5k, 10k and while volunteering at the Marathon, I’m really looking forward to wrapping this Medley up with the Half Marathon in October. BAA puts on a great race. If you get a chance to run one of their races, then jump at the opportunity.

In the end… the rain was no big deal. And I feel pretty bad ass for having such a great run in those conditions!

However on the drive home it was coming down so heavily that I missed my exit and drove in the wrong direction a lot further then I care to admit. That only seems to happen when you really need or want to be somewhere. In my case I *needed* to relieve my babysitter and *wanted* a nice long shower. But instead I drove…. and drove… and drove haha.

Would you skip out on a race if it were raining? How about a training run?

GOTR SoleMate

Weekly Training Recap {June 8 – 14}

Currently training for: B.A.A 10k on June 21st. This will be my first official 10k.  Two weeks after this race my official marathon training begins!

Training Program: Run Less, Run Faster 10k training plan

I had an “okay” training week. I got my three runs in but my long run was anything but.

Monday: rest

Tuesday: Tempo 3.1 miles in 30:19 (avg. pace 9:47/mile) First run in my new Saucony’s and it felt great!! This was such a strong run for me.

Mama’s got a new pair of shoes!

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: rest

Friday: 3 x 1600m intervals @ 9:13 with 400m rest

Total: 3.75 miles in 37.40 avg pace 10:03/mile

This run felt good! I love pushing myself with intervals.

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 3.19 miles in 36:31 (avg. pace 11:29/mile). This was my “long” run. Unfortunately, by the time I got on the road, I did not have much time before church. Its my fault, I was exhausted and I just could NOT bring  myself to start running. I’m okay with it though. My legs felt heavy but I was able to finish faster than I started. I’m currently doing a cleanse so I think, physically, a shorter run was a better choice anyway. I’m not sure I have the calories/energy for anything more than 3 miles.

I signed up for Skirt Sports 13er (knowing I wasn’t at half marathon capacity yet). They had an amazing deal on their virtual race that I couldn’t pass up. I was hoping to at least run a 10k but I’ll settle for the 5k

Again, not much cross training. I have still been stretching but not really posting pictures. It was getting hard to get the pose right and snap the picture with my timer! I’m hoping to get back to body bump this week. The chiropractor said he’s already seeing a lot of improvement and I can feel it.

Come back tomorrow for my Race Recap Link up!

What is your favorite way to cross train?

GOTR SoleMate