Marine Corp Marathon Training Weeks 5 and 6

I feel much better about my week 5 and 6 training than I did in weeks 3 and 4.  Things seemed to really align for me to manage to get the majority of my mileage done.
Sunday of week 5, I eased into increasing my mileage by splitting my long run into 2 separate runs.  I did 6 miles that morning and then 6.63 that evening for a total of 12.63.
Tuesday was a tempo day.  I did a 1 mile warm up with 2 miles tempo and then a half mile cool down.  This run was done on the treadmill, unfortunately.
Thursday was an easy run of 3.2 miles.
Saturday I did 4 miles of negative splits in the pouring rain.  This was one of the best feeling runs I have had in a long time.  The rain kept me cool and refreshed.  Average pace for this run was 9:23.

Total mileage for week 5 = 23.33 miles
Week 6 started with a 13 mile long run on Sunday.  I started my run at 6 am and got almost 3 miles in before I met up with a couple of friends who were doing 10 miles.  As refreshing as my Saturday run was, this one was the opposite.  I am pretty positive I have never sweated like I did.  The humidity was 100% which is common here this time of year.  When I got done, I squeezed out my hair and there was a puddle left on the ground below me.  I could have easily pee'd my pants and nobody would have known ;-) .
Monday was a rest day and the last day of summer break for my boys.  We decided to pack up and go spend the day at the beach.  We went to Hunting Island which is a state park and the beach is totally undeveloped.  We had a great time and found over 20 sand dollars.  I wanted to climb up into the lighthouse (just so I could count the stair climbing as a workout) but, we ran out of time.  Here is a pic of the lighthouse from the beach (photo credits: huntingisland.com)
We had a great family day to wrap up the summer.  Here are the boy's enjoying the beach....

Tuesday marked the first day of K3 for Colton and K5 for Clayton.  They are going to the same school that I went to.  It looks exactly like it did when I was there.  I know their teachers very well, and know that I will never once have to worry about them while they are there.

After I dropped them off I went for an easy 4 mile run and finished it off with 6 x strides for a total of 4.6 miles.
Wednesday, was another rest day and I also went and worked at my part-time job for a few hours while the boys were in school.
Thursday, after I dropped them off, I headed over to the track for some speed work.  Did a 1 mile warm up and 3 x 1 mile at a 7:45 ish pace and finished with a 1 mile cool down.  This was as fast as I have run in a long time.  Could it be that my body is finally adapting to the heat and humidity that summer brings?!?!?!?
Friday, was a hot 5 miles of negative splits.

Weekly total = 26 miles

Marine Corp Marathon Training Week 3 and 4

I will be straight up honest about week 3 and 4 of Marine Corp Marathon training........they pretty much didn't happen. I had good intentions, but sometimes that little guy sitting on my shoulder wins out.

On Tuesday of week 3 I did a 4 mile slow run and finished up with some strides. Had a total of 4.4 miles. I ran across the lake in my town and saw this guy...

I am pretty sure this is the same guy that I have been watching grow over the past couple of years. 

Thursday of week 3 I did a 3.5 mile run and I don't remember much about it 😁. 

I had really good intentions of running 4 miles Saturday morning but never got around to it. It was my oldest child's birthday so, I found it to be way more important to hang out with him that morning and then I was busy getting things in line for his party.

I can't believe that I now have a 6 year old.  If I was a betting person, I would bet that he will be voted class clown for his Sr. superlatives (his mama was 😳😜).  

Again, I had intentions to sneak in a few miles after the party but, a chance came up for me and all of my sister-in-laws to go out for some girl time and there was no way I was turning that down. 

I love these girls and we had a blast...

Sunday was full of good intentions as well but, after staying out later than I am use to the night before I wanted to sleep a little longer Sunday morning before getting ready for church.  

Week 4 pretty much just didn't happen. My work schedule was crazy. I work 12 hour shifts and only had one day off between Monday and the next Saturday. That one day off was spent doing major cleaning. 

Week 5 has been going much smoother so be on the lookout for the recap coming soon. 

Marathon Training Week 2

Week 2 of Marine Corp Marathon training is in the books.  For now I am going with one of the run keeper plans but adjusting the days to what fits my life.
Monday:  I had about 30 minutes to spend on strength training, so I focused on arms.
Tuesday:  Speed (or at least speed for me) 1 mi warm up then 2 x 1 mile at 8:47 with 2 minute recoveries and then a half mile cool down.
Wednesday: Was just a slow steady 4 miles with my friend Nikki. It was a nice evening and we had a beautiful view of the sunset.

When we run together we have a route that takes us by Healing Springs usually at least once. Here is a picture of the springs.

The water from here is said to have healing powers. I sure has healed me from near heat exhaustion on several occasions this summer.
Thursday:  Strength training.  I did a few video's from the Pop Sugar app.  I have been hearing about the bar workouts and gave one of those a try.  It was a 10 minute workout that had me sweating and my legs shaking at the end.  Next, I did a 10 minute strength video and added in some of my own strength training exercises, and finished with a 5 minute ab workout.  I probably spent a total of 45 minutes strength training
Friday:  Rest
Saturday:  I only had time to get in 2 miles of running on the treadmill before I had to get ready for work.  I took a break at work later in the afternoon and got another 2 miles in.  I was also able to squeeze in the Pop Sugar video's again.  So, I had a total of 4 miles running and 25 minutes strength training.
Sunday:  Long run at slow steady pace for a total of 10 miles.
I saw this gal on last weeks long run and I thought she deserved to be posted.

Week 1 of training

This is my official first week of Marine Corp Marathon training. I am coming off of vacation and crappy eating for a week so I need to get some solid miles under my belt to stop feeling post vacay flabby. The week prior to vacation I logged a 30 mile week and it felt awesome!  I am looking forward to some higher mileage weeks and getting back into some solid strength training. 

I have decided to follow a #runkeeper plan for training. I would love to hear people who have followed any of the run keeper marathon training plans and get their opinions. 

Oops....I Just Realized I Haven't Blogged in 2 Weeks

Time flys when you are having fun. I am not even sure where the last two weeks have gone. A good bit has gone on since May 4. From what I can remember I had a good running week that first week. The sinus/cold mess finally started to clear and I could breath well enough to run again.   That was also the week the hubs and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. Talk about where has the time gone!!!!  We had a mini vacay to the beach. It was just the two of us. We have not gone away, just us, since the kiddo's arrived. We had some much needed quality time with each other. Here is where we started in 2004 

And here we are 10 years later

I have done some shorter 2-3 mile runs this week and a hill workout. I have been working a stretch of 4 twelve hr shifts in a row, so that prevents much distance running. 

I have also added insanity back into my routine. I hate that workout but, last time I did it I turned out my fastest times to date in 5k's and half marathons. I really think it is a great workout for core strengthening. I am going to give it a month and see what I get. 

We are going back to the beach this weekend and I will be running in a 10 k there on Saturday. I am really excited!  

Weekly Update

This update will be short and sweet because I have done pretty much no workouts!!!  I am pretty sure I have the never ending cough.  I have been through bottles of cough med's and have done nebulizer treatments.  It sucks.  I feel good otherwise but, just not good enough to be able to breath and run much at the same time.  I haven't really pushed it too much because I don't want to over do it and risk not being at 100% for that much longer.  

I did do another 5 K last Saturday and gave it my all.  I felt like I had half of a lung and was about to cough it up.  I ended up finishing in 26:52.  A minute slower than the previous week but, considering the circumstances I am pleased.  I was second in my age division and I think maybe 20th overall.  

Sunday, I packed up to go to the beach for a few days with my little ones.  We had a nice day on the beach Monday and got to spend some quality time with some friends.  We ended up cutting the trip short because there were supposed to be some heavy storms coming through and I decided I would rather be inland.  It was nice while it lasted though.

Wednesday, I did get a short hill workout in for a total of 4 miles with my buddy Nikki.  We did a mile warm up, then 10 hill repeats, followed by 2 miles slow pace.  I coughed most of the time but, was just happy to get some running in.  I did about an hour of strength training Friday and a slooooooow 3 miles Saturday.  Hopefully I am on the mend and can start picking the pace back up in the next few days. 

My Yearly Spring Cold.....please leave now!

I have twice a year that I always seem to get some sort of respiratory bug. It always seems to be late April / early May and again in mid September. This has been a ritual for as long as I can remember. I started feeling achy after last Saturdays 5k. I knew it was a sick ache as soon as it came on. By Saturday night it was fever and chills. I did that for roughly 3 days and now it seems to have settled in my chest and I have a very annoying cough. I am pretty sure most of my lungs have been coughed up by now. Where does all of the mucus come from?  I feel like I have the death rattle when I breath. Sorry, if this is tmi but, I am a nurse and it takes a lot to be tmi for me. 

So, needless to say, I have not been able to breath well enough to get much of any kind of workout done. Monday, I did a little strength training, Tuesday I did a very slow 3 miles with 8 sets of strides at the end, Wednesday I did nothing, and today I did 20 minutes of hills.  I have another 5 k planned for this weekend and am keeping my fingers crossed that I can turn out at least a descent time. 

Overall, I am happy to say that I have done at least a little bit of working out through this misery. 

On another note, how about Mebs win in Boston?!?!?! I am really glad he won. I enjoy following him and Ryan Hall.  Those sketchers that Meb wear are awesome by the way. I got a pair back around Christmas and they are up there in my top 2 favorite running shoes. 

This Weeks Wrap Up

I have had a very productive week with my workouts and thst is a great feeling. Wednesday was a hill workout. I had to do it on my treadmill before getting the boys ready and off to school. I did 7 hill repeats of 40 seconds at a 7% incline. After each climb I would jog for 2 minutes at recovery pace. Total was 2.5 miles. Thursday was a mixed tempo run, and I had to do this on the treadmill as well for the same reasons. I did a two minute warm up followed by 6 minutes at marathon pace, 4 minutes at half marathon pace, and two minutes at long run pace. I did this twice for a total of 3 ish miles. I accidentally knocked the emergency stop key out so it cleared out my miles and time. Friday was a rest day and my first day off of work in what seems to be forever. I spent the majority of the day doing laundry, vacuuming, mopping, and grocery shopping. That doesn't sound like much of a rest day to me 😃. Today I did another 5k. It was at the Govenor's Frog Jump in Springfield, SC.  The rain held off for the race and, I was appreciative of that. I finished 2nd overall female and scored another nice trophy.  I finished in 25:52 on a certified course. Last weeks course was not certified so I think that was were the fast time came from last week. My splits were pretty much identical. It was a fun race and the girl who best me was super fast! 

I would love some ideas on what to do with my trophy collection. 

What are recommended incline setting for hill workouts?  

Blogging My Way to the Marine Corp Marathon 2014

I have really enjoyed writing the post I have done this far on my blog but, I have been pondering on ways to become more consistent with posting. After a little thought, I have decided to blog my training schedule and how my workouts go leading up to the 2014 Marine Corp Marathon.  I am hoping that this will lead me to establish new friendships and hopefully meet up with others that are doing the MCM. 

I have decided that I am going to take the next few months to work on my speed. I have let that area suffer in the past year because I have focused more on distance. 

I used a local 5k this past Saturday as my starting VDOT test. I actually was pleased with my time and pleased with the fact that I finished first female. My official time was 25:38. Not a PR for me but, it was satisfactory.  Seeing my boys waiting on me at the finish line made me suddenly forget that I felt like I was going to vomit and pass out at the same time. 

Here are a few other pics from the race:

My friend Winter was on my heels and finished first in her age group. There is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition right 😁😉

Not only did I get a trophy but, there was a cash prize involved that I was unaware of too 💰💵🏆. 

Sunday, was a long run and my friend Nikki joined me. We did a slow 10 miles on rolling terrain. 

Monday, Nikki joined me again for a 30 minute recovery run with some strides at the end. Let me just say, my legs were spent after this.  

Tuesday, I did about 30 minute of strength training, mainly focusing in the upper body and core. 

I have also met with a Registered Dietician regarding diet.  I have a broad knowledge of health and healthy choices but, am lacking the understanding I eating like an athlete. This subject could be a post of its own so, I will save the details for later. 

Well, again I am really looking forward to getting acquainted with other runners like me and other runners who are doing the 2014 Marine Corp Marathon. 

MCM Class of 2014

Guess who will be running with the Marines.........

It's me!!!!!!!!!!!  

Who would have ever thought that my name would have been drawn?  I certainly didn't. I am super excited. This will be the first of I hope many "big time" marathons for me.  

I have spent a lot of my day looking at flights and hotels. I would love to hear any suggestions near the start or finish that will not break the bank.  Also, I would love to hear from others who are running the MCM.  I  going to definitely need a crew to hold me accountable for training through the southern summer heat. I usually back down on mileage and intensity during the summer but, that's not going to be an option this summer. Well, I would love to hear from others. 

Where should I stay for the MCM?

Who else made it in?

Tips for hard training during the summer?

My Busy Few Weeks

No, I haven't given up on blogging, I have just been living it up the past few weeks 😍. It all started with a little family vacation to Disney World. We had a blast and I want to go back. It is really a magical place. I have been myself before but, to experience it as a parent is truly something else. The boys loved it to say the least. I even fit in one very short run while I was there but, who needs running when you are walking an average of 15 miles per day in the parks. I wore a pedometer and I really did average around 15 miles per day. I felt like my legs were in pretty good shape but, I began to question that after a few days into the trip. 

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

So, a week after getting home from Disney, I ran a half marathon.  It was the Run Hard Columbia Marathon in Coulmbia, SC. First, let me say that the expo was great and I wish that I had had more time to browse around. I did score a pair of Hokas, some arm warmers, a pair of running shorts, and some gels while I was there. 

Next, the race location was perfect for me. It's only an hour from home so it was an easy drive up the morning of race. The start line was only a block away from the building I work in so, I was able to park there and run in to stash my personal belongings into my work locker. 

The weather was perfect also. 

As far as my running, it was kind of blah. It was not my best run but, we can't always expect for everything to turn out perfectly. This was a really tough course, and by that I mean there was one hill after another. These were not just little speed bumps, I  am talking, I thought I was going to get a nosebleed from the elevation gain 😅. The first half of the half went pretty good for me all in all. I felt great and was maintaining a great pace. Then, everything fell apart around mile 7. My left hip got really tight and sore (it band again I am guessing 😡). At this point my pace slowed down by about 20 seconds per mile and I was having to stop and stretch my hip out every so often. 

I was really discouraged with myself at this point, and all I could think about were the wrongs that I had done to myself coming into this run. I had not followed my training plan the few weeks before the run, I didn't practice what I preach about foam rolling, and my stupidest decision was to wear a pair of shoes that I have not done much distance in. How stupid could I be.  All of this negativity was getting me down so, I had to make myself think positive. I still finished in a respectable time (2:07 and some change), I accomplished that day what most people can never say they accomplished, and I didn't give up. This was a really tough course and I loved it. Next year I will be more prepared. All in all this was a great race that I will certainly do again. 

My almost nonexistent running world

For any of you who live in the Southeast you will understand what I mean when I say "oh what an exciting week". I am about all excited out. 

First order of excitement was our ice storm. It started last Tuesday and lasted into Thursday morning. My town was pounded. We had the second highest ice accumulation in the state. Due to that, there were lots of downed power lines and trees. We lost power at our home for almost 3 days. You really do not realize how lucky you have it until you have a house full of people (because you are the only one in the family with a fireplace) and no running water. My husband did convince me that he can pretty much do anything. He was able to wire a gas welder into our breaker box and use it as a generator.  So by the end of day two I was given back the luxury or running water. We still have lots of friends who are still without power and do not know when they will get any.   I read that there are power crews from 11 different states just working in our small county. These guys really deserve a pat on the back. So many people are complaining about no power and in my opinion they are being selfish. I have friends who work for some of the power companies and they were working 26 hours straight and some had people cussing them for taking a break to eat and not working on through their hunger. Well, let me get off that soap box. 😃. 

Here are a few pictures of our storm damage.  Oh, and I guess you may have figured out that I didn't risk running on icy roads with downed trees and power lines and due to no power the treadmill wasn't even an option. 😞

Our first lost limbs. 

Coating of ice. 

The boys cooking their supper over the fireplace. 

The grown ups supper cooked on the grill. We managed to eat well despite the power outage. 

We brought mattresses into the living room and shut off the rest of the house so we had a smaller space to worry about heating and supplying power to from the generator. 

Mass destruction. 

The Horseshoe on the University of SC campus. Beautiful isn't it?

So, if all of that wasn't enough excitement, we also had a small earthquake and an aftershock. I was sitting at my desk at work and my whole building shook. It was a rather unerving feeling. It measured 4.1 and the epicenter was about 50 miles away from me. Today apparantly there was a 3.1 aftershock that I didn't feel. Total craziness. I guess this full moon didn't play this month. 

Snow Day 2014

I have come to the conclusion that I am not sure that I could be a runner if I lived somewhere that snow and ice was a frequent thing.  It is not running in frigid temps that would bother me, it would be the constant fear of hitting black ice and breaking something.  With that being said, I had a not so romantic date with the treadmill Tuesday.  This was my first "task oriented" run that I have done since the marathon.  Other than it being on the treadmill, it went pretty good.  It was a tempo run varying between marathon pace, half marathon pace, and threshold pace.
Now for the snow and ice.  So, I am sure you are all aware of our "massive" winter storm in the south.  I was so excited for our one snow day of the year or every other year, and the boys were pumped as well.  We stared out the window all afternoon Tuesday waiting on it to happen.  We waited and waited.  The boys finally passed out a little after 9.  Around this time we started to see some freezing rain and sleet and then around 11 p.m. a little snow started to mix in.  We were keeping our fingers crossed for a few inches so the boys could build a snowman and get a little sledding in.  All we got was a little dusting (maybe an inch accumulation) but, that didn't stop us from being rednecks in the snow.  By rednecks in the snow, I mean we improvise on our sleds.  Ours happened to be a top from a 60 quart cooler.  I had to laugh at how time, age, and parenthood changes your use of items.  10 years ago we would have worried about keeping that lid on the cooler to keep our "drinks" cold now, we say to heck with that cooler that top looks like a sled for the boys!  I wouldn't trade today's outlook on things for anything in the world.
Here are a few pictures from our snow day.......

The Big Hill In Town

(my sister in-law somehow got her hands on a real sled)

 Love their expressions.  

 Proof not a lot of snow is needed for sledding

 Mommy gets a turn on the "sled" too

How did others enjoy your snow day?

What have you turned into a sled?

What I Have Been Up To.

OSo over the past week I have really been taking it easy on running as I am supposed to do post marathon. I snuck in a few 2 mile runs at a very slow pace just to keep my sanity. 

I worked all weekend but, really snuck some good workouts in despite the fact. I am employeed now by the University of SC so I get some really awesome staff perks including a $10/month membership to their state of the art wellness center. 

So, I have begun my journey into adding in strength training. Now, If I can just figure out the machines and get me a good routine down. I am really excited about building some much needed core strength. 

I would love some strength training tips. 

What are your favorite "machines"?

How long should my strength training workouts last on average?

Charleston Marathon.....The Rest of the Story.

So, after giving myself a few days to reflect and remember my first marathon, I have decided to give my full review of the entire process.
My friend Nikki and I left for Charleston, SC around 2p.m. on Friday and made the drive down.  It is only about an hour and half from home.  We arrived in Charleston and went straight to the expo (after a short pit stop at Dick's so I could get a "fanny pack" to store my race fuel).  The expo was sort of a cluster to say the least.  We walked in and there was a line wrapping all the way around the inside of the gym with nobody readily on hand pointing us in the direction we needed to be.  Finally, we figured it out and were in the line to get our bibs, then on to another line to purchase shuttle tickets, then on to another line to collect the race bag, then on to another line to get the race shirt.
The race shirt.....COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER.  Seriously, it looks like they took a picture of some random people running and ironed it on a shirt.  The shirt is really nice itself and I like the fact there was a ladies cut instead of the unisex sloppy looking ones that most races offer.
After leaving the expo we headed over to the La Quinta and checked in quickly and unloaded our bags. After that it was a quick trip to King St. for a taste of retail therapy before dinner.  We had 8:00 reservations at Bocci's which is an Italian restaurant that was recommended to me by a friend.  It was nice and authentic.  I had spaghetti and meatballs and Nikki and I split a side of sauteed spinach and roasted potatoes.  We were back at our hotel shortly after 9 and got all supplies ready for the next morning.  Nice little thunderstorm with hail came through so, we were glad we were already in for the night.  We both slept great.  I logged more sound hours of sleep that night than I have in what seems to be forever and Nikki said she slept great too.  I think we didn't know how to act not having to sleep with one eye and both ears open listening out for toddlers all night.
So, we woke up race morning around 5:45 ran down to the lobby for some pre-race fuel.  We headed over to the start line around 7:10 and was in our parking spot at 7:15.  We stayed in the car until 7:25 then headed over to make a quick bathroom stop before lining up.  The bathroom line was ridiculous but moved along until we were at the door leading into the actual bathroom.  It came to a halt.  At 7:57 I was 2nd in line.  At this point I didn't feel the need to panic.  My chip wasn't going to start until I crossed the start line and I wanted to start with an empty bladder.  We got out of the bathrooms and over to the start line in plenty of time to get in the pack around the pacer groups we needed to be near.  I think it was 8:05 when I his start on my Garmin.
The first few miles were beautiful but, freezing.  We ran along the battery for a few miles and then made a left onto King St and ran all the way down it.  Nikki was doing the half marathon, so we split off between mile 9 and 10.  I felt great at 13.1 and continued to feel great despite the 18 mph head wind that was blowing me backwards at times.  I felt great on through mile 22.  I would say around mile 23 I felt things start to tighten and my pace slow down.  I kept a pace that I felt comfortable in and a pace that I knew I could maintain and not risk a no finish.  This was my first so I had nothing to beat myself against.  I finished in 4:45.  I had in my head I want to do closer to 4:30 but, with the wind it just wasn't possible.  No matter what my time was, I am happy and can now call myself a marathoner!
Now, looking back, I have decided that running a marathon is comparable to child birth.  You forget anything negative about the process and you do it all over again.  I have now registered for my 2nd marathon.  Rock N Roll Raleigh........HERE I COME!!!!

I Did It! I Did It!

It is official!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am a marathon completer!  I have done something that most people will never be able to say that they have done. I know there are a lot of "i's" in these first few sentences but I EARNED a little bragging right. Agreed?  Now, I could not have done this without the support of my my family and friends and I  forever in debt to them  most importantly I thank my God for giving me the courage, power, and health that I needed to complete this task. He was there with me every second along the way. 

My chip time was 4:45:39. Not the fastest girl in the pack but, I ran the entire time and I FINISHED!  Now, that I have the experience under my belt I can focus on improving. Don't get me wrong, I think I did amazing for a first timer and considering the weather conditions.

I will have more to share in the upcoming days for sure. In the mean time here are a few pictures. 

Already Looking Ahead

First, I wanted to share a picture of the wake up temperature this southern belle had to experience this past Tuesday. 

It actually got down to 9 degrees, but I missed that photo op. I was working this day so no running in that cold for me. 

I can't believe I am now only 8 days out from my first marathon.  I am getting more excited by the day. I have been executing the race in my head daily. It is hard for me to believe I am about to accomplish such a dream. 

I think I have decided on my next race. I am pretty sure I am going to do the half marathon in Columbia, SC in March. I think I am going to work on improving my speed for a while so when I do decide on my next marathon I will be in tip top shape. 

T Minus 12 Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ready or not, here I come.  I am 12 days out from my first marathon.  I have in some sort of way been preparing my mind and/or body for this for over a year.  Charleston Marathon I am on my way!
I am not going to lie and say that I am as ready as I will ever be, because I am not.  I could have trained more but, I am a wife and mother first.  Life happens and logging all of the runs that my plan called for just didn't happen.  I do not think I will finish in near the time that I initially set out to do but, I am confident that I WILL FINISH and I WILL HAVE FUN.  At this point I will say that I believe this will not be my first and last marathon.  I have enjoyed my training for the most part.  The training I did was a plan that I downloaded from Marathon Nation .  I felt like the plan was totally doable and didn't take me away from my family for hours on end.  I will say that I have had to tweak the plan the last month or so due to life =) .
In the last month, I have teamed up with a long time friend for runs.  She is doing the half marathon of this race.  She has really done a great job!  I am not sure if we have enjoyed our running together in itself, or 2 + hours of adult conversation the most.  Now, we are looking forward to a little retail therapy along with our marathon weekend.

Any advice for my final 12 days?

Anyone else running the Charleston Marathon?