Whole 30 and Crossfit

Running has not come back to me yet the way I would like it, so I am changing things up! I decided my focus is getting in as good of shape as I can and trying something different. A lot of my friends rave about Crossfit, so I decided to give it a shot. Jeff and I signed up for a free week to try it out. If we like it then we will buy a month membership and go from there. We went 3 days in a row and then took today off because we were sore. :-) I would definitely like to get stronger! My ideal would be to do Crossfit 3 days a week and run 3 days a week, but I am not sure financially if that will work.

One of my good friends was at our Crossfit class the 2nd day. She texted me to tell me congrats. :-) She happened to mention that she had started the Whole 30 challenge. This is a 30 day challenge to cut out grains, dairy, legumes and sugar for 30 days. There is no "free" day. This is supposed to reset your body and help you figure out the best way for you to eat. It is based on a book called, "It starts with food." I have been fascinated by nutrition since I was first introduced to Michael Pollan and Food Inc. I definitely agree that the best way to eat healthy is to eat as fresh as possible. I wasn't so sure about Paleo (which this is based on) because I didn't think it allowed for enough carbs to fuel my running. Since I am not running tons right now, it is the perfect time to try it out. I know how good I feel when I cut out sugar so I knew the others would just make it even better. I am on Day 3 and I  love it! I devoured the book in a day and it all made sense to me. I am testing out the experiment and go from there. The food I get to eat is so yummy, in fact I get to have an avocado every day if I want! That is my favorite.

I will keep you posted! Technically my marathon training would start on Monday, but I am not sure if I am going to train for a marathon- yet. We will see how this goes!

Dreams of Boston

I didn't write up my marathon report from Yakima- oops! You can tell I was not happy with it. Short story is my legs felt great, but my cardio was shot after 2 weeks of no running. I am proud of myself for running it and I did my best, but I am ready for a redo! :-) I ran a 4:28.

I followed the Boston Marathon today and I know it is my turn! I have 3 weeks to recover and then I am back to marathon training. This is my time. I will have a great base. I had a fantastic 30k and I know I was getting in good shape. I am going to follow the Hanson's plan again, but use their advanced program. I am ready for this! I am done nursing, so it is all up to me now.

The deal is that I need to be in balance with the other areas in my life. So, that will be my focus! I can do this! I was inspired watching my friends train and finish! I want to be there next year!!!

Plans and Goals for Yakima Marathon

Well, the good news is there is not a bone injury! So, the Dr. gave me the green light to run. The bad news is, there is tendon inflammation. This means there will be pain involved in my running and this is not an injury that will just go away.

Well, having no experience with injuries, I went out for a run yesterday thinking all would be well. :-) I was so excited to get a chance to run. I went for a slow 5 miles and I felt the injury the entire run. It was a dull ache, not a sharp pain, but discouraging nonetheless. I am not running again until Saturday. :-) I was talking with my husband last night and he said if it were him he wouldn't run the marathon. However, we ended up having a long conversation and here are the reasons I want to run:

1. New course, new area

2. Want to know if it's a good race for me to choose next year

3. I want to at least try the marathon.

4. Dr. gave me the green light and feels I won't do permanent damage.

5. I want to hear Katherine Switzer speak

6. I want to experience the marathon.

Reasons to not run:

1. There will be pain involved.

2. Not getting the time I trained for.

This is from an email I sent to Malcolm. I will run a smart race and listen to my body. If there is too much pain, I will be brave and pull out of the race. I want to enjoy the beauty and give it a shot. I haven't decided if I will do the ibuprofen or not. 

I can't wait to try it!! 

My new goals:

1. Enjoy the scenery

2. Listen to my body.

3 . Have fun.

4. Follow my heart rate.

5. Meet new people. 

6. Pull out if the pain is too intense.

7. PR if feeling good. :-)

8. BQ if the stars align. :-)

9. Trust my training. I have put in the work. 

Will I get to run?

I have a lot to catch up on, but I wanted to write down some thoughts. I have had an awesome training cycle. I feel faster and stronger than I have in a long time. I had a rough pace run the week after the race and it knocked my confidence down for a little while. I came back even stronger and had 2 amazing pace runs. The second one happened on my birthday! Jeff was running the first half with me and I finished the last 6 miles by myself. We were in Arizona and I felt like a million bucks.

Unfortunately, when I came home from that run I felt pain just above my ankle. Normally, I would take time off, but I was afraid I was having "phantom" pains during taper week. The next day I ran 8 miles on it and it turned from dull ache to stabbing pain and I had a hard time walking the rest of the weekend. I have not run since March 21st.

As soon as I got back from Arizona, I went to the dr. I had an MRI yesterday. I will be getting the results today. We fasted with my family that it would be healed if that is what is best for me at this time. I know I have the faith, along with my family to make this happen. I have worked really hard and would love a shot at this race on Saturday.

However, if it is not to be, then I will enjoy family time at the beach and find a new goal. I am wearing my running clothes to the dr so I can go for a run if I am given the green light. I will be smart about this. I will be prayerful going in that I will know the right answer if he leaves the choice up to me. I will weigh the pros and cons.

I am really grateful for my 30k race. I know I have worked hard and in good shape. I can get there again if I can't run Saturday. I have not been eating too great this week, so I will need to figure that out if I get to race. I need my nerves to calm. I am going to clean for the last 30 minutes. Woo hoo!!

5 weeks left- Catchup and Champoeg Race Report

I thought I would be better at keeping track of my training. I guess being extra tired and taking care of a baby is keeping me from my plans! So, here is the update!

I am up to 9 miles of pace runs and my Monday speedwork is 6 miles at 8:13 pace. It started with a 1x6mile and worked its way to a 2x3mile workout, which was today. I have really enjoyed it, but it definitely takes effort. I am really enjoying all these marathon specific workouts. On my slow days I really try to go slow.

Champoeg 30k was Saturday. I tried to have an easy week but on my Wednesday run, we ran a little faster and hillier workout. I was hoping I wouldn't regret it. I took the last 3 runs really slow. Friday night I started questioning my ability to run an 8:23 pace for 18.6 miles. I knew it would shatter my confidence for the marathon if I couldn't do it. I decided I couldn't worry about it and just had to go for it. If my heart rate and body were having a hard time, I would pull back a little. The main thing was I didn't want to start out too fast.

So, the day of the race came, without much sleep the night before. Some due to nerves and some due to baby Caden. :-)  I met up with my good friend Cherl and we only had time to do a little warmup. The race started and we split up. She went ahead and I just kept my eye on her white rain jacket. The weather was a little cold and rainy but not too bad. My first mile was an 8:16. A little faster than I wanted. I tried to slow down, but I didn't do so well. The next one was 8:18 and the third was 8:09. At  that point I realized my Garmin was reading longer than the course. So, I decided to slow down a little but not too much. My goal was to do each 10k in 52 minutes. The first one I did in 52:08. I was pretty happy with this. I took off my jacket, took a Gu and kept going. My pace stayed around 8:20-8:24. I ran the next 10k in 52:30. My heart rate was staying in the 180's. I was trying to keep it in the low 180's. Once I cross into the 190's I know I am in trouble and it is hard to get it back down. What was cool was that I hit a couple of second winds where my body just felt like it was gliding along at that pace. Toward the end of the second loop I caught up to Cherl. She was not loving the race. It was tough but I ended up passing her. I was sticking to the plan. I kept thinking she would fly by me at any minute.
On the third 10k, my heart rate got up to the 190's and it felt tougher than I wanted it to. I hung on and tried to get the downhill to get it back down. It never really happened so I just finished strong. I didn't feel like I maxed out, but I was definitely pushing it. My last lap was 52:24 for a total time of 2:37, which is an 8:25 pace. My garmin says 18.87 for an 8:20 pace. :-) Either way, I am happy. I still have work to do, but this program is definitely working. This is a faster pace than I ran for the half marathon and my heart rate stayed lower and it felt easier. Also, I maxed out in that one and hit the 190's much earlier! I crossed the half marathon mark of this one in 1:49 which is exactly where I want to be in the marathon! I still felt good too.

I was hoping my recovery would go well and it did. I was able to do 9 miles on the treadmill today. I did my 6 miles pretty comfortably at an 8:13 pace. Didn't love it, but felt strong.  I want to make sure and take my slow days slow and follow the plan for the speedwork day. I am feeling pretty confident for Yakima. I know I can at least PR if I run a smart race. In a perfect world, I will also BQ. :-)

We will see...

Hanson's Plan Progress

I didn't realize it had been so long since I had written! Cherl and I keep a google doc with our times and paces for each run. It is awesome for a math nerd like myself. :-) So, it feels like I am recording my results even though I am not posting to the blog.

My update is that I have finished the speedwork portion of the training plan. It started with 12x400M and worked its way to 4X1200M. It was always 3 miles of fast work. I loved the mathematicalness (is that a word?!) of the plan. I was able to do every workout at 7:20 pace. It got tougher as it got longer, but I could do it, so that is good.

The pace runs are now up to 8 miles of pace. So far I have been able to do this and keep my heart rate down until the end. My big test will be a 30k in 2 weeks. My goal is to do all 18.6 miles at Boston goal pace of 8:23.

I feel pretty strong right now. I was doing a 6 week pushup program that was getting me doing over 100 pushups in one sitting. I think it really helped! I also have been slowly losing weight and am now down to 131.8lbs. I can definitely feel a difference when I run.

I have loved the program! I have been running 40-50 miles a week and feeling very good! The longest run I have done so far is 15 miles, but at the end I felt like I could keep going. I think that is a fantastic sign. :-)

I will post more. I am also loving that Jeff has been running with me for the last couple of weeks. We had a hilly run this morning and it was awesome! I am so proud of him for working so hard and it has been fun to do it with him!

Hanson's Marathon Plan

I have a good friend, Cherl, who has been through a lot with me in marathon training over the years. We met on a running forum when we discovered we had identical first marathon times- 5:11. Both of us knew we were capable of better than that. We have gone our own ways but now I believe we have similar PRs and have run a similar number of marathons. We even ran one marathon "together" at St George, but didn't find each other at the beginning. This was too bad because we finished just a few minutes apart. It would have been nice to have her to keep me going even when the race wasn't what I wanted. :-)

So, this brings us to now. Cherl's PR is a 3:52 and she needs a 3:45 to qualify. My PR is a 3:48 and  I need a 3:40. She is much faster than me on normal runs. She found a marathon plan that has worked for some of her friends called Hanson's Marathon training. It intrigued me enough that I am going to "experiment" with it.

It has a day of speedwork, a day of marathon pace running, 3 days of slow runs and a long run. The long runs don't get longer than 16 miles. That seems crazy, but the idea is that you are running tired from the other runs, but you can recover faster for the quality speed miles. We will see how it goes. I ran 41 miles last week and this week was my first attempt at the schedule. I am somewhere between their beginner schedule and their advanced schedule so that makes it a little tricky to plan. Here is my week so far.

Monday- 12x400s at 5k or 10k pace. I ran them all between 1:44 and 1:50. It was tough, but I did it!
Tuesday- short recovery run on the treadmill- 3.5 miles
Wednesday- today was a 6 mile pace run. I was hoping it would go really well, but it was tough and I couldn't hit the paces. I am not sure what this means. I felt a little light headed so I don't know if I had enough in my system. I need to make sure I eat more carbs. With nursing still, I am sure I need to be extra careful.

My heart rate got too high too soon. I ran 8:20, 8:19, 8:22, 8:48, 8:48, 8:47. I am glad I hung in there even when I wasn't feeling great. I was thinking about giving up and then I went home and actually signed up for the marathon. So, now I am stuck!! I am hoping this keeps me working hard. I may not be ready to BQ, but I am ready to get racing again. I love having a goal, I just need to accept where my body is.

Okay, the baby is crying hard. I thought he would go to sleep.

I will keep updating. I am running Yakima River Canyon Marathon on April 5th and no matter what it will be an amazing experience!