Dopey Training week 2

HI! How are you guys?  I just wrapped up week 2 of Marathon/Dopey training. I also wrapped up the first three days with my students.  Lets just say I am pooped!!! By the end of day one I went to the copy room to make copies and I just laid on the floor in relief.  I don’t think I could have stood up another minute.  My voice hurt, I was tired!  I was so cranky one day the week I took out our Roku from the TV and threw it at the hubby and told him to go somewhere else and watch TV.  It was probably 6-7 and I wasn’t going to have it!

This weeks training didn’t go as well as I would like but it wasn’t terrible.  I missed one mid week longer run.  My long run was a bit slower but I am not upset about it.  I am training for a 48.6 4 day race.  I am not training to PR.  It was my first week back and I am cutting my self slack.  In the past, I probably would have missed two runs.  I am really thankful to have Abby to report back to, it really motivates me!

Here are the numbers

Dopey Training Week 2:

Monday: Rest day.  I almost got up, then I saw the weather forecast and went back to sleep.

Tuesday: 3.4 miles Pace unknown.  I set out to do 6-7 during lunch at work and my legs just wouldn’t move.  I finally realized they probably hurt so much because I was in heels for 3 hours the night before and I don’t ever wear heels.

Wednesday:Rest day because the thought of waking up early before work and then after work with throbbing feet- no thanks!  

Thursday: Speed work!- 6 miles 11:47 average 2x400 (2:21, 2:18), 2x800 (4:46, 4:46) when I PR’ed my half I was doing these closer to 4:15… 1x1200 (7:12) 1x800 4:38 - because i ran out of time  It looks like my times were a little quicker than last weeks so I will take it.  

Friday: Rest day!- how glorious

Saturday: 9 miles with my amazing team.  I am so thankful for people to run with.  12:15 pace. I think it will take myself a few weeks for my body to get back into the swing of work for the runs to be normal

Sunday: 3.1 12:20 pace- just an easy recovery run-

total (running) miles: 21.5 miles

Overall: I am happy with this week considering it was the first week the students are back.  I really want to try and get some strength training in this week.  There is always room for improvement :)

How did your week go?  What are you proud of?

How do you manage to get in a strength training activity?  I always forget!  I just come home and play with my cats and shove food down my throat.

I am currently raining money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  If you would like to donate, please click here.  

Why I am not happy with a 38 minute Marathon PR

Shouldn't everyone be happy with a 38 minute and 50 second PR for the Marathon?

My friend asked me right after the race if I was still happy about the race and the answer is “NO”.  

It has been just over two weeks since the Best Damn Race Marathon where my time goal was to go sub 5.  If you read my last post you can see I did not reach it and I am very upset about it.  You can read it here.

Giving myself time to think about it I am starting to get over/deal with it.  I am setting new goals to reach and getting ready to train for them.  I am also taking it easy giving my body the appropriate time to recover.  I am still not happy about it nor do I know if I will ever be happy about the outcome of the race.  I am disappointed in myself.

Gifts from my wonderful support!

I wish I knew why I am so upset with missing my goal.  Maybe its the fact I missed it by just over the and a half minutes.  Maybe I feel I could have pushed harder at the end and not given up.  It could also be the fact that I trained for a specific goal and did everything I could have done to reach it and I fell short.  Maybe I am comparing myself to my friends I trained with and expected to do what they did?

I also think this was the first time I trained for a specific goal and did NOT hit the goal.  When I was reflecting on this I couldn’t believe that was true.  Maybe I set my goals too low but I often surprise myself because race day can be so tricky, especially for 26.2 miles.    

When I made my last goals this is how I came up:

Wanted a sub 30 5k- and came out with 29:03

2:15 half and came in at 2:12  *This race was a month earlier than anticipated*

Olympic distance and first triathlon 3:45-4:00 and came in at 3:38 and surpassed my run goal!

15k -I wanted under 1:45 and was surprised to see 1:35:11 at the gate River Run with the bridges!  This was actually a week before my half marathon PR!  

I do see that 38 minutes faster is fabulous and I am thankful for that! Last years marathon was 5:55 when I did the NYC Marathon.  I am so thankful for everyone who put up with me this training cycle.  I am ready to set new goals and reach those in time :)

I also think it is OK to not be OK with a race result..What do you think?

NYCM 2013 Training: Week 4

How is it 2 days before August and I am already a month into marathon training?  Where has the time gone?

We have less than 99 days until November 3 when I toe the start line with thousands of my closest running friends!

This week I am linking up with Meghan and Kat.  I am really excited to link up again because I missed these weekly recaps.  Unless I am training for something, I have nothing to recap :(

Week 4 in Review

Sunday 7/21- 1 mile swim as a recovery from Saturdays 11 miles

Monday 7/22 Easy 4 miler

Tuesday 7/23 Unplanned rest day due to time restraints

Wednesday 7/24 7 ugly miles.  If you saw on Daily mile, this was not my day.  I mentally checked out before it started because I wasn't able to meet the people I anticipated to run with.  I almost went home but pounded it out anyway.  There was much more walking than I planned but they got done.  

Thursday 7/25 20 minutes tempo run.  This was pretty rock star :)

6 miles on the bike with mom

Friday 7/26 Rest day 

Saturday 7/28 13 miles which 8 were bridges at Ringling Bridge

I took this from my instagram.  My first ice bath of the season!!

Sunday 7/29 1 mile on treadmill, 20 minutes on a bike. 1 hour of yoga

Dad foam rolling

This makes for a pretty sure Genna :)

I hope everyone has a great week!  I have almost hit 100 miles for the month.  I haven't seen those numbers since December !! 

24 days in training

*Warning* This post may be a little disjointed and don't mind the random pictures everywhere, my computer stinks!!

24 days later and I finally sitting down to write a post about my next marathon.  If you follow me on facebook, twitter, instagram, or daily mile, or even my blog, then you already know I am training for the 2013 New York City Marathon.  My emotions for this race are everywhere.  I am excited, nervous, and ready for it to be over (sad to say).  There was so much hype last year about this race and with it being cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy I feel as if I am in a rut.  I was already up there, I picked up my packet, went shopping, and in an instant, it was cancelled.  It is hard for me to be overly excited because what if that happens again.  The weather and other events may be out of my control but the training, that is not, and that is my main reason for writing this post.

Getting my pedicure right before training starts before my toes fall off with some leisurely reading

I "officially" started training July 1 giving me about 16 weeks to train.  I didn't come in with much of a base that I anticipated due to tendinitis in my ankles.  The lack of running is also why you all haven't seen many posts from me in a while.  The tendinitis came about right after my amazing PR at the Sarasota First Watch Half Marathon.  If you know my track record with training and following a schedule, I may not be the best of it.  I am determined to rock NY! Surprisingly, I have only missed 2 runs and they were due to a really sunburned butt and I knew putting on a running skirt was not going to be fun.  I couldn't even sleep on my back.  With that being said, except for today and one other run, I hit every run!  

I am very lucky to have off for the first month of training.  It is allowing me to set a routine.  Once school begins, I will be out of the house by 5:15 which doesn't allow for a run in the morning, but I will make it home to run in the evening.  I have recruited my boss to run a half marathon so I can't wait to have a running partner on that side of town along with many other runners I know up there.  I will be calling them in for reinforcements! Training this year has been done alone for the most part, I miss my running buddies but I live so far from most of them.  I was finally able to meet up with my BRF Christa and she pushed me!  We did unexpected hill training which is always fun and torture.  This heat is truly something else.  I am thinking about getting some type of water pack back such a a camelbak or the nathan hydration packs.  Any thoughts?  I do not like carrying stuff n my hands and the fuel belts give me a stomach ache.

The best post race treat! A popsicle after 9 miles.  5 of which were the Run for Pride with NYRR

My goals for this training cycle and race is to have fun and get back into running shape.  I miss when 10 min miles were easy, now I struggle with 11 min miles for 3 mile miles.  Have fun come race day and not want to kill myself.  If I have to set a time goal, it is 4:59:59.  Truthfully, I am not sure it is going to happen at New York due to the bridges and my lack of base before training.  I hope to update my blog weekly on my runs.  Once school starts again, who knows what will happen.

I hope everyone is having a great summer!

What are you goals this summer?  How do you power through the heat?

Christa and I after 11 sweaty miles

Goofy Thoughts and Goals

The BIG DAY is less than 48 hours away!  I am headed to Disney on Friday to get settled in, check out the expo and be a social TNT butterfly.

I cannot believe how quick time flies.  I remember signing up for this race with Team in Training back when I was at my old school, which means, May 2012! Seriosly, what was I thinking?  I am really excited, nervous, anxious about these races.  I am a mixed bag of emotions.  If this is your first time stopping by, the Goofy and a half challenge is a half marathon on Saturday followed by the full marathon on Sunday.  That is 39.3 miles of fun throught the happiest place on earth.  That is also countless hours on my feet. 

I am not sure if I have ever done a pre-race post before actually. 

This training cycle was all types of screwed up.  I wasn't able to train for my back to back runs because I was focused on the NY Marathon and was told not to do them yet and would start after NY.  I figured, after NY I would be in great shape, but I wasn't.  I started fighting overuse pains..ALL OVER.. Places I didn't know can hurt, or would hurt from running.  My training plan wasn't that feasable with my work schedue.  I simply could not get in two hour runs after school, two days a week.  I know how to make a plan for myself, or modify it to best meet the needs to me and my schedule now.  After NY, I was able to train with Team in Training again.  I love those people.  I am very lucky I had peole to meet, people to eat with, and discuss the stuff only runners talk about.  I got sick run after run and the long runs suffered.  Don't get me wrong, I did have some great runs!  I am finally seeing my speed improve on shorter distances.  (I can't wait to tackle the half marathon distance again).  I got burnt out, I am tired, and I am ready for a break.

Im scared.  I am scared I didn't put in all the training. 
Im confident.  I am confident that I will make it to that finishing line, somehow.
Im panicking.  I am panicking about the weather.  Have you seein it yet?  I am no speedy gonzalez, so I will me still out there when the sun is up and it beating down on me.  You are told to dress like it is 20 degrees warmer when running, I should be in just my swuimsuit then.  Hydration? Stomach?  All issues running through my head.
Im happy.  I am so happy I get to share the accomplishments of so many individuals who will be crossing the finish line to their first half or full marathon
Im stuffy.  I am starting to feel human again, I can almost breathe.  I was sick for three days.  I was breathless walking up 1 flight of stairs.
Im ready.  I am ready to toe those start lines!  As much as there have been problems, I am ready, and maybe as ready as I ever will be.  JUST GET HERE ALREADY!!


After 13.1, how will 26.2 feel? HELP!


My goals:
Apparently this is what peole want to read.  Who would have thought.  I am still thinking about these and tweeking it honestly.  There has been so much to happen and things to consider.  The weather, being sick, corral placement, back to back runs; that I am scared to really set goals.  I know that as long as I finish, I will be happy



13.1 Saturday:

A: Have fun, enjoy, walk some, run some, take pictures.  Not go in with the intention to set any records
B. 2:30-2:45  That means I probably stopped once and the heat is getting to me
C: Sub 2:26 I feel amazing and I am going to PR because I think I could if I tried :)

26.2:

A:Sub 5:25
B:Sub 5:35
C:Sub 6

I am being very broud on the marathon goals becasue of the back to backs.  If I feel amazing, my goal is to fun it :) Sub 5:30 here I go.  As long as I go under 6, Iwill be a happy little camper after my last marathon experience

Have you ever ran a back to bakc race?  What did you do to prepare or recover?
Will you be at Disney?  I would probably love to meet you!

If you would like to track me, let me know.  I will be happy to give you my last name! Just ask
 

Weekly Workout Recap & Goofy Training Week 9 & Taper

I cannot believe that 9 weeks have passed with Training for this insane event Called the Disney Goofy and a Half challenge.  What was I thinking when I signed up for this with Team in Training?

Oh that is right, I will be in great shape after the New York City Marathon and this will be a breeze.  Well, I was wrong!

According to my DailyMile acount, this week was a great week!  I will have to agree with it.

I am secretly loving taper week.  Some runs were more difficult than other but that 5 miles on Monday was amazing.  I had off this week so it was a lot more convenient to get my miles in.  For the last week of training I have to go back to work sadly.  I only have 8 miles on the schedule during the week.  I will probably do 4 of them :)

Here is a rundown of my runs:

*Monday: 5 miles @ 9:48 pace.  I am not sure where that came from but it really helped with my mind in terms of getting faster.  Something I have been struggling with for a while now.

*Tuesday: New years Day, that was rough.  It hurt and was hard to maintain the 10:53 pace

*Thursday: 6 miles at 11:19.  It was hot and 100% humidity.  It was hard, my legs felt it.  

*Saturday: 8 lovely miles with my favorite TEAM! 10:34 pace.  I was ecstatic about that.  I cannot wait to be done with Disney so I can truly begin working on getting faster!!

I am hoping I have the time to blog this week and share my goals for Disney.  As I have to back to back races, I intent to go in to it for "FUN" but I may have a goal up my sleeve for the Marathon portion considering how terrible my first marathon was.

How do you set your goals for marathons?

How do you pace yourself?

Have you run with a pace group and what what your thoughts?

Grab a button and link up!

2012 Goals Recap

I can't believe it is almost 2013?  Where has this year gone?  I have to say, this one one hell of a year!  The beginning of the year was a rough year for me!  I don't know if it is even possible to recap it?

I started the year out with a running injury..Damn IT Band, and was not running until end of April.  That was 4 months of no running, and to make things better, I wasn't doing much else in the sense of cardio.  My work life stressed me out beyond belief, and if you know me, you know what happened there. (or would like to hear more about that, feel free to send me an email. )  I managed to pack on almost 20 pounds with the stress!  Once I started at my new school, things defiantly got better, well until Sandy hit New York and the New York City Marathon was cancelled.  That was a really hard, and what was even harder, going straight into Goofy training.  I thought I would have a nice recovery period where I would get to sleep in, nope, that didn't happen.  I burnt out, and I burnt out quickly.  You can see all that here.

I am not going to go into much details of what happened this year, I am going to leave that for another post.  I did want to go back and look at my running goals from last year.  You can find that post here.


As I read them, I am not sure how attainable they were.  I am not sure how often I even looked at them.
                                         ---------------------------------------------------
I would love to be 123 pounds...which isn't too far off :) Finally!! When I wrote this, I was maybe 7 pounds away, which I could have done, if I chose to watch what I ate.  Instead, stress and emotions got the best of me!

I want to run a 5k in 28 minutes What was I thinking when I made this goal?  I wonder if this was achievable if I wasn't out of commission for 4 months?

I want to run a Half Marathon in 2:17.  This was a far off goal, and I knew that going into it.  My real goal was a 2:28, because I will never forget what my now X, and X, for many a reason said. "I ran my first half, without training, faster than my girlfriend".  I did, I did accomplish that.  You can read all about that amazing race here!

I want to run a Full in 4:30  (I will happily settle for a 5 hours marathon though)  Again, what far off planet was I on when I made these goals?  My 2013 goal is 5 hours or NYC :)

Overachieving and harsh realizations

I have these big dreams and goals of completing and accomplishing certain races.

I tend to take on more than I can handle, especially when it comes to training for events.  I have race after race, run after run until March.  I didn't really realize how much I have planned until someone mention, are you racing every weekend?  Well, sort of...

I had these BIG dreams of doing the Croom 50k and Augusta HIM 70.3

I have been toying with these ideas for about 6 months now, and I have no doubt I can physically complete them.  I then realized how much more training would need to go into a HIM.  I would need to do two a days.  When did I ever think I would have time for that?  I can't even complete my scheduled runs now.  

Right now, my marathon training plan was given to me through team in training and I believe was a little too ambitious for my schedule.  I have two medium long runs during the weeks, which now, are 9 miles.  I think to myself, this takes me almost two hours.. so coming up at 7, impossible.  Next training cycle, more realistic plan will be made and will incorporate speed because one day, I would love to qualify for Boston!

Back to Croom and Augusta, I think I am officially burnt out.  I want a social life!  I want to run because I want to, not because I have a training run.  I think I am saying goodbye to running Croom and doing Augusta in 2013, but there is always 2014.  Not to mention, a tri is very expensive and I certainly do not have the money at this time to invest in the proper training and equipment.  I am so thankful for the friends along the way to help me out this far.  

I want to be proud of my race and know I have done all that I could do :)

Will I have a change of heart in the next few weeks once Goofy is over?  It is possible, but I am staying away from the "Register Now" button for a while, until I am 100% sure I have the time and the energy.  

So what is up next?

Dec. 15 The color run

December 21- 10 miles

December 22- 20-22 Miles

January 12 DIsney Half Marathon

January 13 Disney Full Marathon

January 27 ING Miami Full or Half Marathon

February 9- Mud Run

February 17 Donna 26.2 or Half?- Possible with Meghan

February 24 Disney Princess  Half Marathon with Meghan, Tori, Caitlyn

March 9- Gate River run with my best friend Jamie

March 17- Sarasota Half Marathon (Hoping for a PR)

What runs are you planning?  How do you get motivated again?

Weekly workout + Goofy Training week 5

How can you tell like if a little crazy, when you cannot remember what week of training you just completed.

The last two weeks were a little crazy and I got sick so that didn't help too much with the whole training for a 39.3 mile race.  With that, I also made a few race decisions about to upcoming year.

Grab a button and link up your workouts anytime this week! Leave a comment and I will stop by and say hello :)

I am going to roll the last two weeks workouts into one short and sweet post, why?  Because it won't take too long.

I wish I knew how to make running a priority with a new job, new classes, and new responsibilities.  I can't wait until next semester when it is time to redo many lessons, but not start from the beginning for three classes.  I can't wait until my lease is up so I can move closer to work.  (Sorry for my vent session and thank you for listening)

Last week, training week 4, I was extremely busy with being back from break and getting everything in order, and just when the week was calming down, I got sick.  I was so ready to do 2 back to back runs and neither happened.  I was supposed to run the Brandon Half Marathon on December 2nd, but was smart and pushed it to the 5k.  The day before, I was supposed to do another long run of 14 miles but when all I wanted to do was leave work, I knew that wasn't going to happen.  I actually slept over 11 hours and night and believe that is what my body needed.  I was sad I couldn't do the Brandon Half, but was hurting during the 5k, it was hard to breathe, I stopped twice to blow my nose, and just wasn't feeling right.  I did PR though for my 5k, so I wonder how much better I could have done without a rotten cold.  

The following week, I started to feel better and was still very busy (I have to spend many afternoons after school practicing for a secret Pep Rally Thing a ma jig)- It will be over This week.

Tuesday was track practice where I was able to get a mile done in 9:20.  Yay for getting faster :)

I had a few unanticipated rest days due to work.  Friday I went home right after work to get my runs in, I did it, but body wouldn't go so I turned around early :(

Saturday was a long run of 19 miles.  I had a good friend push me along for 14 of those miles until I felt bad that she was taking it slow with me!  I told her to take off and I was my slow self and powered till the end.

I hope that my body learns to move again, and I see improvements in my run.  At this point I am starting to get down about Disney :( I have to remember that I am not doing this one for time because it's two back to back runs. I want to have fun, even though I would love a time goal!  

How did your workouts go this week?

How do you get over the mental hump?

Weekly Workout Roundup + Goofy Training week 3

I am over the moon with actually getting my workouts in this week.  This week I was off! Yes, the whole week and it was absolutely wonderful.  I was able to lay in bed till after 5am during the week, get my workouts in without stressing about getting lessons done or things graded.  Last night, I was sleeping before 8 and slept almost 11 hours.  It was absolutely glorious.  I am now sad that vacation is over and I have to head back to work tomorrow with the rest of the world.  I am counting down till Winter break though, do not worry, I am countdown queen!

As for being countdown queen, 48 days till I am in Disney for the Goofy Challenge!  I am very pleased with my training this week (minus the stinky runs), I was able to get in the milage even though it was tough.

This is how it was broken down

Monday was a glorious Rest day after the Women's Half Marathon and I was out of town.  My cousin and I went for a walk to the beach to a lovely lunch.  It was defiantly longer than we thought it was and my butt muscle was screaming at me, not to mention everything else at that point.  This was my "shake out/Recovery" walk.

Tuesday I headed out to get some speed work in but have been having trouble in the "pain in the butt", and no, not my coaches but apparently my Piriformis.  I have been stretching and icing like it is my job.

Wednesday was spin day!  They gym got new bikes and I am in love!  It kicked my butt, I was drenched in sweat.  You know you like the instructor when you drive 45 minutes for a 1 hour class then 45 minutes back home.  That is why you see the "20" under Wednesday because our bikes have speedometers.  

Thursday was my first Turkey Trot.  My sister did her first 5k! and it was a rough course!  I was warned about the hills.  They did not lie.  I think this with the spin class the night before, this kicked my booty.  

Before

After

Saturday was 20 miles with the team!  It was a hot mess!  When at mile 1, your body hurts, you know it is going to be long.  But something Meghan has been saying on her blog was that for 26.2 miles, you are going to want to stop at some point, you just need to push through it, it really motivated me to keep going and not head home after mile 10.  Those miles were slower than I wanted, but my body was burnt from the week. My knee was hurting, my quads were screaming, my calves were not happy and the list can go on.  But my first 20 miler for Disney is done! 

Grab a button and link up!

How did your workouts go this week?

Are you training for anything special?

How do you mentally get over the hurdle?

Have you donated to the leukemia and lymphoma society?  I would love you forever!

Becoming a runner

I have been getting a bunch of people recently asking how I started running because they want to increase their distance or want to start running.

I should probably start by saying I have not always been athletic.  I was nominated "laziest" staff member when I worked as a counselor at a sleep away camp, and will never forget that.  Yes, it was funny, but also very hurtful.  It is funny how something like that will resinate with you, especially on those long runs, trying to prove everyone wrong.

Running has never been easy for me. One mile is sometimes still hard on the treadmill.  ( I will never forget when I ran one mile non stop on the treadmill). One New Years I made a resolution to complete a 5k, I wanted to be active and didn't know how.  I started with the couch to 5k program but it didn't really work for me as I was on the treadmill and it felt funny.  I had no idea what speed I was supposed to be running because I never ran before.  As I started with that for a few weeks I needed to figure something else out. I needed more intervals and what better than songs since I would listen to my ipod on the treadmill.  I started one song run, one song walk, etc.  I then progressed to  two songs run, one song walk, etc.  It was time to do the first 5k and for me, I rocked it!  I wanted to do it in under 45 minutes, because all I cared about was finishing it.  I managed to run it in under 35 minutes I believe with some walking stops of course.  That is how I began running.  

After a 5k or two or three, I wanted to increase my distance as I never really cared about speed.  To me, that was important.  I tried longer distances, but again I didn't really know how.  That is when I joined team in training just to see about it without any real intention to join.  I left that meeting registered!!  They provided me with a coach and all I had to do was fundraise.  I had a schedule to follow.  It got easier and easier because I was being accountable.  I slowly increased my milage, they recommend about 10% a week.  I incorporated a lot of run walks to get my body used to the feeling of being on my feet for so long.  

I remember, while training for my first Half, I said I would never do a Full marathon and on that last day of training for my half, I wanted to do a full.  

The way to get the miles increased is to do it slowly and safely.  Do not push your body past its limits.  Listen to it, if it says slow...SLOW..if it says rest..REST

Yes..simple as that!!

I hope everyone finds their grove in running like I have, I may not be the fastest, but I can guarantee I am the happiest one out there :)

HAPPY RUNNING!!

and please remember, I am not a certified coach, or a coach at all..Just a girl on the running trying to help out a fellow runner 

You can also check out my Team in Training webpage (and make a donation) here:

pages.teamintraining.org/sun/wdw13/ghimelfarb