How not to train for a marathon

Grandma's Marathon is 6 weeks and 2 days away. I have yet to start my training. I have been running about 1x per week. I am not injured. I just have not been making training a priority. As an Exercise Physiology grad student, you would think I would know the importance of training.

I was thinking about trying the 6 weeks training plan. Instead of tapering, I would start running but in reality my dissertation is not finished and I am freaking out that I only have 2 weeks left to finish it and then 2.5 weeks to prep for the presentation. That leaves me with about 1.5 weeks to train. Maybe, I will just run half of it and have a friend pick me up there.

I did a 10k last Saturday. It was a good learning experience. If you aren't training, you can't expect to run fast. I hit the 5k mark and just king of blew up...I could barely move. My left was bothering me and I started getting blisters on my feet. That is just crazy, blisters from a 6.2 mile run. I never get blisters. I suppose the rain didn't help with the blisters. I crossed the finish line and pulled my shoes off, walked to the food (mmm...chocolate milk), stretched and ran into an old cross country teammate. Which was the best part of the race!

Get Lucky 7k

On Saturday, Team Ortho hosted the 2nd annual Get Lucky 7k. It was tons of fun!

But before I get to the race recap, I have to tell you about the volunteer experience. I signed up to volunteer at the packet pick up. I love meeting all the other runners and chatting with them. I only signed up to work on Thursday because I didn't want to be standing for a long period of time the day before the race.

When I went to my station at the series table I was greeted by a fellow Minnesota runner and blogger Richelle. She is super sweet and has a great blog that you should go check out! I was so excited to meet her because I just found her blog a couple weeks before. Volunteering was fun. I was in charge of directing people to line up by size when picking up their sweatshirts. Yes, we got amazing zip front sweatshirt from this race! I will post a picture later of the sweatshirt.

Race Recap

No photos yet. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel at the race because I haven't gotten in as much running as I would like lately. It seems like I should have a bunch of time to run but this semester is kicking my butt (dissertation are stressful). In addition to that my heel has been bothering me for the past month (perhaps plantar fasciitis). I will talk about that another day.

The race started at 10am. I always overdress for this race so I told myself to wear less but it didn't work. I still wore tights, long sleeve shirt, pullover, hat and gloves. Bad idea because I was way too warm. I don't run with my ipod but I decided that I wanted to race with it because I figured I was going to need something to keep my mind off the fact that I was running and not actually racing.

I did a 1.5 mile warm up, some leg swings and a few strides. I position myself about 5 rows back from the starting line. There are about 5,000 runners at this race. The race starts. I tell myself to stay relaxed and hold back. Sometimes I go a little crazy the first mile and pay for it the rest of the race. Just before mile 1 a guy cuts me off and starts running right in front of me. I get annoyed because there was plenty of other places to go but instead he has to disrupt my stride. So i put in a quick surge and fly past him. Then I see 2 women in front of me and think I have to pass these 2 so I did. Mile 1 = 6:26. Then I settle into a rhythm and just go. I keep expecting to have some women come flying past me or to see one in front of me. I cross mile 2 in about 6:38. I start to think I better slow down. I am starting to hurt. Why is running to hard? Why do I do races? I just want to be done but I am not even halfway yet. Okay just run. I see 2 police officers at the corner. I am hoping that I will know one of them from the work that I have been doing with the MPD. Yeah, I do know them! They both cheer for me by name. It always helps to have someone yell for you in the middle of a race. Mile 3 = 6:40. I hit the 5k mark and think only 2k to go, I can do this. Just go and don't get passed. My headphone fall out of my ears...I am too tired to put them back in so I just keep running. I am starting to run scared. I really don't want to be passed by any women now. I have managed to not get passed yet so I want to keep it that way. Mile 4 was around 6:40. I decide I don't want to push it anymore but then I think how much I don't want to be passed so I go. I just wanted to be done running. I am not ready for this kind of effort. As I am coming up the finish line the announcer say we have our 2nd women finish. What...no way! Awesome...don't get passed. I cross the finish line in 29:00 with 3rd place in 29:02 and 4th in 29:03. That was close. I am happy with my results and glad the I was able to convince myself to keep running hard. I would have been very disappoint if I had been passed right at the finish line.

Stats:
29:00 (6:40 per mile)
41/5,107 overall
2/3,668 women
1/860 age group

All of the fast Twin Cities runners raced in the Human Race today. I wouldn't have even cracked the top 50 women with a 33:09 8k.

Get in Gear 2010!

I found this great photo of the 2010 Get in Gear when I was signing up for the Get in Gear 2011!

What make it extra great is the fact that I am in it! I am near the right bottom corner. I am wearing the purple long sleeve shirt.

Better late than never - Monster Dash 1/2 Marathon Race Recap

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I ran the Monster Dash. This semester is almost over and I still haven't finished a single chapter of my dissertation. I was planning to have my dissertation done by December so I could cruise through my final semester of grad school. I don't think that will be happening. Anyway, back to the race recap.

The above photo is at the start. I am behind the girl in the blue shorts. I was way overdressed for the race. I had on a long sleeve shirt, running tights, gloves, ear warmers and a pirate dress over all of that. I like to dress up for races! It was funny to hear all the things that I was called during the race..."Go Renaissance women!" "Go bar maid whore!" and "Go pirate wench!"

My goal for the race was to run a sub-1:35 so I decided to start out with the 1:35 pacer. Well, that lasted about 1 mile before I had enough and took off. It was too crowded and I was always almost stepping on the feet of the people cutting in front of me.

I felt great for the first 7 miles. I was running about 7 min mile pace. The problem is when your longest run is only 7 miles for a 13.1 mile race. The last few miles are hard. I started to slow down around mile 7 and around mile 9 my legs were starting to feel like they might cramp at anytime. They felt like that for the last 4 miles. Luckily, they never cramped. Around mile 9 is when I started to get passed by other women. Prior to this, I was the one doing the passing. I tried to hang with them but my legs wouldn't let me. I think 5 women passed me during the last 4 miles.

I finished in 1:34:16. I was happy to break 1:35. After I finished, I waited around for my friend to finish and then we jogged the 5k with her 6 year old son. It was a great cool down.

I got home and checked my official time and place.
On Saturday:
Gender place - 42
Age group place - 14
I was a little surprised that so many women had run between 1:15 and 1:25 for the 1/2 marathon.

I recheck the results on Sunday.
Gender place - 24
Age group - 8

Marathon Excitement

I got caught up in the excitement of Boston Marathon last week and I signed up for a marathon. Grandma's Marathon on June 18, 2011 in Duluth, MN. I am super excited to run a marathon and kind of nervous. I tend to get injured quite easily so jumping up to the marathon distance might cause problems but I hope not. I am going to train smart for this race.

My plan for the rest of this year:
Monster Dash 1/2 marathon - this Saturday
Drumstick Dash 10k - Thanksgiving morning
Following the Drumstick Dash, I am going to cross train, start and stick with a weight training program and do some easy running until January when I start my 6 month training plan.

Weight training is something that I know is important for a runner but it is something that I just don't enjoy so I don't do it. Well, that is going to change. I found a weight training program that I am willing to complete and I actually enjoy. I bought a TRX and the equipment necessary to attach it to my basement ceiling. No more excuses. I don't like the gym. Now, I don't have to go to the gym. I just have to go to the basement. I think/hope a strength training program will really help my running.

Happy Running!

Runnin' with the Law 5k race report

Activ8 was helping to run a race this weekend. I got to the race at 7:30 to help out with the packet pick-up and to help with anything else that they needed. Well, it turns out they had enough help so I didn't do very much. I handed out a few t-shirts and registered myself for the race.

I did about a mile warm-up. I would have done more but the kids race was starting and I wanted to watch it. I got to hand out prizes at the end of the race! It was so cute to watch them racing across the finish line and then keep running because they didn't know where to stop.

I was told not to place in the top 3 because there was prize money and they didn't think I should get it. Okay, I haven't been training so that won't be a problem. I will be lucky if I can race anywhere close to a 20 min 5k. Side note, my hip is feeling better so I am going to start training! I have a half marathon in 2 weeks.

I started the race and tried to hold back. The first half mile always feels so easy. I ran it in 3:07. That is faster than I am going to be able to hold for the next 2.5 miles so I slow down. The next half mile was 3:17. Okay, that is hard but I think I can maintain it. I got passed by a woman about 3/4 of a mile into the race and I thought, oh well, just let her go. She didn't seem to be going to much faster than me so I kind of hung out at the back of the back of 5 runners. A few times I would fall off the back and think I should just let them go but I didn't and would catch back up. Then I decided that I was going to go the front of the pack where the other girl was and run with her. I got behind her and followed her for a quarter mile then I moved up beside her. I said, let's catch the girl in front of us. She looked over surprised that I was talking to her and nodded. So we ran together until about 3/4 of a mile to go when I pulled away from her. With a half mile to go my legs were burning and I just wanted to be done. I hear someone coming up behind me and they are moving fast. Bummer, I am going to get passed and I can't do anything about it. Good thing it was a 15 year old boy and not a female.

Final time: 20:09 - Where did that come from?
Overall place 11/272
Gender 3rd/? - Oops, I figured there had to be more women in front of me. So I won $50.

At the start of the race, I like to pick out who I think is going to win. I was right. She killed the field and ran a 17:44. Now that's fast. Second place was over a minute and half behind her.

I had planned on doing something really stupid this Saturday. I hadn't told anyone about it yet so no one could talk me out of it but I won't be doing it so I can tell. I really wanted to run a marathon after watching the Twin Cities marathon a couple weeks ago. I found a marathon in Mankato, Minnesota on Oct. 23. I was going to run it and just see what I could do without training, which is probably a really stupid idea since I have been injured for the last 3 months. Well, the marathon filled up before I could sign-up for it. Too bad I won't be running a marathon this fall.

Twin Cities Marathon Expo

I am working the Activ8 Mobile booth at the Twin Cities Marathon expo. What is Activ8 Mobile? Activ8 Mobile is a new company that focuses on improving the health and quality of life of individuals through the creation of active and healthy organizations.

Check out the website for more information: www.activ8mobile.com

Or stop by the Activ8 mobile both at the Expo and find out more. We will have the Bod Pod there. What is the Bod Pod? It determines an individuals body composition (fat and fat-free mass).


What is body composition?
Body composition refers to the relative amount of certain tissues in the body including fat, muscle and bone. Information regarding the amount of fat compared to the amount of other body tissues has implications for athletic competition as well as risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes

Why is body composition important to measure?
Body composition is determined by calculating the density of one’s body. Finding out the density of one’s body provides more important information than does weight from a scale. For example, two people could be of the same weight and height, but one person may have much more muscle than the other. Since 1 lb of muscle takes up much less volume than does 1 lb of fat, and density = mass/volume, then someone with a higher percentage of muscle for a given body mass (weight) will have a higher body density. A higher body density reflects the individual’s lower body fat percentage.

How can one improve her/his body composition?
To lower one’s body fat percent, one must not focus solely on losing body weight. Rather, body fat percentage is improved through both loss of fat weight and gain of muscle mass. Therefore, healthy practices such as partaking in cardiorespiratory exercise and resistance training as well as choosing a balanced and healthy diet will all help one to reduce his/her body fat percentage.

What does the Body Composition BOD POD test involve?

* The test takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
* All tests will be administered and interpreted by Activ8 exercise physiologists.
* Participants will be asked to refrain from eating or drinking for 2 hours prior to the test for accurate and consistent results.
* Participants will be asked to change into spandex shorts (men) and shorts and jog bra or swimsuit (women).
* Participants will be weighed on a scale and then asked to sit in the BOD POD for about 5 minutes.
* Results will then be printed, and an exercise physiologist will interpret and discuss the results with the participant.
* A video of the BOD POD procedure can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGAdNXwZWg

If you can't make it to the TC Marathon Expo but you want to do the Bod Pod, let me know and I will tell you where you can find us.

Information coming soon about an awesome new race in Minneapolis on October 17th.

Runnin' with the Law 5k

Minneapolis Duathlon Race Recap

A little late but here it is…about a month ago, I completed the Minneapolis Duathlon. I can’t say that I raced it because I started the race with a friend and chatted through the first 5k, I was riding my road bike for the first time in a couple years and I my longest bike ride was 14 miles including 3 breaks to eat ice cream and taco (they way all bike rides should be). Hopefully, I remember the exciting things that happened during the race…actually, I don’t think anything exciting happened during the race.

1^st run leg – 5k

They had a bunch of heats for the race. It started at 8:00 and the final heat started at 10:30. I was happy to be in heat 5 which started at 8:20. They broke the heat up into groups of about 30 runners and started them every 2 minutes. When we finally started, my friend and I started were a little freaked out because we were leading our group. We kept thinking that people were going to be flying past us but that never happened on the first run. After about 4 min, we began passing some of the runners from the previous heat/group. The rest of the run was uneventful…we were just passing other runners and a few runner passed us. I was pushing my friends pace a little bit but it was probably good that she kept me from going to fast on the first leg of the duathlon. We got to the transition in 24:02. I had to change my shoes so my friend left me in the transition.

T1 - 1:36

Bike leg – 18 miles

The bike leg was pretty uneventful. I passed a bunch of people and a bunch of people passed me. I got passed by people on all sorts of bikes. After about 5 miles, I just wanted to get off the bike. It just seemed to drag on forever. I kept watch for the mile marker flags and they just couldn’t come fast enough. I finished the bike section in 59:08. I averaged just over 18 mph which I was happy with because of my lack of biking prior to the race.

T2 - 2:02

2^nd run leg – 5k

I was not sure what to expect from my legs. I had been racing for almost an hour and half which is longer than any training I had been doing. My legs were tired but it felt good to be running and passing other runners so I made the goal to not be passed by any women on this run. I accomplished that goal but just barely because a women came sprinting up behind me at the finish. 5k split was 23:31.

Overall time 1:50:17

Overall place 215/1385

Gender place 36/692

Age group place 7/127

I enjoyed the race. I would do it again except next time I would train for it. I think I could cut my bike time down a lot. I would like to average over 20 mph next year.

Oh yeah, It was the 4^th race in the Team Ortho Monster Series so I completed my giant metal. Awesome!

I'm Back

I didn't go anywhere but I am back from the land of preliminary exam. I passed by written exam about 1.5 weeks ago. It was a grueling 7 day exam. Yes, the exam lasted 7 days and I needed all 7 day to finish it. I was working all day everyday on it. No running, no bike commuting, no doing anything but writing. After I finished the exam I had 2 days to finish my proposal and send it to my committee. Then I had to make a presentation and study for my oral prelim. It has been challenging. I haven't more than once a week for the last month actually it has been longer than that since I have been injured. So anyway, I passed my oral prelim yesterday and go the okay to write my dissertation. I am officially a doctoral candidate! It is kind of crazy. It use to seem so far away but now it feels like I might actually graduate. Then I will be done with school forever...that is kind of a scary thought to me. I like school a lot.

Today my first day back running, I ran 5.4 miles with a friend. We ran faster than I would have run by myself. We averaged 7:38 per mile. I was done for by the end of the run but it felt great to be back out there running. My hip bothered me a little. I have to keep doing the PT exercises and hope that it helps.

Urban Wildland Half Marathon

Wow! It has been a while. I have been trying to study like crazy. I take my written prelim exam in 1 week and my oral prelim exam in about 3 weeks. If I pass both of them, I am officially a doctoral candidate. Yippee!

I have been running a little. My hip and knee are bothering me some but I need to run to stay sane.

On to the race report:
The Urban Wildland Half Marathon is a great race! It is a green race, even the bibs are compostable. The bibs are imbedded with black eyed susan seeeds. Cool!!! I can't wait to plant mine. The race...I wasn't sure how it would go with my hip and not running much in July. I thought I would take it pretty easy, shoot for around 2 hours. Well, I started out and I was excited to be racing and I felt good. I passed the first 5k in 22:05...oops that was way too fast. But I was feeling so good so I thought maybe I will just go with it. At mile 4, my hips started giving me some trouble so I slowed down and continued to slow down for the next 6 miles. It was miserable to be running and to have blown up so badly. People were passing me left and right. I got to mile 11 and said to myself just go, get this race done with. Okay so I picked up the pace a little and started to pass people. I finished in 1:42:59. Better than I thought I would do.

Stats:
39/641 women
16/254 age group

The bib while a great idea, in practice it wasn't so great. It fell off around mile 4.5. I grabbed it because I really wanted to plant the seeds.

So I have a duathlon in a week. I have yet to ride my road bike this year and I probably won't ride it before the race. I commute to school by bike but it is only 3.5 miles a couple times a week. This is the extent of my bike training. The bike portion is 18 miles. I did bike 14 miles one day this summer but I don't think it counts because I stopped twice for ice cream and once for tacos during the ride. Should I ride my road bike or just use the commuter that I have been riding all year?

Back to studying...