Livin' the Dream in Lima

So... the marathon is rapidly approaching. As in 62 hours until I toe the start line.  Am I excited? YES!  Am I nervous? YES! Am I ready to just get the darned thing over with? Absolutely YES! So let's talk goals for the Illinois Marathon.  Love this quote. My training cycle this spring has gone really well. I've PR'd in the 5km, 4-mile, and half-marathon, all while training for this marathon. I've completed several  long runs - two 18's, a 19, two 20's, and a 21. Along with a handful of 15-17 milers. And I have felt strong! (Unlike a lot of my training runs for last year's Flying Pig .) I think the secret to my great long runs has been the fact that I've had running buddies. I've also gotten the hang of mid-run fueling, which has helped a lot. At the finish of the Columbus Half-Marathon last fall. So, based on my training cycle and recent PR's, I've decided to go for a 3:15 , which is a 7:27 average pace.   Wowza, see...

Getting closer! 6 days to go until the marathon. This was my second week of taper and I'm not gonna lie, I'm getting antsy. I just wanna RUN this race already! I wanted to get in around 35 miles, but got in 40. My only 'speed' workout was a 5 mile GMP run on Wednesday, in which I averaged 7:24 pace. It felt pretty easy, which is a good thing.  I gotta say... it's pretty crazy when your 'long run' of 9 miles seems like nothing.  Weekly Rundown 4/16/2012-4/22/2012 Mon - 5.5 miles easy Tues - 7.7 miles easy Wed - 5 miles @ GMP (7:24 avg); 7.3 miles total Thurs - 5.4 miles easy Fri - 5.5 miles easy Sat - 9.1 miles LONG plus 4 striders Total - 40.5 miles This week, it's all about rest. Which is hard. Well, not hard running-wise, just hard mentally. But it will totally be worth it! I'll definitely be popping in with a Goals post, once I have my mind wrapped around it. --- Other notables of the weekend... My Business Man & I...

First week of taper, done. Not much was different about this week - just a cut-back in overall miles for the week (48 for the week) and a shorter long run. I got in a solid 6-mile tempo run on Tuesday, averaged 6:40 pace. I actually almost look forward  to tempo runs now, which is something that's never happened before.  My other big workout of the week was my long run, 14 miles with the last 3-4 miles at GMP. I decided to tackle this run alone, because as much as I love running with my running buddies, they won't be at the marathon! Mentally, I needed to do a tough long run on my own so that I know I can do it come race day. I ran a big 10-mile loop back to our house, so I could do my GMP miles on my usual tempo route where I know the mile markers. I hoped to hit 7:27 pace, as that would put me right at 3:15 for the marathon. (Which I know there is a pace group for.) After my 10-mile warm-up (hehe... 10 miles... as a warm-up? have I gone mad?), I picked up the ...

Lucky #13... fortunately week #13 was good to me! Last week was the biggest week of this training cycle, and to be honest, I'm glad it's over! While I definitely felt BA with my workouts and mileage, I am ready for a cut-back week. I put in 62 miles total, which is a weekly mileage personal record. Never been in the 60s before! (And I'm not sure I'll ever be there again. :-P)  I had a really great track workout - 4x1600m that went super well. (Aside from the whole locking myself in the stadium and having to climb a 6 foot fence to get out. Heh.) I felt strong on my long run , which was supposed to be 20 miles but ended up being 21.4. The last big long run of this training cycle. Funny that my 14-miler on the schedule for this week seems like nothing.  As for next week, since I'm three weeks out, the first week of taper is here. I'll be cutting my mileage a bit, down to just 45-48 miles this week, along with a 13-14 mile long run. I'm also ...

Ahhhh... sweet sweet Spring Break. I've been waiting for this all year long. Well at least since we came back from our long weekend in February. Hehe. This year we only get 3 days off school (compared to last year's entire week), but we are done with school before Memorial Day. So it's definitely worth having a shorter break. So what did I spend my first glorious morning of not having to be at school by 7:45am? Oh... just waking up at my normal time of 6:20, but going for a 20 mile run instead of going to work. As much as I love teaching, running will always win in the "more fun" department.  21.4 miles of running & rainbows makes for a happy girl. I met up with my running buddies Jim, Amy, & Kevin for a long run. Kevin is training for a 100-mile ultra marathon which is crazy , and Jim & Amy are always game for a long run. We ran around town for a bit before running Kevin home (out in the country) and then running the 5+ miles back into town. ...

Mile repeats are goin' down, that is. Mile repeats are hard for me... I've had 4x1600m on the schedule every other week this whole training cycle. And I haven't completed it once. Usually I stop after 3 intervals, and one time I even did 800s instead of 1600s. But not today! I headed out to my school's track so I could have as much consistency as possible. And I nailed it! 4x1600m with 800m jog with a goal pace of 6:20-6:24. I ran my 1600s at 6:17, 6:19, 6:17, and 6:15 with two laps of easy jogging in between each. And I felt awesome. Happy after a great interval workout. There was a pretty bad headwind on the homestretch, so finishing strong was definitely a challenge. The last repeat was tough, but not unbearable. Probably exactly how the last rep of an interval workout should feel. (Like I could  squeak out one more if I really wanted to, but really glad that I don't have to.) And now comes the funny part of the story. Like I said, I was running a...

Gosh I can't believe there's just four weeks left until the marathon! On one hand, I am SO ready for it to be here, but on the other, it doesn't seem possible that I've been training for twelve weeks already. How time flies! Last week was pretty boring running-wise. Lots of easy miles, a short(er) long run of 15 miles and a 6-mile tempo. The tempo run was freakin' awesome though - my first time ever  in the 6:30s for a tempo run! Granted, it was a 6:39 average, but I'll take it! I am feeling stronger than ever in these workouts, which is great for my psyche as I gear up for the big race on April 28. Weekly Rundown 3.26.2012-4.1.2012 Mon - 6-mile tempo run at 6:39 avg (splits - 6:45, 6:45, 6:40, 6:40, 6:38, 6:38, 6:29); 9.2 miles total with warm-up & cool-down Tues - Rest Wed - 7.8 miles easy Thurs - 8.4 miles easy Fri - 5.4 miles easy Sat - 6.5 miles easy Sun - 15.6 miles LONG (7:44 avg) TOTAL - 52.9 miles What does next week look like? W...

It's that time again... time to look back at the last couple weeks of training. The past two weeks have been two solid  weeks of training, which is great a confidence-booster for my lil' mind. Two weeks ago was the start of some awesome spring weather. And by spring, I really mean summer. Temps in the 70s & 80s make this runner very happy.  I got in lots of easy miles, plus a 3x1-mile repeat workout. (Supposed to be 4x1-mile.) I also raced the Get Lucky Half on Sunday (with a 1:30:14 PR!), and turned it into an 18-mile long run. Yes, a bit crazy, but fun. Weekly Rundown 3.12.2012-3.18.2012 Mon - 7.6 miles easy Tues - 7.6 miles easy AM plus 4.4 miles easy PM Wed - 3x1-mile with 0.5 mile jog (6:20, 6:15, 6:22); 7.6 miles total Thurs - Rest Fri - 7.3 miles easy Sat - 3.3 miles easy Sun - Get Lucky Half , total 18.3 miles Total - 56.1 miles This past week has gone just as well - another week of mileage in the mid-50s. My main focus was recove...

Can I get an amen for a quiet weekend at home? The last three weekends have been go-go-go , and while it was all a blast and totally worth it, it is so nice to know that I have nowhere to be and nothing to do. Except run, ya know. Can't have a weekend without that. This morning started out with a run, a 20-miler to be exact. This is the second 20-miler of my training cycle, and it went swimmingly well. I headed out with some running buddies around 6:15am. (I know, crazy for a Saturday. But they had some commitments at 9:30, and I'd rather run with my friends!) I woke myself up around 5:30am so I could get a little coffee in my system and have a clif bar. We ended up doing a huge  loop of the Bean Town, running through several areas that I've never been through. Loops through the college in the middle of town, past the grain elevator, past the Ford engine plant, and through a quarry. Pretty neat. At one point, we were getting close to a set of train tracks, and the trai...