Last week I ran some really great workouts. So great that 7:10/mile felt almost comfortable. Last week I also revealed my plan to hit my goal this spring of running a sub-1:45 half marathon. Then I saw this graphic on Pinterest, and it was perfect for how I’m feeling. I wish you all light, frolicsome runs this week. Happy running!
(Via Oiselle on Pinterest)
I have a goal, that is part of operation get speedy, to break 1:45 in the half marathon this spring.
Before running the Disney half marathon two weeks ago, I had only run three half marathons before. I had never raced a half, or really trained for a half. They either happened when I was in the middle of training for something else, or I just decided to register for one on a whim, which is why my previous PR was 2:02:22 and I was able to knock 10 minutes off that PR (with relatively no training) two weeks ago at Disney to run a 1:52:55.
Now I know 10-minute PRs don’t just happen all the time. I’m anticipating the inevitable plateau that all runners face, but right now I’m going to go with this momentum. I know to break 1:45 I’ll have to drop another 7 minutes off my time, which is a little more than 30 seconds off my average pace. It’s not going to be easy but man, am I looking forward to working on my speed.
This week I ran my first half marathon pace workout. I did a 1-mile warmup at 8:49/mile pace and then dropped it down to what will be my goal half marathon pace, 8:00/mile, for three miles, and then did a 1-mile cool down. Now, I know I only ran at HMP for three miles, but it felt, dare I say, comfortable.
I have a plan in place. I have my break-1:45 training plan designed by one of my coworkers at Runner’s World and I have my race schedule lined up. My goal race will be the St. Luke’s Half Marathon on April 27. This race is only a mile away from my boyfriend’s apartment and boasts of a fast course. I also plan to run a tune-up 10-miler at some point in March (race is still TBD but I have options).
If St. Luke’s doesn’t go as planned I’m registered for NYRR’s Brooklyn Half on May 17. I’ll have to crash at a friend’s place the night before the race but I’ve heard nothing but great things about this race and it will be my first NYRR event, so it’s got to be good.
I’ll also be running the Runner’s World Heartbreak Hill Half in Newton, MA on June 8. This most likely won’t be a good race for a PR just because of the hilly course but who knows?
So if I PR-ed at Disney on no training, and follow my plan for the spring season, I’m looking forward to seeing what these legs can do when fully trained.
Sub-1:45 or bust!
Going into the Disney half marathon last weekend, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little nervous. I hadn’t really done any serious training since running Marine Corps at the end of October and my mileage was no where near where it should have been to properly prepare me for the half. But the good thing about Disney is you can tell everyone you’re “running for fun” – and that’s totally what I did.
That is, until I set a 10-minute PR and ran my first ever sub-2 hour half marathon running a 1:52:55.
I’ve got to admit, it didn’t hit me right after the race, but I’m pretty freakin’ excited about this PR. I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t feel like I had really pushed myself, in the race or in training. But I still PR-ed, by a lot.
I think several factors came into play. For one, the Disney course is extremely flat, save for a few minor hills here and there. I’m used to running in the Lehigh Valley, PA where the only way to avoid hills is the drive to a rails to trails path, and even then there’s a slight gradient.
I also think my fitness has improved dramatically. Since running Marine Corps, I’ve added in at least one strength training session a week by doing IronStrength every Monday. I’ve also started running with faster people, including my speedy boyfriend. When you run with fast runners, you get faster- simple as that.
On Friday night as I was laying out my race outfit I thought, “I really just want to go under two hours.” That was doable. That was a 9:05/mile. And that goal is the one I told everyone, including my running partner for the day, Cait, during the prerace retreat. But secretly I thought to myself, “How cool would it be to run a 1:54?” That was roughly a 8:42/mile average and many of my long runs had been around that pace.
When it was time to start the race, I found myself lined up on the starting line, and feeling good. It was warm, about 70 degrees, and extremely humid, 94 percent humidity, but I was ready to see where my fitness was at. The race itself is a bit of a blur but I remember feeling confident in my sub-2 goal and increasingly more confident in hitting 1:54.
Towards the end though the humidity was really starting to get to me. I felt my hamstrings starting to tighten up because of the flatness and the windy finish began to take its toll. But with the help of Cait, I made it to the finish line and could not believe the time on my watch. I beat both of my goals!
I felt exhausted at the end of the race probably because I think I sweat out about a pound per mile from the humidity. I’m pretty happy with my results but the race left me craving more. More speed. More PRs. More training.
Training for my spring goal half marathon won’t start for another few weeks but I’m going to start building mileage. If I learned anything from Disney it’s that, the speed is there, I just need to believe in it and make it happen.
One of my favorite parts of running is having the ability to make goals. I think it’s important to have goals, no matter how out of reach they may seem in the beginning, because it’s fun and challenging to work towards something. If you read my blog often you know I’ve been working on getting faster. While I haven’t started training for my goal race this spring (the St. Luke’s Half Marathon, April 28) I have been doing regular mileage and speed work. This past weekend it paid off when I went sub-2:00 for the first time at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon by running a 1:52:55, a 10-minute PR for me. I can’t wait to see what’s to come as I ramp up my training and speed work. I hope you have some ambitious goals on your horizon, share them with me below if you’d like!
Hey, guess what! I’m running not one, not three, not four (like some seriously Dopey people) but TWO races this week down in Disney for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend! That’s right folks, I’m bravely taking on the Hannah McGoldrick challenge of running the 5K and half-marathon. Some people are running the 5K, 10K, half, and full, or even the half and full. But not me, no I’m running the 5K and half, because why not? I’m running it with the Runner’s World Challenge (check it out!) and will be at the Runner’s World booth at the expo from Wednesday to Friday. Will I see you there?
Running the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon
Yesterday I capped off 2013, my year of chasing down distance, with a 13 mile run. I set a goal last January to run my first marathon and I accomplished not only that by running Big Sur last April but I then ran my second marathon at Marine Corps in October with a 26-minute PR.
So it was only fitting to ring in the New Year today with 5-ish speedy (for me) miles. If 2013 was my year for distance than 2014 will be my year of speed. But before I lay down my New Year’s run resolutions, I thought it would be cool to look back on what I did in 2013- in numbers.
1,480 – Total miles
2 – Marathons
2 – Half marathons
1 – First ever 10K (53:55)
24:59 – 5K PR and first age group win
27:46:47 – Team Watermelon for my first relay at Hood to Coast (5th place)
11 – Races
So who knows what 2014 will bring but I know I can’t wait to find out. Happy New Year!
Well 2013 has almost come to an end and that can only mean people are going to start focusing on their 2014 New Year’s Resolutions. We all make them and (to be completely honest with ourselves) we all break them. I think the key to sticking to a New Year’s resolution is to build on where you are already. If your goal is to start running but you don’t workout yet, maybe you want to think about committing yourself to at least an hour and a half of exercise per week then look into a run/walk program like this one. Maybe your goal is to run faster and qualify for Boston (like someone I know…) maybe focus on speed and shorter distances in the spring and set your sights on a goal fall marathon. Maybe you want to get stronger, lose weight, eat healthier, work on staying in touch with far-away-friends. Whatever it is, focus on where you are already and build on that. Then you won’t be setting yourself up to fail and you can stick to your resolution. Happy New Year!
2013 has been a huge year for me- both in my running life, professional life, and personal life. It definitely wasn’t the easiest year but I think I’ve really grown and my running has completely exceeded my expectations. To wrap up the year (before writing my 2014 goal post) I thought I’d take part in Miss Zippy’s link up that I saw some of my favorite run bloggers doing. So, here it is, my 2013 year of running:
Best race experience… Although I ran my first two marathons this year, I honestly think my best race experience was running Hood to Coast. It was my first relay and the memories I made over those few days with my team are unforgettable. I also, unexpectedly, ran some of my fastest race times ever. I would do it over again in a heartbeat.
Best run… About a quarter of the way through training for Marine Corps, I was already feeling pretty run down and unenthused by being in marathon training again. But just when I needed it the most, the running gods gave me a completely perfect and blissful run in Maine. It was incredible.
Best new piece of gear… Saucony Mirage 4, life changers. I started wearing these in October and they have completely changed my running. Before switching over I was in some pretty clunky stability shoes but I wanted less, a more natural feel. My co-worker, and RW Gear Guy, Jeff, let me wear-test the new Mirage 4s and I fell in love with them.
Best piece of running advice received … from Dorothy Beal– “You are that fast.” Before running Hood to Coast, Dorothy said this to me. I’ve been known to really hold back when it comes to running fast. I don’t like to get to that uncomfortable place. But Dorothy somehow knew I was going to run hard during HTC and she was right. It was the first time I had ever average sub-8:00/miles and it was incredible.
Most inspirational runner… Oh gosh, this is a tough one. I’ve met so many incredible people running this year that it’s really hard to pick just one. But if I had to chose I’d say Sarah Canney (Run Far Girl). I met Sarah when we were teammates at Hood to Coast and hearing her story about her son brought me to tears but it also made me so incredibly amazed at how resilient, positive, and strong she was when facing the worst. Not to mention she kept running through it all. Kudos to you Sarah! You’re incredible girl!
Throwing up a power arch for Sarah on her last leg!
If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?
My mantra this year was “She believed she could, so she did.” I even wore an Erica Sara bracelet with this saying engraved on it during my training for Big Sur. This was a year of big goals for me. I became a marathoner and fell even deeper in love with the sport and everything that running has brought into my life. This saying helped me when I first started running in 2012 and has kept me going this year.
One of my favorite shows of all time is Friday Night Lights and this quote from it is just perfect. In running, or any sport really, you have to make the decision to either go for it and be all in, or hold back. The scary thing about really going for it is the chance of failing. By holding back, there’s room for error. But sometimes going for it is half the fun. If you fail, you can always try again. So, like Coach Eric Taylor always said to his team, you have to have clear eyes and full hearts, because with that, you can’t lose. Happy running this week!
(Source: Pinterest)
Sometimes, there’s nothing more peaceful than a winter run in the snow. Last weekend my boyfriend and I went up to Jacobsburg State Park, a reservation with miles of trails – technical and easy – just north of the Lehigh Valley. We knew it might be risky because a snowstorm was coming into the region but when we got there, the snow falling lightly around us, we couldn’t wait to head out on the trails.
We hadn’t really planned our route too much ahead of time. We looked at a map and thought we’d try out one of the longer routes, even though it went through some of the hunting land. I think we made it about a tenth of a mile onto the trail before spotting our first hunter, who luckily spotted us as well, and told us it would be best for us to run on the non-hunting land. We took his word for it, turned around and headed for the shorter loops.
The trail we picked had about a mile of some pretty technical, narrow paths. We took it very slow, due to the difficulty and the snow, but I think I had a smile on my face the entire time.
As we kept climbing up the trail, I was careful to keep my eyes on the path in front of me, instead of the pretty snow falling around us. But the second I took my eyes off I felt my legs come out from under me and I was on the ground. I had hit a patch of ice on the downhill but recovered almost gracefully. I had thought I’d be fine running on the trail because I was wearing my new trail shoes but turns out you can’t be saved from snow covered ice sometimes. I brushed off the snow that had covered my legs and we kept running along.
We only did just over 4 miles on the trails before the snow really started coming down and we decided we should head home. This was the first time I had run trails in the snow and I learned a lot. Some of the tips I gathered are:
Nike Zoom Kiger
Do you have any other tips for running on trails in the winter? Share them below!
Fit Girl. Happy Girl. 