It's been a week since my race and I've taken some days off and some easy days to recover. Now it's time to get back into a routine as the Gary Bjorklund Half is only 7 weeks away followed by the Green Lake 12 mile only 2 weeks after that. After the not-so-super-excellent race I had, I'm reluctant to jump back into the same training plan for the next race. However, there were certain workouts and elements that I did like. I sat down the other night and mapped out my own plan using workouts I liked from the heart rate training program along with the "Own It" plan from the book Train Like A Mother. The authors have three books about moms and runners. One is advice about training and the other two are tales from their's and other "mother runner"s adventures on the road. I have previously used their marathon training program, so I feel comfortable using the plan's long runs and general strategy to have a good race in June. Stephanie had mentioned including some speed work into her training program. I also am reluctant to call my harder workouts "speed," but I definitely feel like including efforts to run faster on certain runs to be helpful. I truly enjoy my long runs, so I always look forward to those, too. On some of my long runs, I include a few bursts of speed, too. To those who might observe me running down the road, the difference between speed and regular might not be noticed. Perhaps, I had more speedy legs in my younger days? This week was pretty typical at my house, meaning multiple track meets...Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday was the coldest day of the three, so thankfully, B ran the 5K at a meet that was running on schedule. He ran a solid 12.5 laps of the track. He is headed into final exams at school tomorrow, so I'm super proud of him for keeping up his studies and throwing down a good race. Friday, D ran the 1600 in close to PR time for him. It was a little comical watching the race as the meet's format had kids put into heats by team rather than time. D's two other teammates ran in the "fast" heat and placed 2nd and 3rd. Then D and another teammate ran in the "slow" heat placing 1st and 2nd with 3rd in that heat being more than 100 meters back from D. In the end, the Sabre boys placed 2,3,4,6 overall of 30 runners. Great job! Yesterday, H had a meet on her 20th birthday. She nearly broke the school record in discus which of course was a big PR for her. Shotput also went well with H breaking the 12 meter mark for the first time in college. I ❤️ being a track mom!!! If you are aiming for a summer race, I hope we have given you some ideas for your training program. Don't be afraid to try a little speed work for variety if nothing else. , Happy Birthday, H!
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The Green Lake 12 Mile Road Race is only 9 weeks away. Missee and I are signed up and it is going to be be fun! Now is the time to figure out a training plan. Here are some important questions that I consider when deciding on a training plan. 1. How far is the race? 12 miles 2. How long do I have to prepare? 9 weeks 3. What is my goal? My goal is to have fun and to train without causing overuse injuries. The plantar fasciitis in my foot has been so much better, I want to be kind to my feet. 4. How much time do I have for weekday runs? Not much... I can stick with my regular four miles per day during the week and one long run per weekend. 5. Do I want to fit in some speed work with my running? That is always a tricky question for me since I do not consider myself a speedy runner. However, I want to finish the race as "speedy" as I am able. Doing speed work does not mean that you need to be a fast runner, just that you would like to improve your speed. I would like to incorporate some type of speed work in my training. There are many great training plans for half and full marathons available free online. My favorite plans have been on the Hal Higdon website. His Half Marathon Intermediate Training Plan can be found here. I like this plan's long run schedule and the mid-week speed work.
Knowing that I can fit in one speed work session per week and that my race is 12 miles instead of 13.1, I adapted Hal Higdon's Intermediate Training Program to work for me. I will begin this Saturday with a 7 mile run. My plan is to run six days per week and one speed work session per week. Care to Comment? What training programs have you found to work for you? Do you adapt programs to fit your schedule or do you follow the plan exactly? I ALWAYS complete all of the long runs, but do not follow the daily miles exactly. I have a limited time before work to run. About 2 1/2 years ago, I joined a gym that had yoga classes included with access to treadmills, weights and other exercise classes. I'd never tried yoga before other than occasional DVD's, but thought the advertised "Hot Yoga" sounded like a good way to improve my running with some flexibility and balance work. Since I'm over 40 and run in the dark, the balance work seemed critical to safely running. Little did I know, that I'd really get attached to my yoga classes and stick with them faithfully even after the gym closed and I had to switch to a studio with classes only and give up treadmill access. Laura is our instructor at Barre Bodies. She speaks calmly and positively throughout the whole class. Along with encouraging all the participants physically, she reminds us to use the class time for ourselves and to think about what we are doing rather than what we have to do later. One of her mantras that I use often at home is, "Don't judge it; just notice it." Boy, there are a lot of things going on in the world that are much less bothersome to notice but not give any time or energy to--think presidential election 2016! We use this idea at yoga for everything from negative thoughts to noticing if one hamstring is tighter than the other. When they call yoga a practice, they mean to practice everything! Another of Laura's mantras that I use in my running is "Your body is strong; it's your mind that wants to quit." That one can get me another mile up the road when the going gets tough. Last spring, I saw an ad in a quilting magazine for some super cute fabric: The fabric is called Yoga is for Everyone. I love the farm animals in their yoga poses. Half Moon is one of my personal favorite poses and the rooster is doing a great job on it :-) When I think of what I want to make from it, I will order some to sew at our next Quilt Camp weekend!
Yoga has been a great addition to my running program. In addition to the flexibility and balance work I was seeking, I have gained strength and the ability to focus mentally on the present. If you'd like to try yoga and there isn't any classes near you, I also like the Yoga Studio app on my iPad. It has a similar style of slow poses and calm speech as I get at my class. Stephanie encouraged everyone to consider signing up to run with us at Green Lake in July. She and I will be running as a team in the family competition as well as our individual age groups, which she did point out would be separate due to the fact that I am now 45! B and I ran this race last year and found it to be well organized and a beautiful course. The only piece of advice I'd have is to decide and sign up by early June if possible. We signed up during race week last year and I wasn't able to get my preferred shirt size...D wears mine, so not a huge deal, but if the shirts are super cute, you'll want yours to fit! Hope to see you all there...be sure to let us know in the comments if you will be coming so we can look for you! Happy Monday! I hope you had a chance to read Missee's recap of the Earth Day Half Marathon that she finished on Saturday. Although she may not have finished in the time she was wishing for, she did awesome! I love that she is already gearing up for the next race. It is inspiring! I was so inspired by Missee's race that I signed up for the Green Lake 12 Mile Road Race in Spricer, MN. The race is going to be held on Sunday, July 2. Missee is planning to sign up also. I looked at the age group information and she and I will actually be in different age groups this time. (That is good for me because she is faster than I am!) We would love to for you to join us at the Green Lake Race on July 2, 2017! Registration information is here.
Happy Running! -Stephanie First of all, let me preface this race report with reminding our blog readers that I had tried a completely new style of training for this half marathon. All my runs over the last 21 weeks were completed using heart rate and time as a guide instead of pace and/or distance. Some of the speed workouts incorporated pace, but the majority were heart rate only and at very low controlled heart rates. I decided to go into this different style for a few reasons...I was pretty burned out on my running and looking for a change and also that I had some minor aches and pains. The heart rate training was supposed to alleviate those.
Secondly, I have run Earth Day many times and most of the past 8 years or so, Earth Day was a longer, faster marathon training run. It was not the end goal. This year, I do not have a marathon on my calendar so this was my goal race. I'm suspecting this fact played into the problems I encountered today. On Thursday, I'd blogged that nerves had set in and seemed to be getting the best of me. I believe that is a big part of why my race went poorly today. I had worked myself into such a frenzy that I spent most of the morning in the bathroom before the race with tummy troubles. Then, when the race began, my race plan had me trying to keep my heart rate under 165 for the first hour. When I couldn't seem to accomplish that, even with slowing down a little, that made me more nervous. By mile 6, I would have been happy to drop out. I did get to mile 7 in approx one hour which was close to where I was supposed to be, but the plan was I supposed to be raring to go from holding back in hour one and ready to kick up the pace. That was not happening. I actually continued to slow through the entire race. I did finish in 2:01. It was my worst finish in probably 10 years, but I did not quit. Since everything was such a struggle today, I failed to take any photos...I'm sure they wouldn't have looked too good anyway. We have been promising reviews of races that would help readers determine if they'd ever care to do the same race. Please disregard my actual race recap for that. Scheels Earth Day Half Marathon is a quality event. Here are some of the particulars you may like to know if you'd like to join me next year...(see, it was bad, but not so bad I've sworn off racing entirely): 1. Date: The race is generally the 3rd Saturday in April or on Earth Day, April 22, if that falls on a Saturday. A few times, the race has fallen on the Saturday before Easter which might be good or not good for some people. A couple years ago, Stephanie and her husband ran, too; Mom and Dad came to watch the race; and I hosted Easter at our house. It was really fun. 2. Time: Start time is 8:30 am. I'd prefer earlier, but that's a pretty reasonable start time. 3. Weather: They have had literally EVERY type of weather...gorgeous, windy, snow, rain, heat. It was pretty nice today, although a little warmer than we've been used to this spring. Weather was not a huge factor today. 4. # of competitors: This year's race had 1052 finishers plus about 200 relay teams. You never run alone, but it's not crowded. They do also have pacers to help you get to the finish in a certain time. 5. Course: The course is easy to navigate. There are some rolling hills but nothing too steep. The uphill into mile 10 feels horrible, but it's really not bad. The one thing that surprises people is that going into mile 3, the course turns onto a grass downhill, across a grassy park and then onto the park road. If it's dry, it's not an issue. The year there was snow, people had to slow down and use caution. The park makes a great spot for the first water stop. 6. Water stops: About every 2 miles beginning at mile 3. They are adequate with Powerade also offered at each stop and Gu at mile 7. Plenty of cheerful volunteers at each stop. 7. Fan support: It's very good except for the 2 miles the course takes along a trail beside the Mississippi River. Otherwise, there are fans along most of the course and neighbors gather on lawns to cheer. Many High Five opportunities from kids along the route. My favorite sign today was: Great Job, Melissa! in someone's yard. Perhaps there was a second Melissa in the race as I don't know the people who live at that house, but maybe they read our blog??? 8. Shirts: The shirt is a blue half zip with the race logo on the upper chest. The fit was pretty good which over the years has been my chief complaint with shirts at many races, the color was nice, but overall the shirt was nothing too special...kind of like my performance today, so it's ok if the shirt is not my favorite :-) 9. Finish line: The race finishes on the SCSU football field, so it's colorful and noisy. I was so glad to get there! Also, there is plenty of room to hang around and watch other finishers when the weather is nice or head straight under the stadium to the post race food if it's cold outdoors. 10. Post race food: Another thumbs-up for the snacks. Coborns provides the refueling snacks. This is one race that gives you a paper plate to carry the food. Nice! The selection was predictable...bananas, oranges, string cheese, pretzels, bagels, chocolate milk and sports drink. The Coborns employees serve the food onto your plate, so no worries on food safety as we know many of the runners have been to the porta potties along the way without handwashing :-( I don't want those guys touching my fruit! I didn't have the pretzels or bagels due to the gluten, but the other items were fresh and yummy. Runners could also have one beer, but again, I couldn't partake. My running friend's sister-in-law cheered us in and enjoyed my beer. 11. Cost: There is a big benefit to signing up early for Earth Day. The price when I signed up in November was $45 and they run specials a few times through their Facebook page for free credit card fees or additional discounts. Definitely like them on Facebook for the best deal. I believe the price goes as high as $65 if you wait to register. For a half marathon that is well run, lively and fun, the price seems very reasonable. This summer I'll be running the half at Grandma's Marathon, and the price was much higher. 12. Parking and Packet Pickup: Parking is free and easy along the residential streets nearby. Packet pickup is Friday evening, so I was lucky that my running friend D could pick mine up for me while I was watching track. If you cannot pick up your packet on Friday night, one of the local track teams picks up all unclaimed packets and for $5, you can get it from them Saturday morning as a proxy pickup option. It's a good fundraiser for them and still allows the Earth Day organizers to focus solely on the race Saturday morning. Overall recommendations: I would absolutely recommend Earth Day to other runners looking for a nice half marathon that isn't too big or too small. The logistics are fantastic with the start and finish nearby one another and lots of spots along the course for spectators without moving their cars. The price is reasonable for the amenities offered. I'll try for a better result next year! This race didn't go my way and not all of them will. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Happy running--Missee Good luck to Missee and all of the other runners competing in the St. Cloud Earth Day Half Marathon tomorrow! My thoughts and best wishes are with you! I will be checking for your results. You can check this website tomorrow for results. The atmosphere at a marathon or half marathon is something very special. There is a strong feeling of community. Runners encourage each other. When it comes down to it, we are all in the race to do our best and to complete the race. Runners want that for each other as well. Marathon and half marathon spectators are the best. Some spectators hold signs for encouragement. I love to read the motivational signs while I am running. Some signs are inspiring, others are touching, and my favorites are funny. Here are some of my favorites. Today is our dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad and Grandpa! Grandpa attends a lot of cross country meets, track meets, and road races. He is a wonderful fan and supporter. Happy Birthday!
Happy Running! -Stephanie Saturday, I said I wasn't nervous to run this weekend. Fast forward to Thursday, and I'm not singing the same tune. The nerves are kicking in, but what, really should I be nervous about???
There isn't anything more I can do as far as training to improve my chances of a good race. There is plenty I could do to destroy it such as going for a long hard run tomorrow which would leave me tired and sore on Saturday, not faster. At many high school races, the starter reminds the kids, you cannot win a 5K on the starting line, but you can lose it right here meaning that getting too anxious and jumping the gun can ruin your day. Half and full marathons are much the same; it is very hard not to go out too fast in a race when the adrenaline is pumping, so I'll be working very hard to relax through the first few miles and hopefully have enough gas in the tank to pick up the pace in the last 5K or so. Over the weekend I saw another sign of spring for our family--taking the boat out of storage. Charlie and I took a nice walk around the boat landing while the guys were getting the boat water-ready. I found a new weather app that has a lot more attitude than Accuweather.com. If you like some irreverant humor, try this one...you can set the level of profanity you'd be willing to tolerate. I set mine on "Some" and thought this weather report was pretty funny today... The app is called WTForecast and it's free unless you'd care to pay a couple of dollars to get rid of the ads. I just found it today, so I can't comment if it's worth it to go ad-free.
I'll be sure to give a full race report on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. Expect to hear about everything from the fit of the shirts to the porta-potty to runner ratio and post race snacks. Hope you are all aiming for a fun weekend of running, the forecast looks great! (Wet dog smell should dissipate in the sunshine Saturday :-) Happy running! Missee Today was the 121st running of the Boston Marathon. From the initial results, it looks like USA runners did pretty well. Also among the finishers was Katherine Switzer, the first woman ever to finish the Boston Marathon 50 years ago. She is currently in her mid 70's and finished in 4:44. Katherine should be considered a running sister/mentor to all of us women who enjoy running! I was fortunate to qualify for Boston in 2012, the year I turned 40. I, however, was NOT fortunate to run it the year it was over 78 degrees at the start and near 90 at the finish. It was my worst marathon finish ever and since; I like to joke that since I'd done the hard work to qualify, I took a lot of time out on the course. The day before, the organizers offered deferrals to runners who would pick up and turn in their race bibs without starting the race. This was a very tempting offer. We were already in Boston and decided we were unwilling to gamble that I'd still be injury-free and that we'd be able to take the time off again to come back the next year. Even with the terrible sunburn and terrible finishing time, I was glad I did not defer. 2013 was the year of the bombing at the finish and had I been there and finished in a typical time for me, my husband and I would likely have still been in the downtown area when the bombs went off. I can't imagine the stress we would have brought to our families and friends, so it all worked out. The running photo is pretty far away, but I've got a black tank and shorts on near the center. My husband and I enjoyed a fabulous vacation in Boston complete with a drink at Cheers, water taxi rides, a climb to Bunker Hill and many other historic sites. I'd highly recommend a vacation in Boston if you enjoy history and being along the water. Until I ran Boston, I had no idea why it's always run on a Monday. The third Monday in April is a big holiday in the New England states known as Patriot Day. Literally, everything is closed that day except what pertains to the marathon and related tourism. The course passes by Fenway Park where the Red Sox play and they always have a game on Patriot Day scheduled to start shortly after the elite runners have passed by. I never see the elite folks, so it was interesting for me to learn that the elite women start out about a half hour before the elite men. Rules for the larger marathons dictate that the elites cannot have pacers and if the women started with the men, the ladies would have men to run with, therefore they have to start out ahead so that the first ladies are done before their male counterparts. One other item of Boston trivia is that times from Boston do not count for world record marathon times due to the course being net downhill and that its point to point orientation might be aided by a tailwind. If being a Boston qualifier is one of your goals, best of luck to you! If not, I hope that you reach whatever goals you have set for your running this year. Happy running! Missee Happy Easter to all! I hope you had a joyful and wonderful holiday! I think I may have found an Easter picture of Missee and I. My guess it is an Easter picture based on the fact that we were pretty dressed up and the photo was taken at our grandparents' place. Look at those perms! :) You will notice how much "matching" Missee and I have done over the years... even hair styles. Is anyone singing, "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow?" I've taken a few days off of running due to illness. When in doubt it is probably best to rest, but I have to admit that I don't take many rest days. Running when ill is a personal decision. I found a really good article on Women's Running called "Too Sick to Run?" Click here to read the article if you are interested in one person's opinion. I miss running and can't wait to get outdoors for a run tomorrow!
Wishing you good health and a great run! -Stephanie Since we began this blog in January, I have mentioned from time to time about training for the Earth Day Half Marathon. It sounded like such a long way off and the new style of training did a good job of distracting me from the calendar. Well, by this time next week, I will have completed the race. This morning, I did a 60 minute run with a friend which felt gloriously relaxing compared to the long runs of 2.5-3 hours that I have been doing. This plan has a pretty long taper of two weeks, and I am truly feeling more refreshed and excited for my race than other years when I've continued running pretty hard until a few days ahead. I have to admit that a couple of weeks back, I was wondering if I'd be heading into the race a little sore all over due to the rigor of the the speed workouts and long runs. The first time I checked the weather forecast for next Saturday was about 30 seconds ago...I guess that describes my level of nervousness as fairly low if I haven't been checking 3-4 times per day for a week already. The current forecast says 57 and partly cloudy. That is about what we ran in this morning with mostly cloudy and we did comment that it would be nice to have similar weather on race day. No need to stress the weather, yet! Now to decide what to wear...at 57, I'd most likely choose shorts and a short sleeve or sleeveless shirt. When choosing an outfit, it is very important to not go out and buy something new and take the tags off on race day. Some very cute running clothes might rub in very not cute ways in places you didn't know you even had until the post race shower. Any chaffing WILL be discovered in the post race shower if not before. It's fun to buy a celebratory running outfit for a race you've trained long and hard for, but always wash and test drive any new clothes on a long run or two. Same goes for shoes...no new shoes at the race. I have been lucky enough to do a couple of destination marathons where air travel was required. I always bring all my race attire in my carry-on bag including my Gu packets. I can do without or buy replacements for pretty much anything else in my bag. This week, Stephanie was able to join me at one of D's track meets. It was located about half-way between our homes, so an ideal spot to meet up and cheer for the Sabres. The meet went well. D's team held a commanding lead in his relay race when he took the baton for the third leg, so that was fun to watch and not too nerve-wracking. He then tried the 400 which is a totally new race for him. The coach put him into the second heat and he looked awesome. D was very appreciative of having an extra fan at his race and we all enjoyed stopping for a quick bite before heading home. Culver's is great for folks who need gluten free meals. They offer a GF bun for $1 extra and are very careful to ask about allergies. The bun is pre-wrapped so no cross-contamination issues with the other items. Their custard is super yummy and also GF as long as you are careful to ask for varieties that don't contain things such as cookie pieces. Culver's has allergen listings available for their whole menu. With lots of gluten free people in our family, we really appreciate restaurants we can eat at safely. We three GF peeps ate with confidence!
Hope you are able to connect with family members this weekend and that all your spring race plans are coming together! Happy running--Missee |
AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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