first week of marathon training and an “accidental” PR.

Posted on June 18, 2013 by DErunnerNIAL

Marathon Training Week 1:

Screen Shot 2013-06-18 at 8.07.15 PM

Arms:

bis, tris, shoulders #3

Legs:

itbs number 5

An “Accidental” PR:

I haven’t race raced in over a year (NYC Half-Marathon 2012).  Yea, I’ve run races… but I didn’t race them.  If that makes no sense to you, think about the last time you’ve said something along the lines of “yea, I like him… but I don’t like him like him.”  This is the running equivalent.

friendzoned

Actually, I once wrote a post about the difference between running and racing.

Anywho, I had no intention of racing the Portugal 5M.  I wanted to be back in Central Park alongside thousands of runners, soaking up that “race day” atmosphere, and hitting my mileage for the first official week of marathon training… not focusing on a PR.

whoopsie daisies

I didn’t wear my Garmin watch as I was trying to just “run by feel” as opposed to worrying about my time.  I did, however, wear my Polar USA watch so that I’d know my approximate time when I crossed the finish line.

Since I don’t know my legit splits, all these are estimates based on the time my watch displayed at each mile marker:

  • Mile 1 = 9:30 min/mile
  • Mile 2 = 9:20 min/mile
  • Mile 3 = 9:10 min/mile
  • Mile 4 = a lot faster
  • Mile 5 = a lot faster than mile 4

I don’t know what happened.  Actually, I know exactly what happened…

I got to mile 3, realized that a PR wasn’t out of the question, and got super competitive with myself.  That last mile?  I wanted to crawl to the side and dry heave.  Ya know what I kept repeating? It’s supposed to hurt. 

grazie running bloggers

I finished in 44:30, an 8:54 pace.  A new 5M PR and my first race with an average pace below 9 min/miles.

Damn I hope this can continue throughout training so that I can kick some major marathon butt in Chicago this October.  And if that doesn’t work out, I always have my fallback sport:

the next doug flutie

How competitive do you get during races?

Are you as awesome at football as I am? Because I doubt it.

Posted in chicago marathon, marathon, marathon tips, weekly workout wrap-up | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

chicago marathon training begins: a year of progress.

Posted on June 10, 2013 by DErunnerNIAL

Workouts from last week:

www

itbs prevention #3

I obviously was super excited about running last week and knocked out two runs above 6 miles.  I also busted out the 3 lb. weights at Soulcycle. Badass.

soulcycle loves me

Woohoo! Chicago Marathon training begins!:

This time last year, I was prepping for knee surgery.

post-knee surgery.

post-knee surgery.

Actually, this time last year I was doing everything possible to avoid knee surgery:

  • Aggressive physical therapy twice a week.
  • Not running. At all.
  • Two cortisone shots directly into my knee.
  • Sticking my leg into a ear-piercing noise machine of terror (also know as an MRI to some people) to check for other possible injuries.

Obviously, all of this failed and I had knee surgery in August (read about my recovery from knee surgery here).

sexy and i know it.

sexy and i know it.

But today… today I start training for my 4th marathon and my first Chicago Marathon, the marathon I was supposed to run last year.

hello, my beautiful, beautiful, brooks.

hello, my beautiful, beautiful, brooks.

It’s all beginning to feel very real… and holy hell am I excited to see what I can do in the next 18 weeks.

What’s coming up:

chicago marathon training plan

Who else is running Chicago?

Anyone run Chicago in the past and have some good training tips?

What’s your favorite part about marathon training?

Posted in chicago marathon, marathon, strength training | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

how i managed to work out every day of my reunion and still booze like a champion.

Posted on June 3, 2013 by DErunnerNIAL

Workouts from last week:

www

BC 5 Year Reunion:

A while back, I posted about my excitement to head back up to Boston for my 5 year college reunion.

my new favorite sunglasses.

my new favorite sunglasses.

Well, last Friday the weekend had finally arrived!  Because I knew I’d be sitting on a train for hours, I woke up ridiculously early to hit up a soulcycle class.  My train didn’t leave until 12:30pm so I had originally wanted to sign up for an 8:30 class… but I waited too long and it was full so I had to wake up (on my day off!) way earlier than the time I wake up to leave for work.

via dailymile (derunnernial).

via dailymile (derunnernial).

I’m so happy I signed up for the 6am class instead of just scrapping the workout because I couldn’t get the later class time.  My train ended up being delayed in CT for over an hour and by the end of the trip, I couldn’t sit still any longer.  I highly recommend a workout the morning of a long travel day.  Had I not spun my little heart out earlier in the day, I may have thrown a temper tantrum on the train.

temper-tantrum

After a fun Friday night out in Boston with old friends (blueberries in my beer makes it healthy, right?), my former roommate and I woke up early Saturday morning for the BC Alumni 5k.

It was super hot outside (even at the early hour) so we kept the pace nice and easy and made sure to run through a few sprinklers along the course.  I heard from a bunch of people that they had signed up for the run and then didn’t wake up for it.  I’m so glad we got ourselves out there – a 3.1 mile jaunt definitely helped me feel slightly less guilty totally okay with the fact that I chugged many a beer that evening.

Baldwin, ready to run.

Baldwin, ready to run.

While this was technically my first ever 5k, it was more of a fun run than a race so I didn’t even keep track of my time.  I’m excited to run the Giants 5k in a few weeks to really see what I can do with the distance.

win it, perhaps.

The BC ’08 BBQ that afternoon and the Mods Party that night filled me with lots of booze love and laughter.  As a former band geek, I caught up with some band friends prior to the Mod Party to break a major rule in the band room:

no alcohol within 24 hours of events!

no alcohol within 24 hours of events!

sorry i’m not sorry.

It was unbelievably difficult to leave all of my friends yesterday and get on the train back to NYC.  My train was delayed in CT (again… why is CT such a life suck?) and I made the decision to run right when I got home to keep my sanity.  These legs need to move damnit!

via daily mile (derunnernial).

via daily mile (derunnernial).

Thank you, Boston College, for an amazing reunion weekend!

Next up: CHICAGO MARATHON TRAINING!

 

 

 

Posted in 5k, weekly workout wrap-up | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

www 5.13-5.19 + brooklyn half sympathy carb-loading + cheering.

Posted on May 20, 2013 by DErunnerNIAL

Workouts from last week:

www

The Sympathy Carb-load:

When my beautiful Sweatpink sister, Michele, asked if I wanted to have dinner the night before the Brooklyn Half-Marathon, I couldn’t say no.  Carb-loading? Good company? Amazing NYC restaurant?  Count me in.

melissa, myself, and michele.

melissa, myself, and michele.

I met up with Michele and Melissa at the Brooklyn Half-Expo and we then continued to dinner where I polished off a generous portion of penne with chicken and spinach.  When there is pasta in front of my face, the bowl is a portion size.  I don’t care if it’s two pounds of pasta in that bowl, it’s all going down.

give me ALL THE FOOD

me and my sympathy carb-loaders in January.

Also, grapes have no portion size.

Screen Shot 2013-05-20 at 8.47.34 PM

We then walked across town to Bomboloni where I also polished off a generous cup of pistachio and biscotti gelato.  Yea, you read that correctly.  BISCOTTI GELATO.

there are ACTUAL biscotti chunks in this. HEAVEN.

there are ACTUAL biscotti chunks in this. HEAVEN.

Sympathy carb-loading success.

Brooklyn Cheer Squad:

bestest friends

Waking up early wasn’t even an issue as I was SO EXCITED to head down to Coney Island to cheer on my friends and thousands of strangers.  I ended up getting there earlier than I expected and was able to scream for Melissa as she darted past me at the 400m mark.

she's not in this. too fast. but the 400m wasn't moving so i got that.

she’s not in this. too fast. but the 400m sign wasn’t moving so i got that.

She ended up coming in FIRST PLACE in her age group.  What a badass.

I had my sign:

proud to say that this sign got lots of chuckles from runners!

proud to say that this sign got lots of chuckles from runners!

And I screamed my little heart out for a solid two-plus hours.  When I saw Meghan approaching, I jumped in and did a little dance before giving her a high-five.

high five me i've been waiting so long!

Hot damn I love cheering at races.  But my legs are itching… and holy hell I am excited that the next race I’m attending, I will be RUNNING!

BC Alumni 5k in Boston.  6/1/13.  You know it.

 

Posted in half-marathon, weekly workout wrap-up | Leave a comment