She Runs the Wasatch

Two weeks of great training

I know that I did not post a recap of my training last week, so I’ll go ahead and add it to this one. These past two weeks have been wonderful! I’ve finally gotten back to consistent running and without ankle pain. I certainly wouldn’t call it 100%, since I doubt I could run on trail, but I’m getting there. I managed two long runs (one was 6.4 miles and the other was 8 miles), along with some shorter and quicker runs. I have also been practicing yoga and doing core work every day. I do have some pretty lofty goals for the A1A Half, so it’s important that I get my running base back.

Week of Oct 26-Nov 1

M: Rest
T: 3.1 miles at 8:55/mi with running group
W: 3.2 miles at 9:18/mi
T: 3.3 miles at 9:00/mi
F: Rest
S: Biked 15 miles along Native Stone Scenic Byway
S: 6.4 mile long run at 9:23/mi

I thought this was a great week back. I kept the mileage low at 16.2 miles. It was nice to be out again running and I felt surprisingly strong. I wanted to keep the mileage low to kinda test out the waters a bit. I promised myself that if I felt any pain, I would just back off and skip a day or so. Luckily, that didn’t happen and I managed to stay consistent!

The bike ride was beautiful!

Frank and I at the top of a hill on our ride. Perfect day for it!

I also got to dress up as Tim Tebow for Halloween to support my Gators!

Last week

M: Rest
T: 3.8 miles at 8:57/mi with run group
W: 3.5 at 9:43/mi with Frank
T: 4.5 at 8:42/mi
F: 3.5 at 9:38/mi with Frank
S: 8-mile long run at 9:20/mi
S: 27-mile bike ride

I ran about 24 miles last week and it was the first time in a while that I actually felt like a runner. The weather has been perfect and all of my runs felt great. I ran my long run as a progression run, with each mile about 10 seconds faster than the one before.

On Sunday, four of us went for a ride along the Flint Hills Nature Trail that runs about 60 miles through Kansas. We had a few bike mishaps, and I had to herd a calf back about a half-mile that had gotten lost on the trail.

Back to the car after 27 miles. I was pretty happy to be back.

These two weeks have been great! I’m starting to feel more confident again. I have some big goals in the spring, and I think these next few weeks are important in making sure these goals happen. I’ll post about these goals once I’m ready…

This week I am doing a lot of traveling and running will be pretty hard to get done. I’m heading to Fort Lauderdale for the Yoga Journal Conference with my mom and I’m pretty excited!

How have you been these past two weeks? What are your goal races for the spring?

Weekend Update!

Even though I have been nursing my ankle injury, my 2016 racing schedule is starting to fill up! Luckily, I seem to be doing a lot better, and started running 2-3 miles at a time this past week without pain. Next week marks the official start of my training for the A1A Half Marathon, and I’ll begin it with some easy running. I’m hoping to get in a 6-mile long run, which will be the longest run I’ve done in probably over a month.

As I was suiting up for one of my 2-mile runs, Frank turns to me and says “Wow, this ankle injury really messed you up. You were going out for 15-16 mile runs before this.”

Talk about cutting me to the quick.

It’s really hard to take this huge of a step backwards, especially when I was in such great shape during my Chicago training. I just have to keep reminding myself that the training that I did was not a waste, even if it didn’t culminate in a race. Regardless of how things have gone, today begins a whole new training cycle with a whole new set of goals. I’m super excited about have a fresh start.

This weekend, Frank and I spent Saturday afternoon going on a bike ride along the Native Stone Scenic Byway. Although Kansas does not have a lot of hiking, there’s tons of great road biking. It’s a huge state with only about 3 million people living here. There just are not that many cars on the road. We covered close to 20 miles battling winds and tons of hills. It was pretty fun!

The road is lined with these old fences from the 1800's. They require a lot of upkeep, but some have fallen to disrepair. — The road is lined with these old fences from the 1800’s. They require a lot of upkeep, but some have fallen to disrepair.

We spent Sunday floating down the Republican River. Unfortunately, it’s a little late in the season for paddling, so there was very little water left in the river. There were a few (by few, I mean like 50) sections that we had to walk the boats. Having grown up in Florida, I still don’t have the hang of the seasonality of the rivers here. In Florida, most rivers are spring fed, so you can paddle all year round. Overall, it was a really fun weekend!

Before I go out for my first run of my training cycle, I’m going to make a few new running playlists. Any favorite songs I should include? What are your favorite tunes to run to?

Biking my way back to running

Thanks everyone for the advice and support on my ankle injury last week. It’s never fun to be sidelined, but I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things and it was nice to hear your words of encouragement. My ankle has been feeling a lot better, and I seem to be back to doing normal tasks without pain (stairs and such). These next few weeks are dedicated towards getting back to running so I can start training for the A1A Half Marathon.

At the moment I can run about 2-3 miles at a time, and I run them pretty slow. I know my endurance has suffered a hit, but my running form goes before anything else. I’ll generally find myself favoring the other leg and sometimes experience some swelling post run. Although running seems possible now, it certainly has not made the foot feel any better, so I’m laying off until I feel no pain and have no swelling.

In good news… I am back on my bike! Since there is no impact, I experience no pain on a ride. I took advantage of this during the weekend and did a pretty long stretch on a rail-to-trail in central Kansas!

We found an interesting structure on an Indian Reservation along the trail.

Frank and I along the trail and enjoying the warm weather.

The trail was mostly along prairie, with big wide views of Kansas.

As my foot heals, I am really concentrating on bringing my workouts to my bike. Hopefully, when I am back to running, I wont be in too bad of shape. I have another long bike trip planned for the weekend!

How do you keep in shape when you can’t run? How long does it usually take you to get it back?

When Marathons Don’t Happen

On October 11, I was supposed to become a marathon runner. I was supposed to cross that finish line and be spending this week feeling sore and triumphant. Unfortunately, it didn’t really happen that way. I spent most of the day looking at my phone, checking Instagram and wishing that I were there. However, as things stand now, it is a very good thing that I deferred until next year. In fact, I won’t be running a marathon any time soon.

As you know, I have many passions beyond just running. I do a lot of hiking, biking, climbing, etc. Although I do love to run, my passion for long distance running really began as a way to get me in better shape to do other things… like climb up mountains. It is hard to keep yourself completely injury free when you are always active. Generally, I worry about running related injuries, but they are not the only ones. About a month ago, while out mountain biking, I hit a rock, flew off my bike and landed on my left ankle pretty hard. I laid on the ground screaming in pain, and crying because I knew with that fall, my dream to run a marathon before the end of the year were completely over.

For the last few weeks, I took some time off from structured training. I was still able to do yoga (Thank God!), but that was about it. Fortunately, I am now back to running and biking, but I have to take it slow and only go short distances. Basically, my fall racing schedule is just not happening. I am looking for some shorter distance races, but I have no big goals of PRs or new distances this fall. Right now, my only goal is to get myself back up and running without pain again. Although I will not be racing this fall, I still have the A1A Half Marathon in February, and I will begin training for that in a few weeks.

I am still so disappointed with how all of this has gone. I trained hard this summer to run a marathon. But I am going to move forward and find new goals to work towards. Once I am back to training consistently again, I will talk a bit about what I hope to accomplish in the spring. For now, it’s just to be able to run more than 3 miles without ankle pain.

I know one ting for sure. Next October I will be in Chicago… and I will not only make it to the start, but I will cross that finish line.

How do you get back after an injury? What is your favorite form of cross training (mine is yoga and biking)?

Friday 5 Linkup: My FIVE Half Marathons

I’ve never done a Friday 5, but I figured I’d give it a shot this week. Mar on the Run, Eat Pray Run, and You Signed Up for What?! host a weekly linkup that anyone can join in on. This week is a freebe, so I can post on a topic of my choosing.

My FIVE Half Marathons

1. A1A Half Marathon

I am from Fort Lauderdale, Fl and grew up in Coral Springs. I’ve been living elsewhere for the last 10 years, but I wanted my first half marathon to be in my hometown and on my home beach. It couldn’t have been a better experience! My parents (and in laws) were there to see me cross that finish line on the beautiful beaches of Fort Lauderdale. It was an automatic PR (1:56:46) and it was the race that made me fall in love with the half marathon.

I’ll be running this race again on Feb. 14, 2016!!

2. Holy Half Marathon

Running the Holy Half is a bit of a right of passage at Notre Dame. I knew I’d be moving in the summer, so I needed to check that off my bucket list. It was crazy cold out… like in the teens. The race became my next PR (1:56:44), but the cold wore me out a lot. Despite the cold, I still had TONS of fun. Lizzy ran the race with me, and it was tons of fun to race with a friend.

Lizzy and I at the finish of the Holy Half with our medals!

3. Hospital Hill Half Marathon

This was a TOUGH race. There was about 1000 feet of elevation gain throughout the race AND the biggest hill was at mile 10. By the time I got to it, I was beat! I had a ton of fun though. I felt pretty accomplished having completed such a tough course in under 2 hours.

4. Rocky Mountain Half Marathon

This race was a gem! There were crazy amounts of elevation gain, but I was on that day. The course was the most scenic I’ve ever been on, with the beautiful Rocky Mountains as my backdrop. I plugged in, hunkered down and kicked serious butt to get my new PR of 1:51:46. After the race, I hiked up Hallet Peak and to Chasm Lake to be in the Continental Divide Club and the Chasm Lake Club.

I couldn’t have had a better race and I can’t wait to run it again in 2016!

You may have noticed that I have only run 4 half marathons, but this post says 5. Well… that’s because I am running the Kansas City Half Marathon on October 17!

5. Kansas City Half Marathon

This race will be a dry run for the Route 66 Marathon. I’ll be running it right around marathon pace. I’ll be taking it pretty easy, since I don’t want to risk injury before my big day in November. A lot of people from my social running group will be there and it’s relatively close to Manhattan. Should be a fun day to run!

What is your favorite half marathon?

A New Path to 26.2

I have been avoiding writing this post, since I knew it would make this more real. But the thing is… it’s pretty real. So I guess I’ll just let it spill.

I deferred my entry for Chicago until 2016.

Several weeks ago, I was climbing a few 14ers (mountains that are over 14,000 feet) in Colorado, and on the way down from the last one, I twisted my knee a little. I didn’t think too much of it, so the next day, I still ran my prescribed 18 miles. It went horribly. I couldn’t go very fast and I spent a lot of it limping. I finished when I probably shouldn’t have.

Top of Mt. Democrat. This was the first of 4 14ers I did on the day I tweaked my knee. At least the view was beautiful!

I took a bit of time off, and it helped. I got back to running and everything was ok. But as soon as I got back on my feet, I got a terrible upper respiratory infection that included a high fever and lots of coughing. I couldn’t run at all for a full week. So… since I had basically missed out on my peak marathon training, I decided to defer until 2016.

HOWEVER… I am officially running the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa Oklahoma on November 22. I am back to running, and my knee feels good (my lungs feel okay). I realized that Chicago wouldn’t be very fun, but with training and hard work, Route 66 is gonna be awesome. The best part is… I already have a race to PR my marathon time next year!

Route 66 is going to be especially great. I’ll be running it two days before my 29^th birthday and as soon as I’m done, Frank and I will be driving out to Utah for some canyoneering and mountain biking. I couldn’t be more excited.

Instead of being sad about this… like I was when I pushed the button to defer, I am using this as an opportunity. This is going to be tons of fun AND Chicago 2016 is gonna be awesome!

Three Years Ago Today

Today marks 3 years of marriage to this pretty cool dude:

Frank and I met in college and have been inseparable ever since. You have probably noticed, but we like to travel together. It’s our thing and it keeps our relationship fun and easy. So, it wasn’t surprising when, three years ago, we decided to throw the wedding of a lifetime and get married at Glacier National Park. We “made” our friends and family travel with us out to Montana and we had the time of our lives. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.

I could show you pictures all day, like this one:

And this one:

But none of the pictures give justice to how beautiful, fun, and perfect our wedding day really was. As much fun as that day was, though, each day after has been just as amazing. We have traveled all over, climbing mountains, hiking into tiny Peruvian villages, driving across the US and Canada, hiking and exploring in remote Alaska. I can’t imagine a life more fun than the one Frank and I have built for ourselves.

He likes to torture me by covering my eyes.

I could go on forever about how much fun we have, but really, the thing that makes Frank the perfect guy is just how supportive he is to me. Honestly, he agrees to all of my crazy ideas AND he puts up with me when I yell at him because I am hangry. He encourages me in my running, even though he isn’t a runner. He’s even gone on a few short runs with me… and I know he hates it! He follows me to my races, and is always there to see me cross the finish line (except when I PR by like 5 minutes and he isn’t expecting me for a while). I couldn’t ask for a better guy.

So, here is to three years of marriage bliss! I know, with him, my life will be filled with fun and adventure.

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 9 – Recovery!

Some weeks running is just… hard. This week I felt like I was running with lead shoes, and that’s understandable, since I just PR’ed my half marathon and worked really hard last week. But this week, I just didn’t have it in me to give it my all. Maybe it was just that my all was not very much. Regardless, I took this week as a recovery week.

I practiced yoga at home, did some body weight strength work and got about 28 miles in. I had planned for close to 40 miles and a 16 mile long run, but I was so exhausted and that was just not going to happen.

Monday: 4.7 miles trail running (11:29/mi)

I was sore from all of the mountain climbing and hard running I had done the week before, so I took it easy and ran with the Lawrence Trail Hawks on their Monday night run. I had a great time and they talked the whole way. The first mile felt like I was running through mud, but I eventually warmed up and felt good. Lawrence is about an hour away, but I would really like to make the drive occasionally to run with this group.

Tuesday: 3.2 miles (8:18/mi)

Apparently I was feeling good this day. I ran with the Manhattan Running Company on the Kimble route, which has a pretty good climb up a hill. I started pretty conservatively at 9:16/mi, but then decided to catch up with the guys who usually lead the pack. I ran hard for the next two miles (8:27/mi & 7:17/mi) and did catch up with them at the end. I’m really not sure what got into me that day, but I was going fast!

Wednesday: Rest day

Thursday: Unintentional rest day – I was tired

Friday: 6 miles (10:00/mi)

I felt like I was running through a pool with lead shoes. I don’t even know how I finished the run, but I was beat the whole time. It was so hot out too…

Saturday: 4.5 miles (9:58/mi)

Another pretty chill run. Unfortunately, I still felt tired. I know that I had not fully recovered yet from the half and running at any pace just felt like work. I was going to go 8 miles, but I was tired and really didn’t want to.

Sunday: 10-mile long run (10:00/mi)

I was going to do 16 miles, but I didn’t feel quite right. I went in the PM, so it was getting dark by the time I finished. Honestly, I can’t put my finger on it, but something wasn’t really right. I didn’t feel injured, just overworked. So I scaled back and took it easy. If these 6 miles are what stands between me and running a sub-4 marathon, I’m not ready to run that kind of time yet.

Sage Canaday always says that you would rather be undertrained than overtrained, and I really took that to heart this week. Even though I didn’t do the mileage I wanted to do, I’m more than ok with it. I needed a chill-ish week and I took one. Next week features my first 18-miler and I want to be ready to conquer that distance.

How do you recover from half marathons? Do you ever scale back your mileage because you don’t quite feel right?

Practice Running Fast Through Yoga

I have taught a lot runners and triathletes yoga. So, when I ask those students why they do yoga, I get a list of reasons including stretching, strengthening, relaxation, etc. Rarely, do I hear people say that they practice yoga to run faster or push harder. It seems counter intuitive. I know that in order to run faster, you need to train for it… you have to be strong and you have to be running at that speed in training. However, I think yoga has another benefit that makes us faster.

It teaches us about suffering.

Hard postures can teach us about suffering through hard races. — Hard postures can teach us a thing or two about suffering through hard races.

I don’t mean the suffering that you get from an injury. This suffering is the slight discomfort you get from holding a pose for a little longer than is comfortable. If you want to feel it, go into plank for about 30 seconds, and I promise you will suffer… just a little. Poses like extended side angle, boat, half moon, and many others, can teach us a lot about our minds and how we react to suffering. There are days when you will find that quiet place within yourself, but there are other days when you just can’t shut the mind off. When you start a yoga practice, more often than not, you can’t turn your mind off.

So… what does this have to do with running fast?

When I was running in the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon last weekend, I allowed myself to push a little harder than normal, to a place where I was just beginning to feel that same suffering that I get in more difficult yoga postures. Holding that level of suffering for 13.1 miles is not easy. It takes practice. But most of my running, lately, has been very slow. I didn’t push to that level of suffering in my running… I did it in my yoga practice. And trust me… no yogi ever enjoys holding hard postures. More than any other part of yoga, holding postures takes a lot of practice.

So, we don’t always have to push our minds only in our running. We can do it by practicing simple, but challenging, yoga postures. Sometimes we can practice by remaining seated and quiet. Create PR’s for how long you can hold a chair pose and you’ll see how quickly your mind is able to adapt to running just a little harder. I am certainly not the first person to think of this. Scott Jurek uses matras from his yoga classes when running long distance. It creates a quiet place in his mind when the going gets tough. He just repeats the mantra over and over and reminds himself why he is doing what he is doing. He uses his mind as his super power.

Many of us have the physical capabilities to run faster, but what stops us is that little voice in our heads that says that we have had enough! It takes a lot of practice to push past that voice and continue moving, even though moving isn’t exactly comfortable… even when moving makes us suffer. The simple act of sitting still and quiet can teach us that discipline. We all have this untapped mental power that only requires a little bit of practice.

Rocky Mountain Half Marathon Race Recap

I tend to underestimate myself. I go into a race and I often limit what I can do, not because of my training or physical capabilities, but because of my mind. So, when I looked at the 1:52:01 half marathon cutoff for the first wave corrals at Chicago, I figured there was no way I could ever run that time. I mean… that’s 8:30/mi for 13 miles! I figured that there was just no way, especially at 7,500 feet. Well, I’m going to just cut to the chase.

I ran the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon in 1:51:44. That was a huge PR and I am now in the first wave at Chicago!

Pre-Race

We drove out to Boulder on Thursday evening and made it in time for me to get a quick run in and some dinner. The next morning, Frank and I woke up at 4 am to get to the national park and reserve a campsite for the next few days. We did a little bit of hiking and went to Estes Park to pick up my packet. We hiked a lot more and drove around for a while.

So, I did all the pre-race stuff wrong. I walked A LOT on Friday, I camped on the hard floor, I probably didn’t eat or sleep enough. I had to wake up at 4 am, and I woke up like 4-5 times during the night. I tried to scarf down some food at our campsite, but my stomach was giving me some trouble. We got to the race around 5:00 am and hung out at the starting line until the race started.

The elevation profile for the race. This was not exactly an easy course.

Miles 1-4

The gun went off at almost exactly 6 am. The race had a few thousand people, but they did a good job keeping the corral small so that we didn’t have to dodge around people once we were off the starting line. The first few miles were pretty chill, although I took them fast because I knew that miles 5-8 had a huge hill. I felt pretty comfortable averaging around an 8:30 mile on the rolling terrain and was surprised at how quick the miles were going by. I just kept telling myself that I am a lot faster than I think I am, and that seemed to work pretty well. I had a pretty good feeling by mile 4 that I was had a shot at a PR but I tried to hold myself back. I knew the hills in the race would eventually wear on me.

Miles 5-8

Mile 5 was the start of a pretty substantial hill. I knew it was coming, so I decided to play a little game with myself to pass the time. Each time I passed someone on the uphill, I gave myself a point and each time I was passed by a runner, I lost a point. So, I just started reeling people in. I’d get my eyes on a runner who looked kinda tired and just started creeping up on them. By the end of the uphill I had passed 22 people and had only been passed by 1 (that’s 21 points!!!). I managed to keep around a 9:00/mi pace. At the top of the hill I looked at my watch and was pretty amazed at how fast I had gone. I think I knew by this point that I was going to PR for sure.

Miles 9-13.1

At the top of the hill I could see the finish line and I knew that it was all downhill from here (ok… there were a few surprise hills, but nothing too terrible). I just coasted on down and even squeezed in a 7:34 minute mile in there. I figured that if I could keep an average of 8:00/mi, I would have a shot at getting under the 1:52:01 cutoff for the first wave at Chicago. I knew by this point that I was going to PR… but now I really wanted to be in that first wave. So, I pushed a little harder. The end of the race was close to a beautiful lake in the middle of Estes Park. As I got closer I started to hear the announcer call out names of people as they crossed the finish line. I kept pushing and eventually heard my name as I crossed. Frank was not even there because he wasn’t expecting me to finish for another 10 minutes.

The downhill miles! Check out that 7:34 minute mile!!!!

My official time was 1:51:44 and I placed 7^th in my age group out of 137… which is pretty freaking good. There was close to 1000 feet of elevation gain throughout the race… so this wasn’t even an easy course. Honestly, I’m still in shock that I ran that well.

A well deserved medel. I was pretty exhausted after this race.

I learned a lot running this race. My biggest problem as a runner is that I set goals that are not outside of my comfort zone. I don’t let myself think that I can do something really crazy because I don’t want to be disappointed. From here on out, that’s gonna change.

Immediately after the race, Frank and I went back into Rocky Mountain National Park, picked up our friends and climbed up Hallett Peak. This was a 10-mile hike up a 12,713-foot mountain. Doing this hike got me 50% off entry into the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon for 2016… so the soreness was worth it. I am officially in the Continental Divide Club!

My friends and I at the top of Hallett Peak!

The race (and hike) was a huge success. But… now the Chicago Marathon countdown really begins.