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A Cure for the Mondays

So this week should be all sunshine and rainbows right? I have an awesome half marathon/girls weekend trip down to Washington, DC this weekend. The warm weather is causing the cherry blossoms to bloom early which means the course should be even better than last year. That’s hard to imagine based on the beautiful day Ali and I enjoyed in DC last year after the race.

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I don't think I'll be wearing my cashmere coat this year!

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These tulips may have been my computer background until November!

But, instead of the sunshine and rainbows, this is actually a pretty tough week due to some work stuff taking place. Instead of focusing on the negative, I’m trying to keep myself busy with my last few workouts of the week, lots of friend time, and of course some healthy, balanced eating.

In case, you’re wondering, here’s my workout schedule for the week, leading up to this weekends PR. Like that positive thinking, eh?

Monday: 3.5 mile treadmill run + hip stretches+ foam rolling

Tuesday: AM Personal training session+ Refine Method in the evening

Wednesday: 30 minute run outside at goal pace

Thursday: Strala Yoga Relax class

Friday: 20 minute AM shakeout run

Saturday: DC Rock N Roll Half Marathon!!!!!

Tuesday through Friday this week I’m going to be focused on preparing my mind and body for Saturday’s race. This is something that I’ve failed to do very well historically for multiple reasons but this week I’m making a very concerted effort.

Food: Tuesday-Friday will be a week filled with clean eating, lots of water, daily vitamins, dried cherries, and increased fruit & vegetable intake

Sleep: My goal for Tuesday-Friday night is 7.5 hours of sleep

Mind: I’m reading this month’s Runners World for lots of motivation and happy running thoughts. I also think making this a mini girls weekend with many of my blogger and runner friends helps make the whole traveling for a race thing more fun and less stressful.

I say that everything is starting on Tuesday because let’s get real, this Monday wasn’t perfect. I let the stress get the best of me today which meant that there may have been some Diet Coke and one too many processed food in today’s meal plan. My dinner may or may not have consisted of “bar snacks” and two glasses of Pinot Noir with my awesome Junior League committee members.

What, this isn't the dinner of half marathon champions? This blog is about moderation after all.

Oh well, at least when the long day got the best of me I turned to a phone call with my mom and some quality time at the pet store. There are worst things in life and as Theodora told me yesterday, you can’t frown or feel sad when you’re looking at friendly, furry faces!

How can you resist these adorable faces?

I hope you all had a great Monday and are looking forward to an even better week!

Question: How do you cure the blues after a bad day? 

 

 

 

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A Long, Cold Run in Central Park

What a whirlwind week it’s been! Last night I was able to get on the earlier flight back to New York from Las Vegas but still didn’t get home until 2am. Unfortunately, Marc, my co-worker, and I learned an important lesson last night. If you land in New York City after 11pm at anytime the taxi stand manager said that cabs only arrive every five to ten minutes. Therefore, we waited in the cold for over an hour.

After crawling into bed around 2:30, I slept like a rock until almost 1pm. I felt like I’d been hit by a truck, not refreshed at all. I guess that’s what happens after being crammed in a middle seat of a six hour flight.

I ate brunch while relaxing with Bo, catching up on our weeks. I knew that the only thing on my agenda today was to do a seven miler in Central Park. Therefore my brunch was toast, peanut butter, and a banana paired with a G Series Fit.

002 003 After checking the weather report a few times, hoping that it would miraculously go from 22 degrees to 43 degrees in the hour before my run. Unfortunately that didn’t happen so I bundled up and got stoked to log the miles.

010 Okay, maybe excited isn’t the right word to use. I was apprehensive of how my body would react to running seven miles after running three days in a row, traveling across the United States, and feeling very dehydrated. image

I ran up Lexington Avenue and then cut over to Central Park so that I could ensure that my miles included hills. The half marathon I’m training for has a number of large hills which means that I can’t be fully prepared unless I spend each long run in the park.

Luckily, I enjoyed this run more than I expected because it was my first chance to enjoy Central Park during the winter outside of a race. It was serene, quieter than normal, and the barren trees gave the entire park an eerie feel.

These flags, in front of The Plaza Hotel, show just how windy it was ruing the entire run.

011 012I waved goodbye to the statues and headed into Central Park with a goal of keeping 10:00 pace during these middle miles after my two slower warm-up miles towards the park. 014 015 016019 020 021Right before my first round of hills I had two Honey Stingers which I absolutely loved! I’ve never tried these before but am in love. The pink lemonade flavor wasn’t too sour or sweet and they didn’t irritate my stomach.

022024 Instead of doing one round of Cat Hill and Harlem Hills I switched my run up today and did Cat Hill once and Harlem Hills in both direction due to turning around at 110th and 7th Avenue. Through the cold wind and freezing temperatures, along with a few fun snow flurries, I kept my pace at 9:58 until my final mile where my legs were showing their exhaustion. Instead of pushing them too hard I did my last mile at 10:03.

These are the runs that make me a stronger runner. By doing my best to run each long training run in the park, my legs will slowly but surely become adjusted to the hills and I’ll be able to power up them, as Gia requests, versus dreading them.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to enjoy a long bath with a shake and some bath salts.

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Don’t forget to enter the Friday the 13th Gaiam giveaway!

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Marathons & Moderation: Guest Post #1

 
Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope the weather is better in your neck of the woods than what we’re dealing with in New York City. It has been raining for the past three days and I literally thought I was going to float away this morning on the way to the gym. Oh well! I can’t complain too much because last night there was actually sunshine during the NYRR Wall Street 3 Mile race!
 
As you may recall, I reached out via Twitter a few weeks ago looking for readers and bloggers alike who would like to do guest posts on Marathons & Moderation. One of my primary goals for this year’s marathon training is to find moderation. Therefore, I thought I’d reach out to some of the experts to provide their two cents on how to stay sane, injury free, and enjoy marathon training by using moderation.
 
The first guest post comes from one of my local favorites, Ellen! Hope you enjoy the first of many Marathon & Moderation guest posts. If you’d like to guest post on this topic, please let me know in the comments section!
 
 
 

Hi, Healthy, Happier readers! I’m Ellen and I blog at Keepin the Pace, where I talk about running, cooking and finding ways to keep up with the pace of daily life while making it all happen. When Ashley sent out the call to guest post on marathons and moderation, I jumped at the chance. I’ve been a reader for quite a while, and will be running my third marathon this fall. Moderation or balance is something I’m always striving to attain – and something others generally tell me I’m pretty good at.

Let’s be honest here, by nature, there’s nothing "moderate" about training for months to push your body to run 26.2 miles. I’m not saying it’s crazy, but let’s start by defining "moderation." Running a marathon (and training for one) isn’t easy. It’s taxing both physically and mentally and requires a lot of commitment. That said, it’s also incredibly rewarding. And the best thing you can do is define what you mean by "moderation." The clearer a picture you have, the easier it will be to ensure that you attain it.

This fall, I will be running my third marathon (NYC). My previous marathon experiences were very different from each other in many ways: training, attitude, performance. I’ve learned quite a bit training for both, and here are some things to consider…

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Do some research. You’ve chosen the marathon, you know where the finish line is – now there are a few months to figure out how to get to it. Outside of training, you’d like to keep some semblance of normalcy in your life.

Define what moderation looks like for you over a few months… over a week… over the course of a day. For example:

  • Over four months, I’d like to make 3-5 social events/month.
  • Over a week, I’d like to have dinner with friends/significant other three times.
  • In the course of a day, I’d like to eat homemade meals 75% of the time.
  • Most of my goals here are food-related (that’s where my head is), but yours may have more to do with hanging out with friends, keeping up with work, yoga, etc. Look at your big plan and pick a few attainable goals that will keep you happy.

  • Backwards plan. Mark that marathon on the calendar and mark it big. Then map your long training runs backwards from that date.

    • Know that training plans are generally created in a vacuum… a perfect world where weather and work and a social life don’t factor in to training. Read several plans from different sources (I can tell you some good books) and take each with a grain of salt.
    • Once you’ve read, think about what works for you. Relative newbie running a first marathon? Probably not a good idea to plan for a sub-4:00 marathon training 45 miles/week. YOU are the best coach you can have right now. Map out your long runs on a day that works for you. (Note: This isn’t always Sunday. For me, in the summer, Friday works better).
    • Loosely factor in your weekday runs — these may be subject to change as your schedule changes. Check up on them at the beginning of each week and adjust as needed.

  • Go easy on yourself. You’re already awesome, this much we’ve established (uh, you’re running a marathon). Remember: Your marathon will not fall apart if you skip your speed work on July 17. Nor will you bonk because you had to cut your long run 2 miles short in September. So really, plan ahead, but know that your plan is not concrete.
    • Weekly: Sunday nights I check out my running/cross-training plan to see what works with my schedule. I know that I may need to change things around sometimes, and that’s okay. Try to keep your long runs intact, know that your shorter weekday runs give a little more leeway.
    • Daily: Splitting runs is fine. Really. Perhaps on a Wednesday I can’t run 6 miles at a time… but I can run 3 miles before work and 3 miles afterwards. It’s still six miles. It’s a weekday. You have a real life. Your marathon will not suffer, I promise.

  • Reward yourself. This is a big deal. I know that dangling that carrot in front of me helps quite a bit when motivating myself to get out the door for a 15-miler in the August humidity. Tie your rewards to the task – long run in the heat? Get an awesome summer wicking top. Met your yoga goals for the month? Maybe some new socks are in order. Either way, keep yourself motivated with little rewards along the way, and you will be handsomely rewarded at the finish line of your marathon.
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The bottom line is, enjoy your training (as tough as it might be). There will be a time in your life when you think back on this fondly. Make sure you were good to yourself — and check back to my blog to see how I’m doing! Good luck to your running endeavors and I’ll see all of you NYC Marathoners on November 6, 2011 for a nice little tour of the boroughs 🙂
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