Before running a marathon, most people have a time goal in mind. (Especially if you have already run a marathon before at some point.) After months of hard work and training, you have a somewhat realistic idea of what time you might finish in. I have a few friends running in the Little Rock Marathon this weekend who are running for completion. They have no time goal in mind- they just want to finish. When I ran my first marathon…
Exactly one week from today I am running in my 4th marathon. That means this week is my least favorite week of all… The final taper week. This is typically the week that I question my training, my ability, my racing strategy and my sweet tooth. (For some reason, eating any and all desserts is not as fun when you’re not running as much. Go figure.) Am I ready?I do feel more prepared for the Little Rock Marathon than I…
Last year at this time I was training for the Boston Marathon. I also had a one month old baby. Basically from the time my son was born via c-section I had 13 weeks until the marathon. Subtract 4 weeks for recovery and that left 9 weeks to train for a marathon. If you are wondering if you can safely train under those conditions I will fill you in… NO!!! It is a complete recipe for DISASTER. Smart runners would…
Why a 10K?Sunday night I looked ahead at what this week’s marathon training had in store. With my last 21 miler done and the Little Rock Marathon just around the corner I knew I was in the home stretch of my training. I am sort of using a cross between Hal Higdon’s back to back marathon training and a little of Pete Pfitzinger’s from Advanced Marathoning. Pete’s schedule included running 9 miles as the hard run of the week with…
1. Waking up next to the one (or ones) I love. 2. My favorite four kiddos. 3. Running 800 repeats at the track. (Last set before marathon!) 4. Roses from a sweetheart. 5. A fancy dinner with my favorite people. 6. A dance party with fun music. 7. Being married to the one I love.
Usually I look forward to 20 mile runs… I don’t do them often- just in a marathon training cycle so it is sort of an extra treat. If you like long distance running you know what I mean. The night before a long run I get my fuel belt ready and make sure my watch and ipod are charged. I get my clothes and shoes laid out and check the weather a bazillion times on my iphone. Well, last night…
Well, this marks my first and last “hard” week of training for the Little Rock Marathon. Houston and Little Rock are 7 weeks apart and I am right in the middle of them now. I have only ever raced two other marathons before Houston and they were separated by ten years so having two planned 7 weeks apart is a bit new for me. I looked up a few training plans for back to back marathons and as usual I…
If you would have asked me last week what I knew about a 15K I would have had to stop for a second and add up the distance in my head. I had never even heard of a race this distance- 9.3 miles. As mentioned in an earlier post, during my run on Monday, one of my friend’s mentioned the River Trail 15K in Little Rock. I checked out the website and it definitely sounded worth racing. If nothing else…
Today is my sweetie’s birthday so that makes this an extra special day around this house! We will be having his favorite foods- fried potatoes with pinto beans. I am baking his favorite cake- yellow cake with white icing. Same menu every year! John is such a blessing in my life and I cannot imagine where I would be without him. June 2000- The summer we started dating Fall of 2002 when we bought our first house Summer of 2007…
I love to run but I also love to race. I must confess that if there is a race that is affordable and nearby I will most likely be running in it! Of course, it is not always up to me. If you are a mom you know what I mean. I am at a stage in my life that I must consider the kids, our family schedule, race location, cost, times, etc. Plus, having a nursing baby makes it…