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2018 Running Plans

01.16.2018 by Jennifer // 11 Comments

I’ve been waiting to share my plans for this year until I have some things firmed up, but it’s taking too long and I couldn’t wait to share!

After quitting marathon training last fall, I’ve given marathon training a lot of thought. I decided I wanted to run a marathon in 2018. However! I had a lot of trouble finding one I wanted to run. My requirements are:

  • Smallish size: I’d like it to be larger than the 88 participants in my first marathon but not huge.
  • Time limit of at least 6.5 hours: Having run a 6:03 marathon on a course with a time limit of 6 hours, I don’t want to have a time limit as another thing to stress me out.
  • Pace groups: I’d like to, ideally, run with others.
  • Scenic course or somewhere I’d enjoy running
  • Early fall timeframe

I thought a lot about the timing. Last fall, my motivation plummeted when it got cold. Summer training can suck, but I’ve liked summer training so much better than winter training the last two years. I feel like the worst that can happen in the summer is that I sweat a lot and slow down. No biggie. In winter, snow, ice, frigid temps, and lack of motivation can all derail my training. I’m so much more motivated and excited to run in summer. Ideally, I’ll train through summer for a race date no later than mid-October.

The challenge, of course, is that fall weather is such a wild card. It seems like on any given October day, it’s as likely to be 80 degrees as it is 50 degrees.

The race I initially chose that meets all my requirements is Wineglass in Corning, NY. Last year it was pretty cool on race day, but given that it’s an early fall race the last weekend of September, who knows? Still, I thought I might try for it, and if the weather sucks then oh well.

But then, when I started planning for our vacation, I realized something: Not all of the country has such inconsistent weather. The part of Northern California where we’re going this year for vacation has year-round consistent temperature in the 50s to mid-60s. I found a small marathon (about 150 people last year) with pace groups and a 6.5-hour time limit where we’ll be going on vacation–the Humboldt Bay Marathon. It’s the second weekend in August, when temperatures consistently are 50 degrees in the morning, getting up to the low-60s in the afternoon. In fact, the historical record high for this area is 85 degrees! With the race starting at 7 a.m., I’d be almost guaranteed to have cool weather for most of the race.

Plus, I’m very interested in exploring this area–hence going on vacation here–so would love to explore it on foot in a marathon. The other benefit is that I’d start training in April, after winter weather is gone, run through the summer, and be done with my goal race in mid-August. Plus, a really small race that has pace groups??? It sounds perfect!

The only thing is that we usually go on vacation in September, which isn’t a big deal. We just need to be sure that the rest of our vacation works around the race date. This is what I’m still working out. If it does, I will be running the Humboldt Bay Marathon this year!

My running plans, therefore, are based on running this race.

January through March I’ll be base building. I love that if the winter weather derails my running, it won’t matter. Have I mentioned how much I love not training in winter??? Especially this winter, which with its nonstop frigid temps and snow is the worst I can remember. In fact, if the winter continues its trend of frigid cold and snow and I can’t build up much base, I might run the half marathon instead of the full. I really wouldn’t want to start marathon training from ground zero.

April I’ll start training.

April through July I’ll look for races to do as training runs. I’ve shied away from summer races, but there’s at least one–Deckers Creek Half Marathon in West Virginia–in June that I’ve wanted to do, and training will give me a good excuse to do some summer races.

August 12 is the Humboldt Bay Marathon. I’ll run the race at the start of vacation so that I’ll be in recovery mode and not have to worry about training the rest of my vacation.

September through December will just be running for fun. I’d like to run the local Buffalo Creek Half Marathon in October–my favorite race–and any other races that sound good. I love the idea of having only a single goal race for the year since I’m more focused on running for fun instead of racing.

If the marathon doesn’t work out for August….ugh, I don’t know! I’ve actually considered registering for the Wineglass Marathon as a backup (I think it typically sells out in February) and then if the Humboldt Bay Marathon works out, running both marathons to make the most of my training. They’re six weeks apart, which is pretty ideal in terms of taking time off from marathon 1 and then keeping up my fitness for marathon 2. I know a lot of runners who have done that, and it makes a lot of sense to me. Plus, I do not plan to race for time.

The downside to that plan is that, again, weather for Wineglass is such a wild card, even if I’m just running it for fun. Also, I have no idea how motivated I’ll be to run a second marathon six weeks after the first. Although, I could defer Wineglass if I’m not up for it.

A safer back-up plan if Humboldt Bay doesn’t work out is to just run a local half marathon. While I’d like to run a marathon this year, I don’t want to run one just to run one. I want to actually be excited about and want to do the race, which is key to me getting to the starting line (as we know based on what happened last year!).

I feel like the stars are aligning around Humboldt Bay, and I’m genuinely excited it! And for me to be excited about a race is saying something! I also like the idea of Wineglass, but the weather scares me. I’m going to push forward with my travel plans and hope to firm things up so that I can register for Humboldt Bay by the end of this month.

As for my training, regardless of what race I do, it’s probably not a surprise that I will not be using the Hansons’ method and instead will be using the 80/20 method. I’m super excited to continue 80/20 training this year since I felt like it worked so well for me last year. For my base training, I’m planning to run at a low heart rate easy pace for as many runs as I can before I add in high-intensity running during training.

I’m so excited about this year’s running plans! I feel like my year will provide me a good mix of both running for fun and challenging myself.

Here’s to a fun year of running! What are your running plans? If you’ve posted them and I haven’t commented, please let me know so I can check them out. I love reading about plans for the year!

Categories // Running Tags // 2018 running plans

Happy Holidays & Updates

12.21.2017 by Jennifer // 2 Comments

Hi, friends! I’ve let blogging slip to the bottom of my to-do list in this busy holiday season but did want to pop in and wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. No matter what or how you celebrate, I hope the season brings you time to relax and have fun with family and friends. And for my fellow runners, I hope you get some fun runs in!

It’s not Christmas until you put reindeer ears on your dog!

I have a year-in-review post almost done that I’ll be posting next week. Until then, I wanted to share some updates.

Winter Weather

From feels-like-4-degrees last week to a balmy 51 degrees this week, the weather has been all over the place. Now that I’m not training, my running is completely dependent on the weather. If it’s really cold–which, for me now, is in the teens or single digits–or there’s a lot of snow and ice on the ground (we got our first snow last week), I don’t run. Can I tell you what an epiphany this is for me?

I don’t have access to a treadmill, which is fine because a treadmill defeats the whole purpose of running for me (to get outside and enjoy nature). I think in six years of running I ran on a treadmill maybe once or twice. I hated every minute of it. But the last few winters, I had so much angst about how I’d get speedwork in when there was ice on the ground or how I’d get long runs in when I start to freeze in single-digit temps if I’m out for longer than an hour, no matter how bundled up I am.

This year the angst is gone. If it’s cold or icy, I do strength training or an indoor cardio routine I can do in my home gym. Because I want to do more strength anyway, it’s a win-win. I’m not sure why I never thought of this sooner. I guess I’ve always been in a Come hell or high water or ice or minus-zero wind chills I’m following my training plan mindset the past few winters. The current angst-free, warm, comfortable version of me can only chuckle about what now seems a silly mindset. My goodness, how I’ve changed.

The good thing about brutal conditions is that it makes conditions I previously thought unbearable feel heavenly. Now it feels like summer if it’s above freezing. And when it’s above freezing, I’m as excited and thrilled to run as a kid on Christmas morning.

80/20 Running

Ever since I quit marathon training, I’ve been loosely following 80/20 running, where the majority of my runs are at a very easy pace. You might remember that I tried this type of training in the spring and loved it. I’m happy to be back at it. I haven’t been calculating my easy/hard running ratios, but I’ve mostly been running easy with a few intervals, fast miles, and moderate-paced runs with friends mixed in.

When you start 80/20 running, you have to define your heart rate zones, which are all based on your lactate threshold heart rate–the barrier between low intensity and high intensity. You’re supposed to recalculate your lactate threshold regularly as your fitness improves or regresses.

I did lactate threshold tests at the beginning and end of my spring 5K training but haven’t since then. So this past weekend I decided to do it again. Given that I’m not training, I expected to see some regression. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’ve improved a bit! My lactate threshold heart rate at the beginning of 80/20 training in the spring was 155. At the end of training it was 160. It’s now 163.

This means that I’m running faster in my easy/moderate paces before I reach the high-intensity range. Hooray! I’d read that it may take a while before you get faster while still being at a low intensity. I’m thrilled that even without dedicated and consistent 80/20 training, I’ve seen improvement.

Weight Watchers

I’ve been following WW for a few weeks. While I’ve lost 3.2 pounds, which doesn’t seem like a lot, I can already tell a difference in how my clothes are fitting. All my pants that were too tight now fit! I think that all my strength training must be contributing and making me leaner. I also just feel really good. I’m super motivated to keep on working to lose the weight I gained while marathon training, though I’ll be switching to maintenance these next few weeks. My goal will simply be to not gain through the holidays. I plan on indulging in my holiday favorites but WW will help me not go overboard. Then I’ll pick back up trying to lose after the holidays.

I do think the new Freestyle plan makes losing easier. By making low-calorie, high-protein foods zero points, WW encourages you to eat more of these foods, which fill me up and just don’t leave a lot of extra room for piling in unhealthy food. Of course, I’m still eating pretzel bagels with vegan cream cheese (my favorite!) and small amounts of goodies regularly. I love that I can eat what I want on WW and still lose weight.

Cooking & Eating Out

A few weekends ago, I spent an entire Sunday cooking. I made soups, slow-cooker meals, roasted veggies, and meals for the week. I haven’t spent a full day in the kitchen in years. It was awesome! I wanted to try more recipes and do more cooking this winter, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

Cooking more meals from scratch definitely helps me with following Weight Watchers too. I’ve been trying a lot of low-points recipes and really enjoying eating different things. I get in a rut of eating the same thing day after day, so it’s been fun to try different things. Here’s one super-easy, delicious, zero-points recipes from Happy Herbivore that’s become one of my favorites.

Black Bean & Salsa Soup

  • 1 15-oz can black beans
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1.5 cups vegetable broth
  • .5 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 cup frozen corn

Blend 1 cup black beans, salsa, veg broth, and cumin in a food processor. Transfer to a pot, add the rest of the beans and the corn, and heat through. Add things if you want (cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, avocado, etc.)

Federal Galley

The restaurant scene in Pittsburgh has exploded in the last few years. There are so many good options for vegan and vegetarian food now. I try to eat at home most of the time, but about once a week we go out to dinner. One of my favorite new restaurants is Federal Galley, which opened a few weeks ago close to me in the North Side. It’s owned by the same group that has a restaurant in the Strip District (Smallman Galley) and is an incubator space for new chefs to try out their menus before opening their own restaurants. It’s been described as a hipster food court. 🙂

We’ve been there two weeks in a row, and last week I had the second best meal of my life at Supper. The Cumin-Scented Squash Soup (with cilantro oil!) was simply the best soup I’ve ever had in my life. I also loved the Pan Seared Tofu, which features house-made tofu, barbecued carrots, and a roasted cauliflower mash. Simply divine. If you’re in Pittsburgh, you have to go to Federal Galley!

Amazing meal from Supper at Federal Galley

I’ll be back next week with some lessons I learned from running this year. Until then, enjoy the holiday!

Categories // Running, Training Feature Tags // 80/20 training, holiday, recipe, weight loss, Weight Watchers

Weekly Recap: Fighting Hibernation

11.20.2017 by Jennifer // 6 Comments

If you read Hanna’s post on the same topic, this post might sound familiar. I seem to be going through exactly what Hanna is!

My body wants to hibernate every evening. Now that it’s dark so early, all I want to do is get home from work quickly, finish walking the dog and eating dinner as soon as I can, and then nestle under covers with a book for the whole night. If I manage to get up for 15 minutes to fold some laundry, it’s a huge win.

With my new focus on strength training, hibernating after work isn’t good. My routine for years has been to run in the morning and strength train in the evening. Running is easier for me in the early morning because I can basically start out still asleep and run on auto-pilot until my body wakes up. Strength training requires a lot more coordination and focus, and I find it very difficult to do as soon as I wake up.

This past week, I vowed every day to do strength training in the evening. My especially low energy last week compounded with hibernation mode so that I fell prey to warm covers and my book over and over and didn’t do a single strength session. I even skipped a blogger event to try a Dailey Method class that Gretchen coordinated–which I really wanted to try!–because it was fairly late in the evening for me and I knew I wouldn’t have the energy to even get there, much less make it through the class. Also, work is exceptionally busy these days and, thus, draining. I love my job though, so no complaints there–just that it’s likely adding to my fatigue.

Fortunately, I’m getting daily activity with walking to work. I only biked to work one day last week because I had to be at an off-site location early, and it just worked out better to bike. But I walked in the other days, which amounted to about 100 minutes of walking between my walk commute and daily dog walks.

I got 3 runs in this past week but was sad to not run more. Monday I took a rest day because I was still incredibly sore from a hard strength training session the weekend before that left me moaning in pain whenever I walked up or down stairs. Tuesday was the early work day, with no time to run. I ran Wednesday (with frozen tootsies in 29 degrees–oh how this cold-weather-tolerant runner has fallen) and Thursday, and slept in and didn’t run Friday.

This is from when it was warmer in the mid-40s. I was still cold!

Saturday it rained the entire morning–talk about hibernation mode coming into play! But I did make myself get in a really good, 40-minute strength training session and felt so much better than I would have if I’d have just binge-read my book all day. And the rain let up for our afternoon walk with the dog.

Sunday morning was my third run for the week at North Park. It wasn’t too cold, but some blustery bursts of hail didn’t make it very fun. But I was still happy to be out because I was virtually cheering on Joanna, who was kicking the Philly Marathon’s butt! Joanna had a really strong training cycle using the Hansons’ method, and I’m thrilled she had a great race despite crazy wind.

I finished last week with only 12 miles. I know I said I’d target 3-4 runs a week during my off-season, but 3 just doesn’t feel like enough. My body is really craving more runs, so I hope the weather is nice enough this week to run a bit more.

In the meantime, I have some strategies I’m going to try to fight hibernation.

1. Strength Train Immediately After Work

I’m successful with strength training if I do it immediately after I get home–before I eat dinner or open a book. Once I start reading, I’m useless.

2. Do Shorter Sessions

It’s easier for me to  commit to doing a strength training routine that’s short, especially since I’m hungry after work. I have a bunch of 15-minute workouts that I plan to do.

3. Just Get Outside

I said in my last post that I also wanted to take more evening walks with the dog like we used to in summer. (I take Django on a long morning walk, a shorter walk after work, and then Dave takes him on an evening walk. In the summer I regularly join them for evening walks, and we usually make them longer.) Again, that didn’t happen once last week. I think I need to approach it like running–don’t fixate on the weather and just put on my shoes and coat and go out. Even a shorter walk is better than lazing around on the couch.

I’m motivated to put these strategies to work this week. I refuse to let the dark and cold of the season take my fitness away!

Categories // Running, Training Feature Tags // weekly recap, weekly wrap

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Running is no fun if you don't look cute doing it! In this blog I share my passion for running and activewear. I'm chronicling my ever-evolving journey as a runner. I also post activewear reviews, healthy plant-based recipes, and pictures of my greyhound and kitties. Read more about me. Thanks for visiting!

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