Monday, October 29, 2018

Weekly review

Well, most of last week ended up being a rest week!  And I'm ok with that.  I was exhausted most of the week so I decided to listen to my body.  Given that it was the week right after my first race in months, I figured my body probably needed the extra rest before I get back to training.

But here are some photos of things that happened through the week.

 
Saw this young buck in a neighbor's yard

 
Got Perry into his Daredevil cape for Halloween.  It had gotten catnip on it so he had to rub it all over his face first.

Spent 2 hours at the dentist's office - Perry's trying to make my swollen face feel better :)


 
Tried out a new Ramen place by us, the vegan ramen was amazing, as was the caramelized cauliflower!

 And I did get back to working out on the weekend.

Saturday - 2 miles on the treadmill plus body pump


Sunday - I was totally sore from body pump.  I went out for an easy 6 miles in the morning, but was having some pain in my achilles at the beginning.  I thought I might have to cut the run short but it went away some time in mile 3 so I kept going.


So that was last week.  This week is back to training. Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Speed work
Wednesday - Body Pump
Thursday - .3 miles
Friday - 3 miles + yoga
Saturday - 5 miles
Sunday - 8 miles

I'm linking up with with HoHoRuns and Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.

 

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon - Race Review

Last Saturday, I ran the Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon.  I loved how many options they had as far as distances, 5k, half marathon, full marathon, and a 4 person marathon relay.  There was also a challenge for doing the 5k and half.  But let's start back at the beginning!

Pre-race communication was really good.  I felt like I was provided a lot of information and it was all pretty clear.

The expo was at the Baltimore convention center.  It seemed like a mid size expo.  It was big enough that you could pick up things you needed (I had forgotten my chews and nuun) but it wasn't overwhelming.  There were only a couple people in line in front of us when we had to pick up our bibs and no one in front of us when we picked up our shirts.  I loved the shirt color!  I think we made it in and out of the expo in 20 minutes.  There was no race day packet pick up.


Then it was race day!  The half marathon actually didn't start until 9:45 so definitely later than most races.  We took advantage of that to have a leisurely morning getting ready for the race.  We were also staying at a hotel that was only 2 blocks from the start line so we left at 9am and walked over.  We were in time to see the lead marathoners go by and it was cool to cheer them on!  The corrals were marked pretty clearly but no one was policing them.  This race has a really generous time limit so we went and lined up in our spot in the second to last corral.

And they had free race photos!

Ok, the race itself.  I'm sure if you've heard anyone talk about this race, you've heard them talk about the hills.  That's the big thing that sticks out.  You can see the elevation chart below.


I train on hills, I thought I was prepared, and it still kicked my butt.  It was almost 600 feet of elevation gain and most of it was in the first 9 miles.  My plan was to try to take it easy enough in the first 9 miles so that I'd have gas left in the tank to pick it up in the last 4 miles when it was mostly downhill.  That didn't happen.


But other than the hills, it was a great race.  It was really well organized, great volunteers, good crown support.  The marathon course joined back up with the half marathon course around our mile 3 so while it never felt too congested to me, it never felt lonely either.  There were plenty of people around.  And the people of Baltimore really came out to support the race.  There were lots of people cheering, cute kids and dogs, funny signs, cool street art, and extra race support.  I had a mimosa, a beer and a donut hole along the course and there were even more things I didn't take advantage of.  The crowd support was a bit sparser from mile 8 to 12 and it seemed like a more industrial area of the city, so that made the race even harder at that point.

Crowd support out in their carneval gear!

I didn't really have a time goal for this race since I knew about the hills but it was still much slower than I expected.  My legs were just super fatigued at the end and I felt like I could barely lift my legs.  I ended up having to walk any bit of uphill after mile 10.


 The post-race experience was great!  It finished at the waterfront and it was a beautiful October afternoon.  There was music, food, and fun.  They had a merchandise tent, free beer for runners, and changing tents.  And an amazing medal!


So that's my race experience.  I really enjoyed it until around mile 8 or so but then I really faded after that.  And while I thought the race was great for the most part, the hills just made it tough and I'm not sure I would do this race again.

The struggle is visible on my face at the finish line!

Pros:  great start and finish line by the water, great pre-race communication, late morning start and generous time limit, lots of crowd support, well organized, cool medal!

Cons:  The hills are the only con I have for this race.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Baltimore Running Festival Training Week 10

What a whirlwind week!  It was race week and I was also in Seattle for business travel for most of the week.  But it ended up being a fun week overall as well so I certainly can't complain :)  Here are the details for last week.

Monday - 3 miles on the treadmill after work


Tuesday - 2 miles before work (I started my watch late but the route I took is 2 miles)


Also flew to Seattle and there were some beautiful views on the flight!


I also got to Seattle in time to take an evening walk to Pike's Place Market and see the sun set over the water.


Wednesday - Warm up on the elliptical plus weights at the hotel gym during an afternoon break

Thursday - 1.5 mile shake out run in Seattle

 

Views during the run


Also a scenic dinner at the Chihuly Gardens and Museum


Friday - Rest day and expo!

Saturday - Baltimore Running Festival half marathon - full recap later this week but it was a tough one with some killer hills.


Sunday - post race recovery included walking around the renaissance fair plus lots of stretching and foam rolling in the evening.


So that was last week.  This week is thankfully more standard with just one evening where I have a work dinner. Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - strength training
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - 3 miles in the morning
Thursday - .5 warm up, 3 miles at half marathon pace, .5 mile cool down
Friday - strength training
Saturday - 4 miles
Sunday - 6 miles

I'm linking up with with HoHoRuns and Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.


 

Monday, October 15, 2018

Baltimore Running Festival Training Week 9

Last week was a super busy week!  We had a work conference for a couple days and that I also had a presentation I had to give toward the end of the week.  Plus some fun stuff with friends too :)  Thankfully I was able to get in 3 runs and two strength training sessions.  Here are the details.

Monday - Body pump video at home

Tuesday - Planned rest day - this was the start of our work conference so early meetings and dinner meetings made it a good day for a rest day.  I did get in a lot of walking as we were showing the attendees around some of the attractions downtown.


Wednesday - 3 easy miles after work


Thursday - Unplanned rest day.  I had meant to get in a run but I was exhausted after all the work stuff so I had a nap instead :)  Then I met up with an old friend I hadn't seen in a while for dinner at a vegan restaurant by her house.

Pumpkin pasta, filo roll stuffed with roasted veggies, and a peanut butter "cheesecake"

Friday - Jillian Michael's 30 day shred video at home

Saturday - 4 mile run, with 3 miles at half marathon pace.  We also saw a Star is Born in the evening.  I really enjoyed the movie.  I hadn't seen the original so I wasn't quite prepared for how sad it was though.  The soundtrack is great!


Sunday - 5 easy miles with a friend


Plus a childhood friend was visiting DC with her family so we met up with them for dinner at a sushi place (with lots of vegan options) in the city.  It was great being able to catch up and get to know her kids a bit.


So that was last week.  This week's going to be a bit crazy too as I have a work trip to Seattle.  Plus, it's race week!  Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - 3 easy miles on the treadmill after work
Tuesday - 2 easy miles in the morning and traveling to Seattle in the afternoon
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - 1.25 miles plus strength training
Friday - flying to Baltimore plus the expo
Saturday - Baltimore Running Festival half marathon!
Sunday - Recovery walking around the Renaissance Fair

I'm linking up with with HoHoRuns and Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.


 

Monday, October 8, 2018

Baltimore Running Festival Training Week 8

I hope everyone's doing well!  I had a pretty relaxing weekend, which is good because I've got a couple busy work weeks coming up with evening meetings and conferences and such.  But let's go over last week first.  I'm happy that I got in all my runs but only one strength training session instead of two sadly.  Here are the details.

Monday - Planned rest day

Tuesday - 4 mile easy run after work


Wednesday - 10 minute warm up on the elliptical plus body pump


Thursday - Speed work on the treadmill, .5 mile warm up, 3 miles at half marathon pace, and .5 mile cool down.  I accidentally stopped the treadmill at one point so don't have a photo of the whole time.  I had about a mile and 15 minutes that isn't showing on this photo.


Friday - Unplanned rest day

Saturday - 6 miles


Sunday - 10 miles for my long run.  This is the first time I'm back in double digits since the marathon in January!  I definitely struggled compared to last week's 9 miles but I noticed it was about 10 degrees warmer and had more uphill.


So that was my week.  Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - Strength training
Tuesday - Rest day (meetings all day and into the evening at work)
Wednesday - 3 easy miles
Thursday - Evening speed work (.5 mile warm up, 3 miles at hm pace, .5 mile cool down)
Friday - Body Pump
Saturday - 4 miles
Sunday - 5 miles

I'm linking up with with HoHoRuns and Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.


 

Monday, October 1, 2018

Baltimore Running Festival Training Week 7

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I had a busy but fun week last week and got in all of my runs plus one body pump session.  Here are the details of my week.

Monday - Planned rest day

Tuesday - 10 minute warm up on the elliptical plus body pump


Wednesday - 3 easy miles in the morning plus seeing the Welcome to Night Vale live show for our anniversary. 


Thursday - .5 mile warm up, 2.5 miles at half marathon pace, .5 mile cool down.  I don't know what was going on but I was so slow today!  The heat and humidity was down but that didn't show in my pace.  And I definitely didn't hit my half marathon pace.


Friday - unplanned rest day.  I had planned to do strength training in the evening but instead I found ants in our pantry!  So we spent the evening cleaning out the pantry and killing ants.  Not fun.  But hopefully they'll stay away now.

I did get in a 40 minute walk since it was such a nice day, and found this interesting bush full of berries - don't worry, I didn't eat any!

Saturday - 6 easy miles in the morning.  My pace was up after Thursday's slow run but you can see that my heart rate was too.  This is what I would want my easy pace to be in this weather but it doesn't seem like my heart rate agreed.


We also went out to a phenomenal dinner in the evening for more anniversary celebrations.  It was one of those restaurants (Rose's Luxury) that I'd been wanting to try for a while but never had the time since they don't take reservations and there's often a line.  We only had to wait in line for 30 minutes or so and the food was so delicious!


We had a seat at the chef's counter, which was pretty interesting!

Sunday - 9 miles (2 mile warm up, 6 miles at half marathon pace, and 1 mile cool down).  I was worried about this run but I met up with a friend and it went pretty well!  The downhill splits hit half marathon pace or a little below and the uphill paces were higher than half marathon pace but that's to be expected.  And we had fun while doing it :)


Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 4 easy miles in the morning
Wednesday - Body Pump
Thursday - Evening speed work (.5 mile warm up, 3 miles at hm pace, .5 mile cool down)
Friday - Strength training
Saturday - 6 miles
Sunday - 10 miles

I'm linking up with with HoHoRuns and Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.