Month: June 2017

My summer/fall race plans!

On By shorterandfasterIn Fitness, Running3 Comments

Oh hey long lost friends! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been able to drum up the motivation to write, but I think July is my month to get back on my game in lots of ways–running, training, and blogging. I’ve been easing back into a steady running schedule over the past few weeks, trying to run 3-4 times per week with one longer run and one speed session. This kind of schedule works really well for me when I’m not marathon training, especially because it allows lots of space for yoga and hiking. I’m feeling the itch to kick it up a notch, though, so without further ado… here are my summer/fall race plans!

 

  • VERTS Sasquatch Sprint Trail Race July 8th: This will be my first official trail race and I’m stoked! It’s really just for fun and to have something to get me back into racing mode. J and I are doing this one together, too, which is awesome.
  • Beach to Beacon 10k August 4th: Total bucket list alert right here!! One of my Oiselle friends lucked into a bib for this notoriously hard-to-get-into race and I happened to be able to snap it up from her. It’s an iconic New England race founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson and I’m thrilled to have the chance to run it. Plus, it’ll be my first 10k since 2014 so it’ll be an adventure seeing what I can do at that distance.
  • My wedding Sunday 9/10! Saturday 9/9 we’re holding an easy wedding 5k so I’m counting it on here. Pretty big deal, I’d say 🙂
  • Fall Classic 5k September 18th: I had to throw a 5k into my plans, so this will be a little post-wedding treat (ha). I have raced this course twice, so this will be an effort to PR. I’m hoping that actually training for shorter/speedier stuff will give me a boost in my time. I would love to break 20 minutes in the 5k at some point, so we’ll see how this one goes.
  • Tufts Women’s 10k October 9th: My aforementioned last 10k in 2014 was this race, and it’s still one of my faves! The course is fast and I adore racing against other women.
  • NH Seacoast Half Marathon November 12th: This will be my goal race of the cycle–I’ve got my eyes on the prize for a big half marathon PR. This race checks all my boxes–small, scenic, and not too far away. Plus, this will be J’s first half!

So! There it is–one race a month from now until November. I think it’ll be a nice mix of different distances and big goal races mixed in with “just for fun” races. Given how all over the place this schedule is, I chose to have Coach Laura write me a custom training plan instead of writing one myself. I’m still a little overwhelmed with school (one more course left!!) and wedding planning, so having someone I trust write me a plan made the most sense for me right now. I also have trouble planning out speedwork for myself, so I’m hopeful that having a couple of harder workouts built in every week will help me get ready to push my paces for some big PRs in the shorter distances.

Happy almost fourth, everyone! We’ll be up in Maine through Monday and then back in Boston for the fireworks on Tuesday. Here’s hoping for great weather!!

My bachelorette in NYC, aka the best weekend ever

On By shorterandfasterIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Something that I’m not very good at is accepting help from people without feeling guilty and/or obligated to immediately reciprocate. Being in a healthy and happy relationship for close to five years (crazy!) has helped a ton, but I’m still uber-sensitive about being indebted to friends. So wedding planning has been pushing me in a good way to do two important things–first, to take a deep breath and not be anal about every single detail, and second, to let my wonderful friends and family do nice things for me without feeling guilty.

I have eschewed a lot of the standard wedding stuff simply become it doesn’t resonate with me–I’m requesting no gifts at my shower, I’m skipping the expensive bridesmaid dresses, and I’m wearing something that’s non-traditional and very “me.” But I wanted to have a bachelorette party so that I could spend some quality time with my girlfriends before the wedding weekend–and I had a few requirements:

  • I wanted to go to NYC and go trapeze-ing outside, a long-time dream based only partially on that Sex and the City episode
  • I didn’t want people to have to do things they aren’t into or spend money they don’t want to spend
  • No invasive games, underwear gifting, or penis stuff (just, no.)

Well, my friends blew the thing out of the water and I had the most fantastic time. Other than snuggles and catch-up time with my favorite humans, the highlights included…

Delicious meals! We ate like queens all weekend–my favorite spots we visited were BKW by Brooklyn Winery (get their dry rosé and die happy) and Two Hands Cafe for brunch.

Two thumbs up for Two Hands!

Running! I harangued a few of my friends into going for a jog with me along the river and the High Line. The weather was perfection and I just couldn’t stop smiling the whole time.

 

Theater! I’m a total musical nerd, so we snagged tickets to see Josh Groban in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. It was a really interesting and offbeat show–definitely not your typical cutesy musical–but the singing and staging were fantastic.

Trapeze! We channeled our inner Carrie Bradshaws and 8 of us intrepid adventurers did a flying trapeze class at TSNY. It wasn’t my first time, but it was my first outdoor class and SO much fun to do it with friends. I’m glad we don’t have a place to trapeze in Boston any more because all of my money would be gone. Such a rush!

NOT graceful.

If you ever have a chance to try flying trapeze, it is incredible. It was a perfect cap to a incredible weekend–we even had nice weather smack in the middle of a disgustingly cold and rainy week. On top of everything else, my mom drove down and came with my cousin and her daughter (my junior bridesmaid) to brunch before everyone headed out. I felt so overwhelmed and loved all weekend long, and it made me even more excited for the wedding.

Back to more running-related posts soon, I promise! Linking up with Amanda today 🙂

 

What recovery looks like and final race thoughts

On By shorterandfasterIn Fitness, Running5 Comments
There were also cookies. Lots of cookies.

Well hello there, running friends! I am back at it after a full week off of running and was literally giddy to be running again. Here’s a quick peek at what my last 10 days have looked like:

  • Sunday: 26.2!
  • Monday: Rest
  • Tuesday: Rest
  • Wednesday: Rest
  • Thursday: Rest. And a massage!
  • Friday: Slow yoga with deep relaxation
  • Saturday: Long walk in the park with J
  • Sunday: Rest
  • Monday: 30 minute easy run
  • Tuesday: 40 minute easy run
  • Wednesday: 60 minute vinyasa yoga
  • Thursday: 30 minute run
We went for a WALK, not a run. It was weird.

I’m sure you’re sensing a theme here–lots and lots of rest! This is probably the longest I’ve gone without working out in a couple of years and I know I needed it. Even though I felt fairly good after the race, my knees are still not back to 100%, likely due to the accumulated stress from all the downhill pounding. I’m a little bit mad at myself for not taking the active parts of recovery more seriously, but when my first jog back didn’t feel great I jumped back into icing and foam rolling twice a day, which has helped a ton. J and I went out for 40 minutes on Tuesday and once we got warmed up, I felt great and couldn’t stop smiling because I was so dang happy to be back at it.

I’M BACK.

I haven’t fully formulated my comeback strategy, but we’re toying around with the idea of running the Shipyard Old Port Half in July in Portland, ME. I had a great race there last year and I think it would be such a fun course for J’s first half. Now that he has been fully indoctrinated, we’re looking at potentially doing a race in New Zealand when we go there for our honeymoon next February/March–how cool would that be?? Any tips, anyone?

Anywho, after Chicago I graded myself on how I did in terms of my race goals and I thought it would be fun to revisit my “what I would do differently” post and do the same for this race. Here are the goals I set for myself:

  • Run a small race: A! Sugarloaf had 1600 total runners. Can’t get much smaller than that.
  • Focus on race strategy and nutrition: A! I didn’t want to share it beforehand for purely superstitious reasons, but I did have a very specific race plan that I worked on with Coach Laura. And I wrote it out in color because I am a nerd.
  • Consider investing in coaching: A! ICYMI, more on my coaching thoughts here.
  • Raise the mileage, not just the number of running days: A! My mileage this training cycle peaked at 56 miles/week, whereas my Chicago training peeked around 44 miles/week. Adding those additional miles (all EASY and slow) I think really helped me to learn to run on tired legs.

    More rose and champagne, please!

So what else? Well, life is pretty darn exciting these days. This weekend I’m heading to NYC for my bachelorette party with all of my favorite people. Next weekend I’m going to a Oiselle women’s running camp in New Hampshire. I’m less than two months away from finishing up my MBA and in 101 days I get to marry my best friend in my favorite place in the world. So–running is going to be around, with lots of other stuff, and I just can’t wait.