Welcome to my running blog! I started this blog to help keep me motivated to run during my first pregnancy and focused on getting to my next marathon post baby. Pregnancy #2 came and went - leaving me with a second beautiful girl. Now I'm attempting to maintain my fitness and sanity through pregnancy #3. Enjoy your visit and good luck with your running!
This past Sunday I earned by Super Bowl game chow with the super fun Redondo Beach 10k. Above is me (on the left) chit-chatting with a friend as we make our way through this race.
If you live in the LA area, I highly recommend making it out for this one. You feel like you're at a marathon start line, with all of the energy and crowds that this race musters. Redondo Beach has their act down, too. With probably 10,000 plus participants, we were still able to walk up 30 minutes before the start, casually register, get our chips and shirts and have time for a port-o-potty stop. Talk about easy!
Perhaps the best part of this race, though, is the carbo-reload at the beer garden. Really, it wouldn't be a race without a beer garden. And, to top it off, the Packers won the Super Bowl! (I'm from WI). So, yay!
I have been relaxing and enjoying the holidays the last few weeks, only running once or twice per week and doing some cross training. Now, though, it's time to get back into the swing of things w/ running and what better way to kick it off then a virtual 5k, hosted by the Boring Runner?
DH is out of town so for the run today it was me and baby girl. We aren't exactly in the freezing temperatures here in LA - 58 deg. I figure this worked in favor of the baby, however, who wouldn't be warming up from the run.
With the jogging stroller I'm hardly a speed demon (I'm hardly a speed demon anyway!). We rolled in at 31:30 for the 5k. The best part of the 'race' was the little snoozer I had waiting for me when I arrived home.
DH and I enjoying the first Pasadena Half Marathon
Well, I enjoyed it, he survived it =)
Darn it, they're moving the Pasadena Marathon/Half to fall 2011.
2011 is the 3rd year for the Pasadena Marathon. This event has been great fun for us in the past. With a start/finish line only 1/2 mile from our front door, it just couldn't get any easier! This was the first, and only, half marathon my husband has consented to run with me. Each year we sleep late, have a leisurely breakfast and saunter right up to the start line, moments before the race starts.
Originally, the first year in 2008, this was to be a November marathon. The city geared up; streets were closed, water stations assembled and finish line food spread out. Then, 4 am race morning, the event was canceled on account of poor air quality from local wildfires. Bummer, bummer, bummer. Everyone who had trained and tapered was left in the lurch.
The city rebounded with a make-up date in February 2009. Bonus, a 'spring' (late winter?) marathon! This was wonderful, since the LA area running calendar, like most other places, is jam-packed in the fall. For 2010 Pasadena kept the February date, and it was great: perfect weather and well-run to boot!
The race committee just announced that they're trying to move it back to November for 2011. What a shame! Aside from the fact that the fall is packed, I was looking forward to this Pasadena half as my first 'comeback' race. I had my training plan all laid out to hit that starting line in decent (but not PR) condition.
My back-up option is the Surf City Marathon/Half in Huntington Beach two weeks earlier. I ran, and enjoyed, the full marathon there in 2009. It was a failed BQ attempt - but still a PR. Perhaps I can hustle up and try to 'redeem' myself at the half there this time around.
The least favorite phase of running, for me, has always been base building. Slowly increasing run frequency, building mileage and finally working on pace (carefully obeying the 10% rule) requires more patience then I can typically muster. One thing I hate more then improving slowly, however, is being injured. So, as I complete my pregnancy 'comeback' I'm going to try and take base building seriously.
I have never been great about following training plans. But, since I like the focus they give me and the sense of accomplishment when I meet them, I almost always have one in place. For my base building phase, I plan to 'loosely' follow this plan from marathontraining.com (link):
My Plan
I tweaked their plan a bit. Since none of the 'long' runs are really all that long, I moved them to Tuesdays (from Sundays). I have a much lower chance of skipping a long run if it's not at the end of the week (silly, arbitrary mental block on my part because, after all, what does the calendar day really matter?). I almost always miss at least one planned run. However, I try to make it one of the shorter runs, at least. My cross training will be minor, likely consisting of little more then yoga and walking the dogs =)
Right now, I'm at week 3. I'm going to try and carefully adhere to the 10% rule at least - never increase your weekly mileage or your long run mileage by more then 10% at a time. With 'long' runs starting out so short, the second part of the rule won't really take effect until the end of the base period.
The final challenge for me is observing the step-back weeks, where mileage is decreased to allow for rest and recovery. I'm good at following these during a marathon training cycle, when I really feel worn down, but will likely be skipping these during the build-up. Eh, what can I say? I know I'm impatient =)
Finally, the Turkey Trot portion of today's post:
Run, Walk, Bike, or Trot a 5k while benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (they will receive 100% of the donations!! Visit the website here http://www.dailymile.com/turkey_trot. Then, Tweet, Facebook, or blog that you are participating (easy buttons on the site!) and pick a donation amount. $1, $5, or $10. Everything helps! (donations made securely with paypal)
