Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Twenty Mile Bike Ride

Protein Pancakes with blueberries with a peanut butter yogurt topping
I started out this past Sunday making protein pancakes with Evan. We added some frozen blueberries to them and mixed up some peanut butter powder with yogurt to top them off. They were a little bit too dry but overall a pretty satisfying breakfast!

Woo! Stats!
Afterwards I set out on a twenty mile bike ride. I chose to follow a route I had attempted to run back when I was training for NJ. I wasn't feeling the run that day though and ended up stopping at mile 17 and catching a ride back to my house. I decided to ride it in reverse so that I would have more right turns and wouldn't have to cross as many roads.

My favorite

There are little creatures in there
At first I took the ride pretty seriously, trying to go fast... then I realized what a gorgeous day it was and I started just enjoying it. I even stopped a few times for pictures. The route took me past some farms and lots of wooded areas. I love that I can ride five minutes away from my house and be out on beautiful country roads.

While riding I focused on smooth shifting and I am definitely improving, especially on hills. I now no longer dread going up pretty steep ones. I may go REALLY slow but I at least know that I will make it... eventually. I am still having some issues when I was try to downshift major gears (or whatever they are called). Often when I went from 3 to 2 it would get messed up and I'd have to downshift into 1 to fix it...which then meant that I prematurely downshifted and was stuck practically crawling up the hill.

Overall, the ride was great. My legs definitely got a workout but I wasn't overly tired or sore. Now that I've adjusted my bike seat and handles my ride is much more comfortable. I like that I can see little improvements every time I head out on the bike. The one thing I am learning is that I need to get clipless pedals. The standard pedals I have now are pretty inefficient.



 When I got home I ended up gardening for a little while and then Evan and I went out to pick up ingredients for dinner. We had grilled shrimp marinated in a cilantro garlic mixture and haddock that was grilled on a cedar plank. It was very good. I am more and more surprised by Mr. Dudzik every day. Eating fish? Whoa!

This was definitely a perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday.

Monday, May 11, 2015

The Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon Recap, Part II

RACE DAY!

Despite that stupid wedding party's best efforts, I woke up ten minutes before my alarm went off and felt good! Because I laid everything out the night before it took no time at all to get ready. I tried to eat my english muffin but without it being toasted it was pretty nasty. I ate half before declaring defeat.

Melissa and Aubrey dropped me off near the start so I didn't have to worry about parking. That was great because at go time there were so many people still trying to park that the start was delayed 10 minutes! I made a quick pit stop and headed to my corral. Everything was really well organized and relaxed (at least for me)!

11,000 Runners
There were 11,000 runners there that morning, only 2000 ran the full marathon. This was a huge race compared to my first marathon (the Adirondack Distance Festival).

I can see the start!
I loved the start of this race. Since it is at the Monmouth Race Track they made the "Call to Post" for each wave and sent us off with "First Call" being played on the bugle by Monmouth's recently retired bugler. It didn't take long to get to the start even though there were so many runners and I was in the second to last corral (I really need to get faster!).



Miles 1-5:

I focused on starting out slow, conserving energy, and fueling properly. I didn't intend to go out with a pace group but I thought I could start with the 4:40 group and then speed up at the end to hit my goal time. (Spoiler alert: That didn't happen.)

The first few miles were lots of fairly quick turns and that early in the race it was really crowded. I had to work pretty hard to just keep up with the 4:40 group. I didn't talk but I listened to the conversations from the pacers, they were pretty amusing. The pace felt good though and I was happy. One snag I hit was that quite early on I had to stop because my shoe came untied. That never happens! Spring was starting to really show in New Jersey so I was pretty distracted by looking at all the flowers. The weather was perfect for this race: bright, sunny... it was little on the hot side but we had a light, very cool breeze most of the time so I never felt over heated. 

How DARE they?!
Miles 6-10:

This part was when I kept thinking.... where's the ocean? I guess I sorta knew what the course route looked like but I thought we reached ocean views a lot faster. For most of these miles we were looping through neighborhoods. They were pretty neighborhoods though! I loved going over the little bridges in this stretch. I was a little worried about such a flat course, a lot of people don't like them, but I thought it was FABULOUS! I love my New Hampshire hills but I'll take flat, flat coastline any day!

Around mile 9 we entered a very depressed area with tons of boarded up shops (same place where I am running through all the cups). I don't know if it was an area that just never recovered after Sandy or if it was always like that but it was definitely very sad to run through.

I got to see Aubrey and Melissa for the first time at the mile 9 water stop! Yay! I had been watching for them very carefully and didn't want to miss saying hi. My grandma was excitedly following my progress from home and when Aubrey posted this picture on Instagram, she was outraged that the town would leave all those cups there before the race for the runners to trip on! My dad had to explain that it was not the town, but the RUNNERS who had dropped all the cups. I love my GMa!

Miles 11-15:

Shortly after mile 10 I needed to make a pit stop. I pretty much needed to go right from the start but I kept putting it off. I thought the line at mile 11 looked OK so I pulled away from the 4:40 group. I was wrong. That stop cost me 7-8 minutes, most of that time was spent in line. Once I got back on the road I knew I was not going to be able to catch back up to the 4:40 group. This kinda upset me and caused me to lose concentration for quite a few miles.

So focused...
It was half way between miles 11 and 12 that we lost the half marathoners. SO many split off for the half, the rest of us ended up being quiet spread out. It was also at mile 12 that we ran around Lake Takanassee. I wouldn't exactly call it a lake... but they do. At this point I was able to see that the 4:40-er's were already half way around the lake when I had just started. Farewell pace group!

Miles 16-20:

It was really miles 15-17 that I really struggled. I was feeling hot and a little out of breath so I was taking lots of walking breaks. At this point I kept thinking... where's the friggin' turn around? I guess I really didn't know the route. I really didn't realize how many little detours around lakes there were and how far it was to the turn around.

Miles 18 through 20 were pretty cool. You went around another little lake and down a few small side streets to a pavilion for the turn around! Woo! On my way back (finally) I ran by a man who had one running prosthetic leg. He looked like he was in some pain but I think he is amazing for running a marathon with one. I couldn't even imagine what that must be like.

I got a little boost from being on the way back and I ended catching up with a guy named Hector. He was going a nice, steady pace. Something I could handle. I told him this and asked if he would mind if I ran with him. We didn't talk much, just kept running and occasionally checking in with each other, he'd ask if I was still there and I'd respond. We ran together for a couple of miles and it REALLY helped me get my rhythm back. I am incredibly grateful for meeting up with him. I probably would have walked a lot more otherwise. I was pretty bummed but somehow the race photographers didn't get a single picture of us running together.

Part of the race was on an actual boardwalk and while that sounds cool, I did not enjoy it. The boards were uneven and my left foot was not feeling great. Around mile twenty we actually followed the board walk through the Asbury Park Casino. It was pretty neat and was also the most shade we got for the entire run.

Miles 21-25:
I doused myself with water. That isn't sweat!
These miles were as close to the shore as we could get. It was hot but we were still getting a fairly cool breeze from the ocean and it was nothing we had to fight against. This road also had some of the biggest mansions I've ever seen so I was able to distract myself fairly well by picking out my favorites.

I was still running with Hector when the 5:10 group caught up with us. I told Hector I couldn't let them pass me and that I would see him at the finish. I kept up with the 5:10 group until I saw Aubrey and Melissa and then fell back a little bit to run with them. It was really nice to see them again. After about a quarter mile I told them I was going to get back to the 5:10-ers and they said they would see me at the finish!

I caught back up to the group easily enough and actually started pulling ahead. I ended up speeding up quite a bit in the last 3ish miles. I constantly thought you can do anything for three miles... you can do anything for two and a half miles, etc. It worked. I went from a 12 mile pace down to an 8:54 at the finish.

At this point in the race we were all tired but thanks to my little boost I was able to pass quite a few people here! Each person I passed gave me more determination to go for the next. This might have been my favorite part of the race. 

Am I Running or Dancing?

The Last Stretch:

As I was coming up to the finish line a photographer was waving me over frantically pointing at Aubrey and Melissa. I ran over and was able to high five both Aubrey and Melissa (with the photographer practically in my face).

Mutant. Arm.
Unfortunately my little detour allowed the girl I had passed a minute or two before to catch up and pass me! I all out sprinted (and grew mutant arms) to catch up with her and was just a step behind her when we ran through the finish. I looked it up and I ended up having the better time by just 6/10 of a second. So close!

And she's across the line!

Upright and smiling!
I found the girl that raced me to the finish and told her that was a great push at the end and then I went to collect my medal and water. I headed out of the finishing chute, found Aubrey and Melissa and promptly plopped down on the grass. I was done.

I think that this was a GREAT race. I bought all of my race photos because (as you can see) I was smiling in every single picture. I may have missed my target time by a half hour but I don't think I could have done any better. I had an absolutely wonderful time and I was ridiculously happy. The race was very well organized, staffed, and supplied. The volunteers were amazing. I could go on and on.

Would I run this marathon again? DEFINITELY! I am probably not signing up next year only because I have too many other races to tackle.

Would I recommend this race to a friend? Already have!

Now that I have done two marathons I feel like I can claim the title of "Marathoner". For some reason I wouldn't call myself a marathoner with only one race under my belt. It didn't feel right... but now that's not a problem!

Digging in!
After the race my sister and I said goodbye to Melissa and I helped navigate back home. We drove up to the Tappan Zee Bridge instead of going through the NYC again, thank goodness. Even though I was definitely hurting I was able to stay awake for the drive home and I was fairly mobile. I spent the night in CT and had a wonderful dinner with my family. By Monday I was probably 80% recovered! I don't know if it is that I am getting used to running long distances or perhaps it is the 1st Endurance Ultragen recovery drink that I take after... but I felt pretty awesome after the race.

I also wanted to say that I could not have had such an amazing time if it was for my Curb Crew Aubrey and Melissa!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Change

Quick post.

Since I have never made a single post related to knitting I think that this blog needed a change.

I have switched to fitwhit.net. I love running, swimming, biking, and the husband and I have been getting into health eating so I think it is FITting. Har Har!

Updates to my page will be in the works. I'm just lazy so I expect the logo thing to stay knitwhit for a while.

Also, I cannot take credit for this idea. I said knitwhit.net and a friend misheard it as fitwhit and thought that was cool.

Ok, back to drinking wine and making dinner. (Tonight is not a healthy night!)

The Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon Recap, Part I

I did it!
Results: 5:07:32
Place: 1649/1918
Division Place: 126/140
Pace: 11:24

I did it! Marathon number two is complete!

Once again I am going to break this trip up into two posts. One for the days leading up to the marathon and one for the race itself. I have much to say (and many, MANY pictures) about the trip down, it was hilarious and awesome. If you don't care about the pre-race festivities you stink feel free to move onto Part II.

No dogs were strangled while capturing this picture!
I left work early on Thursday and drove down to CT to break up the trip a little. My WONDERFUL parents agreed to watch the dogs while my sister and I were in New Jersey. This not only took a load off my mind, but probably saved me $300+ in boarding fees! The dogs had a GREAT time and were spoiled nonstop. They got a 4 mile walk on Friday and were outside all day Saturday and Sunday. My parents loved them and my dad actually bonded a bit with my little Isis. She followed him everywhere and when he sat down she was instantly in his lap. :) She is the sweetest little pit pup I've ever met!

On Friday my amazing sister, Aubrey, offered to drive us down to NJ. We left around at noon, thinking that we'd be able to stop for lunch and get to the inn in about 4.5 hours and be able to hit up the expo that night. Well, the GPS had other plans. We should have noticed right away that she was taking us down 95S the whole way. I wasn't super familiar with that area so I figured we'd cut across and take the Tappan Zee at some point. After a few failed attempts we stopped for lunch in Bridgeport (much to my sisters dismay) at a little diner. Despite the fairly sketchy neighborhood that diner was pretty nice. It was the cleanest diner I have ever set foot in. I had a grilled cheese and Aubrey had a BLT.

Get your free Municipal WASTE sample!
Once we got back on the road we started getting more worried about the route. We ended up taking the the Cross Bronx Express to the George Washington Bridge. What a TERRIBLE idea. We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for probably an hour and a half. Most of the time we were completely boxed in by semis, we did have a fun time trying to figure out what those free samples were... I just googled it... it's municipal waste. Ew!! Moving on... we finally got through the city and over the bridge, but unfortunately it was almost 7PM and the expo was closing. We decided to postpone going to the expo until the next morning and headed to the Molly Pitcher Inn.

Delicious pot stickers
We dropped all of our stuff in our TINY hotel room and grabbed a cab to have dinner at The Bistro at Red Bank. It was a very cute restaurant. We didn't realize it prior to being seated but they only sold wine by the bottle from a specific NJ vineyard (Alba) or allowed you to BYOB. We split a bottle of piiiiinooooooooot nooooiiiiiirrrrr, which was delicious! I had Kobe Beef Pot Stickers and a pear gorgonzola salad. Not gonna lie, I spent the whole night looking at New Jerseyans like they were an alien species. They really are not. They are normal people. I didn't see a single orange spray tan! Before heading back to the inn we decided to go next door and grab a beer at Robinson's Ale House. I had the house ale which was Flying Fish Ale - brewed in Somerdale, NJ. (Lot's of ale's in that last sentence.)


Saturday morning we slept in a little bit and had breakfast at the inn. It was a buffet and I had an omelet (with everything they had!), bacon, a tiny waffle, a muffin, and fruit. It was a good way to start the morning. We got ready and headed to the expo to get my bib.


The expo was at the start of the race at the Monmouth Park Race Track. On the way in to park they made you drive by the long line of port-a-potties. They went on forever! I was taking a picture as one guy walked around the car to go into a port-a-potty. I just said "oh! hello" and then laughed like a lunatic. Then I took that video.

Gettin' taped
After we got my bib and shirt (there is a picture of the shirt at the very top of this post) we walked around and looked at the merchandise. I didn't end up buying anything for myself but Aubrey got a hat to wear at the race the next day and we bought my mom some pain relief cream made with all natural ingredients. The last thing I wanted to do was to see if there was someone who could apply KT Tape for me. I've never used it before but I figured it couldn't hurt and my foot could use all the help I could give it. I'll write more about the KT Tape in the actual race report but overall I don't think it did anything except make me look funny at dinner that night.

So happy!
Love the crest!

After the expo we went back to the inn and waited for Melissa to arrive. Once she got to our room we headed back out and walked to downtown Red Bank for lunch at Robinson's Ale House. I had grilled cheese (again) and tomato bisque. I also tried another Flying Fish beer - the IPA. It was really good! I behaved and only had one beer with lunch and followed it with a ton of water. I drank a LOT of water this weekend. We walked around Red Bank a little and shopped. Stopped in at a puppy store and fell in love with a tiny little French Bulldog. I would have brought him home if I could have (Evan would have killed me).

Everything's ready to go!
When we got back to the Inn the first thing I wanted to do was lay out all of my gear so I wouldn't have to scramble around the next morning. This was a lot of fun. I had all of my gear, my watch was charging, and I had breakfast (english muffin and almond butter) on the nightstand next to the bed. It made getting ready the next morning pretty easy.

It matches my dress!
Next up on the itinerary was to get dressed up to drive to Montclair, NJ to meet my Uncle Jonathan and his wife Leslie for dinner. Thank goodness my KT Tape matched my dress! On the way we stopped at Target for some athletic tape, english muffins, and a sleeping bag. The room at the inn was so tiny that it was against fire code to bring in a cot so poor Melissa had to sleep on the floor!


We drove to UJ and Leslie's house for prosecco and hors d'oeuvres and had a nice tour of the house. It's a beautiful house in a pretty private neighborhood. We also got to see their dog Hunter (I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him!). He is the sweetest lab I've ever met.



We went out to my uncles country club for dinner. It was a beautiful night and the food was excellent. I had fish tacos as an appetizer and beer-braised chicken with pierogies and onions for a entree. (I ate a LOT of food.)  Aubrey, Melissa, and I followed that up with cookies and milk for dessert. I was a good girl and only had one glass of cab with dinner. :P We had a really nice time out with my uncle and Leslie. They were very sweet to meet up with us while I was down there.


On our way back to the inn we took a little detour to visit the 9/11 memorial that looks out at New York City. The picture doesn't do it justice. You could see the new World Trade Center. That is quite an impressive building.

We arrived back at the inn around 11 and the only thing left to note is that there was a wedding going on that night and people were up VERY late smoking and talking loudly right outside our window. It woke us all up and my sister had to call down to the front to get them to quiet down. Then the party continued to talk loudly in the halls and slam doors all night. Not cool!

Next up: RACE DAY!

* Credit for almost all of these pictures goes to my sister, Aubrey! I am glad she was taking pictures otherwise this would be a pretty boring post!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Run for the Border Half Marathon Recap



This past Sunday I woke up at 6AM to head to the beautiful (and cold) New Hampshire coastline for the Run for the Border Half Marathon. I had a small cup of coffee and left to meet up with two friends, Erin and Lauren, in Salem. Once there Erin, who got me to sign up for this race, brought muffins so I gladly accepted one.

This race start (and finish) was a little odd. Since the half marathon is part of a 20 mile point to point race (the Eastern States 20 Miler) we had to park in Hampton, near the casino and take a bus to the starting point for the half. We got to the casino around 8:45, hopped in line for the bathrooms (thinking the bathrooms would be mobbed at the start - not the case), and had no trouble getting onto the bus.

So Bright!

The half marathon start was in a little parking lot in Rye. It was quite chilly but the view more than made up for the temp. It was absolutely gorgeous out. Clear blue sky, sun sparkling on the ocean, nice waves... there were even a few surfers out on the water. I think that's crazy. I'd  much rather run 13.1 miles that get in that ice cold water. Eeee! Anyway, we walked around a bit because we had a while to wait before the 11:00 start time.

This is where things started to get sketchy. We all gathered in the parking lot where we sort of assumed the start would be - there were no markers or anything - and then we were told that the start was actually up the road a ways. We all trekked over and just stood in the middle of the road blocking traffic and everything and we were told once again that it was FARTHER back up the road. We all stepped back yet again and then there was no song, no announcement, no nothing and then we were off!
Not bad for a picture on the run!

The best parts of this race for me were running with friends and the insanely beautiful scenery. I've never run a distance race with people before so it was awesome to have company... However I do think I talked to much and that took a toll on me in the later miles. Then there was the scenery! Ocean on the left and biiiig beautiful houses to drool over on the right. Another really fun part of the race (in my opinion anyway) is that the other friend we ran with, Lauren, has a house in Hampton so she was very familiar with the area. I kept asking her what beach we were running by and how many beaches we had left. I thought that was a fun way to keep track of our progress.

Although I had my GPS watch with me I didn't really pay attention to pace. I was doing this as a training run and mainly just wanted to have fun with Erin and Lauren. In the first few miles they had us cross the road a couple of times... not for any reason that I could see. Usually we'd just see people ahead of us running across the road so we figured we should too but otherwise there were no cops or markers at that point telling us what to do. This was a bit dangerous because the road was completely open to traffic. Luckily after a few miles there was a guy who told us to cross one more time and that that was the last time we'd have to switch sides of the road.

The first 8 miles really flew by. We were all talking and picking out people that we wanted to pass so that is all a blur. There were barely any hills but I felt like the whole thing was slightly up hill, which I am sure is not true. Mile 8 was memorable because that is when the lead male in the 20 miler passed us. Mile 8. Yikes. From that point we got to cheer on the lead runners for the 20 miler which was fun and would give me a little boost every time. I was running in my Team T-Rex shirt and one of the guys that ran by actually said that was the coolest shirt he's ever seen! Haha, thanks T-Rex Runner!

I think it was around mile 11 when I started not feeling well. We were running up this fairly small bridge and I just wanted to slow down. I told Lauren and Erin to go ahead and from that point on I just went at my own pace. I realized that I had only eaten 2 Shot Bloks around mile 4 and then I had stopped fueling. I really don't think that should have caused me to slow down on a 13 mile run though. No excuses, I really just wussed out for some reason.

Miles 11-13.1 consisted of me running and walking when I felt like it. But if I walked it would be for 5-10 seconds tops. Even with my major slow down at the end I was only passed by one other half marathoner and I ended up catching up to her again before the finish.

Yay! We finished!


The finish line was much like the start. It was disorganized again. This race was not chip timed so when I got through the finish chute they wrote down my bib number but then asked for the little tag thing that is attached to the bib. I had pulled that off because they didn't say anywhere that they would need that so she ripped my whole bib off. As usual I forgot to stop my watch at the finish so my data at the end suuuucks. I forgot about it for a couple of minutes. Yeesh.

The after party was held in the Ashworth by the Sea. As we walked in there was a little girl selling girl scout cookies. I told her she was an evil genius and bought a box of Samoas. At that point there were not a lot of people at the award ceremony/after party so there was plenty of food for us. I got a small bowl of soup and a slice of pizza. It was delicious and I would have gone back for more but we were going out to lunch at Redhook! I talked to someone who finished the 20 miler and she said by that time they had run out of water at the finish and the after party had very little food. Seeing as the 20 miler is the main event you would have thought they would have prepared a little better and saved food and water just for the 20 milers. Imagine getting to the finish and finding that after 20 miles there was nothing left. I would have been pretty upset.

E, L, and I drove up to Redhook and got a table in the sun and ordered lots of food and drinks. It was delicious and really hit the spot. I of course forgot to take pictures at that point... not so good at this blogging thing... but I got a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon jam and tomatoes and I had a small glass of the IPA and a serious brown ale. I ended up heading home around 4:30 or so I think and after a shower Evan and I decided to go out for dinner. We went to Georgio's where I once again ate and drank too much. (Fettuccine Alfredo  and a Corpse Reviver II.)

Now that I have had a while to think about this race I don't really know if I would recommend it. If I think about the race details - the late and disorganized start, the confusion on the course, etc. I'd say no. It was poorly done. However, the views did go a long way to make up for it. I'd run that route again... but probably skip the race.

Even though the race itself was not the greatest I still had a good, fun run. Running with friends is awesome. This was Erin's first half marathon in about six years and Lauren's first ever! Congrats to both of you!

Results: 2:19:38
Place: 254
Division Place: 75
Pace: 10:40

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Why Does Everything Hurt?

Oh yea, because I ran 20 miles yesterday.

Duh.

My training plan had the goal pace at 10:15. I decided to just go out slow and run at a pace that was comfortable for me since I wanted to make sure I didn't have to take any walk breaks. I ended up doing it at an average pace of 10:49. Even though this was 30 seconds off my target pace I am extremely happy with the run. I didn't have to walk at all (not even up hills!) and I felt really good (mostly) for the entire run.


Here's a look at the elevation/pace. The few little blips in my speed were to get rocks out from between the lugs in my Newtons and to check directions at one point so I didn't get lost. Otherwise I kept up a pretty constant pace, I even (barely) managed negative splits! Out of all those hills the one I was most worried about was that tiny one right at the end. Don't let it fool you. It may look like a tiny little thing but it is a steep, cruel, soul crushing hill. Coming up at the end of my runs I always dread it and usually end up walking it. BUT NOT THIS TIME! I pretty much just repeated NO NO NO NO NO the entire way up it.

This run I just focused on not walking and taking in water and fuel every mile. Gotta get used to eating on the run. I am finding that Shot Bloks are my fuel of choice. For this run I brought a pack of Bloks and some Sports Beans. At mile 4 and every mile after I took one Shot Blok. Once I ran out of those I switched to Beans.

I am still really concerned about the Newtons. I don't think they are going to work out. I get about 4 miles into a run and I get a pretty bad pain in my left foot that I can't ignore. Running another 16 miles with that pain is not fun. By the end of it I was tempted to take my shoes off to finish the last mile.

Overall this run made me feel quite confident that I can run my goal time of 4:30 in the New Jersey Marathon!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Training

My training at a glance for last week was:

Monday: Off! I don't do ANYTHING on Mondays after work!
Tuesday: 4x1200's at an 8 minute pace
Wednesday: 45 minutes on the bike with some tempo work thrown in there
Thursday: Off (laaazy)
Friday: 10 mile run at marathon pace (9:45)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 12 mile run

My biggest issue right now is that I keep skipping out on my swimming and rowing. I don't really like rowing so I am fine with dropping that but I like swimming I just hate going to the gym. It really only makes sense for me to go in the morning before work (otherwise it's far too crowded) but I don't like getting up before 5AM. The pool schedule is also pretty bad because they have the swim team in there Monday's and Wednesday's first thing so that doesn't leave many days for me.

The 10 mile run was HARD. I pushed myself though and ran up some rough hills.


My shoes are still hurting my feet on long runs and now I have a noticeable bit of pain in my left shin, close to my ankle. Starting to get concerned that the Newtons are not the shoes for me...

Friday, March 13, 2015

New Shoes...

After countless miles with my New Balance Minimus Zeroes I have finally decided to try some new shoes.

The Old Shoes


I have been running in these super minimalist shoes (above) for a long time now. I switched to them from Vibram Five Fingers because I wanted the minimal sole but truthfully I didn't like the look of the toes. They were just too weird for me.

So I got the Minimus Zeroes and loved them even when they did not love me. Through pain feedback they taught me to be a better runner. I figured if I was feeling any discomfort in these shoes it was no ones fault but my own so I  kept tweaking my form and upping my cadence until the pain went away. I trained and ran my first marathon in those shoes. I am pretty proud of myself for doing that. When I told a guy at the running store that he said I must be a really efficient runner. :D

Now, however, it is time to move on to something new. Since I have been training for marathons my feet are taking a real beating. The Minimus is a great shoe but with the super thin sole and neutral support I was finding that I needed a little more cushion and some arch support on my long runs. I pronate normally so in those last few miles on my long runs when my stride gets a little sloppy I would start heel striking a little bit and the Minimus could offer no relief so I've started getting some lower leg and shin pain.

So I have decided to give these puppies a go.

The New Shoes!


Newton Motion III's. They have a little bit more cushion between my foot and the road and they have some support under the arch for when I get tired on long runs. I went in to the local running store and made them measure my feet, analyze my form, and I tried on almost every shoe in the store - twice. I really didn't think I would like going from something so lightweight to something fairly inflexible like the Motion III. They aren't even zero drop! I was really nervous that I was making a mistake but it is what both of the running store employees suggested and I know you are supposed to be able to run on your mid-foot regardless of the shoe.

First impressions are good so far. I made a bad call and wore them out for a long run right away, so my feet were hurting after that but I think that it was just because they were brand new. I was a little concerned at the way the plugs felt under my left foot. I was experiencing some pain there prior to the new shoes so hopefully that will clear up and it will feel fine. I ran in them for the second time last night - 4x1200's - and that was MUCH better. I had no pain anywhere while running except for some small blisters but again, I think that is because they are new.

I do not intend to stop running in the NB Minimus completely. I've heard it's actually good to rotate shoes so I plan to use them on shorter runs. I also like to wear them to work on Fridays.

I find it a little funny that I am wearing my NB Minimus Zeroes as I write this.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Training Thoughts

I have been using the Run Less, Run Faster method to train for the NJ Marathon. I am 5 weeks in and I am dying.

I did it to myself. They have you use a recent 5k time to pick target paces and race times. I decided to use my time from the Hollis Fast 5k. I don't know why. That was just plain dumb. The Hollis Fast 5k is a downhill race and I pulled off a 24:30. I have been able to do the workouts at the paces that correspond with that finishing time, but I feel destroyed afterwards. I have been DREADING my runs. I even skipped all of my runs last week making lame excuses that all the snow clearing I've been doing counted...

That isn't how I want running to be. I want to feel happy and psyched for my run. I used to be so excited to get out of work and go for my run that I couldn't shut up about it.

Well, I have smartened up! I am taking my second fastest time which is 26:10. Yes, the gap is that big. I am really looking forward to the slightly slower pace. It's actually not a huge difference in terms of the training paces, but it will be enough I believe.

2015


Oh boy, 2015... where should I start?

I've gone more than a little nuts this year and I am trying all sorts of different things. Right now I have three marathons, one half marathon, one 5k, one sprint triathlon, and one century ride on the schedule:

Eastern States Half Marathon - March 29th

Novo Nordisk New Jersey - April 26th

Hollis Fast 5k - June 11th

Greater Nashua Y Sprint Triathlon - June 14th

Seacoast Century Ride - September 26th

Mount Desert Island Marathon - October 18th

New York City Marathon - November 1st

I am extremely excited for each race for different reasons. I am running the Eastern States Half with a good friend. She hasn't done a half in a long time (if ever?) and she helped me through many a long runs last year when I was training for my first marathon, so I am very happy to be running this with her. For the NJ Marathon I would really like to hit my original target time that I set for the Adirondack Distance festival of 4:30. (Eep!) I would like to set a new 5k PR again in Hollis this year, it's a downhill course and with all the speed work I have been doing I think it's definitely possible! I am nervous but ready to tackle my first sprint this year to see if branching off into triathlons is something I would enjoy. I cannot wait for the Seacoast Century ride because I will be doing it with my father and sister. They are both very strong cyclists so I will have to work hard to keep up with them! Mount Desert Island will be my Maine Marathon but if I drop any race this year... this will be the one my priority is getting to the start line of the NYC Marathon happy and healthy. I don't intend to have a real time goal for NYC. I just want to enjoy the experience.

That said about MDI and NYC... if I completed them both I would qualify for the bronze level of the Marathon Maniacs club! It is incredibly tempting. If I feel good enough leading up to MDI I will attempt them both!

I would like to add one more half marathon to my schedule. At the Half Merrython on Dec. 7th I missed my goal of sub 2 hours by 3 minutes. I know I can do it. I just need another race!

I am very excited for everything I have signed up for. I think it's going to be a great year.

Cheers!

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