I road-tripped up to Minnesota for a girls’ running weekend in the Twin Cities. Goals for this race were to enjoy a fun weekend and run happy. Twin Cities was not a bucket list race but I’d always heard good things about it: pretty course, great fans, oh and a “big hill” at the end. [Read More]
What to Do When Races Get Hard
We’re in the midst of peak racing season. What better time to talk about strategies for those late, hopefully really late miles when the wheels feel like they’re about to come off? Wait, let’s hope it never gets that hard. But who am I kidding? Sometimes it does. Confession: I may have written this for [Read More]
Tapering is my Passion
It’s race week, dontcha know. Many very important things I am passionate about right now: Not running. I’ve got a 3-mile whopper tomorrow and that’s all she wrote. I had to really exercise some restraint not to run or ride my bike today as it’s gorgeous here. But windy. Heaven forbid I exhaust myself. Road [Read More]
Taper Violations and a Miracle…Maybe
Week 2 of taper is on the books. Here’s how it shook out: Miles Run: 22 Miles Biked: 25 Monday: Rest Tuesday: 6 miles (5x1k repeats) Wednesday: 10 miles on bike Thursday: 6 miles, 2 at tempo pace Friday: 15 miles on bike Saturday: Rest Sunday: 10 miles I swear this taper is flying. Maybe [Read More]
Then There Were Two
Two more weeks of taper before the Twin Cities Marathon. I can’t lie, this first week in taper town agreed with me. Here’s how it went: Total Miles: 25 Monday: Rest Tuesday: 8x800m, lower body strength Wednesday: Yoga, upper body strength Thursday: 5 miles Friday: Plyometric intervals Saturday: Rest Sunday: 5k + 10 miles There [Read More]
Stuff I Do During Marathon Taper
As I write this, my 22-mile long run is in the rear-view mirror and I’m a fairly new (and happy!) resident here in Taper Town. The name(s) of the game here are Confident and Cautious. I know the hay is in the barn and there’s no point to adding any now. We’re just going to [Read More]
Weekend Rewind: Attack of the Brown GU
This was my last big marathon training week before the taper for Twin Cities. Total Miles: 37 Monday: Rest Tuesday: Speedwork 12x400m and lower body strength Wednesday: Yoga, upper body strength Thursday: 8 MP Miles in a downpour Friday: Rest Saturday: 22.12 miles Sunday: Strength We kicked off the weekend with high school football for [Read More]
5 Benefits of Heart Rate Training
Let’s talk about heart rate training. This is something I knew about but never really bothered with. I ran by feel. I also often went out way too fast in races and struggled miserably in heat. This summer has been different. Why? Because I’ve been wearing a heart rate monitor. I have my triathlon coach [Read More]
Long Run by Number
Before we get to the long run, here’s how the week went: Total Miles: 33 Monday: Yoga Tuesday: 5x1600m repeats Wednesday: Strength & swim Thursday:10 Miles Friday: Strength, core, swim Saturday: Rest Sunday: 15 miles One more heavy training week, one almighty 20+ miler and it’s taper town! Something I am more than happy to [Read More]
August? It’s a Wrap!
Face it, summer has basically slipped away. Kids are back to school here, everybody’s talking pumpkin spice and there are fallen leaves on our deck. After one fallish week, we’re already starting to see some fall colors. Here’s how the week and the month shook out: Total Weekly Miles: 30.2 August Run Miles: 142 August [Read More]
