Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas Day 2/5k!

After Cher, we didn't end up getting back to the hotel until AFTER 11pm! Wayyy past my bedtime, so I took a melatonin (my savour during traveling/racing weekends to make sure I still get a decent nights sleep) and woke up around 7:30. We decided to rent a car for the day to go check out the scenery and save our legs/feet for the 5k!

We went to Panera first, where I like to stock-up on bagels (at a place that I know) and began the carbo-loading. I normally take in extra carbs/proteins/less veggies 1.5 days before the start of the race and load up on electrolytes/ Gatorade/ water the entire WEEK before a race. After we were full of deliciousness, we drove to see the Hoover Dam (my Gram had NEVER seen it before!). The weather on Saturday was perfect- 70 degrees with hardly a cloud in the sky. 

After Hoover Dam, we stopped by Ethel M. Chocolates to pick up some treats to take home (splurged on a coin chocolate they were handing out) and checked out their Cactus Botanical Garden. 

We stopped by Chipotle to get a later lunch (I love their chicken burrito bowls before races) and headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit before leaving for the 5k at 4pm (it starts at 6:30). 

Note: If you plan on running the 5k, either plan to take an Uber or stay at a hotel at the beginning of the Monorail. We stayed at the Excalibur and got on at the first stop for the Monorail and every stop the monorail made after ours, NO ONE else could get on because it was so full. Definitely a bonus to stay on the end of the strip. We arrived at the start line with a little over 40 minutes left (perfect timing) and I headed to my corral #7 when there was 30 minutes prior to the 6pm start. 

The 5k had A LOT of congestion and the hassle getting there really put a damper on the race, but once you got out a 1/2 mile it was MUCH better. I took it really easy (~10:00+ per mile) for the first 2 miles of the race then alternated every 0.10 with 8:10-8:15 strides and ~10:00+ easy pace. I finished with a 9:40 overall pace and it felt pretty good to pass a lot of runners when I was doing my strides! It was also a great way to get used to the race atmosphere and practice holding back my pace. We also stayed for a few of the Goo Goo Dolls songs- they were pretty good (but not as good as I expected for a live performance...). 

Overall 5k recommendation: Do it if you want a safe place to do a shake-out-run. Don't do it if you aren't ready to deal with the crowds and hassle of traveling to and from the race venue.

Also CONGRATS to my Gram for doing her first 5k!! She totally ROCKED it! Super proud : ) 

Feature Friday-In The Running News & Perserverance

Happy FRIDAY! I'm currently back in Maine visiting family and enjoying the beautiful Fall Foliage (with some apple picking on the menu hopefully), but wanted to bring you a few of my favorite running-related headlines and also talk about how persevering/ accepting the pain has really helped me push through really tough work-outs (cough..cough..strength workouts...cough...cough..). 

Here's the top headlines that really caught my attention this week:

• Eliud Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon last weekend with a time of 2:03:32, but didn't break any world records. He was part of the Nike breaking-2 project and came SO close to breaking that barrier, but fell short. This course is supposedly really flat (also added it to my bucketlist!), so it had been talked about being a possibility of creating a new world record (current one is 2:02:57). Honestly, regardless of whether it was a WR or not, this time is SO fast and hats off to all the runners who performed well! I'm certain that within the next 5 years, we'll definitely see at least a new WR (and possibly a breaking-2 barrier as well)...

• Fenway Park Marathon- 116.5 laps around Fenway! This race wasn't a Boston Qualifier (it was USTAF certified) and only had 55 participants, but talk about some serious history in the making on this course. I can't even imagine running around ANYTHING for 116.5 laps, but I feel like the amount of history and pressure put on by runners (and the fact that it's an open course) would push you to not walk and power through all the marathon pains. This was the first-time that a marathon was held on Fenway and hopefully it won't be the last! Hmmm...I may have to add this one to my bucketlist. 

• Best National Parks for Running- Ok, this one is an older article, but I loved revisiting it! I've been (and ran) at a bunch of these, but thinking maybe Hawaii or Northern Cascades should be next on my list to visit (or run/ race in)! 

Perseverance. I normally equate this word with going through difficult life choices or decisions, but starting to relate it more to those really tough runs or races where you really just want to quit on yourself and throw in the towel. I'm sure most of us have been there. Everything hurts, you're tired, and another mile or 2 seems so far. I definitely remember my last marathon and just totally giving in to the pain train and not even caring what time the clock said when I finally got to the finish line. The strength work-outs in my training plan definitely simulate that pain you feel at the end of tough race. I've been running through them and thinking that there was no way I could do this repeat again, but I pushed through and felt stronger afterwards. I love to repeat the saying to 'dig deep' when things get tough and remember that the pain is temporary. We should expect the pain to come and even embrace it, because living through tough situations/runs/ races is always temporary. 

What phrases do you repeat to yourself to get through tough times?

Favorite running headline from the week?

Can you imagine running around ANY field for 116 laps? 

Running back-to-back half marathons

Thinking back to when I ran back-to-back half marathons (one was on a Saturday & the other one was the following Sunday), the Emerald Bay Half-Marathon and the Rock 'n Roll Denver Half Marathon. This was the first time that I've ever ran two races so close together and I learned several things that worked and a few things that I would recommend not doing! I ended up PRing at both races, beating my first race PR by a minute and then beating that PR by 4 minutes! 

DO:

• Fuel properly between races (eat healthy, get a good mix of protein/carbs)
• Get extra sleep that week
• Drink extra fluids (with electrolytes, not just water)
• Limit your travel/ time on your feet
• Add in a few easy runs between races
• An easy strength training/ yoga session between races to ease stress (only if you normally do this; try nothing new during this time)
• Foam roll often!
• Legs up the wall everyday
• Keep your race expectations in-check. Maybe utilize one as a training/recovery run and the other as a potential PR/hard-effort. Listen to what your body needs.

DO NOT:

• Travel in the car for many hours between races (yeah, we drove back from California after Emerald Bay and then I drove to Denver the next weekend..not the best idea)
• Eat lots of sugar/ junk food between races
• Drink excessive coffee
• Skimp on sleep
• Run hard between races
• Not run at all between races
• Have high expectations for both races! Have FUN!

Hole Half Marathon Recap & Life Updates

My HOLE HALF MARATHON RECAP is here! Shimmy on over to my Race Recap page to check it out- you definitely don't want to miss how amazing the finish venue looked and where I finished in my age group!

I'm sharing some of my favorite photos that I took over the weekend from Yellowstone up on the blog tomorrow, so make sure to check back. Here's a little sneak-peek ; ) 

I finally feel like I'm starting to get back into a groove-again after our vacation in July. It's so crazy to me how long it takes to get back on track! No wonder why so many of those who suffer from addictions or weight loss or irregular workout plans struggle so much- it's really HARD to get used to a schedule and stick to it. After 8 weeks of marathon training, I finally feel like I've gotten adjusted to it and am not nearly as exhausted as I was when I first began training. 

Hanson's Marathon Method definitely takes a lot out of you and is a really big time commitment compared to other training plans! I'm just hoping all this running pays off on race day (it's only 66 DAYS AWAY!!!!- that's only a little over TWO MONTHS!). 

We've been so busy trying to fit in camping and hiking and backpacking on the weekends and squeezing-in as much fun summer activities as we can. We just got our second kayak fixed, so hopefully we can take both out on the lake this weekend!

The weather (despite the current wildfires that is creating a constant smokey, haziness that is unfit for any extended outdoor activities) has been so beautiful with mid-80s during the day and low 40s at night. Perfect for early morning or late afternoon runs : )

September is a VERY busy month for us and we only have one weekend free (which I'm sure we're going to fill-up with a camping or backpacking trip). Alex is working at the Telluride Blues and Brews festival next weekend (hoping I can go down and camp there/ spend time with him, but still up in the air) and I will be going back to Maine at the end of the month for my grandfathers service. This weekend is a bit crazy as well because I am volunteering at the Run Rabbit Run 50 & 100 mile races from 4-10am (sleep will definitely be off) on early Saturday morning. 

That's all that's been going on with me, what about you?! Any fun plans for September? 

Favorite season? Mine is definitely Fall- bring on all the apples and layers!

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 8 Run down

What a week it was! This week was pretty low mileage since I had a headcold come on and wanted to get rested up for my half marathon on Saturday. I originally had wanted to race my half, but with my head still staying pretty congested I decided to just have fun and not push myself into a deeper sickness (plus I wanted to enjoy our weekend full of camping!). I still ended up getting fourth in my age group (!!!) at my race and honestly had SO MUCH FUN! It was by far the best half marathon I can ever remember having (race recap to come soon). 

Besides getting sick, I did hit my mile repeats on Tuesday so that was a huge bonus and I just ultimately took the rest of the week off from any hard runs and just focused on recovery and easy paces. 

Monday: 6 miles Easy @ 10:20 on the treadmill

Tuesday: 1.5 warm-up; 3 @ 7:20 (600 R) ; 1.5 cool-down- 7 miles total

Wednesday: Sick- took a rest day

Watching Sheep Herders because what else are you supposed to do when you're sick?! 

Thursday: 3 miles easy on the trails @ 9:54

Friday: 3.25 miles easy @ 10:00

Saturday: RACE DAY! 13.2 miles @ 9:17 - 2:01:37- I turned off my auto alerts for mile splits on my Garmin and just went by feel. I negative-split my race time by over 2 and a half minutes and kept my heart rate under 160. I never pushed myself too hard and felt super recovered after I finished. I also got 4th in my age group!

Sunday: Rest Day

Sunshine Goods:

• Kept my health and rest a priority
• Fitness is still there!
• 4th in my age group
• Negative-split by a huge amount!!
• Kept positive the entire race and never felt like I had 'hit the wall'
• Hit my mile repeats

Gloomy Goods:

• Got sick (bummer!)
• Didn't hit my mileage for the week 
• Didn't get a PR for the half like originally planned
• Took an extra rest day
• So much running = so much laundry!!!