Eugene Marathon/50 Miler RUNdown Week 12: 3/11-3/17

It’s so funny how the beginning of training feels like it takes forever to get through each week and then somewhere (always around 50ish days left or so) it just FLYS BY. We’re less than 40 days out from Eugene and I’m over my training hump. Most of my miles are already in the bank, this week is one of my last building weeks before the marathon (and then I’ll have a few more slightly bigger weeks before my 50 miler). It’s exciting to look ahead and see how little is left (compared to what I’ve done thus far)! I’m so happy with how my body is handling the mileage (it kinda feels AMAZING and I feel really freaking strong —> loving this point in a training cycle). Eugene will be the first time I’m running 26.2 since last year’s Salt Lake City PR (over a year ago!) - I cannot wait. Bring.on.the.miles.

Monday, 3/11: 5 mi RUNch easy 10:28 68’ up

Tuesday, 3/12: 1 mi warm up/ 4 x 1.5 mile repeats (8:07/ 8:07/ 8:04/ 8:15) / 1 mi cooldown. 10 miles & strength in the AM. Felt amazing!

Wednesday, 3/13: yoga in the AM- 5.15 mi easy in a BLIZZARD 11:07 92’ up with the last ~.5 with Stella.

Thursday, 3/14: 8 mi EZ AM after getting into the Beach 2 Beacon lottery / 3 mi EZ PM / strength

Friday, 3/15: REST DAY! Travel to Moab. Here’s something cute.

Saturday, 3/16: Race Day! 7 mi easy / 13.2 (according to my garmin) at 7:56 pace 815’ up

Sunday, 3/17: 11.07 miles easy 11:34 1, 192’ up. Super easy. Super tired. Happy to have got it in though!

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How’s the weather where you are?!? —> we’re FINALLY seeing some mud and warmer day-temps.

Favorite part of a training cycle? —> This. right now. I don’t hate the taper, but I’m still unsure how long my body ideally needs to taper (10 days? 7 days? 14 days? 21 days? ) —> what does your body love for a time for tapering?

Eugene Marathon/50 Miler Training Week 11 RUNdown: 3/3-3/10

Happy Humpday! Last week’s training went really well! I felt strong and while my long runs were definitely at a super conservative easy pace (there were MANY hills!), I never gave up. I’m still focusing on getting 3 strength training exercises a week and at least one at-home yoga session a week. Nutrition will start to be even more of a focus (we’re less than 50 days out now from Eugene)! I have to keep reminding myself that even though maybe my paces have slowed, I’ve gained SO much elevation AND am training at a crazy-high altitude (where we live is at ~7,300’ and Steamboat is around ~6,300’). Very excited to see what I can do when I’m down at lower elevation!

Monday, 3/3: 5.02 mi easy @ 9:48 382’ & yoga.

Tuesday, 3/4: 11 miles (1.5 mi warm up / 8 miles @ 8:37 / 1.5 mi cool down) & 30 minutes strength. I had trouble (mentally) getting into this run, but I never gave up (which I’m super proud of).

Wednesday, 3/5: 7.01 miles easy 10:39 114’ So wet. So slushy. Pretty cold.

Thursday, 3/6: 8.05 mi 918’ up (20 min E / 3 x 7 min Hike @ 12% 3.7 mph (3 min Recovery run) / 10 min E / 5 x :30 hard (60 sec Recovery)/ 15 min E. 30 minutes of strength. I felt WORKED after this run!

Friday, 3/7: Rest Day!

Saturday, 3/8: 10.15 miles 1, 235’ 11:23 / Wasn’t in to this run from the start and kept slipping on the icy loose-packed snow on the roads. 30 minutes of strength

Sunday, 3/9: 18.06 miles 1, 384’ up at 11:12 / Epsom Salt Bath to recover & lots of foam rolling! This run felt surprisingly good. Albeight, it was slow and certainly hilly, but my mental state was sooo much stronger than it has been before. I really want to focus on keeping these hilly runs at a lower heart rate (building up that cardio endurance)!

Total Mileage: 59.29 miles

Total Elevation: 4, 033’

Also how cute are they?!

Food Staples That Help Fuel My Running Each Week

You want to know my favorite day of the week? Normally it’s Thursdays because the glimmer of Friday is just around the corner, however I also really love Fridays (and no, it’s not because the weekend begins!). I love Fridays because that’s when I go grocery shopping. I LOVE to grocery shop. I partially blame this on living in a ridiculously isolated Mountain Town where there is literally no other place to go shop (unless you count the over-priced boutiques, which no thanks) and partially how much I love to make lists and plan. I.e. meal planning is one of my favorite activities that brings me such a sense of calm and serenity.

SO, if you’re still reading after all that—> CONGRATS! When meal-planning, I will almost always tie an ingredient into multiple meals to make it last (i.e. an onion may be used for multiple recipes or burger buns will be utilized multiple times throughout the week) and enjoy making most of our meals from scratch. I love to cook, try new recipes, and create a different flare of my own on an already pre-written recipe. My body feels better when ingredients are wholesome, limited amount of sugars are added, and I’ve helped create it in some aspect. This and this and this and this are all of my favorite cookbooks that I plan my meals from each week (sometimes I also use pinterest).

I plan my grocery shopping staples on what I need each week. Normally they stay relatively the same:

Popcorn for wholesome snacking and an excellent dessert option.

Coconut Milk yogurt for adding to smoothies, healthy fat, topped with homemade granola for breakfast or desert, or mixed with berries for a midday snack.

Hummus for carrots as a snack. I honestly think I could turn into hummus & carrots and never get tired of it. Excellent source of folic acid!

Almond milk creamer because it has limited sugar and dairy is a no-no for my GI system.

Almonds to roast and a healthy snack option when I’m starving post-run or while dinner is being made.

Spinach for salads, to add to smoothies, to saute and add to my eggs. I add spinach to almost everything. Excellent source of iron for us runners!

Garbanzo beans to roast from Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow cookbook. Probably my favorite recipe from this book and I double-up the amount that I roast each week because they are just that good

Whole wheat pasta to always have on hand because if I’m craving pasta —> I know that my body needs it and it’s a quick and relatively easy dinner option!

Unsweetened Almond/Coconut Milk blend for cereal (my current favorite dessert option), granola, smoothies, etc.

Dark Chocolate Almond Milk for when I don’t have a smoothie on hand post-run. Helps to speed up recovery from a run and since I can’t do dairy —> this is my favorite option! ALSO side tangent: WHY don’t they serve almond milk at the end of races?!? Why do they only have dairy options!? Race directors….take note!

Berries for antioxidants and easy snacking. I LOVE blueberries and while they aren’t always in season, I’ll gladly pay a bit extra because I just love them so much. I snack on them often, put them ontop of Almond butter toast & honey, add them to yogurt, add them to granola…you get the picture!

Fresh ground Almond or Peanut butter. I know Almond Butter is better for me, but I also really love peanut butter so we have both on-hand. My go-to before a hard workout or race: Toast with PB/AB, honey, and either sliced bananas or blueberries

Bananas for pre-run / post-run / during-run fueling. I love me some bananas!

Sweet potatoes for roasting, lunches, sweet potato breakfast cookies

Brown Rice for multiple meals throughout the week. I’ll normally cook a big batch of brown rice, roast some sweet potatoes and veggies on Sunday to have through the week for lunches, breakfasts (potatoes/veggies in eggs), and dinners. Super easy to have things already made and just re-heat them!

Cutting up veggies to roast and then Stella gets some of the veggies scraps for her dinner on Sunday too! She LOVES them all.

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We used these Salmon Burgers Sunday night for dinner and they are super good. While I stay away from frozen foods, it’s nice to have a relatively healthy (the ingredients are pretty good) option available that cooks in under 10 minutes!

I am OBSESSED with this book that I’m currently reading. I cannot put it down and have gone to bed late every night this week because I can’t put it down.

Another treadmill workout day! I’ve got some HILL REPEATS on the schedule and will be using the awesome incline trainer ‘mill at the gym this morning. Also will probably streaming Gilmore Girls because I’m basic like that.

This article on Women’s Running Magazine by Rachel Davis was SO good! Never worry about restricting your diet—> if your body is craving a big juicy burger or chocolate or salty something, don’t restrict yourself. I always try to find a healthy way to listen to my body, but sometimes if it wants something totally unhealthy (i.e. Five Guys) then that’s what I get.

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What are some things that are staples in your pantry and why?

Are you reading anything good right now?

Favorite quick and easy and healthy weeknight dinner recipes?

Eugene Marathon/50 Miler Training RUNdown Week 10: 2/25-3/3

Another recovery is behind me! You would *think* that after running almost 60 miles the week before, I would welcome the recovery with open arms, but honestly it was TOUGH. I love my schedule and when I have these cut-back weeks I don’t know what to do with all the extra time! I feel like I should be RUNNING, not lounging about or cross-training. It feels like the taper except that I’m especially tired, but restless at the same time (I guess that’s normally how I feel in the taper too TBH).

I was SO HUNGRY at the beginning of my recovery week and probably ate something like 5 meals a day and my legs felt tired, but still not too bad. By mid-week, my legs felt dead and had no pep —> AKA why my speedwork on Friday felt especially amazing (…completely sarcastic). It’s also been really hard to see all these other runners on social media posting their ‘monthly mileage’ / hitting ‘x’ amount of miles / hitting ‘x’ paces (all OUTSIDE too? Does it not snow and ice and hit below 0* temperatures there or something?!?), while I’m over here on my recovery week waiting for my muscles and brain to feel ‘normal again’.

Janae posted this the other day and it really resonated with me. I just need to keep reminding myself of how much fitter and stronger I feel overall this training cycle than I ever have before and that the results will FOLLOW.

Monday, 2/25: 5.06 miles easy @ 10:03 with 120’ up during my lunch! Decided to get some extra sleep this week (one thing I do love about recovery weeks! All the extra sleep) and got my run in outside in the sunshine. It didn’t feel as challenging as I anticipated it feeling.

Tuesday, 2/26: Rest day. Opted for a rest day because I started to feel a cold coming on and I really want to avoid getting a full-blown sickness.

Wednesday, 2/27: 11 miles with 1.5 warm-up / 8 miles @ goal marathon effort (8:16) / 1.5 cool down. It was mentally challenging, but I felt oddly really strong. Also got in 30 minutes of strength

Thursday, 2/28: Rest Day / Yoga. Another rest day! Did some yoga to not feel like I was completely out of shape (ha —> isn’t it crazy how your mind always goes to that after taking an extra day or two off?)

Friday, 3/1: 6.1 miles with 1.5 warm-up/ 3 x 1 mile (7:52/ 7:45/ 7:30)/ 1 mi cool down & .5 mile cool down hike @ 12% incline 3.7 mph & strength. My legs felt completely dead and it was a struggle from the start. Glad I never completely gave up even my paces just were not there today.

Saturday, 3/2: Cross-training day! HIked up our ski mountain in Stagecoach (1 mile —> 800’ up). Was oddly VERY sore after this!

Sunday, 3/3: Still sore from skinning up the day before. Also a blizzard outside with sneaky snow-covered ice in spots and unplowed several inches of snow. 6.36 miles at 11:30 with 811’ up. Kept my pace easy and had to walk several spots because I kept slipping (didn’t want to wear any spikes today) on the ice-covered uphill sections. Still so beautiful out. 30 minutes of a new strength training program!

Total Mileage: 28.51 miles

Total Elevation: 931’ up

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How do you stop the comparison game when social media makes it so challenging?!

Favorite cross-training activity?

Eugene Marathon/50 Miler Training Week 9: 2/18-2/24

Happy Hump Day! I’ve felt a bit of a cold coming on, so I’ve opted to get the majority of my runs this week in the afternoon (so I can get more sleep). I was still on the fence on whether to get my 8 miles at marathon pace in the morning (on the treadmill) or try to get it in this afternoon (it could be sleeting)- so still up in the air as of last night! I WILL be getting it in regardless though. I’m also getting my haircut today! I was still trying to decide if I should get some bangs (they looked so cute on me in High School, but are also a super pain-in-the-butt!), but I’m definitely excited to get some fresh highlights (it’s been since October!) and shorter hair again. Photos to come tomorrow ; )

Last week really tested my patience with the weather. It was in the negatives every.single.morning and a high of low 20s the entire week. I had a crazy busy work/personal life week, so mornings were the only time I could run (for the most part), so I was on the treadmill a bunch (hoping to only be on it ONCE this week!). Not ideal- but do what you can right?

Monday, 2/18: 5 miles easy on the home treadmill while catching up on the news.

Tuesday, 2/19: 1.5 mile warm up / 8 miles at goal marathon pace (8:15) / 1.5 mile cool down. 11 miles & strength. Felt really good even after getting kicked off the treadmill for 10 minutes. Gotta love the 6AM treadmill rush that lasts 10-15 minutes. Sigh.

Wednesday, 2/20: 6.5 miles on the ‘mill. Normally I try to break up my goal marathon paced miles & speedwork, but this week was funky and this is when I had time. SO I did the repeats mainly on an incline (same benefits as a faster pace, but less strain on your body).

Thursday, 2/21: 13 miles in the morning on the ‘mill & then had a unexpected free afternoon, so decided to just go for the remaining 7 miles to get 20 for the day! Happy to get some afternoon miles outside : ) Plus some strength afterwards.

Friday, 2/22: 9.37 miles in a BLIZZARD in the morning (I didn’t think it was supposed to snow?!?). I took it slow because I was TIRED and it was icy (didn’t have my spikes). I ended up cutting it short in the morning and then got in the remaining 6.63 in the afternoon on the treadmill (still super icy out), which felt MUCH better. 16 miles for the day.

Saturday, 2/23: REST DAY! Completely lounged and it was amazing.

Sunday, 2/24: REST DAY! Went snowshoeing, did some strength, and a bunch of stretching.

Total Mileage: 58.5 miles!

Total Elevation: 2, 122’ up

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Also LOVING this new shirt I got from Oiselle.

THIS cream cheese (almond milk!) tastes amazing.

It’s finally warm enough here to wear just ONE layer on top & bottom! YAY! Does this mean Spring is coming?!?

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How’s your week going?

What’s the weather where you are?

Favorite ways to pass the time on the ‘mill?