The raw people are sucking me in!

I have been considering eating mostly raw for a while now but many excuses get in my way. 1) what to do about my husband. He can deal with the vegan lifestyle but eating raw would mean cooking some pretty fancy meals to entice him. 2) Its winter…I want to eat warm 3) my severe grain/carbohydrate/legume addiction.

 

Everything I am reading and have read about it say that my running/recovery will benefit immensely from eating raw. People talk about all the energy that comes from it and it makes me want to try it!  I wish I had a personal chef!

 

KElli

 

It's all in your head

I am practicing mind over matter today as I fight a head cold. I had to skip my run yesterday because of this silly nuisance. It is threatening my running plans for today but JJ swears that running will actually make me feel better. I guess it will if I want it to!

Anyway, I missed my 5th day of running last week, leaving me with only 19 miles for the week with a long run of 7. I ran all the shorter miles between 8-10 min/miles and the long was in the 11 min/mile range. I have to skip a long run around Christmas because we don't have a sitter but I am going to bump that weeks mileage to this week so that we are actually starting the first week of training...this week. We truly means that a run today is a must!

Hal Higdon's Intermediate program

At first I was thinking I would do his novice II program but I really think I need to up my mileage to get a better time in Big Sur. Our last program (for SF) peaked at 35 miles/week with one 20 miler and four total runs a week. His intermediate program consists of 2 medium long runs, 1 long run and 2  shorter runs a week. My total mileage at the moment is around 20 miles and the program peaks at 45 (I think). There are two 20 milers at the peak of the training.

 

I have already gotten faster since I started the base training. I was concerned because while training for the SF marathon, my pace was 10 min/mi average for medium long runs. I usually ran the long runs around 12 mi/mi when they got in the 16+ mile range. I started my base at 12 min/mi at even the shorter distances after a 4 month hiatus from running. Could I really lose that much fitness in 4 measly months??? Yet,  I have quickly gotten back to a consistent 9-10 min/mi after only a couple months of slowly increasing my mileage and running 5 days/week. Since my “long runs” are still relatively short  still (7-8 miles), I am running them at the same pace as all my other runs. I hope this isn’t premature…..but I think my goal is to run the marathon at a 10 min/mi. I figure I will just get faster. That leaves me with a goal of 4:20 for the marathon. The course is very hilly though so I am giving myself a buffer and making the goal between 4:20 and 4:40. So that is that!!…I will re-evaluate when we get closer.

San Francisco Marathon

This is us running in the SF marathon..I think it was around mile 15 in Golden Gate park. I have to say that this marathon had many more hills than I thought it would have…but I think I was in denial. We went out slow and did walk at every aide station. The hills were tough but the downhills were murder on my legs. The views were spectacular!

Exiting the park at mile 20, I was struggling to finish but we never officially bonked or anything. J claims that he could have run the whole thing a lot faster. (biggest eye roll ever). Our time was 5 hours and we felt ok after….stuffed our faces and had a nice big glass of wine while we lounged on our friend’s couch. Ahhhhhhh sweet life.

Little did I know... I had been pregnant which I am now blaiming for my cramps and sluggishness in retrospect. We were so happy and excited anticipating our 3rd addition to the family. I was a little worried about letting my running slip because I had worked so hard and well ..it had become one of the loves of my life. It was also an excuse to spend hours chatting with my husband whom I adore more than anything...AND a big ole break from my little gremlins.

Sadly I lost her at 4 months :o(. We were devastated but I will always remember my little SF marathon running companion. We are now running the Big Sur Marathon in her memory around the time she would have been due. It is supposed to be a magical marathon and I am REALLY looking forward to it. Maybe I will train for hills this time? heh heh

Long time no see

I haven't been keeping up with this thing. A lot of things have been going on lately. I am training for the Big Sur Marathon in April 2008. I have started my base training (about 2 months ago...a little less). After Christmas I will officially be starting Hal Higdon's 18 week intermediate marathon training program!