Week Off from training

I've drawn up a new training plan, 22 weeks of training, for the Las Vegas R n' R. Not sure how I feel about training for 22 weeks. That's pretty freakin' huge.
This week I'm pretty much chilling.

Bucket List Item, completed.

Seattle Rock n' Roll marathon was a blast. Lots of good vibes from the 25,000 runners, the volunteers, and the onlookers. Everyone was so supportive. People would run up next to me and chat a bit, encourage me in my first marathon attempt, and it was just so nice. The volunteers, cheer teams, and bands were also really fun and helpful and encouraging. Shoot, I wish our training runs were like that. :)
We had fabulous weather also.
I'm just excited that after about a zillion false-starts at training for a marathon, I finally completed all of the training and did the "victory lap" in Seattle. Pretty big job to tackle, and so worth it. So, I'm doing it again.
You learn so much about yourself when undertaking these types of endeavours and I feel like there is more for me to learn, so I'm training again, beginning next week.
Also, purchased these hot little numbers http://www.rei.com/product/753390 in order to begin adding barefoot training to my routine, in hopes of running "barefoot" (basically in these or a type of huarache). More on the Barefoot thing later.
For now, just recovering -- drinking lots of water, chilling, basking in the afterglow. :)

Our short runs used to be our long runs

That last post was in March, when running 8 miles for my "long runs" was painful and required a nap afterwards.
We do those on our lunch break now, no problem. 8 miles, add some hills, a bit of this, a bit of that, done. Our long runs are now in the 15+ mile range. This weekend I'm doing 19.5 miles. yeah.
bought new shoes. Oh my god. running has completely changed my sensitivity levels for my feet. it's incredible. Before, i was only aware of one thing that was a bother -- my pinkie toe is sensitive to stitching. Yesterday I put on a pair of shoes and instantly recognized that the shape and size of the heel cup is completely life-changing. So, with that said, I'm stoked about these new shoes. The niggling heel pain that I felt before I think will be remedies with these. It always started when I'd start running, until I warmed up. I'd imagine this will also help with some other issues -- little tweaky pains in my knees and tendonitis across the tops of my feet. No worries.
So, anyway, we are also naming our little team "sole mates". Because, melyssa is the perfect training partner for me, and we get along so well that it's like we're meant for each other... and sole = shoe sole. Get it? we are witty. yes we are.

Just More Running

I officially have 3 8-mile-long runs under my belt. Is it 3 or 4? I think three. Anyhoooo....
Last week I faithfully completed every single day of training. It was a great feeling of accomplishment. Hoping to get 100 miles in this month. If I hadn't been sick the first week, I'd be on easy street. As it stands now, I'm exactly on track if I don't miss a single day of training between now and the end of the month. yikes.
This week we are ramping up a bit. I have a 10 mile long-run on Saturday, which is also the same day as a race. So, I'll do 2 miles to warm up, then 5 miles of racing, and then 3 miles of running.
Today we experimented with a Jeff Galloway-style run. 6 miles. We did short periods of walking. With each running section our time increased dramatically. We started out at about a 10 minute mile pace. By the last 1.5 mile section we were running an 8:30 and it was painless. Fantastic! We still averaged a 10 minute pace overall, but this was much more fun and interesting. We are thinking of revising our training to incorporate this type of running more.
Strides are still my way favorite day of running. oh weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! Just stepping out and ripping (in as much as I "rip") down the road.... so fun.

Well now, it's certainly been awhile

Running 5 miles on weekdays and 8 mile long runs on the weekend. We do hills on Tuesdays and intervals on Thursdays. Starting 3/9 we are ramping up our training. owwwwwww!!!
I ordered a garmin 305. Hot. can't wait to get that. Meanwhile I just follow my training partner Melyssa around and run. wee. !

4 mile minimum runs now

I'm running 4+ miles, 3x per week. I'm not great about logging it in MapMyRun, but oh well. My goal for july is to run 4 mile runs on my "days off" and up to 11 on my on days.
Heading to Hell's Canyon for 5 days, I won't get any running in then, but I think I'll try doing some sort of Cardio Swimming thing where I get out and swim in the current until I'm winded. I'll wear a life vest maybe. I'm a crappy swimmer.
I still am a very slow runner. I'd like to work on that in July.

Doing it

Ran 2+ miles yesterday and a short mile + today.
It's about getting out and doing it, that's all.