Category Archives: Stroller Running

Hartford Marathon Training: Week One

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Week One: Week of 7/3

About 8 weeks ago, I made a [relatively] scary decision. It was something I had been avoiding for months. But, I sucked it up and ignored the 99% of my brain that was telling me “this is a bad idea”.

I emailed the elite coordinator and asked to be included in the field for the Hartford Marathon. Then I waited. Part of me was hoping I wouldn’t get in, but a few days later I got an email back that I was accepted!

excited booty exercise happy dance black boy joy GIF

My last attempt at a marathon was a disaster, and it took me a long time to get over that.

But, here we are, and this is happening. I’m determined to make this one count. So let’s catch up on how training has been going.

I took May and June pretty easy so I knew I needed a few base mileage weeks before diving into marathon training. My first week of base training started with a local 4th of July race. Besides the race, the rest of the week was fairly easy. I felt pretty accomplished for getting over 35 miles.

Base Week #1:

M REST 

T 6.5 miles with 4 mile race (Firecracker 4 23:23)

W 6.1 miles “easy” (8:27/mile… double stroller runs are never actually easy)

Th 6 miles on the treadmill (7:55/mile) + Pilates mat class

F 10 miles (7:02/mile)

Sat REST 

Sun 8.2 miles easy (8:05/mile)

(36.7 miles) 

I’m going to end each of these posts with an inspirational quote. Just kidding.

reaction taylor swift eye roll loser let it go GIF

But, I will give you an insight into my thoughts each week. I felt pretty defeated after my long run. Or, more like out of shape. I have to constantly remind myself not to make comparisons to my past workouts and races.

I spent most of this weekend at a USATF coaching clinic, and there were a few moments that stuck with me. I was reminded to take easy days easy. Like actually EASY. Logically I know this, but it’s something you have to like, actually do.

The other was a sports psych tip, something that initially made me laugh: the circle of allowed thoughts. If you have negative thoughts, you just have to tell yourself that those thoughts aren’t allowed in your circle. It’s so simple that it just works. Supposedly. I haven’t put that into practice yet, but it sounds good in theory.

Do you have any tips or tricks to help turn negative thoughts around? I really like counting because it helps me disassociate from the pain that I’m feeling. Sometimes I close my eyes in races, and it usually works, but that’s probably not great advice for normal people.

I have a few weeks of posts to get caught up with the present, so look for those in the next few days. Hey, I know it’s just putting one foot in front of the other, but with everything going on right now in our country I welcome a healthy amount of distraction in the form of reading, looking at pictures on Instagram and listening to/watching things that make me laugh.

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Week 4 of 16, the back spasm from hell, and all the puking.

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Here we are finishing up week 4 of 16 and training has been all over the place:

Week one was solid and I felt better than expected (for the most part). 43.5 miles

Week two did not go well. That Monday I had an easy 7 and I felt a sharp pain on the right side of my lower back which only got worse when I finished my run. Sparing the details, it hurt immensely, like a 9.5 out of 10, and I almost drove myself to the emergency room instead of the chiropractor. Just some easy running for the rest of the week. 24 miles

Week three started off with a rest day (my girls were having one of those days), and I unexpectedly felt great the next day so I was able to complete all of my workouts for the week. However, both girls (and my husband) got hit by the stomach bug so there wasn’t much sleep happening. 42 miles

Week four was a good one. My workout on Tuesday was a mini intro back into tempo runs at MGP or a little faster and it went well. I also did a 4.5 mile tempo on the treadmill (ugh) and a 14 mile (very hilly) long run yesterday. 46.5 miles

A few of my decent workouts from strava:

So happy that things are looking up and that back injury is behind me. I was not a fun person to be around for that week.

Today I was able to take the girls out for a double stroller recovery run. We were very lucky to miss that huge snow storm and it’s a balmy 36 degrees with no wind. Hoping for a few more runs outside this week because the treadmill can get a little tedious!

Judging from the many, many photos in my Facebook feed, I know a lot of my friends and family got several feet of snow over the weekend. Hope everyone is staying warm and being careful on the ice and snow! xo

I’m going streaking!

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Yeah… I didn’t intend for this to happen, but damnit now I have to keep it going. I’m on a run streak! My last day off was October 23rd, and since then I’ve done at least 3 miles every day, with the average being around 6 miles. Last weekend I did my longest run since the spring, a 10 miler.
I’m not one of those people who NEEDS to run every day. Even when I trained for marathons I only ran 4-5 times per week. I did complete a year long run streak from January 1 to December 31, 2000 but I would not recommend that to anyone. I’m not sure how long this is going to continue, but I’m thinking I’ll try to at least make it through the end of November.
Here are some photos from our trip to DC this week.

Turners at the White House!

Turners at the White House!

Lincoln Memorial and WW2 Memorial in the distance

Lincoln Memorial and WW2 Memorial in the distance

I officially passed my first runner while pushing the BOB yesterday… poor dude. I like running in DC. We stayed three blocks from the White House, so I didn’t have to deal with traffic. I’m glad we opted to bring the running stroller instead of running on the treadmill at the hotel. We didn’t have room to pack both strollers so I just used the Ergo carrier for most of our outings.

Emmaline chillin' in the Ergo while we wait for our pizza

Emmaline chillin’ in the Ergo while we wait for our pizza

So back to the title of this post… I keep adding to my list of movies I can always watch no matter how many times I’ve seen them. They’re not necessarily my favorite movies of all time, but I like them because they freaking make me laugh. In no particular order:

1. Old School “We’re going streaking!”
2. Step Brothers “So many activities”
3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall “Pop up. Pop up and do less.”
4. Superbad “McLovin”
5. The Big Lebowski “YOU’RE Mr. Lebowski. I’m the Dude. So that’s what you call me”
6. Bridesmaids “I didn’t know it was your diary. I thought it was a very sad handwritten book…”
7. I Love You, Man “Give it back. Return the favor.”
8. Anchorman “Stay classy”
9. The Hangover “It’s not a purse, it’s a satchel…” and pretty much everything else Alan says

What other movies would you add (or which ones on my list would you remove)? Have you ever completed a run streak?