WS Training Week 4 and Marathons Begin again!!!

WS 100 Training ~ Week 4 *Hills Hills, Hills*

Living in Cincinnati, I often hear from other runners "You have a great marathon there!" (the Flying Pig) .... "But there are a LOT of hills!!!" Fortunately (or unfortunately sometimes) I live right in the middle of the course and run on some part of it for most of my runs.  I'm under the impression that it's literally impossible for me to do enough hills to get ready for Western States-- and I'm probably right, but I'm sure gonna try! For my long run this past "weekend" (I did my long runs midweek so I could go out for NYE without worrying about hungover running) on HILLS. The first 16 I picked out the hilliest part of the marathon. The next day for my 10 I went back to my 2 mile "Hill Repeat" loop. I knew I was on the right track when running DOWNhill felt really uncomfortable!

H-Hills  WT-Weight Train  SP- SpeedWork  E-Endurance  HR-Hill Repeats

Notes/Thoughts: After my dropdown week last week, I could feel a big difference running 26 miles over the 2 days, but I think a lot of that was the amount of hills in the workout. I also followed my long runs after a very tough speed workout and a tougher weight training day, so I can see why I felt a little banged up!

NYE!

Since I travel so often for my crazy races, I DO try and make a point to have a life whenever possible. As I mentioned above, I moved my long runs to mid week so I could go out on NYE. This year I went with a few friends over to our neighbor to the West, Indianapolis for a masquerade ball! Fancy, huh? To clear a few things up... 1) yes, I drink even though I run-- it's not as impossible as many people believe. 2) There were 3 girls total in this room... perhaps we got a little overzealous on the booze! 

Trading up my sneakers for champagne on THIS trip!

Cheers to the New Year!

Coming Up...

Marathon madness starts again this weekend. "Woah" you may be saying to yourself, "Don't you only have 5 states to go for 50?" Yes, loyal blog follower, I DO only have 5 states left, but I'm doing an extra 15-20 marathons this year for a few reasons... 

1) Helping MB finish up her 50 state quest (she's about 10 behind me), 

2) Training for Western States... there is no way I'm running THAT many 20-40 mile training runs and NOT getting a medal, and 

3) SOMEbody has to judge all the marathons in the US... might as well be me!

This weekend is the Zoom Yah! Yah! Indoor marathon!!!! I know we've spoken about this a few times now-- ie. my begging them to let me in! So happy to have snagged an entry, albeit a little nervous to run a full marathon on an indoor track. Of course I don't just do things haphazardly... I made sure to do my speed work and 1 of my weekly runs on my gym's indoor track each week for about 6 weeks. Yesterday I did 7 miles and it was not easy. However, I think a lot of that is because of the pace I run when I'm tracking it-- I get caught up and run faster than I think. 

To Count or to Zone... that is the question!

The biggest issue I have with track workouts is counting! No, no, no-- not that I cannot count (I'm in finance for goodness sakes) but counting my laps makes me very aware of how many I have left and I cannot just zone out. Fortunately at Zoom yah! yah! They have a person assigned to you to count your laps. That's a LOT of trust to put in 1 college kid on a Sunday morning, but heres to hoping I got the DD from the night before and not the one that just woke up on the bathroom floor... Oh heck, I'll take the bathroom floor kid-- at least I know they're fun! :)

Upcoming Thons...

1/9 Zoom Yah! Yah! Indoor Marathon

1/16 Rock'n'Roll Arizona Marathon

1/23 Maui Oceanfront Marathon (WOOHOO)

1/29 Windburn 6 Hour Ultra

2/6 Melbourne and Beaches Music Marathon

2/13 Mardi Gras Marathon

2/23 Maple City Indoor Marathon (if Zoom yah yah goes well)

Hmmm I didn't realize how many I had signed up for.... do you SEE what happens when I give myself a 4 week break?!?!? I blame you! Oh well, wish me luck and I"ll have the Zoom Yah Yah race RUNdown coming soon!

Happy Running!

Stephanie

"Run to Win" - Meb

Worried about getting injured? Need a boost in speed to hit a PR? Ask yourself... "Have I done my strength training today?!?"