Hullo Again San Diego

Why hello there, from the marvelous city of San Diego, where sunshine splashes your face from morning to eve, the Mexican food is to die for, and where the smells wafting through downtown alternate seamlessly between pot-smoke and urine.


I am here to eat tacos, run in the sunshine and hang out with Kristen for work, arriving last Thursday and leaving next Monday.

You know you're a runner when you go on a work trip and bring at least as much running gear as you do office clothes.

I am spending my days writing a brief that will be filed prior to me going home to New York. Also spending my days running around my old haunts. I have run down on the harbor (Kristen informed me recently that its termed the Embarcadero)

I dont care what your proper name is, you sexy beast of a long-flat running course with beautiful scenery

K and I also planned two long runs, one of which we've already done around Mission Bay:

 

It was a nice 15-mile run at 8:30 pace (clearly aerobic because we were talking the entire time). My legs have felt a bit heavy after a couple of weeks of increased mileage and some pretty hard runs, and balancing recovery from the Oceans Run Half. After the race, I made myself wait at least 10 days before adding back in any speed or tempo work to my schedule, so the week-after's runs were all easy.

March 10th-17th

Sunday: Oceans Run half marathon

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: probably the slowest 6 miles I have ever run. Probably around 9:30 pace.

Wednesday: 8 miles easy

Thursday: 40 mins easy elliptical. Short leg/butt/hamstring strength session.  

Friday: 9 miles easy

Saturday: 9 miles easy

Total: 45 miles

March 18-23rd

Sunday: 18 miles at 8:05 avg pace. 

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 8 miles easy

Wednesday: 10 miles, with 8 marathon-pace tempo  (7:18 avg pace). [Felt like complete rubbish from the first tempo mile, and nearly quit at mile 2 (yay for mental strength development!) However I had just hopped off a 6-hour flight from NY, run my longest run ever a couple of days prior, and had run a HM only 10 days prior. Expecting miracles from my legs, much?]
Thursday: 15 mins elliptical, leg and core strength workout
Friday: Speed/threshold: 1 mile easy, 6x1 mile repeats at half-marathon pace, with 400m jog recoveries, 1 mile easy (10 miles total).  Splits were: 6:56, 6:55, 6:52, 6:56, 6:57, 6:5. [Happier with this one. Felt strong and controlled throughout.]
Saturday: 7 miles easy

Total: 52 miles = highest mileage ever!!

Mainly I was (a) stoked to avoid injury this week; and (b) relieved to have gotten at least one long run in so far before NJ despite using the Hansons plan. More on that later.

For now, let me leave you with a foodie pic:

Beer-steamed shrimp in some kind of garlic-ey butter sauce, with a salad. Unpictured: countless tortilla chips, tacos and mountains of fresh fruit I have consumed since being here.  Next post will likely include a magical bean and cheese burrito that Kristen has me SOLD on...

Maui No Ka Oi

two little runners ~ Kristen

Ah yes, gentle readers, we left off with aloha--I was Maui bound for a birthday vacation. 

When people ask me how old I am, I have to think about it for a minute. Does that happen to you? As a runner, I think my age 5 year intervals:  currently still rocking 30-34. 

Maui was also my last week of easy running/base building/mileage buildup. But as it turns out, although Maui is an amazing tropical paradise, it is not a great place to run. (1) It is windy. (2) Activities start before dawn because the best weather and water conditions are in the early morning. (3) Pina coladas. 

The deets. 

We stayed at the Ritz in Kapalua. Thanks to a major hookup from my Ragnar teammate (SoCal April 19-20!), we got upgraded to an ocean view suite and treated to a bunch of goodness at the Ritz. Awesome resort. Kapalua is beautiful with its rugged coast and pine trees. The *one* run I did the week we were there was along the Kapalua coastal trail, which is gorgeous. But I only ran 3.5 miles, ouch. So much for easy running/base building/mileage buildup. 

Lava rocks!

But there was hiking. In the weeks before we arrived, Maui had tons of rain. We saw huge waterfalls over two days of hiking along the Road to Hana. 

400 foot waterfall.

We jumped into a sea cave and then warmed up on a black sand beach. 

No progress on those runner tan lines.

For the birthday itself, we went on a whale watching/snorkeling/booze cruise. 

No one tells you this - but you need a windbreaker in Maui - it
was my most worn item of clothing!

There were so many whales we didn't know which way to look! And when we were snorkeling, we could hear their songs under the water. 

Whale!

We did a couple of other snorkeling days, seeking sea turtles--but were Bogarted on turtles! 

Other major activity was a 30 mile bike ride down the (inactive) volcana on Maui--Haleakala. 10,000 feet (and dang it is cold and windy up there) all the way back down to sea level.

Looking down on the crater. 

The biggest surprise of the trip was how much I liked swimming in the ocean. Is a triathlon in my future?

two little runners ~ Kristen

Oceans Run Half Marathon Review and Recap

Y'aaaaaaaaaall. Whattup.

So I'm still training for the NJ marathon... and I kinda wanted a slightly more accurate half marathon pace to assess my fitness for marathon pace.... whatever that is. As awesome a performance as Vegas was, I dont think it was really a great test of fitness. As a side-note, I don't think that story will ever stop being redramatized. By now my husband thinks that the entire race was uphill at 8000 foot of elevation with 50mph gusts. Not to mention that I was suffering from hypothermia and wearing a weighted vest.

Anyway, the hubs and I had already decided to do a weekend getaway, and I found the Oceans Run half marathon in South Kingstown, RI. Very scenic place and apparently a beautiful course with a small field of runners: perfect.

The two weeks prior, I had continued my marathon training plan per usual, just dropping the tempo and long run at the end of the second week:

Feb 24-March 2
Sunday: Central Park Half Marathon (13.1 miles at 7:53 pace)
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 8 miles easy
Wednesday: 6 x 800s at 6:22min/miles (9.4mph) with 400 jog recoveries at about 9:30-10 min miles.
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 9 tempo
From my fast running blog: Best workout so far. Completely awesome. I had a 5-mile tempo scheduled but did 6 miles effort because it just felt good. Did two easy miles, around 8:30 pace. Tempo splits were: 7:23, 7:09, 7:09, 7:01, 7:04, 7:08. Cool down for an easy mile. So the average here was a little bit slower than last week's 5 mile tempo, but what made it so awesome was how it felt. Completely controlled. The splits were a little bit uneven in places because of wind, but the effort felt very sustainable, even and even easy. The last two miles flew by, and for the first time on a tempo run, I was not counting the minutes til I could stop. Average overall pace was 7:09 with fuel left in the tank.
Saturday: 7 miles easy
Total: 45 miles

March 3-10, 2013
Sunday: 14 miles easy
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 8 miles easy
Wednesday:  Speed. Hardest one I've done so far. Warmup (1.5 miles), then 5 x 1K at 6:22min miles (5K pace - 9.4mph) at 1% incline, with 400m jog recoveries.
Thursday: rest
Friday: 7 miles easy
Saturday: leisurely Cliff Walk in Newport, RI
Total: 37 miles

Plus delicious pre-race meal of lobster tail and blackened swordfish at the Black Pearl in Newport:

Who needs carbs when you have lobster and garlic butter?

Who needs lobster and garlic butter when you have this cute man to go home with?

Sunday: RACE!

The plan for the race was to run 5-10 seconds slower than what I "thought" my best HM pace would be. I estimated that my present fitness would have me running at about 6:55-7avg pace. As long as I could keep an even effort, (and not trash my legs) I would get a PR and have a bit more information up my sleeve about what my marathon goal pace should be.

The day was a bit gusty along the ocean (apparently the hubs was very fearful for me as he heard the walls of the finishers' tent flap around madly in the wind), but I was mentally prepared for that (unlike Vegas) and determined to push back.

Miles 1-2: 7:04, 7:04. Right on target. Legs still warming up as it was 37 degrees; this helped me keep pace in check.
Mile 3: 6:50. Oops! Slow down! Came upon an Australian running the race. He was so stoked to meet a fellow Aussie in a pretty random little area of the world. We trotted together for a few minutes, but he was wanting to maintain a 7:30 pace, so I kept going. 
Mile 4: 7:04. Up a hill that people had been calling "gigantic." Um, no. It was a hill alright, but I guess the Harlem Hills have given me a tougher hide over the last few months. Started a caffeinated Gu. Was told I was third woman... passed one of them.
Mile 5: 7:02. Finished Gu. Played tag team with the woman I passed.
Mile 6: 7:01. Gu kicked in, holy crap. I had to hold my legs back from sprinting in this mile. Passed the other woman.
Miles 7-10: 6:57, 7:01, 6:51, 7:08. Uneventful. Completely by myself; the lead pack were about a mile ahead. Hit another bigg-ish hill. Tried to listen to turn on some music, but kept fumbling with my iPod. It ended up just annoying me, so I shut it off. Had another Gu. Didnt want to litter so I shoved the two packets up my sleeve so it got all gross and sticky up there.
Mile 11-12: 7:14 (music fumbling), 7:01.
Mile 13: 7:19; turned into a headwind and a slow incline in this mile. Very tired and legs starting to burn, but thankfully by no means dead like I was in the final miles of Philly.
Mile 0.1: 7:09 pace... tried to kick it in... gotta work on that.

Garmin time: 1:32:31, Chip time 1:32:29.  Third woman overall. Nice little PR to boot. 

 

The hubs just caught my less-than epic finish 

Bad news was that I wasnt third woman back at Mile 4, but 5th. Unfortunately the two lead ladies were not that far ahead of me (they finished in 1:30xx and 1:31xx respectively) and I kind of wish I had known or seen them... might have given me something to run harder for.

For placing, I got two medals:

AND a cash prize of 25 whoppers!

Can I quit my day job now, do you think?

Oceans Run Half was organized by Trimom Productions and they did an EXCELLENT job on the race. Markers were clear, water stops were well-staffed and volunteers were awesome. Great spread of post-race treats (I swiped several cookies and brownies for the drive home)... and the course was really pretty. The hills were not awful... you get to run by the ocean, and through some really pretty countryside. Great job to Trimom.

So what'd I learn? I definitely don't think I was sub-1:30 ready in Vegas. I think I could have run this course 1 minute or so faster, and I definitely have a 1:30:xx in me if I was tapered and in the right conditions. Marathon goal pace sits around 7:20-7:30 for training purposes. Race strategy to be determined.

Central Park Half Marathon, Jude Law and some more miles...

Hey there, ether-webs, Penny here. I just got done watching the Talented Mr. Ripley with the Talented And Handsome Jude Law. Sometimes I wish the Hey Runner Girl meme had been about him. They are so funny, but I just don't get the draw with Ryan Gosling. Did I miss a sparkle in his eye? Does he have some kind of crazy 12-pack set of abs that I don't know about? Is that even physiologically possible?

Anyway, moving on. Last week I ran the NYC Runs Central Park half marathon.  Originally I signed up for this race thinking I would run it as a marathon tempo. Then weather forecasted rain, snow and 25mph winds on an already very hilly course through Central Park. Seeing as I still have a bit of PTSD (read, I'm a massive wimp) from Vegas, AND I didn't want to have trashed legs for a week, I decided to run it as an easy long run.

The weeks runs, thus, went per normal: (Feb 17-23, 2013)
Sunday: 10 miles easy
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 8 miles easy
Wednesday: 8 miles, with 8x600s at 6:22 pace (9.4mph) with 400m jog recoveries
Thursday: rest
Friday: tempo: 2 miles easy, 2miles @ 7:19, 2 miles @ 7:13, 1 mile @ 7:08, 1 mile easy.
Saturday: 9 miles easy
Total: 42 miles

Well, low and behold, the weather (as I should have known, if I paid any attention to Murphy) was perfect running weather. Overcast, cool in the 40s, barely any wind! Ah well, it was really nice doing a race with zero expectations other than to have fun running with a speedy friend of mine.  Overall a  1:44-ish for a average pace of 7:53 min/mile (with a bathroom break - first time in a race ever!) All miles felt pleasantly aerobic with a bit of effort going up those Harlem hills.

Twinsies in Lulu blue! Unplanned matchy awesomeness.

The course takes you on one big loop of the park (with Harlem hills), then a second loop, crossing at the 102nd st traverse, then a third loop of the lower end of the park. Marathoners did FIVE laps of the second loop. Holy monotony!

The hubs made a surprise visit down to see us finish the race. Dragged along the camera and took pics without me even asking. True love!

NYC Runs did a great job on the race, with the only exception of packet-pick up. You could pick up the packet at a running shop on the East side, which had a really long line on the Friday night and they went so. slow. handing. crap. out. However, they did apologize for this at the race, and the good news is that all was forgiven when this arrived in the mail from the Hot Chocolate 10K I ran in December:

Bad news is that I cant center a damn photo.

Exit trial, Kristen (sniff!) and base training...enter hard running and pain

So trial is over. We joke that January 2013 was just one long day. Or just never really happened... lost in the black hole of nothingness. Another murder victim of trial.

However having the ole bestie with me 24/7 pretty well rocked. K and I spent our last day together getting coffee (naturally):

And checking out the Chelsea Markets where we ate some ridiculously good crepes full of cheese and other delicious morsels.

Its always very important to carb-load. You know, for running and stuff. And you need cheese for all its dairy and calcium for the bones.  Moving on.

Last week was the first week out of base training, and into speed and tempo work for my May 5 marathon.

I realized very quickly how much I miiiiiiissed easy running. Running all my miles at 7:50 was intoxicating. You get a real runners high, but you're never tired/sore like you are with hard training. You don't have those first ginger steps out of bed to go to the loo, or the awkward quad-sore waddle, going down stairs.

During my dreamy easy running days, I ran lots of easy miles in Central Park with some lovely snow scenes:

Now Ive added back in speed and tempo (and aforementioned awkward waddling), those "easy" runs more closely approximate recovery runs and edge towards 8:30 avg pace, to give my legs a break.

The week of 2nd-9th of Feb I took off completely from running. I had a few niggles that just needed a couple of days to heal up, which all that dreamy easy running wasn't quite allowing.

Then 10th-16th Feb, 2013 looked like this:
Sunday: 8 easy
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 12x400 at 6:18 with 400 recoveries on 1.5% incline (treadmill). (8 miles)
Wednesday: 8 miles easy
 Thursday: Off
Friday: 4 easy
Saturday: 2 easy, 5 mile tempo (Splits of 7:30, 7:13, 7:06, 6:50, 6:55, 2 easy (9 miles)

Total: 37 miles

Obviously the first thing that sticks out is my complete inability to figure out where my "tempo" marathon place is. HM pace is easy, as its just below that lactate threshold. Marathon pace needs to be below that, but still a concerted effort. Also made harder because I am up in the air about what my marathon pace should be. I feel like my fitness exceeds my current race times, so they are not a good indication of what I should aim for. But even if they were, its my first marathon. So many unknowns. Such a huge possibility of getting dehydrated, hitting the wall or shitting myself.  Frankly, the latter is my major concern.

So the plan is to just test out paces between 7:15-7:30 in my long tempos (8-10 miles) and see what feels manageable and least likely to make me want to puke. Likely scenario is that I'll have a finish time range that I want to be in; run the first half in accordance with the slower end of the range, see how Im feeling then see if I can run a negative split the second half.

All Easy is All Good

two little runners ~ Kristen 

Ahhh! I have been blissfully running sweet, easy miles. Spending some time in the gym to get leg and core strength back to where it was. And stretching out with daily yoga. 

...om...

Base building has been treating me right! I love running without worrying about pace or distance. I've been heading out the door with just a time frame in mind. 

I'm finding that base building is also a healing time. All those little eeks and creaks from my intense fall half marathon training have cleared up. I haven't worn my compression socks since December! Habitual stiffness and knots in the calves - gone! What tiny strain in the piriformis from speed work on treadmill?

And I'm using this time to focus on some little niggles in my feet that I have been managing for awhile. I occasionally experience a sharp pain in my left foot where my arch meets the ball of my foot. Toward the end of long runs on pavement, it would manifest as feeling like there was a pebble in the arch of my shoe.  And I have some joint stiffness, from an old tennis injury, near my right arch as well. It is clearing up with what I can only describe as "plantar fascia scraping." Other people call it massage. 

The base building will continue for one more week while I am vacationing in Maui!! And then it will be time to pick a race, a pace, and get serious once again!

For now, I'm running to be happy, have fun, and explore new places and routes.

...and take pictures...

In New York:

Obsessed with the Brooklyn Bridge. I ran over it once and
under it as many times as I could!

 In Santa Barbara:

Quick weekend vacation. One of the most beautiful stretches
of California coast.

And at home in San Diego:

A friendly humming bird let me shoot a closeup!

Even through trial, looking over my training log, I was fairly consistent with volume during my 6 week base building period.

Setting aside the two weeks of January. 

A dark period, never to be spoken of again.  

January week 3 – 30 miles

January week 4 – 30 miles

February week 1 – 40 miles

February week 2 – 30 miles

February week 3 – 40 miles

February week 4 – will end up being about 50 miles

Aloha!

two little runners ~ Kristen

Home Sweet Home

two little runners ~ Kristen

I’ve completed the progression from SoCalifornian to New Yorker. I’ve screamed at people on the sidewalk before 8 a.m. I’m not afraid to throw an elbow on the subway. And I ran a 10 miler outside when it was 25 degrees! Just in time to go home. Today is my last day in New York!

Goodbye New York! 

I’ll miss your bagels.

Pumpernickel with tofu veggie cream cheese.
That's my bagel.

I’ll miss your desserts and pastry.

New York cheesecake - the original. 

I’ll miss your macchiato.

Approximately 1/25 of the coffees Penny and I
drank to fuel us through 40 days of trial. 

But most of all, I’ll miss 24/7 with Penny.

And hhheeellllllooo life!

It's San Diego. 70 and gorgeous again!

On the running front, this week I continued to build aerobic base for my forthcoming marathon training. I ran 38 easy miles with some strides, progressions, and fartleks thrown in. I’m feeling more positive about my fitness this week. It’s amazing what a week without a sick day will do for the confidence barometer.

But I still have a lot to work on when I get home. My legs are bound up and tight from sitting in court all day and in front of a computer all night. I did not keep up with my daily yoga practice. I can feel tightness in my hip flexors when I run. I recall the same sensation before I started with yoga, so I anticipate the tightness going away in a few weeks of regular stretching.

I also want to spend some time in the gym building back all around strength, especially leg and core strength. My legs don’t feel as strong when I am running these days, and I feel instability in my core when I am running at fast paces – in strides, fartleks, and towards the end of progressions.

But first, some R&R in Santa Barbara for the weekend! 

two little runners ~ Kristen

Trail and Trial

By Two Little Runners ~ Kristen

I too ventured outdoors this week and did my first (and, so far, only) outdoor run of 2013. With temperatures downright balmy in the 40s, I ran a 10 miler along the Hudson River path over the weekend. 

My hotel is in TriBeCa, so I ran the south part of the path. The Hudson River path runs way up north to upper upper upper west side heights, as Penny calls her neighborhood, and beyond. (Penny and I ran the northern portion of this path when I was last in NYC for work during the fall, so I’ve run almost the entire Hudson River path in two runs!)

I ran from the World Trade Center up to 54th St. and back. The most scenic part of the route was through Chelsea. The path is nicely landscaped and built with tourists in mind - so they can wonder around after checking out Chelsea piers.

The most impressive sites along these parts are architectural. Not pictured is the Statue of Liberty. You can see it from the Canal St. pier, if you squint. 

WTC 1 - AKA Freedom Tower
Built near the site where the Twin Towers once stood, this tower
dominates the skyline of lower Manhattan.

The US Intrepid, now a museum.

The off beat Frank Geary building in Chelsea.

This week, I continued my marathon training with 30 easy, aerobic base-building miles. All easy paces (for all the treadmillers out there, 7.1/8:27) with a sprinkling of strides, fartleks, and short progressions. 

I'm struggling with consistency and volume at the moment. I've been sick almost constantly (along with most of the trial team), and again this week, prompting a renaming of our trial conference room from "The War Room" to "The Infirmary." Three doctor's visits since arriving on 12/27. I never see the doctor three times in a year - let alone in one month!

So in January, I took 12 days completely off of exercise due to illness. While I am doing the best I can to stay fit, I don't know how effective my training has been this month.

My current thinking is that I need to extend my base building period by a few weeks after I get back to San Diego (someday?) to allow time to build on my aerobic base while healthy and when I'm back to regular hours like a normal person. And to give myself time to gain back some strength (because haven't lifted weights since December) before engaging in more intense training. I can't even handle the thought of a tempo run at the moment!

~ Kristen

Fueling for Morning Runs II and Running in the Snow

BREAKING NEWS.  I FINALLY braved the cold and snow. It was 10 degrees the other morning, and when I checked the weather, I thought I had accidentally switched my phone to Celsius mode. Ahhahahaha...no. F-degrees. F for Fahrenheit, F for Fail, F for Effen cold.

Proof, PROOF that there was snow. This was not the snow I ran in. My snow was everywhere and much colder.

I got up, got dressed, and went to go outside to the gym before work, and despite there being snow everywhere, it didnt feel toooo horrifically spirit-crushingly cold. So I decided to run in it. I'd never run actually on snow before, so that was an experience. I learned that if its dry and powdery, its actually got a fair bit of traction. That said, I am a massive klutz, and I didn't want to risk slipping, so I decided to head to the one place in the world - if there was ever one - that would likely have been cleared of snow by 8am in the morning: Central Park. Did a solid 8 miles (big loop + 1 mile to and from) and came home, immensely proud of my new-found bravery.

Total running mileage January 20-26: 38 miles. Mostly easy pace (around 8:00min/miles) with some fartleks and the occasional tempo mile here and there.

In other news, I got a few interesting responses to my questions re Fueling for Morning Runs - specifically hard workouts (I am fine to run on an empty stomach when its easy) - which Im going to copy and paste below:

My childhood friend Racer, said he runs fasted except the occasional long run: 
"[F]or anything under 2 hours I do all my morning runs with no fuel. When I did the handful of 30km+ runs I ate a banana before heading out and made sure there were plenty of drink points along my planned course. I don't know, but I've been told running on empty forces your body to be efficient? As for am sessions, I try to avoid doing speed work less than an hour after waking up. I'm told that when you sleep your core temp drops and it takes an hour or so to warm up in the morning. High intensity work before it warms up is risky. I figure tempo work is OK though - HMRP and slower isn't really high intensity.

As a side-note, when we were in kindergarten, our mothers made me and Racer matching tracksuits. Maybe we should do that again for a race back in Melbs, whaddaya reckon R?

Jake, who is far too great an athlete/runner to not be listened to, also said he runs unfueled:

"I never eat before running in the mornings. I'm usually up and out the door in 15-20 minutes. I find that eating some carbs before bed (ice cream!) is helpful :-)
I've gotten myself very used to running on an empty stomach.
Training "fasted" at times is definitely advantageous in marathon training - as Racer said, your body learns to be efficient and use fat as fuel.
Speed work in the morning can be tough. It helps to go a bit slower on your first couple reps (if doing an interval type workouts) or start the first mile or two (if doing a tempo run) a little slower b/c it does take some time to wake up and warm up."

Roserunner takes in some extra calories before her epic morning long runs before she heads to work [no one messes with this girl's three dinners or mileage plans]:
"I almost only run in the morning, and almost never eat beforehand. I just eat huge dinners. Not so much that I go to bed stuffed, but enough calories to fuel me up to 15 miles in the a.m. Which is to say my dinner+dessert is typically at least 1400-1800 calories."

And of course my co-star and fellow trial minion, Kristen who hates running on an empty stomach... so her approach is to have just a little oatmeal before heading out:
"I hate unfueled runs, even easy ones! Downing a very small amount of oatmeal (less than 1/4 cup) about 20 minutes before I start out makes a huge difference. By the time I am warmed up, I have just enough fuel, but no discomfort in my stomach."

Finally, I found some great advice from the website of the disarmingly honest, humble and all-round awesome US 5000m runner, Lauren Fleshman:

1. Get up 2-3 hours before the run and eat something “real” like a couple eggs and toast, or some oatmeal with some nuts, or 1 cup of good quality yogurt with berries and cereal, or other meal options with some protein and fat. Protein takes time to digest, but if you have the time, eating a breakfast like this leaves you well fueled for a tough morning session or race. I’d keep the total calories under 600.
2. Eat something easy to digest 30-90 minutes before, like a piece of toast with a little butter (or a small amount of peanut butter) and jam. This is my favorite option because I like to sleep in. Calorie estimate is between 150-350 depending on how much time you have.
3. If you are a roll-out-of-bedder, suck down a Powergel or an all natural Liquid Gold 5-15 minutes before you run with a little water. I do this when I have a basic endurance run, but never before a tough workout.

So basically, Im going to sum it up all this fantastic advice in a really generalized and altogether pretty unhelpful way. Everyone is different. I'm pretty sure we all just need to figure out what works for us through trial and error. I'm happy to know that running fasted is not uncommon, and I'll definitely keep doing that while it works. If I have a particularly epic tempo or key interval workout planned, I might keep it for the evening so I have something in the system.
 

Fueling for Morning Runs

Leading up to Vegas, I began doing most of my runs in the evening, for two reasons. First, the race was in the evening, so I was trying to prep my body to know when it was time to run. Second, I just couldn't complete any kind of hard workouts in the morning on an empty stomach, and I could never seem to get up early enough to eat such that I would feel "fueled" on the run.  And I noticed a big difference in the energy I had for evening runs. I would have had at least a half day of eating (800 calories ish) and then would time a carb-y snack about 2 hours before the workout (a single banana or 3 shot blocks - around 100 calories of pure carbs - was the best).

Yesterday I did an easy 9 miles in the morning with some fartleks thrown in, having only drunk a coffee beforehand. This is pretty typical for my easy runs, and I don't mind feeling a little sluggish for them. But this time my legs felt very heavy. I posted the below comment on my fast running blog:

Legs felt heavy and my easy pace felt a bit harder today (outside of the fartleks, avg pace would have been around 8:15). I only ate a salad and a dish of scallops last night; virtually no carbs. Hadnt really thought about it before, but every time I have Mexican, and chow down on a bunch of fried delicious tortilla chips, I have a great run the next day. Must attempt to incorporate more carbs (and more healthy ones) in the evening meals.

So I ask any readers out there:

If you run in the morning, and need to do a hard workout (ie speed or tempo) that requires serious energy, how many hours before you run, do you eat? How much do you eat?  Does anyone know how quickly we digest and absorb carbs so they are actually usable on a run? Is it better to just eat a hefty meal the night before?  Do people just eat to not be uber hungry on the run? 

 On race mornings, I try to eat 2 hours before the race and get in at least a few hundred (300-400) calories of carbs... That seems like a lot for just a training run... but is it?

- Penny

Running lots, working more and turning 30

Well hey there. After Kristen's diligent post - despite our current working conditions (ie, the work doesnt end) - I felt compelled to update the etherwebs about my last month or so. 

The last month running wise has been about slowly building my mileage back up with easy miles plus a few fast single miles and progression runs here and there. 

Dec 23- Dec 29: 23 miles

Dec 30 - Jan 5: 23 miles

Jan 6 - Jan 12: 36 miles

Jan 13 - Jan 20: 41 miles.

What else has been happening here? I got sick with a disgusting sinus infection right when we began trial. The group of people we are working with were all sick when we started, and it was only a matter of time before the festering germ-bank that is our work area began to infect us as well. 

Our heads feel like they are big enough to have their own weather systems. We're working til 10pm on New Years Eve. But smile for the camera!!

Also? I turned 30. Yup, the big 3-oh. I rang in my birthday with a lovely 10 miles.... followed by a 16-hour work day. That was a fantabulous way to enter my thirties. At least I got some lovely presents, including:

A road ID from the hubs (I think this was more for his peace of mind, than mine). As you can see, he decided to also get it engraved with my tongue-in-cheek running motto. 

I also received a lover-ly running swiftly lulu from Kristen:

These tops are deceptively warm, so I have been easily able to withstand running in 30 degree weather with these tops, a parka and running tights. 

In other news Ive decided Im gunna run a marathon in 2013. May 5. Jersey shore. I hope I see Snookie and the Situation there.

Help, I am on the wrong coast!

I’ve been a temporary New Yorker for 23 days. And I am adjusting, slowly, sort of!

I learned from Penny that a Kindle is a must for the subway. I read Advanced Marathoning entirely while underground.

Another major subway discovery:  I discerned that the subway stops are named after cross town streets, for the most part. This has been a revelation in my navigation skills. When I pop up out of a subway station, I have a good sense of which direction to walk. No more roaming around until I can read a street sign, check Google maps, possibly still walk the wrong way, and be 15 minutes late to everything as a result.

I learned that it is not that cold here. But first, in an extreme overreaction to mid 30s temperatures my first days in New York, I purchased snow boots, which I still have not had the occasion to wear (thankfully).  

I have not yet run outside in 2013. All treadmill. All the time. So still working on that temperature acclimation. 

On the day I arrived, the city greeted me with a sleet/rain/snow mixture for two days. Then the temps warmed up to mid 40s and even the 50s, but I simultaneously caught a cold, which turned into a sinus infection. Only after a solid week of no exercise, I managed to do some very light yoga. Between being sick and working early to late every day on the trial, I was completely wiped out and went 10 days without running.

But I am back on track now with the base building phase for my undetermined spring marathon (leaning toward San Diego RnR, especially because I learned today that the finish is at Petco Park rather than Sea World). I'm continuing to run all easy miles with a sprinkling of strides, fartleks, and short progressions here and there. 

Last week of December - 54 miles. Highest mileage week ever! These were all easy pace miles, but  I felt the pounding in my bones. So I don't think I can manage much more than 55 miles for my peak mileage week in marathon training.

January week 1 - 0 miles. 

January week 2 - 6.5 miles. 

January week 3 - 30 miles.

two little runners ~ Kristen

I'm always moving forward

Another inspirational story about how running changed a young teenager's life featured in Runner's World's December issue (article quoted here). Casey Revman suffers from a disability that makes it difficult for her to perform many complex tasks, such as driving and team sports. When Casey joined her high school's cross country and track teams, she gained got fit and her confidence soared. She shares an important lesson on running:

Dear Running . . . Thanks for making me a normal teenager
Casey Revman
Runner's World December 2012

Tacos make me nostalgic; therefore, I'll write about mountain lions (again).

For those who have been following along, I'm officially a temporary New Yorker. Penny and I are preparing for a trial that begins in New York on January 7. It's scheduled to run for approximately 4 weeks. So I've taken residence in TriBeCa for 42 days. In the middle of winter.

200 square feet of bliss.

It's been a difficult adjustment. It's cold all the time - every day I have to wear shoes WITH SOCKS, layers of clothing, and a HEAVY jacket. Luckily, this is not my first cold winter . . . I still have my winter coat from when I lived in St. Louis, circa 2002.

You know you are getting old when your
clothes reach the double digits in age. 

And after being in New York for a week, I am still half way on Pacific time. Being anywhere by 9 a.m. ET is a huge burden at the moment.

Then there is the mountain of work and extra long hours. And I caught a cold. Sniff, sniff.

But my attitude about New York improved approximately 30% today when I discovered an excellent Mexican restaurant mere footsteps from my hotel: Papatzul in SoHo.

I reluctantly parked myself at the bar, ordered a Negro Modela figuring the beer would be the only part of the meal I would enjoy. New York has a poor reputation for Mexican food, and I was certain there was no way SoHo Mexican food could live up to the Mexican at my beloved restaurants in San Diego (En Fuego, Las Olas, Rubios, Bull Taco, El Callejon to name a few).

To my utter shock and delight, Papatzul was awesome. These are skirt steak tacos with chorizo and fried pork skin. New Year's resolution to eat every thing on the menu?

So, with that long introduction, I'm feeling nostalgic and thought I would recap another trail run I did in the days just before leaving home.

Lake Poway Loop

On Christmas Eve day, I ran the trail around Lake Poway (trail map here). There is information about parking on the Lake Poway Recreation Area website. Basically, there is a huge parking lot at the trail head.

I recommend running the loop counter clockwise (turn right onto the trial from the trail head) because this part of the trail is very easy to follow, as the lake is in view at all times. On the back side of the loop (the first part you would get to if you took the trail clockwise), you leave the lake shore and do a bunch of switchbacks. It would be a confusing start.

The loop around the lake is about 3 miles. And there are a lot of hills! You can tell from the map that the Lake Poway loop connects to some other trails within the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, if you are up for excursions.

This was a run that almost didn't happen because I saw THIS at the trail head:

THIS is a sculpture of a MOUNTAIN LION!

Also available at the trail head - pamphlets about coyotes, rattle snakes, and, of course, our friend the mountain lion! To summarize: Coyotes are no big deal to full grown humans. Rattle snakes probably won't kill you, even if they bite you. But best to go back the other way if you see one on a trail. Don't jump over them. Mountain lions . . . if you see one, you are f*cked. Cold comfort? They are around but are rarely seen. And "REMEMBER: MOUNTAIN LION ATTACKS ON HUMANS ARE RARE!" (emphasis in original)

Because it took me nearly 30 minutes to drive there, I summoned my courage and headed out on the trail.

In the first mile, the trail stays close to the lake, and there are some steep hills. Nothing too long though.

Round about mile 2, there is a picnic table that would be fun to hike to with a group of friends. It is near an interesting rock pile formation.

Mile 3 descends below the lake (there is a dam). And there are a bunch of switch backs and some hills again to take you back up lakeside.

For a mostly road runner like me, this is a good route for an easy run, provided you take it easy on the hills. The trail is soft and footing just difficult enough to keep you in your easy pace zone. There were a lot of people on the trail, and since the trail stays close to the shore of the lake, I never felt like I was being stalked by a mountain lion. I would run this route alone again for sure. (Don't tell the mountain lions.)

two little runners
Kristen