49 Days until Hyannis...

I was secretly hoping that this was going to be a 50 day countdown... Oh well, 49 has a nice menacing ring to it!

Clearly at this point those of us running Hyannis are right in the midst of our training plans. What that entails is running, getting ready to run, recovering from running, thinking about running, eating ALL the foods, doing TONS of laundry (or just leaving it for later) and being TERRIBLE at going out socially. Our social lives are remarkable failures right now because my long runs are on Friday and Eric's are on Sunday. Luckily, neither of us long for the crazy bar hopping, up until 1AM lifestyle.

 

 

I look like this 98% of the time. SEXY.

 

So how am I feeling with 49 days to go? Solid. I don't want to jinx myself so I'm going to shut up asap. I still think that this training cycle has the potential to fill in all those jerky holes in my basic training and fitness that seem to sneak up on me. With another month of serious training before backing off pre race I'm feeling pretty darn good!  (well. who knows what Coach Kelsey has in store for me... I could be cranking out high mileage up until race day!)  

Here's Eric after his 20 miler yesterday.
He killed it! And, henceforth, was exhausted...

I don't think I can speak for Eric as to how he feels during this semi final countdown. From my vantage point he seems really good- he's chronically un-injured (the bastard!) he rarely had horrible GI problems mid run (LUCKY) and he has been cranking out much longer long runs that I have (better you than me!)  I have no doubt that he is going to finish his race next month looking at least as good as in the above sexy photo!

 

I've been having a good number of decent to very good runs lately. In my head I'm saving them up for when (or if) I feel like a bucket of assholes in a few weeks. I know that pre-Around The Lake I was feeling like crap before my taper. Before MDI I felt just fine though, and THAT is how I plan to go about attacking the next 49 days. Ain't NOBODY got time for an angsty runner!

 

Recap: My first month of having a Coach

It's been just over a month since I started working with Coach Kelsey and so far I'm really pleased.
It is, however, WINTER. I hope that we don't have too many more days that force me to be on the dreadmill...

Winter. Yuck.

So what have I noticed during the past month?

 

The first, and probably most obvious thing is that I am completely free from devising my own training plan. I could not be more pleased about this and honestly think that if this was the ONLY benefit it would be well worth the money! My self inflicted training plans are never ideal, as they mostly involve running about 8 miles, at an 8:20 pace, every day of my life. Hmmmm.

 

The second, and more important thing is that she is there to put a firm stop to my shenanigans... Run two hours on a very, very painful ankle? NO

Run 29 miles in 2 days to make it to 1600 for the year? NO!!!!

 

The third thing I most certainly notice is that the miles are getting back to where I like to see them- in the general range of 8:30's, which feels more like a normal effort now and less of a disgusting struggle. (Post MDI, being sick, etc I was having a hard time!) Also, things are feeling better after a month that was just over 100 miles. Definitely not a lot of mileage for me. I feel like my workouts are less heavy on the miles and more focused on the productivity. As previously mentioned I have also been doing core work at least 1x a week and an hour of spin weekly. This is a first for me- cross training has NEVER been my strong point! Most of my workouts involve changes of pace, which mixes things up for my legs that enjoy staying in the 8:30 range always, for every run...

 

I had a couple of minor stumbling blocks during December. I "missed" 2 long runs- one due to my iffy Achilles and the other was a scheduled skip on a day when I got a wisdom tooth extracted (ouch). With those exceptions I tried to be very faithful to the plan, I don't pay somebody to help me and then scamper around doing whatever I want!!

 

So December racked up 103 miles, 3 spin sessions, 5 core workouts and a long slushy 13 miler as my longest run. Pretty decent stuff. I imagine that January is going to raise the bar on the intensity level as Hyannis looms on the horizon. My logical goals for this month are to stay healthy, work hard on my nutrition plan (always mission impossible around here) start eating like an athlete again and not like a 13 year old boy, and to get in every one of my long runs.

So that is where I'm at for the time being. Feeling pretty good about things and very glad to have some excellent help pushing me along the way!

How to display your prizes and merch!!

Once upon a time Eric pretty much won an Ironman and promptly threw his prizes and merch into a shoebox under his bed. FAIL!!!! Along came ME and because a: I'm fabulous b: prize abuse is not tolerated in my house and c: my Dad is a pro furniture builder, I solved this problem just in time for Christmas.

BOOM.

 

Now THAT is more like it!

And then.... I got jealous. My FEI horse finally won a Championship- If I had a dollar for very time that horse has been 2nd I have a lot of dollars. Anyway, he rocked it out this year and at 17 years old brought home the bacon. Bless his little fickle chestnut heart... Clearly, I wanted to hang his official victory photos and ribbon on my wall, dammit!!

DAD!!!! HELP!

This is mine. So snazzy. So pretty. So big!!!

I can't wait to collect my sweet Boston merch and bribe (ummm, or pay) my Dad to make me another sweet pimpin' shadowbox. YOU GUYS, YOU NEED TO GET ONE!!!

I wish I had one for every medal and pretty ribbon that I've ever won, but I don't have enough wall space (oh yes, I'm THAT awesome. *ahem*)

Shameless Plug for my Dad, who is awesome! 

The Epic 2013 Race Schedule!

Now that 2013 if officially here it's time to talk about ALL THE FUN THINGS that are in the plans!!

After running more races that was good for me in 2012 I fully plan on more of the same for this year. Well.... Maybe not quite.

The awesome thing about 2013 is the number of new adventures that are already in the plans. I'm excited. Big surprise there.

Here are the "big" races that I have on the schedule so far. Boston is noticeably missing, only because I have already overtalked it into the ground, and plan to do so as it draws closer. There are also some other random races that haven't made the cut for today's list because they are just too damn boring. :-)
So here are a few of the most adventurous races that are officially on the to do list!

 

 

This Monster is next on the agenda.
It's going to be a Hyannis training run for both Eric and me and I don't expect to enjoy it- HAH!!!

 

This is my "A" Race.
Boston is supposed to be my FUN race dammit! FUN! MEH!
So this is where the smack is going to get laid. BOOM! (trash talk..)

In order to keep things interesting this is the post Boston destination.
AS AN ULTRA TEAM.
I'm seriously excited for this because nothing says fun like an Ultra Relay!

Calm down, I AM NOT doing a Tri. That would be ridiculous.
(And I am known for my good choices.)
Eric, Kate and I have formed a Half Ironman Relay Team.
ERMAHGRD. We could not be more pumped.
There will definitely be a LOT of blog chatter about our training escapades for THIS one.
It's already a Sufferfest in my basement. Quite a party.

Looks like it is going to be a busy winter and Spring indeed. I'm REALLY looking forward to the new experiences! Last year was a great year for trying all kinds of crazy new things and this year is taking it to a whole new level of absurdity. Can't wait!

A Seriously Badass 2012 Recap!

Happy New Years, kids!

No beginning of the year race for me, and a good thing too since I ate all the foods and drank all the wine last night.

I like to wait for the beginning of the New Year to do my last years recap. Better late than never I suppose? (I'm lazy.)

Our nice friends/family gave us some fun ornaments which I really, really like and plan to use year round. You know you've had a bang up athletic season when you can have a legit ornament to commemorate your accomplishments.
Here they are:

Only the ones on the left are mine.
I'm only awesome at running.... Which is the only thing that counts anyway! Heehee..

What did I do in 2012?  

EVERY DAMN THING, UGH!!!

 

Total Miles: 1,587.88 (I WILL do 1600 next year!)

I had NO mileage goal in mind for 2012. I will say that this is at least twice as many miles as I ran in 2011 if not more. Probably more.

Total Races: TWENTY FIVE WTF????

Total pairs of shoes that I wore out: 3, with another pair well on its way...

 

Races:  (yes, I PR'd in every distance this year. ughhhhhhh)

5K: 10... I think.... We'll call it 10 and be ok with that.

PR: 19:59 (Tri for a Cure 5K)

Merch: 3 AG wins and 1 overall female win. Winning, winning galore blah blah.

I had something insane like 5 consecutive 5K PR's this year before nailing the sub 20 and retiring the 5K distance from things I care about. I don't love the 5K and I'm never going to be fast enough to really dominate!

 

10K: 3

PR: 43:43 (Cohasset Rotary 10K)
 This might never, ever happen again unless I'm actually training for a 10K. As unlikely as that is eventually I might get sick of marathon training and need a new fun challenge (I just misspelled hellacious horrible idea, didn't I??) My 2nd best finish this year was 44:49 which (for whatever retardo reason) felt MUCH easier. Go figure.

Merch: 2 3rd place AG finishes

 

4 Miler: 1

PR: 26:53 (Bridgton 4 on the 4th)

Merch: 4th place woman
I am fine with this being my 4 mile PR forever. I owed this course a solid ass kicking and I delivered.

10 Miler: 1
This was my first 10 miler...1:15:11
That can be another life long PR for all I care.

Half Marathons: 6
PR: 1:36:40 (at Great Bay Half)
Merch: 3rd AG at GBH, 4th AG at the AWH, 4th female at the Indoor Half
I smashed my Half PR by something silly like 9 minutes. I don't have a lot of Half's planned for 2013 which makes me sad- it's my favorite distance! I love Half's because it's a legit workout without taking up your whole day with running. Training for a half is easy (relatively speaking!) You are usually done running a half by lunch, which is important. I plan to run a Half faster someday, but probably not in 2013.

16 Miler: 1 (because who runs a 16 mile race...??)
Never had done one.. 2:09:58
I am running this again but don't expect to PR. No need to.

25K Trail Race Of Stupidity: 1
Another 1st time... 2:07:22
I absolutely refuse to ever, ever run this even one second faster.

Marathon: 2
PR: 3:34:14
Merch: AG WIN at MDI. Let's not talk about it as I'm still sad that I didn't pick up the award. I'm almost over it, I swear....
In my head I have zero plans to run this faster but that is a lie. Unless I want to spend my life BQing by the very smallest of margins then a 2013 PR seems likely. It will be a one second PR though, I don't really want to hurry that much faster because it hurts!!!

That is it, unless I forgot something. I'm exhausted just from reading that list!
Tomorrows post is going to be a good one!!! I'm going to let you guys in on all the big plans for 2013- I'm pretty excited for a new year of training and racing (and eating all the foods and drinking all the beers, duh!) So stay tuned...