Weekly Wrap....March 12

Here we are again for the weekly wrap!

Sunday: 10 Miles on the Tread Mill ( which I actually already reported last week). Afterwards I felt like all I did for the rest of the day was eat and snack, and eat, and snack. I know I did burn a lot of calories on that run but geesh, I must have been hungry. I did have a product day though. I watched some of my favorite movies, did some laundry, graded some papers, did house work and put my new Spring door mat and wreath on the door.  That was the first time all day I went outside. I was kind of bummed that it was so nice out and I missed it. I could have done my run outside instead of on the TM.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 3 TM miles

Wednesday: Rest.  I discovered that Baylee hides in my bathtub when I am not home.  When I got home that afternoon I caught her jumping out of the tub knocking over the shampoo bottles. I now know why things are disheveled in my bathroom.

Thursday: 3 mile run outside. Funny Story: While I was taking my post run shower, Baylee paid me a visit and decided to jump in the shower. I don't know what is up with her lately. She must be claiming that as HER spot.

Friday: Rest

I can't believe this is it, my last weekend before NYC! To be honest, I'm really not sure how to taper since this is the first half marathon in which I haven't been injured during training. I was thinking about doing 6 miles today but honestly I'm feeling a bit under the weather and just may skip it ( the past few weekends I've done 13.1, 13.1, and 10 miles).  I also planned to run one  or two other 3 milers sometime during the week before I leave for NYC. Do you think that is good enough?

 Even though I'm nervous, I'm extremely excited and I'm actually feeling strong. Of course I'm not making any goals for this race because I know there are just too many things out of my control (crowds, hills, weather, nerves, etc).

I bought a new outfit this weekend for the race. I wanted something other than my black or grey pants so Scott would have a better chance of spotting me in a crowd. Turns out that I probably won't have an opportunity to test out these clothes before race day so I probably won't wear them. I guess I'll be running in my boring black or grey pants.  The temps for the day (so far) are low of 40 and high of 50. Of course during the race I'm sure it will be closer to the 40's than the 50's. I'm still torn on what to wear. Will just a long sleeve running top and a throw away be enough? What would you wear?

There probably won't be a Weekly Wrap for next week but I will try to post on IG (@fairytalesnfit) if you care to follow along and show support! This weekend Lacey will also be racing. She's running the Shamrock Marathon.

What do you think of my mileage plan (and skipped run) for this week?  M

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for the weekly wrap.

I'm not impressed with this trend in Running

This week's Friday 5 theme is "Fitness Trends".  A few years ago, I wrote a post titled 5 Fitness trends I'll never be a part of.  I just re-read that post and had to laugh because there are now things on the list that I am considering (...gasp)! You should go check it out!

I now have a new story on the topic Fitness Trends, that I'm going to share.

As you know, last year I gave up on a very popular Fitness Trend, those "Challenge" races.  I've done a few challenge races during my time, and then in 2015 I ran the Goofy Challenge (The half marathon and full marathon), The Glass Slipper Challenge, and The Pixie Dust Challenge, all with in a few months.  Needless to say I was exhausted! I'm not proving any points to myself by running this way and to tell you the truth I really don't need that "extra" medal.

Yesterday, I got an email that announced our local race series is now hosting a Fall Day 10K. Yay, I was super excited to have this added to the line up!

When I read closer, I noticed the Fall Day 10K is part of a Trifecta, meaning there is a 5K on Friday night, the Fall Day 10K, on Saturday, and then the Half Marathon on Sunday. Thus ending in another one of those "Challenge" races!

If you are new to this race series than you may think this is a good idea. I am not new to the series and I am quite upset because ......

1. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm done with "Challenge" races so now I have to pick and choose which one I want to run.

2. The 5K that is part of the Trifecta, is the Night time 5K that I planned to run this fall. I passed on running it last year because I was training for the Wine n Dine Half Marathon (I'm probably the only person who does not sign up to run races as part of a training run).

3. I was planning on running this Half marathon this fall with a friend by doing it as a relay. Now that it is part of the Trifecta, the relay is not an option.

4. Both the the Night time 5K  and the Half marathon were always run on two different weekends in September. Now they are both moved to October to coincide with the Fall Day 10K.

5. So in essence, this race series has taken 3 fun races that I really wanted to run individually throughout the fall and now crammed them all into one weekend.  Ugg!

There are a ton of races that happen in the fall so finding one on any given weekend really isn't going to be a problem, but I really like doing THIS particular race series because it is literally right down the road from my home.  

-M

An InLinkz Link-up

My beginning

The other day when I was doing my long run I was listening to a podcast and the presenter was interviewing an elite runner and asked if they were always a runner and what made them take up running. It got me thinking about myself and how I came to love the sport of running. Misery loves company, right? 

When I was in High School I ran track and honestly didn’t even like it that much.  I didn’t even do it all four years. I ran the 100m and 200m. Back then the mile felt way too long for me. I would get mad at my coach when he would make me do the 400m. 

Back then if you would have asked me if I would ever run a marathon, I would have just laughed and thought you were crazy to ask such a question. 

Well fast forward to my college days, I still wasn’t a big runner by any means, but thought I could stand to lose a few pounds that seem to creep up in college, so I did start running a little, but 30 minutes was my limit. When I got my first job out of college, my co-worker was a runner and was training for her first half marathon and asked if I wanted to do it with her. By this time I was running regularly but never did much distance. I thought why not, how hard could it be? And oh my, it was! Looking back there were many reasons why it was, no training plan, didn’t fuel properly, cotton everything, etc! I told myself that I never wanted to do that again! (If you want to read about that race, you can find it HERE).

Four years later, I ran a 5k with my mom and sister down at Disney World. We had a blast! Now we did take our time and stop for pictures and got the most out of what the race had to offer. However, after I completed it, I thought if we do this next year I want more of a challenge.  

This brought me to my second half. We ran the 5k the next year, and the following day I ran the half marathon. It went much better than my first half experience that was five years prior.  

That spring I got involved in a running group. At first I wasn’t sure if I would fit in, because these were “serious runners” that ran many races and had a lot of marathons under their belt.  I didn’t think of myself as a serious runner, I just ran when it was convenient and fit in my schedule since I was a flight attendant during this time (so you can imagine the crazy schedule). 

I began really liking this running community and I felt like I was a part of the group. I even started running with other people on certain days without the group. I was running more than I ever had and upped my mileage and began really liking the longer runs.  During long runs, there is plenty of time to talk and conversations come up. During one run my friend asked me why I haven’t ever run a marathon. I told him that I was a sprinter in school and never have been a distance runner. He looked at me and said, “Well you’re doing it now, and besides you never know unless you try. Wouldn’t you want to try it and say you have, than ever wonder what if?” For the longest time I kept thinking I never wanted to pay money to be miserable.

 But the more I thought about it, the more he made sense and I wanted to take on the challenge. Ok, so I would run a marathon to prove to my friend I could. One and done right? Well let’s just say I'm now training for #13 and going strong! By the way, we are still very good friends and to this day still train often together. I guess I have to thank him for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.  

What made you take up running? Did someone have an influence on you when you first started running?  -L

How to Plan a Race Calendar & a Discount

Have you ever been curious as to why people choose to run the races they do?

I've never strategically planned out my race calendar with a rhyme or reason but looking back, there are definitely some trends I've followed and after a few years, I know what I want to do and what I don't.

Lets start at the beginning of the year.

(When I pick races I'm not going for quantity. In fact, I usually only like to do one race a month)

Jan/Feb

In the past, I've always run the Princess races at Disney (in February) or the Marathon (in January), or sometimes both.  Although I love these races, It's just not a great time of year.

Training for an early January race isn't that bad because it's still not that cold leading up to race day but the fact that the race is the weekend following the end of Christmas break makes me feel rushed. It's like fast forwarding one exciting time to get to another. Moments are special and I like to savor them!

As much as I love the Princess races at Disney, I know they would require me to train when the weather is the coldest and I'm not a fan of cold weather running. I hadn't had to worry about that too much in the past because every Princess half marathon I've run, I've been injured (so there's that)!  However, I do feel I need a redemption run so I do hope to complete it again sometime. Or perhaps I'll just go for a smaller distance so I don't have to train as much...lol

March
Not in a million years did I ever think I would run a half marathon in NYC in March. I know how windy it gets and I also know the chance for ideal running weather(for me) is not great.  BUT, I could not be more happy to have the chance to run it this year and what makes it better is that the weather here has been mild this winter so that made training go well.  I know scheduling a long distance race in March is quite a gamble so I won't be doing it again. In fact, I think I already have my first race of next year planned out already and it is only a 10K in March (that should be much more manageable to train for over the winter).

April
For the past several Aprils I've had mid-distance races (mini race-cations) planned and its worked out pretty well. There are a lot of races that pop up during this time of year so I think I'll be able to keep this trend going. April races seem to be the ones I look forward to the most and this year is no exception as I have a super fun one planned!

May-August
Because of how warm it gets, this time of year seems to be focused more on 5K races (with the exception of one year doing an 8K, and 10K).  I would certainly be open to running races of other distances over the summer (since I love running in the summer) but anything more than a 5K can be hard to find.

September
There's a local race I do with my family each year. I'll probably continue this trend.

October-December
The race possibilities during this time are endless. This time of year I don't mind running a longer distance race because I know the weather during training will be almost perfect.  Although I don't have anything set on the race calendar for this fall yet, I've seen a few that have caught my eye. This time of year is perfect for another race-cation.  -M

PS. If you are looking for a race to fill your calendar this year and you want to add the Utah Valley Marathon (or Half or 10K) you can use our code faf15 for a 15% discount off registration. (sorry our free registrations have already been given away)

I'm sure you've seen a ton of  bloggers talking about this race lately. Apparently all the cool kids will be running it on June 10th.

Here's why:

• The Utah Valley Marathon was named a TOP 10 race in America by Runner’s World Magazine in 2014
• They are giving out a nice race jacket instead of a shirt in 2017 due to this being our 10 year anniversary
• They have a super fast downhill course, BQ
• They have very large race medals

We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap...March 5

This week seemed to go by SO fast! And to be honest, I forgot to record all my activity for this week. I have the miles still on my Garmin but haven't down loaded the stats yet.

Here is what I can remember:

Sunday: Rest after a 13.1 miler the day before.

Monday: Gym day

A beautiful beginning to March. That will quickly change.

Tuesday:  3 Mile run. I was going to say "only" 3 miles but hey, 3 miles is 3 miles right?

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: I had a Dr. appointment this day and my Dr. is located right along my running trail. So that meant I was planning on doing a long run when I finished my appointment.  I slowly started to rethink my run because my appointment had gone later than expected and I hadn't eaten lunch yet and brought no fuel with me.

The sky was beautiful and the sun was out but it sure was windy!

I decided I would do a shorter run instead. As I started off I was met with extreme wind. I considered not running and calling it a day but I realized that this JUST MAY BE the same condition I face in NYC this month so I might as well get use to it.  As I started off my body felt extremely frail and I felt like I was running with old lady bones. As I continued,  I felt as if I was running through a brick wall.  I set my sights on just getting through 3 miles. By the second mile I was pretty warmed up. The temperature wasn't bad and the sun was shining, it was just the dang wind that made things difficult.

I finished my three miles but then quickly sabotaged myself by having a cheeseburger and a Shamrock shake for lunch. Why do I do that to myself?????  Just FYI: The small shamrock shake all by itself exceeded the amount of calories I burned on my 3 mile run. Womp womp.

Saturday:  I skipped my long run on Saturday but tried to justify it by saying I did two 13.1 mile runs two weekends in a row and that it was okay to skip a run this weekend.

Sunday: Of course I felt guilty for not doing my long run on Saturday so I got up Sunday morning and ran 10 miles on the treadmill.  I usually don't run that long on the TM but having one of my favorite movies on TV helped a lot.

Not really sure of my 10 miles counts as my last long run for the week or my first run for the new week?  I still plan to do another long run this coming weekend and than that should be it until race day! -M

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for their weekly wrap! Be sure to check them out.

Tips for struggling less on a run

Running can be hard! It doesn't matter what pace you normally run at, whether you are fast, slower, or somewhere in between, we ALL struggle from time to time.

What do you do when you start to struggle on your run, but quitting is NOT an option (because how else will you get home or back to your car)?  Of course I guess we could walk the rest of the way (and I'm sure we've all done that at least once, right?). The goal of course is to just keep moving.

Here are a few tricks both of us have used from time to time to help us speed up and get that run finished.

1. Think of a reward: Whether it be a cold Starbucks Frappe or a glass of wine, think "Well, if I can go this far, I will reward myself with (insert treat here). And if not, than I guess I didn't want it that bad".

2. When my legs are starting to slow down, I put more effort into using my arms. It's amazing how your pace can pick up once you get those arms moving.

3. Another thing I do when I start to slow down is that I concentrate more on form. My PT once told me that in true running form your feet should feel like they are pushing off from a skateboard. Once I start concentrating on this, things get easier. Also (I have not official been told to do this by a coach or PT), but sometimes I sway my hips back and forth when I run because that makes it easier as well. I figure if it make race walkers faster, then it should make me run a little faster too and sometimes it does.

4. Hearing a good song on our playlist always gives us that pep in our step. It might be just that one song that helps you get to the finish line feeling a little stronger. What is that song for you?

5. Finally, one other thing that helps me get through a tough run is when I completely zone out and stop thinking of the run. When I start thinking about something else (like my next blog post), it seems like I start running a little better and the miles start going quicker.

Do you use any of these strategies when you start to struggle? M&L

An InLinkz Link-up

Long Run Debate

I have read on several blogs where the runner did a long run but broke it up? Does that really count as a long run? In my mind no, but to each their own. They got it done and that is all that matters. But what is a long run to you? Anything over a 5k distance or maybe you have to hit double digits in order to count it as a long run?

 The other day I mentioned that I was feeling sluggish during my runs. I would still manage to get 5-7 miles in, but I did not feel great while running it. I felt like it was something I needed to get done since I am marathon training and all.  I just wasn’t enjoying it like I usually do. It felt like more of a chore, so I thought it was time to take a break 

 After taking a much needed rest day, I tried running in another location to change things up. I even downloaded an audio book.  I think sometimes I get too into the story of the book that I do not end up running the pace I normally do when I listen to music.  I ended with 7 miles and I thought that was good enough. After coming home, eating lunch, and doing some chores around the house, I thought it was too beautiful out for February to spend it inside so off I went on another run. I knew I wasn’t going to go as far as I did earlier so I thought I would incorporate some speed work into my run. I did a total of 4 miles and my average pace was just under 8 minutes per mile. My legs felt fresh and I listened to my music playlist the whole time. I think music really does help with pace. 

After arriving home, I texted a friend and told her about my runs I completed. That both runs added up to be a long run. She said she completed 6 miles that day but wasn’t sure if that would be considered a long run. Since she is training for a half, I surely would count 6 miles as a long run, as that it about half the distance her race is. For training for a full marathon, I would consider a double digit run as a long run. For me, I wouldn’t call my two runs as my long run, but rather just getting in the miles I suppose. However,  I felt a lot better doing that 4 mile run at a fast pace opposed to some of my longer runs I completed recently at a much slower pace.

What are your thoughts? -L