Celebrations!

We've been doing a bit of celebrating here in Happy Runner-ville.

First, Owen and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on Thursday. We had a great day together. We went to Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course during the day and then out for a delicious dinner that evening. Lots of fun!

Check out that wobbly bridge behind us! It was way up high -- and way wobbly!

Then, on Saturday, we had a surprise 60th birthday party for my aunt at my house. It was a huge success -- she was surprised and so, so happy. Just perfect. Another day of fun!!

We took a break from the party to get a group shot of the family.

To top it all off, on Sunday I ran 10 solo miles and they went way better than I expected. I call that something to celebrate!

Felt great!

 
All good stuff, for sure. This week is shaping up to be a good one, too. Just not full of celebrations, but still full of fun. I'm going to be disappointed when this summer ends!

Have a great week, everyone!

Going early, going long.

Some days, I don't even know who I am.

Some days, it seems, I'm an early morning runner. That is not me. Not at all.

Except for when I am training for a marathon. In the middle of the summer. Then, apparently, I turn into that strange being that is the early morning runner.

And I don't mind it -- mostly. So odd, right?

Now, I usually do all of my long runs in the morning and some other runs as well. But when I've done those long runs, they've been at fairly civilized times. 7:30, perhaps. Or 8:00. Times that allow me to sleep until at least 7. Nothing crazy.

On Friday, though, I had 16 miles on the schedule and one of my running pals had to get in to work after the run. So we needed to get out early. Which meant I woke up in the 5s!

Nuttiness.

But I did it. 16 hilly, early-morning miles. Done. The first 10 miles were with Bridget and Elisa and they were full of conversation. The last 6 miles were done alone. Miles 11-14 were run right around marathon goal pace (8:51).

The last two miles were run right around barely running pace. I was dragging. With a mile and a half to go, I wanted to scrap the whole thing. Not just the run but the whole marathon training.

I gave myself a virtual slap upside the head, got back in the game and ran on. I finished the whole 16  miles. And the benefit of starting so early? I still had the whole day ahead of me.

Then, on Tuesday, I got up in the 5s again! This time, to meet a neighbor for an easy run.

We ran a little less than 4 miles together and I ran a mile on my own. I hadn't run with my neighbor since before my half marathon in May so it was good to catch up. Even if it did mean seeing these numbers on the clock when I woke up:

Who am I?

Still the same happy runner, for sure. Just with the renewed ability to bust out some miles early in the morning!

That's what marathon training does, I guess!

Enjoy the rest of your week, everyone!

July recap.

First, thanks for your comments on marathon pace runs. I'm making a few tweaks to my training plan and I'll be incorporating fast finish (marathon pace) long runs into the mix. I feel good about it.

Second, July rocked.

It did. I ran more than I've run in over a year. And I ran strong. I'm so pleased.

Here's the breakdown:

Running (miles):113.8
Races: 0
Cross training: not much

Wow. Over 100 miles for the month! That's great for me. I've been serious about rest and recovery, knowing full-well what happens when I skimp on those, so getting up over 100 miles and feeling so strong is a sign, to me, that my training is going well. Hooray!

I welcome what is to come in August!

Have a great day, everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

Marathon Pacing.

I'm having trouble. You see, I have a goal for my upcoming marathon. I'd like to PR. And if I do, I will likely be able to qualify for Boston.

My current marathon PR is 3:56:37. My Boston qualifying time is 3:55:00.

All I need is to cut two minutes off my time and I'll qualify. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll get in. To get in, I'm pretty sure I'll need to run a good bit faster than my qualifying time.

So, I have this goal. Yes, to PR. But, also to get in to Boston. I'd like to run under 3:52 for the marathon in October.

To do that, I need to run 8:51 miles. And here we get to my problem.

I can run that pace, easy-peasy. My half-marathon pace is faster than that so I know I can do it. The trick, of course, is holding the pace over 26.2 miles.

So I've been running marathon pace miles in my training. Well, I've been trying to. And I've been failing. I'm running them too fast, which won't do me any good in the marathon.

I need to get comfortable with 8:51 per mile. That's it. I don't need to get comfortable with 8:19 per mile or 8:37 per mile. I just need to glide through my miles at 8:51.

Yesterday was my third marathon pace workout. I warmed up for a mile and then ran 3 miles, targeting 8:51. Instead, I ran:

Mile 1: 8:41
Mile 2: 8:37
Mile 3: 8:37

Consistent, I guess, so maybe I should be pleased with my fairly even pacing? Or maybe I should go ahead and try again next week!

In other news, yesterday's run put me over 100 miles for July. That's the first time I've broken 100 miles since last September. And while I do not want to jinx myself, I'm feeling really good about how my training is going! My long runs are increasing steadily and well. My easy runs feel good.

If I can just start to nail these marathon pace runs, I'll feel even better!!

Any tips for perfecting marathon pace? I'd love to hear them!!

Have a great week, everyone!