a need for speed

I have a confession to make.

I never run repeats.

EVER.

Yasso 800's?

Nah.

Fartleks?

Not so much.

Intervals?

Not unless I'm being chased by a dog and have to start and stop to avoid being mauled. 

I used to be in a pretty committed relationship with negative splits but we broke up after I had the baby (I got Tom Brady'ed) and we haven't seen each much since.

Why am I admitting this? Because I have a new favorite thing and I feel you need to understand the enormity of this new favorite thing. It involves two things I have never been fond of: treadmills and speed workouts. That's right people. I have been doing speed workouts ON A TREADMILL.

This is what I attempted today.

Found on blog.nordictrack.com

 I didn't make it past 7.5. I thought I was going to fall on my face. Some of those 6's turned into 4's when I was pretty sure my heart was going to explode. 

One of my new goals is to complete this workout AS SHOWN by June. The whole stinking thing without lowering the speed or collapsing on the ground in a sweaty, gross heap.  

I'll let you know how that goes. 

Pinterest serves up an endless supply of these handy dandy little charts you can pull up on your phone and refer back to while you're wiping the sweat out of your eyes. I would recommend laying the phone down flat as it is quite difficult to read a screen on an angle while you're running way too fast for your own good.

I'm not going to lie, it was hard. I wanted to quit. And even though I had to slow it down a bit here and there, I am proud of myself for not throwing the towel in. I earned my nap today.

previous post: all the food

all the food

There are four weeks left before my next marathon.

Last night, I had a pre-race anxiety dream.

Basically, I forgot my shoes at home and then couldn't figure out where the start line was. As I saw a large group of runners in the distance, a man collapsed on the bus I was on and as the bus was pulling over, I was screaming "NO! NO! I'M GOING TO BE LATE FOR MY RACE!" Quite the compassionate person I am, huh?

I woke up with that horrible knot in your stomach feeling and a strong desire to make sure my running sneakers were by the front door.

Overall, training has gone well. I took a much needed week off after the Callaway Gardens Marathon and started with a low mileage week. I've cobbled together two of Hal's training schedules and it seems to be getting the job done. I do think, however, that I want to increase my longest run to 18 miles as opposed to the 16 that I did for the last race. It wasn't that I felt unprepared but I think it will give me an extra boost of confidence.

I am suffering, unfortunately, from a very bad case of the rungryies. Or is it the rungries? Either way, all this running has me hungry. Very hungry. ALL THE TIME. I've been daydreaming about Thanksgiving meals. I want tacos. and pancakes. and an egg and cheese sandwich on a roll. with bacon. a chocolate milkshake. a DQ blizzard. The list goes on and on and on and on. I want ALL THE FOOD.

Marathon training is not a good time to watch your waistline.    

previous post: a maniac in the making

a maniac in the making

You can't run a marathon these days without seeing a few people wearing red and yellow with the words Half Fanatic or Marathon Maniac emblazoned on their chests.

I've always been a little envious of the camaraderie these runners seem to have but have never really considered becoming one of them. One day, on a whim, I scoped out the Maniacs criteria and completely dismissed it as insanity.

3 marathons in 16 days!

45-51 marathons in 365 days!

insanity.

Fast forward to about a week ago, when after the race, I found myself in a conversation with a Maniac.

After she had found out I had just run my second marathon in 6 weeks, she commented that if I ran a race in February I could qualify for the Maniacs. I kind of brushed it off with my standard "I have three young kids yadda yadda yadda" and thought nothing about it.

4 days later, I was sitting on the couch when her words suddenly came back to me. I looked over at my husband and told him what she said and waited for the backlash. Surprisingly, he clicked a few buttons on his keyboard and said "here's a race in South Carolina". And that friends is how I find myself running my 3rd marathon in 90 days.

By the end of March, I should be a Marathon Maniac and by the end of this year, I should be a member of the 50 States Marathon Club - a full year before I had anticipated.

Goals are being met. New goals are coming into focus.

Now, next time someone tells me I'm crazy for running all these marathons, I can truthfully say I'm not crazy, I'm just a maniac!

previous post: Race Report: Callaway Gardens Marathon