One week to go. Time to look at stats and graphs.

This is the last week of my training plan. Which seems unbelievable, since I planned out 27 weeks back in October. When I first printed out the document it seemed massive! Now there is only one week, 4 runs, until my Boston Marathon attempt.

This is the most consistently I have ever trained! I think I can even count college swim seasons in that statement, as this training cycle has lasted over 6 months, which is longer than the swim season was.

Total mileage in dedicated preparation for Boston: 922

Total miles in the last 16 weeks: 595

Total miles in the 16 week training cycle for Portland in 2010: 449

(these figures do not include the actual marathon)

A lot of deliberate changes in the way I think about training, and how I actually execute runs have occurred. There have been several really interesting unintended changes as well (of which I have dedicated post drafting).

I took the graph of my entire training cycle for the Portland Marathon (my BQ) in 2010 and added  the last 16 weeks of this training effort to it. It’s an interesting comparison, but I am actually surprised by the lack of significant (visual) difference between the two.

More miles but a near identical shape. Call me mystified.

The fact that my weekly mileage is higher isn’t due to daily runs being longer, but rather a result of running 5 times on most weeks, as opposed to 3 or 4 during my Portland preparation.

After all, frequency first is my philosophy to all positive behavior change!

You can see that my approach  to tapering is different this go -round. And we’ll see how I feel on race day.

Here’s my entire 27 week training plan (the final week – this week – is if I complete all the projected miles).

Note the steady trend in the base period, compared to the variable (but still increasing) shape of the other 3 periods.

I am having a hard time really knowing what to do with all of the data I’ve collected, and even with this training volume comparison. Though I am a HUGE advocate for the single-subject design, at times you can only learn so much from comparing yourself to, well, yourself.

The other thing to take into consideration is that my running, both form and speed have improved greatly over the past year, and so it is possible that very little of what I am observing from these two training efforts will apply to my next attempt.

For example, I was so injured, exhausted, and disheartened (even with the BQ in hand) after Portland, that I barely ran for about 6 months. this time, I anticipate (knock wood!) a MUCH faster recovery and am planning to avoid, if possible, a loss in fitness.

As I have said before, I haven’t registered for any races post-Boston. I will wait and see how I feel. But I would like to aim for the Long Beach Marathon in October, with a few 10k’s and Half-Marathon’s, with mini-tapers, in between. That means getting right back to dedicated training.

Now if only I could stop eating so much!

Do you graph your training logs?

Do you want to data share?

*AB

 

 

Training re-caps 14 and 15. 12 weeks to go.

I skipped my long run yesterday (planned 16-miler, 12 of which would have been with the BB group). And I am only now getting close to accepting the dip on the graph, and moving on. Having started training for Boston 27 weeks out (really just structured base-building, admittedly), gives the illusion that it’s crunch time, that a single missed mile will equal to the total destruction of my finishing goals. The reality is that recovery is, and always will be, as important as the work. Perhaps more important. Because if my body isn’t recovering, I can’t do more work.

Duh.

It’s actually been a rough 2 weeks for my marathon specific training…ok, that is to say, ALL my training. I have been feeling heavy of leg, puffy of body, and unfocused of mind. Some of which can be attributed to sliding off my healthy eating habits a bit, and some can be attributed to not enough rest (not just sleep but sitting with unstructured time in general).

I am working on both, I already made my to-do lists for work this week which should help me to not feel rushed all the time, and Jorge has agreed that we will both go for no junk food until April 16th (AFTER the marathon). I know, I know, I know, that all or nothing is not the most realistic and reasonable way, but lately I don’t do so well operating in the gray areas. I need clear boundaries and guidelines. I seem to have piled a lot on my “plate” and I only want to add more. Hence, clear cut rules are the way to go until post Patriots Day.

I did 800 meter repeats (just 4 of them) with the Boston Bound group last Wednesday night. I look forward to trying them again, I presume there is a learning curve. I mean, you must eventually figure out how to not throw up. Right?

I am still plugging away with that 4-in-1 app that I mentioned. And, no, I can’t do more than 1 pull-up yet.

Week 14 training re-cap

Monday: 7hrs Sleep, 8mi Run, 4-in-1 workout

Tuesday: 7hrs Sleep, 5mi Run

Wednesday: 6.5hrs Sleep, 4-in-1 workout, Spin Class, 6mi (speed work) w/ BB

Thursday: 8 hrs Sleep, REST DAY

Friday: 7hrs Sleep, 5mi Run, 4-in-1 workout

Saturday: 7hrs Sleep, 15mi Run (10 w/ BB)

Sunday: ?sleep, Spin Class x2, Body Blast Class

Total Mileage: 40

 

Week 15 training re-cap

Monday: 9hrs Sleep, 10mi Run, 4-in-1 workout (day off work MLK Day)

Tuesday: 7hrs Sleep, 6mi Run (this was the “bootstaps” run on the treadmill that I wrote about here)

Wednesday: 5hrs Sleep, Spin Class, 4-in-1 Workouts, 6mi Run (4×800) w/ BB

Thursday: 8hrs Sleep, Unplanned rest day due to barely-able-to-move

Friday: 6hrs Sleep, 6 mi on the treadmill (too cold out)

Saturday: 7hrs Sleep, bailed on my run about 10 mins before I was supposed to head out the door…

…I stayed in my running tights and jog bra until about 2pm when I finally resigned to the fact that my body was NOT in the mood.

Sunday: 8hrs Sleep, Spin Class x2, Body Blast Class

Total Mileage: 28

Leveling off

It’s Sunday, Saddle-Up!

*AB

A few things I know about motivation.

Again and again people lament about not being able to find the motivation to do the things they want to do, or think they should be doing.

People often say things like, “I want to exercise more, but I’m just not motivated” or “I need to lose 10 pounds but I don’t have any motivation”.

Embedded in those thoughts and statements is the idea that motivation is this enigmatic thing, that it is either quality that resides within a person, or it is some ephemeral entity that visits people and pushes them along.

Well, I am happy to share with you that motivation is neither of these things. Motivation is simply something in your environment that evokes a particular response. For example, a whistling tea-kettle motivates you to turn off the stove. Being hungry (or your stomach growling) motivates you to find something to eat.

What’s great about knowing this is that now you can set-up your environment so that you take action toward your goals! A lot of people who want to lose weight put pictures of models and celebrities in places where they will often see them. I very much caution against this practice! I equally caution against placing your own “before” pictures on the fridge to stop you from reaching for snacks. Don’t put things around your environment that might lead you to criticize yourself, or make you feel like your goals are too big to conquer. That is the opposite of motivation.

Instead, put signals in your environment that remind you of the progress you are making, and that make you feel great about whatever stage in the journey you are at now.

For example, I may not be a 3-hour marathoner now, but that is my goal. So within my line of sight when I wake up in the morning is a collage of race bibs and photos from my best races so far. If I wake up and am having a hard time getting out of bed to go for a training run, that collage reminds me of how far I have already come, from running a 10 minute mile to under 7. That usually lifts my spirits, gets me excited about running, and before I can think anymore I am out of bed and lacing up my trainers. That, is motivation. A signal in my environment saying to me, “you can do it, go on, do it!”

Another common (misguided) practice in motivation is buying or keeping clothes that are too small. If your jeans don’t fit, or your clothes are uncomfortable, go get ones that fit! Buy clothing that makes you feel good, that feels good on you, and that you are not self-conscious about! Respect your body, LOVE your body. A great side-effect of this practice, rather than punishing your size 12 body with size 6 jeans, is that your overall stress level will be lower, because you aren’t constantly uncomfortable or thinking about how you need to lose weight. If you are less stressed, you’ll make better choices, and likely eat healthier, or less, or both. That is motivation!

*AB

APP to the rescue! (1 measely pull-up)

As I mentioned in last weeks re-cap, I am aiming to get back to at least 3 strength session per week, even if they are short (mostly to prevent losing muscle or strength). With my new job I am able to manage my schedule a bit better, and I am hoping to equally manage my energy levels better.

From all my years of different training efforts, and working as a personal trainer, I am honestly never at a loss for a good strength training routine, it’s more that I don’t want stiff or tender legs when I run.

Or, maybe the truth is more that, when I say I am going to keep a strength training regime in my training plan whilst working toward a marathon, I set my criteria too high. That is to say, I haven’t been able to accept strength training just 2 or 3 short sessions a week. Inevitably, I have gotten caught up in feeling like I have to train every muscle at least once and even better twice…so I end up filling in my training plan with 4 or 5 strength sessions that are an hour a piece. And so, time and time again, after 3 weeks (maximum) I stop lifting at all.

The fact of the matter is that, not being an elite athlete, and already having a fairly good based of strength training, I really only need 2 or 3 sessions of about 20 to 40 minutes a week. And, let’s be honest, banging out sets of bicep curls, and making sure I hit my delts from 3 different angles, is probably not going to result in shaving time off my marathon!

I keep hearing about some “Hundred Pushups” program. So I got curious and nosed around the app-store (I am still pretty infatuation with the phone I got last month) and threw down $8.99 last weekend for the “Fitness 4-in-1″ app.

It’s actually pretty neat in its simplicity. It appeals to me because it generates a little graph as you go, and if you’ve been reading for more than 2 posts, you know that I will do nearly anything if I know it’s going to be charted or graphed.

There were a lot of negative reviews. Consumer reviews always make me shake my head because the complaints often have nothing to do with the product, but the person using the product wrong.

Basically, you test how many consecutive Push-ups, Pull-ups, Sit ups, and Squats you can do, then, based on that, you follow the app to practice those four skills three times a week.

As it turns out, I might be on the day 1 week 1 Pull-up routine until July! I can already do 200 body-weight squats (I stopped because I got bored), but it can’t hurt to keep doing them! I did alright on push ups (26), but am sore, which is nice, and at least I know I will make quick progress there, and sit-ups I did surprisingly poor (36), I was all cocky thinking I would do 75…hah!

So anyway, I have a strength regime of sorts for the next 6 weeks or so. I know it’s not running specific, but I am stoked at the prospect of developing a cool party trick.

Push Up contest anyone????

In other news, this evening is the first speed work run with the Boston Bound group. My gut had been a bit flared up for the last 4 days, but other than that I am really looking forward to seeing how I do.

We are starting off “easy” (again, HAH!) with a 2.1 warm up, 1 mi. at goal pace, 1 mi. easy, 1 mi. at goal pace, and a 1 mile cool down.

If I can get the splits to go right on my Garmin (mmm, doubtful. Due to operator error), I will post them. Unless they are really slow, in which case I will just lie.

Huzzah!

*AB

 

Humility comes in many forms.

Recently I shared this excerpt from the many things I have learned over the past few years with the members of the super amazing healthy-living group/program that my sister-in-law and I are working on. 

They can and probably have been phrased better, but I am feeling especially grateful for the daily choices I get to make, and the dizzying luck I have had in finding a great place to work. And so, feel compelled to share:

• probably 95% of your life experience is by choice or the consequence, good or bad, of the choices you make
• What are difficult decisions for you, are an opportunity for choice to others
• Your worst days are what someone else identifies as normal
• Our (American) picture of poverty, is the ideal standard for the next generation for many others
• Optimism, talent, happiness, empathy, and many of things we think people are born with….are actually skills, and you can learn them, and you can master them!

I have been reflecting a lot about the differences in both my approach and my mentality toward the Boston Marathon and running in general now, as compared to this time last year.

I was training last year with a dire sense of urgency and like, a sense of impeding doom. Now I am thrilled every run I complete, I am in no hurry to get faster, as I understand that with smart training, and patience, it is an inevitability.  The lovely side-effect of that understanding is that I feel just as satisfied with a slow run as a fast one (ok ALMOST), and it’s a lot easier to get up at 5 or 6 am to run in the cold and dark.

Although I really, really should have one of these guys to accompany me. Don't you think so?

This time last year (well, February), I joined Boston Bound, and sort of hung my head as I did so, as though I were admitting defeat. I wrote about it, here. It’s really interesting to read that post now, I had such a sense of not ever working out enough, running enough, or planning enough. Now, perhaps from the experience of failing to make it to the start line last year, surviving that, and learning a tomes-worth about running in the mean time, I am  excited to be part of a group, genuinely.

Through a technology SNAFU, my refund from Fleet Feet never went through (I never actually attended a meeting or run), I was able to register or free this year. I am so impressed with their customer service! I sort of forgot about it for months and months. And months…Fleet Feet had absolutely no obligation (shit…hope they don’t read this and change their minds!) to comp my registration to Boston Bound. But, they did, and I am absolutely elated. I am sure I will talk about it endlessly here.

They have a powerpoint and therefore know what they are talking about.

Now I must go watch the second half of “Chariots of Fire”…had to knock off last night.

*AB

14 weeks to go! (week 13 re-cap)

My first two days at my new gig went great. Of course, I didn’t do a ton outside of the typical new-job paperwork, drug screenings, physical, and so on. However, and I don’t think this is because of the shiny new job glowiness of the place, every single person I have met so far is fantastic. The culture there is genuinely proactive and caring, and  from the direct care staff to the administrators everyone seems to be really committed to provided their consumers with more than just what is mandated by the state. It is so refreshing!

I dare you to watch this recent press, and not want to come to work with me!

The Disabled Bloom at Garden Center Services

The people at fleet feet chicago went out of their way to allow me to register at no cost for the “Boston Bound 2012″ program (which I had to drop out of last year before even going on a group run). The kick off was this Saturday, I have a post started to tell you all about it, I am pretty stoked (yes, stoked).

I had planned to get about 42miles in this week, but came up short. I had a great time running 8 miles with the Boston Bound group, but, I fear what was a relaxed training run for them, was a tough tempo run for me. So, I settled for 8 for the day (had planned to run another 7 after), had breakfast with some of the runners and their spouses (all really friendly and clever folks, so impressed). My overall trajectory seems spot on to me (see graphs below) so I am not worried about the missing miles.

Week 13 Re-Cap

Monday: 7hrs Sleep, 8mi Run

Tuesday: 9hrs Sleep, 7mi Run

Wednesday: 4hrs sleep, Spin Class

Thursday: 7hrs Sleep, 5mi Run

Friday: 7hrs Sleep, 8mi Run

Saturday: 7hrs Sleep, 8mi Run w/ Boston Bound

Sunday: 6.5hrs Sleep, 2 Spin Classes, Body Blast Class

Total mileage: 36

This week I am aiming to get back onto a weight training routine (with a little help from an iPhone app), I am going to scout out a gym near my new office tomorrow.

A bit variable, but still on track!

Weening off the 3 and 4 milers...

A couple more quick tasks and I am getting in bed with my iPad, to watch “Chariots of Fire”.

Can you believe I have never seen this movie?!

Have a great week!

*AB

Countdown!!!

As you’ve seen I have already been counting down to the Boston Marathon for 13 weeks. Today I am feeling a bit more legitimized because there are only 100 days to go!

I was going to celebrate this fact with a 10 mile run before work this morning, but I overslept…by 2 hours!

Looks like the excitement of starting my new job yesterday wore me out!

My office is in a building that used to be a chapel so there are neat details like this:

And this:

Also neat is that I have a full sized desk! A detail that was frustrating at my last job:

…still need to settle in.

A last detail that surpasses neat and goes straight to amazing is that it’s a dog friendly environment! Today this little girl kept us company:

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

If your answer was “annabelle should get a Weimaraner to train as a therapy/runner dog!” then we are on the same page.

Happy 100 days left to train!

*AB

Weeks 11 and 12: Christmas and radioactive ducks!

Small fresh starts,

Are welcome any time.

It’s your choice.

You can relax and keep reading. This is not a post about New Year’s resolutions, I just wanted to say the above. Which is almost in Haiku form, but not quite.

Weird-ass, possibly radio-active, Texan- monster-duck (note the trash in marsh, rude).

I had planned (the day-dreamy sort of planning) to blog several times and cover some things I have been wanting to post about for a while now during Christmas week with my family, but alas, I decided to not post at all because it proved very difficult and undesirable to do anything other than sit and stare in wonder, and complete delight, at my 4 year old nephew.

...who, in turn, stared in wonder and complete delight at his new Lite Brite

I also got to run with my mom’s dog, Abby. She proved to be an excellent running partner, she also provided lots of evidence to support the notion that I NEED a Wiemaraner.

A wiemaraner she is not, but for 1 to 5 mile runs, and recovery cuddle sessions, she is perfect!

I won’t ( blogs are totally an altruistic act) be so self-indulgent as to give you a play-by-play of my vacation, but the highlights include some unnervingly cold weather, awesome short runs with Abby the dog, an adventurous long run with Momma my momma, a longer run through a marsh that had lots of wildlife and weird boardwalk thing,  a bone-chattering-cold motorcycle ride with my dad and brother, “playing” (wink) dress-up with my sister-in-law, and eating most of a pan of apple crisp. Hands down the best part of the week was that every morning my nephew woke me up, then would snuggle with me until I was ready to keep my eyes open, he’s pretty spectacular, that kid.

A close-up on the boardwalk.

I got back from San Antonio late Thursday night, and since I am starting a new job next Thursday, I want my apartment to be clean and organized so that I won’t: feel over-taxed and fall off my training schedule; Or slack off on my new super-amazing-awesome-empowering-supportive-motivating-holistic-health program my sister-in-law, Teresa, and I are working on (we really, really, need help coming up with a name!); Or clean(er) eating in an effort to survive the transition process. (I also need a re-fresher course in proper use of punctuation…?!)

Therefore, on Friday, I ran some errands. Most notably, Traders Joe’s to replenish my smoothie ingredients, and buy some dark chocolate peanut butter cups (thanks for that introduction, Santa (you know who you are) which led to cleaning out the fridge, which makes me happy, but meant that I didn’t get anything else done.

It's not a glamourous appliance, and it leaks, hence the rusty pan. And, no before shot. Yes, intentionally (I rent, cut me some slack).

Even the fizzy water with "natural flavors" and the condiments look healthier in a clean fridge. (Yes, there are 3 different kinds of milk in there)

My grandmother taught me to scrub the fridge once a month. I probably do it every 3 months. Every time I move I am absolutely shocked at how gross the fridge is. Every-single-time! It’s a wonder people don’t poison themselves.

It is Sunday night now, and I am T-minus 3 days from starting my new job and my apartment looks like a tornado hit it (I HATED it when I was a kid and my parents would say that about my room…but they were TOTALLY right, I am a slob). Lots to do.

I have been really superfluous in my writing all day (lots of long email and texts), so I will move on to my re-caps now:

Week 11 (12/19 – 12/25) training:

Monday: 6.5hrs Sleep, 6mi Run

Tuesday: 7hr Sleep, 3mi Run

Wednesday: 7hrs Sleep, 3mi Run, Spin Class

Thursday: 8hrs Sleep, 10mi Run, FLY TO TEXAS

Friday: 6hrs Sleep, 3.5mi Run

Saturday: ?Sleep, 14mi Run

Sunday: 4.5hrs Sleep (CHRISTMAS!), 3mi Run, Random Strength Circuit

Total mileage: 42.5miles

Do these miles count? (front to back: me, dad, brother)

Week 12 (12/26 – 1/1)

I didn’t log my sleep because I don’t think I was ever looking at a clock, I kept asking the 4yr old what time it was. I do know I never got more than 6-ish hours though.

Monday: 3mi Run

Tuesday: 8mi Run (woke up with sore throat)

Wednesday: Cold of the season strikes! Rest day.

Thursday: Apparently it’s some sort of plague…also, flight home to Chicago.

Friday: 7hrs Sleep, 6mi Run…blllargh, illness can bite me!

Saturday: 7hrs Sleep, 15mi Run, worked on perfecting my snot rocket form.

Sunday: 7hrs sleep, behaved myself on New Years Eve, but decided to take an additional rest day.

Total Mileage: 32 miles

15 weeks to go until Boston!

Happy New Year!

-AB

 

 

 

 

The answer to resolutions? Annabelle and Teresa, of course (an invitation).

Hey there!

Where do you think you're going?

Tomorrow, Teresa and I are starting up another round of our holistic-healthy-living-email-chain (which doesn’t have an official name…it’s still a baby). Let me know if you are interested, and we’ll include you in the welcome email going out tomorrow (it’s ok to join in late)! As before, you can participate as much or as little as you want/need, and you can set your own goals, we’re just there to shape, share, and support.

We’ll be providing some daily and weekly goals and challenges, as well as trying to keep things organized and helpful.

We did a round between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which I mentioned, subtly, here. It turned out to be an incredible experience. I was very pleasantly surprised at how open-minded, supportive, caring, and genuine everyone was!

Some great issues were raised and discussed, tips were shared, and progress toward personal goals was made.

So, if you would like to join us, either leave a comment below that includes your preferred email address, or send me a message privately at annabellewinters@me.com

Happy New Year!

-AB

Your Favorite Junk Foods, and How Long it Takes to Burn Them Off | Traci D. Mitchell

Your Favorite Junk Foods, and How Long it Takes to Burn Them Off | Traci D. Mitchell.

I want to share the post above. It has a chart, and a really clear guidelines. Both of which are superb things.

Yesterday was my last day working on the crisis team and now I have two weeks off until I start my new job. I really haven’t even started to process this transition. I recognize that transitions are hard for everyone, I find them nearly intolerable.

I will share about this experience a bit later, also, maybe we can talk about the HALF AN APPLE PIE  that I ate last night!

For now, I am off on a relaxed 10-miler with some podcasts, then flying to San Antonio for Christmas!

-AB