Thursday, September 19, 2013

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Runner's Life for Me

Posted by CheapRunnerMike

I'm getting into the last few weeks of my marathon training and I'm in the fortunate position of really feeling like I am at the top of my game.  My runs have been good quality runs, I'm getting my diet under control and dropped almost all of the extra summer weight I was carrying, and I'm gaining confidence in what I can do come race day.  I got out on Saturday morning bright and early for my long run…just before 7:00 which is really early for me to go running.  It was COLD!  4°C/39°F when I left and all I was wearing were shorts and a singlet.  At least I decided to go with my arm sleeves, but I'm not going to lie, I was cold.  My hands didn't warm up the entire run!

I have done all of my long runs up at the cottage out on country roads, but we were in town this weekend so I was able to run on the city's park paths.  I usually run these paths on my lunch hour, but for my long run it would be a new experience as I was joining all of my 10K routes together to make a big 20-mile route.  It was a beautiful run that time of day as it was nice and quiet, and very peaceful.  I wished that I had my camera to take a picture of the steam rising off the river and the sun coming up over downtown.  It didn't take long before there were other runners out on the paths and that was also nice as I'm used to doing my long runs with no one around except me and the cows.  My route planning skills weren't the greatest as I finished up the last mile and a half with a 140 foot hill climb.  Luckily I had lots left in the tank and it was actually my quickest point of the run.

longrun

I ran at a really good pace and knew that it was a pace I could sustain over 26.2, which gave me a big confidence boost heading into this final stretch of training.  One of the guys on Twitter even asked me if I was going to shoot for a sub-3 hour finish time, which I found quite amusing (thanks Chris!).  I would need a 3:10 to qualify for Boston, and to me that sounds like a long shot.  I'll be very happy to break 3:20.

Have also been able to get in a few good runs so far this week, decent junk miles as well as a quick-ish 10K on a fun route I haven't done in months…it is nice rediscovering areas of town I haven't run in lately.  Asd much as I like my usual routes, some variety is good too.

I missed out on Wednesday's run as we had a team lunch at work (hard to pass on a free meal) and I went to Detroit with my brother to watch the Tigers game.  Unfortunately I wasn't the only one to miss out on a run yesterday as they got hammered 8-0 by Seattle.  We had cool seats though as we were front row right at the RF foul pole.

photo 1
photo 3

All in all it was a beautiful night for a ballgame, just too bad the Tigers didn't want to cooperate.  It's always fun to get down to the ballpark with my brother and watch the team we love.

In other news, I made my first big batch of chili for the season and we have been enjoying it in our lunches all week…I even got to try out a new hot pepper sauce courtesy of this chick.

chili

And finally, as today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Kennedy decided to dress up like a pirate for school today as well.  We are definitely a pirate lubbin' family, and we dressed up as a Pirate Family a few years ago for Halloween at Disney.  Here's Kennedy's OOTD…

pirate 2

Who's your favourite Pirate?

Captain Jack Sparrow for me, savvy

Do you have a fall food tradition?

Love that chili!

17 comments:

  1. Charlotte@CommitnessToFitnessSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:46 AM

    nice job on that run!! and you never know that 3:10 might just in your future :) i love fall foods, especially chili! my mom makes really good chili which reminds me i need to get her recipe. and congrats to kennedy- she is the most adorable pirate ive ever seen!

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  2. Nice job on the LR!! You are on your way!! Love chili and esp pumpkin anything in the fall!!

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  3. She's my Pirate Princess for sure...she loved her girly princesses growing up, but they couldn't compare to Pirates!

    It will be my first marathon, so I'll just be happy to get through it doing my best...

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  4. I think with the way you've been running you could really surprise yourself with your first marathon!!
    I'm ready for some soup/chili but it is still 90 degrees here so I think I'll wait a little longer!!!
    Kennedy's pirate gig makes her look older! So cute!

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  5. Thanks Kim, we'll see.
    We had some warm weather come through today and soup/chili just isn't the same when it's hot out.
    Kennedy is looking older every day, it's killing me!

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  6. Ashley at Run With MeSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:33 PM

    you rock lady! i'm training for a half and every time i get into the double digits of a run i think...man, marathon training must be hard!

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  7. awesome long run, I see breaking 3:20 no issue for you, if not even better!

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  8. Thanks Ashley...and I think you missed a 'D', and meant to say Laddy (my Scottish roots!)
    I actually love it when I get into the double digits, that's when I start to really hit my stride. Good luck with your training, which Half are you doing?

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  9. Well thanks Laura, that would be awesome...I just really don't know what to expect on my first time out.

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  10. LOVE me some chili!! So glad you are feeling so great running!!

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  11. I'm glad too, because I wasn't feeling it at the beginning of the month...the last couple weeks have me perked right back up. I think competing again in the Half Marathon helped a lot.

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  12. I wish work let me dress like a pirate..
    That is an awesome long run pace! Do you recovery well enough from doing long runs at pace rather than the 40-60 seconds slower that is often done?

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  13. Ya I seem to bounce back just fine. I'm not really sure what my marathon pace would be, but I know that this long run pace is what I usually consider my "easy" pace on my midweek runs.

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  14. She can even pull off the Duck Face Pirate look!

    A BQ would be amazing first time out, but I think it is just out of reach...I don't even know how to train for a marathon haha

    I like the title too...any excuse to fit a little more Disney into my day!

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  15. wow, that is like what a 7:12 minute per mile pace?? if that is your easy pace, you are going to get a sub 3! What plan are you following? is 3:10 is a safe goal for you, you are doing a giant pace run! you are STACKED bro

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  16. woops, i entered in like 2:24 for 20miles ! still, rock on! http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stacks%20on%20deck

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