Marathon Hangover.....

So I ran an experiment. I learned a lot. What now?

First of all, at the end of my last post I was wondering how I would feel the next day. The only results I hadn't yet posted were of my marathon recovery. Once again, I learned even more. Of course I was slightly sore, but the marathon was on Sunday and Monday night I was doing demos of body weight squats at the gym. The first one felt a little creaky, but after that, they felt great. I was in the pool on Tuesday and cycling on Wednesday. Legs felt a little tired in the pool but other than that, the soreness went away much faster than it has in the past.

What now you ask?

Well, it seems that some peeps over at Crossfit liked my experiment. I have been invited to be their guest at a Running/Endurance Cert in LA the first weekend in December! Yeah! What does this mean? Well, I am not sure, but I know I wanted to attend one of these and didn't think it would happen for a long time. This will be a great opportunity to meet more people in the community and just be the crossfit dork that I am with good company!

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy the off-season. I really enjoyed my "marathon training" this year because: a) it gave me the exact variety I need to not get bored; and b) it is time efficient. I would actually like to run more this winter (maybe 20 miles/week); just haven't figured out when I will fit it in.

I've had many follow-up questions regarding my experiment. The most common asks something along these lines: Do you think you could PR training like this? Hmmmm. Great questions. I think the answer might be yes. I think it will take a few more tries and tweaks to my method. This gives me new enthusiasm for the marathon. I was getting bored with the classic training methods. Fortunately, I have a few months to enjoy other things before I put any structured training into practice.

Would love to hear from any of you who have tried or are trying something similar. You know what they say in science: The more data you have, the more valid. This is coming from a former middle school science teacher you know! Please share!!!

Heart of Summer 10K

I ran a 10K this weekend. I am not racing this year. However, my husband got me a free entry, so I figured what the heck. All last week I was thinking about this run(race). How should I approach it? My PR is on this course but I am not quite there! 

I ran to the start which was a great warm-up. I decided I was going to use it as a tempo run. At track a week and a half ago we did a tempo and I struggled to hold 7 minute miles. It was really hot and humid, but no less frustrating. So, hold 7 minute pace. Should be doable.

The gun went off and I was being really conservative. I couldn't believe how many women were sprinting out in front of me. Dang!  I had to keep reminding myself of my goal. At mile one my pace was 6:30. What? Conservative? Whoops. I felt good. I kept going. Later in the race I passed a couple of the women who shot out of the gates. I felt strong the whole time. It was truly a tempo pace for me as I was able to cheer on other participants and help them make it to the finish. 

I haven't seen official results yet, but I think I was the second woman (not including the elite wave) in the open wave and I ran about a 40:59. That is a couple of minutes slower than my PR but I am starting to enjoy the more relaxed approach to running (racing). 

I am currently not registered for anything else this year with the exception of Twin Cities Marathon in which I am pacing a couple runners to a 3:35 and get them to Boston. Should be fun! 

By the way, still no diet coke(or any soda for that matter). It is the devil. I crave it everyday....