Rock & Roll Half Marathon Training Week 1

Confession: I took most of last week off of working out. I did yoga once and ran 5 miles on Saturday, but I mostly felt like just taking it easy. So I did!

This week's plan:
Sun: Rest
Mon: Power yoga
Tues: Run 2 mi intervals
Wed: Yoga or rest
Thurs: Run 2 mi intervals
Fri: Yoga or rest
Sat: Run 5 mi

I need to do some strength training at some point as well. I've been bad about not doing any!

Dallas White Rock Half Marathon

Saturday I took the DART rail to Fair Park to pick up my race packet and check out the Health and Fitness Expo. There were a ton of booths and a ton of people, even though I had gotten there early to try to avoid the crowds. I got a few free samples, bought a pack of Honey Stinger Chews and checked out a few of the booths. I had been thinking about signing up for the Rock & Roll half marathon on March 27 so I stopped by the booth to get some info. They were offering a discount and free t-shirt for signing up, so I did! Guess I'm going right back into training.

Sunday morning started early, traffic was ridiculous getting to Fair Park. We made it at about 7:45 and I found my assigned corral, L. I knew they would be starting us in waves (22,000 participants, so it made sense!) but I had no idea how long it would take for my group to be able to start! We didn't get started until almost 8:45. I normally try not to start out really fast, but I tried to push ahead really early to get ahead of the crowd.



It was so cold when we started, about 33 degrees! I wore long pants, a t-shirt, my favorite thumbhole jacket and gloves that I didn't care about losing. There were tons of discarded clothes along the course, good thing the race organizers get them picked up and donate them. It took several miles for my muscles to warm up, my legs felt like blocks of ice for a while there.

Course support was great, there were people all along the course with signs, live bands and a lot of great scenery. Our names were on our bibs and so a lot of people would call our our names as we ran by. There were plenty of water and Gatorade stations and Run On even had Kleenex stations. What a great idea! I drank water and Gatorade at miles 3, 6 and 9 and took ate some chews at miles 5 and 10.

My goal for this race was to be able to run the entire way. At Hills and Heels in May, I ran up until about mile 9 then had to alternate running and walking. But when I got to mile 10 this time, I knew I was going to be able to make it the entire way! I did stop right after mile 10 to stretch and of course I had to stop for the water stations (has anybody mastered running and drinking at the same time?), but I felt so strong when I was near the finish! In fact, once we hit mile 12, I pushed myself to pick up the pace in the hopes that I would really beat my last half-marathon time.

I didn't beat my time as much as I wanted to. My official finish time was 2:19:27, only 29 seconds faster than my first half-marathon. But, hey, faster is faster! I will take it.

Next up: Rock & Roll on March 27, 2011! Let's see what I can do!

The end is near!

The end of training, that is!

Last week's workouts:
Sunday: Easy yoga
Monday: 2 miles treadmill intervals
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: 2 miles treadmill intervals easy in the 'hood.
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest?
Saturday: Run 10 miles (last long run before the half!)

Hey, I almost did all my workouts this week! I was glad to get out of work early enough on Wednesday to get in an outside run before dark. I'd had a bad headache all day, so I took it pretty easy. Thursday and Friday we were traveling (drove to and from Austin) and still had a lingering headache, but luckily my run on Saturday went great.

This week's plan:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Did .6 mi on the treadmill before power yoga
Tuesday: 2.15 mi treadmill intervals (plus walked to work)
Wednesday: Cardio + yoga podcast
Thursday: 2 mi treadmill intervals
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Rest or easy yoga
Sunday: Race day!

I'm starting to get excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week's workouts:

Sunday: Easy bike ride (2.5 miles)
Monday: 2 mile run, strength training
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: 3 2 miles on the treadmill (or however far I can make it, my knee hates the treadmill) + walked to work
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Easy yoga Walked to and from work
Saturday: 10 mile run

Saturday's run was tough, my legs hurt and I almost quit at 7 miles but decided to stop and stretch instead. I felt a lot better and decided to stick it out for the last 3 miles.

This week will be tricky because of Thanksgiving traveling, but here is my plan:

Sunday: Easy yoga
Monday: 2 miles treadmill intervals
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: 2 miles treadmill intervals
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest?
Saturday: Run 10 miles (last long run before the half!)

We are driving to Austin on Thursday morning, then driving back Friday. So I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to get anything in. And I hope I'll be able to get my Mon-Wed workouts in, with a few people taking the whole week off I am not sure how busy work will be.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

My coworker came up with a great idea: "Dip Day!" Everyone on our team brought a homemade dip and we chowed down and exchanged recipes.

I decided to make hummus and combined a couple recipes I've come across. It turned out quite tasty!

1 bulb garlic
1 can chickpeas
Juice of 2 small lemons
2 T tahini
1 T olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste (I didn't think it needed any)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut the top off garlic bulb; drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast for 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Squeeze garlic pulp into food processor and add remaining ingredients. Pulse for 5 minutes, scraping sides as needed.

Refrigerate overnight.

Om nom nom.

Shorter days

Last week's workouts:
Sunday: Easy bike ride Had a bad sinus headache most of the day.
Monday: 2 mile run, strength training
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: 3 mile run Worked late; but I did walk to work
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Easy yoga
Saturday: Run 9 miles

With Daylight Savings over and a busy week at work, it's been harder to get my workouts in after work! I wanted to move my Wednesday workout to Thursday but ended up working late again on Thursday. Oh, well, it's a new week!

I did go out to White Rock on Saturday. It was a nice change of pace to run at the lake, but I've gotten a little spoiled to the Katy Trail. The White Rock loop is paved, but no cushy running surface. There are also no mile markers and since I don't use a watch anymore, it was hard for me to tell how far I had gone. The loop felt a lot longer than 9 miles (some sources say it's 8.96, some say 9.33) and I was afraid I'd gotten lost at one point. I was so thankful when I finally saw the lot where I had parked!

This week's plans:
Sunday: Easy bike ride
Monday: 2 mile run, strength training
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: 3 miles on the treadmill (or however far I can make it, my knee hates the treadmill)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Easy yoga
Saturday: 10 mile run

I'm in the double digits now!

One month to go!

Last week's workotus:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 2 miles, strength training Got out of work late so I did Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio to warm up followed by Total Body Sculpt: Lower Body, Arms and Abs
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: Run 3 miles 2.6 miles
Thursday: Rest (Walked to and from work)
Friday: Yoga Walked to and from work
Saturday: Run 9 miles

Whew, Saturday's run felt great! I got a new jacket to wear since it is so cold out in the early mornings and I love it! I also tried out a new fuel since my usual Carb Boost chews have apparently been discontinued. I tried out an apple-cinnamon flavor Hammer gel and I gagged trying to get that goop down my throat. :( The flavor wasn't bad, but I think it was trying to swallow the gel. I really did feel energized for the last half of my run, though, so I will try it one more time to see if I can get used to it.

This week's plans:
Sunday: Easy bike ride
Monday: 2 mile run, strength training
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: 3 mile run
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Easy yoga
Saturday: Run 9 miles

I'm thinking about checking out White Rock Lake for my long run instead of the Katy Trail. Any other Dallas runners prefer one or the other?