races and events 2015

I think not running for a while has made me a little crazy.  I am looking at a lot of running events, and I want to do them all.  So far for 2015 I have a few lined up:

• Hapalua Half Marathon - April 13, 2015
• Hibiscus Half Marathon - May 24, 2015
• Honolulu Marathon - December 13, 2015

I am excited for these, even the Hapalua Half that I may not be as prepared for as I would like - stupid injuries!

I have also decided on entering the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon, which opens sometime early March for the race in October.  This of course, isn't a definite - as it is a lottery to get in.

So, because I am not doing anything at the moment except for googling, I have looked up more events.  In Hawaii they have a series of events to get you prepared for the Honolulu Marathon, these are:

• Boca Hawaii - Norman Tamanaha 15k - August 9, 2015
• Runners HI 20k - September 6, 2015
• Hokulani Bake Shop 25k - October 4, 2015
• HMSA 30k - October 25, 2015
• Mizuno Val Nolasco Half Marathon - November 15, 2015

Now, you can sign up for these events individually, or all at once for about $130 (before a certain date).  I am thinking this will be a great idea.  It will keep me motivated for the Honolulu Marathon, as well acting like great training runs.  The 30k is apparently the last 18 miles of the marathon course, so that would be fantastic to do.  The only problem is that would be the only race I would miss if I were to get into the Marine Corps Marathon.

I printed out a calendar from my computer last night, and put in all the dates of the races, as well as the MCM, and it looks possible!  I have a little bit of time to decide, but it will give me some great events to run for the second half of the year.

Training

I have been looking quite a bit into marathon training.  I am using Hal Higdon's plans for the half marathon coming up, but have also been reading about Hanson's Marathon Method.  This sounds great, but quite intense.

I definitely would stay motivated with my training using the Readiness Series above, and it will be like stepping stones to get ready for each race.  If I do this series, I will probably stick with Hal Higdon's guides.  

There is a North Shore Marathon planned for the start of 2016 (I think April?) so, if all goes well and I finish all my events for this year, but find that I want to try something different, I may try using the Hanson's plan for that marathon.  At the moment this is the marathon I could really hope to see some improvement in my times - it is a year away, it is where I live - so I can run the course, and it isn't hilly. 

I'm excited!  Now for my ankle to heal!

weekly recap - week 2

This is depressing.  I am still injured, hopefully I can get back to running next week.  Fingers crossed!

Monday:

• Injured - Rest

Tuesday:

• Injured - Rest

Wednesday:

• Injured - Rest

Thursday:

• Injured - Rest

Friday:

• Injured - But ankle feeling better, not as much swelling. 
• Walk up Diamond Head - almost 2 mile round trip

Saturday:

• A few core and arm exercises:
• 100 bicycle crunches
• 20 straight leg sit ups and twist
• 30 straight leg raises
• 30 straight leg jackknifes
• 30 bent leg jackknifes
• 30 tricep dips
• 15 push ups (modified, so I didn't rest on my foot)

Sunday:

• Ankle feeling pretty good!  Still a little sore near ankle bone, but walking pretty good!
• Approximately 1.5 mile walk with the dog and husband - nothing intense.

Weekly mileage: 0 miles.  Boo - that is upsetting!

frustration

Tomorrow will be a week since I last run.  It is so frustrating.  Just when I was starting off a new training plan and I was finished with week 2 of Kayla Itsines BBG, I go and hurt myself.

My ankle is feeling a little better, it still gets swollen as the day goes on.  Luckily I am not working right now so full rest is able to happen.  It only really hurts when I am sleeping and manage to tweak it some way.  I am thinking of giving myself full rest, and possible not running for another full week. But I haven't done anything for this time, a couple of very slow walks with the dog, but that is it.  Even if I am off my foot until the end of January/start of February I will still have two full months of training time - I can definitely run a half - and hopefully still get in under 2 hours.

The good news is that my husband has realized how crazy I get when I don't run.  He told me I should of had an injury sooner, then he would have been much more supportive with my running.  (But he is completely supportive, and even rides his bike with me when I have gone on 18 mile runs)

I've had plenty of time to google.  That's been the biggest problem.  Now I am doubting my training plan (Sorry, Hal!).  I'm sure my plan is fine, but I see so many good workouts, for spadework, tempo runs, hill repeats, that I want to do them all, but I can't see how to fit them in to my plan.  That leaves me with the question, do I skip the plan and focus on training how I want.  Or do I keep the plan for this time and see how my results are at the first half marathon, then make adjustments?  The dilemmas!

I think my goal is to focus on how I can work out my core and upper body without any pressure to my foot.  I don't think I even want to attempt a plank, maybe reliable old crunches.

Time to go and put my foot up and keep googling.

weekly recap - week 1

Monday:

• Morning run, at an easy pace: 3 miles.  (9:27min/mile) 
• BBG Workout- Legs & Cardio
• Surf (another great LISS session, so much paddling!)

Tuesday:

• Morning run, 2 miles warm up, 6x400m, 1 mile cool down:  5.5 miles. (9:33min/mile)

Wednesday:

• Early morning run, at an easy pace: 3 miles. (9:39min/mile)
• BBG Workout- Arms and Abs
• Morning Surf

Thursday:

• Early morning run, tempo pace: 4.67 miles. (8:34min/mile)

Friday:

• Rest day for running.
• BBG Workout - Full body
• Hiking - where I injured myself!!! Boo.

Saturday:

• Complete rest, iced my ankle.

Sunday:

• Complete rest, again, iced my ankle.

Weekly mileage: 16.17 miles


I'm pretty upset that I managed to hurt myself.  At least it wasn't from overtraining, it was a pure accident.  Hopefully I will recover quickly and get back on track.

thinking about marathons

I'm sitting here with my sore ankle, thinking about running.

I was really excited for my runs this weekend.   But I am not upset that I cannot run them, instead I am looking forward to when I can run again.  And in all honesty, it will probably be early next week - my ankle is feeling better, just swollen.  I will be careful though!

So, thinking.  Thinking about marathons.  Thinking about how scary they really are.  Especially if you want to go faster.

My first marathon I had the goal just to finish.  I thought it was way out of my league.  I only stopped at water breaks, and finished.  My second marathon was part of the Dopey Challenge - for those that don't know, that is 4 days of running: 5k, 10k, a Half and a Full.  I just wanted to finish.  I wanted to run the whole thing, but just finish.  I found the 4:45 pacer, and stuck with her most of the way.  I was amazed that I beat my time from the previous year.

However, I know I am capable of going faster - much faster.  I am wanting to complete a marathon this year in under four hours.  I know, it's a lot.  Dropping over 43 minutes from my previous marathon would be a huge undertaking.  I do think I have some things going for me:  I have run fairly consistently since that last marathon, especially the last half of 2014.  I have run more half marathons, including a sub 2 hour marathon.  Now this sub 2 half marathon was a big deal for me.  I didn't think I was going to be able to compete in it, as I had moved to Hawaii and the race was in Florida.  I only got the flight booked about 2 weeks before the race, so I didn't really train as much as what I should have, or would have liked to.

Now, this year I think I can do the sub 4 hour marathon.  I have two half marathons ready to go.  I want to enter the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon in DC (October), and I am entered into the Honolulu Marathon (December).  The MCM may be my best shot, as the weather will be cooler, but I am hoping to use it as a guide, see how I do, if and when I hit the wall, work on my fueling strategy. Though, I may not even get in.  If this is this case, perhaps I try for another marathon elsewhere, or go on my own at home.  (Though no race bling!)

What I want to look at, to help with my goal of a sub 4 hour marathon:

• Nutrition - what to eat before and after my runs
• Fueling - hydration before and after my runs, as well as focusing on my long runs
• Salt tablets/electrolytes - I will be running in Hawaii, during the summer, the mornings will be humid and warm!
• Hills - finding some good places to run with rolling hills, this may make me go for a drive for my runs!
• A good training plan, I want to run at least three 20 mile runs before hand.  Hal Higdon has given me good training plans so far, so I may use his again.  In saying this, I want to bump up my mileage, which I need to do slowly so I don't injure myself.

This is it for now.  I am excited.  I know this is possible.

injured

Just as I was getting excited for my weekend runs I go ahead and hurt myself.

I went on a hike this afternoon, went for a little jog and just landed wrong.  My foot rolled in, and I heard a crack.  I was so upset.  My husband came up and saw me, and I leant on him for a little then walked back.  It started to feel better as I walked, but still a little sore.

Now I am at home, with it up, compressed and putting ice on and off.  Let's hope it just gets better.  I had a pace run for tomorrow and a 90 minute long run on Sunday.  I might skip those and try to get back into it next week.

Not the best way to start a training plan.  At least it is at the start, not close to the race.

The view from the hike

just get up!

This morning I did not want to get out of bed.  I woke up with my alarm, didn't feel tired, but I did feel lazy. 

'Tomorrow is my rest day, I could just run tomorrow and have today as a rest day.'  Or 'I could always run this afternoon.'  I thought about it for a little bit, then realised that I feel so much better after completing a run.  They always say, you never regret the workout you did, but always regret the workout you didn't do.  So true.

A tempo was on the cards for this morning.  According to my mate, Hal, this was going to be about a 10 minute easy run, then working up to tempo pace, then a 5 to 10 minute easy run, for 40 minutes.  It started off really well, but I think I need to work on my pacing.  I ended up a little too fast.  

My splits:

Mile 1: 9:34

Mile 2: 8:20

Mile 3: 8:06

Mile 4: 8:10

Last 0.67: 8:54

(I'll update these when I get my watch, I think this was it, average pace is 8:34min/mile.)

I am extremely happy with this run, even if it was a touch fast.  After not wanting to get out there I ended up doing a great job!  Pat on the back for me!

Now to relax at the beach, watching Da Hui Backdoor Shootout comp!

speedwork!

Speedwork!

Well, I guess that depends on your definition of speed.  For me it was speed, for some it may just be your cruising pace.  I have to stop comparing myself to others.  I think I am slow, however I know plenty of runners out there would love to be at my pace.  I know a few years ago I wanted to be at the pace I am now.  I have just developed to be a little faster.  That isn't enough for me.  I want to go faster!

So, speedwork.  Today's workout consisted of a 2 mile warm up, nice and easy.  I then stopped and stretched a little. (Just like Hal Higdon told me too - check out my training page).  Then it was time for my intervals.  6 x 400m at around 5k pace.  My last 5k that I have run put me at an average of 7:58min/mile.  However, I am aiming for a faster half marathon time so I have upped it to be at my goal 5k time, which is around a 7:39min/mile.  Now I could be running this completely wrong, but I figure 400 meter repeats aren't too far, and 6 of them isn't too many that I can do this goal 5k pace.

My splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	52:28.5	5.50	9:33
1	19:08.5	2.00	9:34
2	1:55.2	0.25	7:41
3	1:54.0	0.15	12:40
4	1:50.0	0.25	7:20
5	1:58.1	0.15	13:07
6	1:49.2	0.25	7:17
7	1:59.8	0.15	13:19
8	1:49.6	0.25	7:18
9	1:55.8	0.15	12:52
10	1:45.8	0.25	7:03
11	2:06.5	0.15	14:03
12	1:47.3	0.25	7:09
13	2:09.7	0.15	14:25
14	10:19.1	1.10	9:24

Only the first one was close the my goal pace, however if you look at the time it took me to complete the 400m repeats they are very close to what I wanted: 1:47 - 1:53.  So I am very happy with this run! For my recovery periods I walked .010 mile, and jogged 0.05 of a mile, to lead into the next interval.  I finished off with a 1 mile cool down.  I love the fact that my cool down felt easy, but was actually quicker than my warm up.  Definitely running faster makes your easy runs feel easier!  (And yes, I did 1.1 miles as a cool down, I needed to end on 5.5 miles!)

I ended at the beach where my husband was taking photos, so naturally I asked for one of me!

day one of training complete!

What a great start to my training plan.

I didn't want to get out of bed, when I finally did I was to do 3 easy miles.  It was a little chilly, so I wanted to run faster but held myself back.  Just tried to go nice and slow.  I still think I need to slow it down a little more, but that may come when I am exhausted from all my other workouts.

My splits:

Mile 1: 9:34

Mile 2: 9:31

Mile 3: 9:17

I then did week 2 of Kayla Itsine's Bikini Body Guide, legs and cardio.  Wow, it was tough!  She is going to kill me with these workouts.

Next the fun part!  I headed to the beach for a surf.  It was small, and a little onshore.  But the supreme beings of meteorology have forecasted big swells over the next few days, and it could be the last time I surf for a while.  I'm not into big waves.  I am still getting back into surfing, so there was a lot of paddling.  My arms were quite tired from the previous surfs I've had.  Can't wait to get back my surf fitness!

I also promised my dog a long walk today.  I've been taking him to the beach a lot, we walk a little, but end up sunbathing mostly!  It ended up being about a 2 mile walk.

Tomorrow I am sure it will be a much less active day.  I do have speedwork in the morning.  Bring it on! I am excited for it!

weekly recap - pre-training plan

My week of running, the week before my training schedule begins:

All my runs felt good, I need to still slow down on some of my easy runs.  Especially now that I will be adding more runs and harder effort to some of them.


Monday:

• Morning run, at an easy pace: 5 miles.  (9:11min/mile) 
• BBG Workout- Legs & Cardio

Tuesday:

• Morning run, at an easy pace: 6 miles. (9:31min/mile)

Wednesday:

• Nothing!  Flying from Perth to Hawaii!

Thursday:

• Nothing - still flying/getting over flying.

Friday:

• Morning run at an easy pace: 5 miles. (9:11min/mile)
• Fun surf
• BBG Workout- Arms and Abs

Saturday:

• Morning long run: 9 miles. (9:22min/mile)
• Quick yoga session 
• Quick foam rolling session

Sunday:

• Morning surf (lots of paddling!!! Definitely a big LISS session!)
• Afternoon bodyboarding session

Weekly mileage: 25 miles

how fast?

For my upcoming training plan I am going to use the McMillan Running calculator to work out how fast I should be running.

I really want Greg McMillan's book, (You) Only Faster.  I may have to purchase it in the near future!

I know I probably already run most of my easy runs too fast, so I am definitely going to work on that!
I put in my recent half marathon time of 1:57:26 and a goal of 1:50:00 (yes, quite lofty, but dream big!)

My training paces are:

Endurance:
Easy Run: 9:21 - 10:16
Long Run: 9:21 - 10: 39
Recovery Jog: 10:24 - 11:10

Stamina:
Steady State Run: 8:42 - 9:06
Tempo Run: 8:24 - 8:39
Tempo Intervals: 8:14 - 8:32

Speed:
400m: 1:47 - 1:53
800m: 3:43 - 3:55
1200m: 5:46 - 6:06
1600m: 8:02 - 8:13

I will try to run everything at one of these paces. I am excited!  I am also going to write these out and stick it on the fridge, along with my training plan.  That way I know what I am going to do each day, so I don't have to go online and figure out what I should be running.

Training starts Monday!

honolulu marathon

It might have been because I was delirious after almost 48 hours of travel.  It could have been the price ($26.20).  But I signed up for the Honolulu Marathon.  I am so excited.  I wanted to a marathon this year.  It was out of NYC, MCM or the Honolulu.  When I received an email about the Kama'aina (Mahalo Rewards Card - south park??) special price I knew I had to do it.  I am still going to go into the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon, because I would love to do a little trip to DC.

Any way.  This week has been a little crazy, like I said 48 hours of travel.  I flew from Perth, Australia to Honolulu, Hawaii via Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney.  Yes.  That is correct.  That also includes a delayed flight in Sydney, forcing me to spend the night.  Yuck.  So I am a little behind on my BBG (Bikini Body Guide) workouts.  I plan on doing Wednesday's workout today, and then Friday's workout tomorrow.  The good thing is this week the third workout is only optional, so if it doesn't happen it isn't the end of the world.

I had a few good runs in Perth on Monday and Tuesday, both at an 'easy' pace.  5 miles on Monday and 6 miles on Tuesday.  I also went to a yoga class with my mum on the Tuesday, and loved it!  I definitely need to be doing more of that!

This morning I did another easy 5 miles - and no hills!  My pace:
Mile 1: 9:13 min/mile
Mile 2: 9:19 min/mile
Mile 3: 9:16 min/mile
Mile 4: 9:08 min/mile
Mile 5: 8:57 min/mile
Average: 9:13 min/mile pace

It felt good to be running back here!

weekly recap

I thought I should do a weekly overview of my training.  Just in case I miss anything during the week, and also so I can see what I have done that week. The perfect time for this will probably be Sunday night/Monday morning. 

This week was just half a week long.  I decided to start this on January 1st for two reasons. 
1) It's the New Year, and what is a better excuse?!
2) I was working until the 31st - I am a tour guide and it doesn't give me much opportunity to really focus on my running when I am away.  (And I won't be touring again for at least another 5 months)

My week:

Thursday: Early morning run, at a moderate pace: 5 miles. 8:47min/mile

Friday: Early morning run, at an easy pace: 4 miles.  9:19min/mile

Saturday: Morning parkrun timed 5k, with warm up and cool down: 4 miles.  8:24min/mile

Sunday: Rest!  Calves feeling a little sore, so decided to stretch them out.

Weekly total: 13 miles

Great start to the year!  I can slowly keep adding the miles.

parkrun

I didn't write about my run yesterday.  I was planning on hill repeats, then I remembered that parkrun was happening.  Parkrun is an organisation that operates all over the world, they offer weekly timed 5km runs - for free!! I joined a while ago, but had never gone to one.  (I don't think they have them in Hawaii, but the one I went to was about 5 minutes away from my parents house in Australia).

I thought it could be a great idea to get a timed 5k under my belt to see where I am now and to give me a base for the year to come.  Great idea!

I arrived feeling very nervous. I'm always nervous before any sort of speedwork.i think I just want to perform at my best, whether it is a race or just 400m repeats - I want to reach my goals!  I went for just over half a mile warm up, then went to start the event.

There where a lot of people running, all different ages and abilities - and a bunch of first timers.  It had a very friendly atmosphere, everyone was very welcoming to the newbies!  The run started and took us through the beautiful park, on trails.  I started out a little too fast, and into the second mile I wanted to quit!  I kept pushing, and had positive splits.  Not the best racing I've done.

Mile 1: 7:51

Mile 2: 8:03

Mile 3: 8:04

Mile 0.1: 7:04

But I got a PR!  I think it was about 20 seconds faster than my previous time.  I finally broke 25 minutes, with an official time of 24:46.  I am extremely happy with this, the last month I have barely run at all -I think I ran 37 miles in December, compared with over 100 for October and November each.

I then cooled down with an easy jog to make my mileage for the day a total of 4 miles.

Now I am excited to have a great base, and see if I can improve on my time.  My ambitious goal may be to now break 24 minutes!

Today I was thinking of a longer run, but my calves are feeling a little sore so I am taking a rest day.  I will start my long runs soon enough!

#NewYogiNewYear

I have wanted to start yoga for a while.  I did it a little in high school, then never again.  I found a beginners challenge on Instagram, and so I am excited to start with that. It is simply a pose a day - easy!  I am also going to try and find more guides for me to get into it.  I feel it can only help for both running and surfing.  My friend also spoke really highly of Bikram Yoga, and I think there is a place near where I live back home, so I will look into that too.

The first day, the bridge pose.

I did my run this morning, just an easy pace.  The hills here kill me!  I am at my parent's house, and if I want a run by the beach I have a huge hill to go over to get there, and of course it is sitting there waiting for me on the way back.  3.5 miles at 9:19 pace.  I tried some surges at the end, just speeding up and slowing down.  Nothing too exciting, and I think I didn't run them long enough.  I figure anything is better than nothing though!

I think I may try hill repeats tomorrow, I'm excited for them!  Weird, I know.  But I have heard running hills is a great way to improve speed and form.