I’m not sure if it’s the heat or if it’s the distraction of entertaining my visiting family, but it’s been hard getting my butt in front of the laptop to blog.
Yesterday we decided to get a head start and began at 6am. The temperature in Baltimore at 6am was 79 degrees with the humidity at 82%. The air was definitely thick and it felt like you were running through and breathing in mud. Needless to say, hydration was going to be the key for a successful 12 miles. Continue reading
It’s inevitable that life is going to get in the way of training for a marathon. A lot can happen during those 18 weeks and it’s not a bad thing, but it can be a challenge.
This week, my family is visiting from Taiwan….TWELVE OF THEM for two weeks! Oh, in case you didn’t know, I’m half Taiwanese and half Caucasian. I actually just almost typed “half American,” but that would be an incorrect statement. I’m 100% American no matter what my national origins are. I always get comments like, “you don’t look mixed” or “you look like you are something,” and I sometimes tilt my head and think…”I look like I’m something? What is that supposed to mean?” My picture in on the About page if you’re curious as to what “something” looks like. Anyways, I digress. Continue reading
FINALLY! A great training run! Things are starting to look up. I met with my group of running friends, we call ourselves The Six Pack, at the NCR trail at around 6:30AM. It’s been a while since the Six Pack ran as a whole, so it was great to have most of us together again. The only thing that kept this run from being perfect was our missing sole sister, Sunny. So, I guess today we were more of the Fab Five instead of the Six Pack. Hopefully we’ll all run together next week… GO SIX PACK! Continue reading
Thursdays are my tempo run days. What is a tempo run? I couldn’t have defined it better than the link below:
“Definition: Tempo runs are an excellent way for runners to build speed and strength. They’re runs that are done at a steady effort level, usually just a little slower than your 10K race pace. Tempo runs help you develop your anaerobic or lactate threshold, which is critical for running faster. (http://running.about.com/od/runnersglossary/g/whatisatemporun.htm)”
Today our group was supposed to do a 4 mile tempo run for beginners and 5 – 6 for intermediates. Having had a crappy track workout on Tuesday, I decided to go with the 4 mile run on the “dreadmill.” It was obvious to me that I needed to get back to basics and work on my form and pace consistency. I’d let the treadmill take care of my pace while I concentrated on my form. Continue reading
First track workout of the season and it sucked. Not only did it suck, but it sucked cheese balls. It was 93 degrees with bad air quality and I, of course, forgot my inhaler. Yesterday’s drill was partner 800’s, which I typically love…except for yesterday. I knew I was in trouble when I started to feel my knee ache during the warm up jog to the track and my legs were feeling like they were a bazillion pounds. Continue reading
What a beautiful day to start training! It was great to see old friends again and the energy of excitement of taking on another challenge was in the air. We were scheduled to run 8 to 10 miles, so our little crew started off with 8.5 miles as all of us were coming back from injuries and thought it was best to take it easy for the first long run. Personally, I’ve been dealing with a knee issue caused by tightness in my calves and quads according to my Physical Therapist. I also developed Meralgia paraesthetica in my right hip. Don’t worry…that’s sounds worse than what it is. It’s just a pinched nerve in the hip area that makes my right quad numb. You can hit my thigh and I won’t feel a thing! Cool, huh? Anyway, I need to do more stretching, rolling, and yoga to kelp my knee, and I need to get some steroid injection in my hip for my nerve….I’ll wait to do this as long as I can. Continue reading
My first stab at writing a blog and I have writers block. Go figure. I guess that’s why I never became a writer in the first place. When I first started running last year, I wanted to write a blog about my journey to my first marathon, but I was too intimidated to go through with it. Actually, I just couldn’t get past naming the damned thing! What’s with all these running blogs anyway?! Continue reading
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