Hatfield McCoy Marathon Recap (Round Two)

This past weekend was a first for me - I went back and ran a marathon for a second time. I've only ever repeated two other races before - my hometown Turkey Trot and the Big Ten 10K. I wasn't sure what it would be like to repeat a race of a much longer distance. I did know this time around would be a little different since it was slated to be 10 degrees hotter (with a predicted real feel of 100) than 2014.

Michael and I took a half day Friday to drive down. We probably could've waited until after work and gotten in late, but I wanted to make sure Michael got the "full" Hatfield McCoy experience with the free pasta dinner and the skit.

From Northeast Ohio, the drive is very easy - you get on 77-S and take it forever, then finish it up with a short stretch on a state highway. The only major town you pass by is Charleston, WV, so it's stress-free. We got a bit of a late start because I had to stop in the hood to get gas (never again!), but we arrived about 45 minutes before the skit. We had plenty of time to pick up our packets, eat, and get good seats in the auditorium. 

The RD gave a 30 minute talk about the race and how much it's grown. The skit was just as good as last year, and Michael said he enjoyed it. I did snap a quick picture to send my dad, who replied "I don't understand your message or picture." Hey - I tried!

We booked a hotel about 40 minutes away from Williamson. When I tried called the downtown hotels on two separate occasions, they wouldn't let me book a room. I got fed up with it, and I got us a Best Western for cheaper and booked online no problem. I know the city isn't really set-up to handle major tourism, but they seem to shoot themselves in the foot sometimes. If I call a hotel, I expect to be able to book a room!

Our alarm was set Saturday morning for 4:45 AM (getting up before 5 always makes us a bit sad). (Side note - how do you runners not in the Eastern time zone travel for races?! You must always get screwed by the time change plus an early wake-up!) We saw maybe two or three other cars on the road, and we had no issue finding a spot to park downtown, which was my big worry.

We walked about two minutes to a corner where people were congregating for a shuttle and got on the second one that came by. I think we waited less than 5 minutes, and then the actual ride to the Food City took less than 10. We cycled through the bathroom in a few minutes and had about 20 minutes to wait for the start. I did forget about the pre-race prayer. (Again, I appreciate the sentiment of hoping everyone has a good race, but having a Christian prayer for a very diverse group of people makes me pretty uncomfortable. I think it's a cultural thing there, but I wish they could be a little more self-aware.) 

The race started right on schedule, and we were across the line in about 30 seconds. While the race is chip-timed, there is no mat at the start. The two re-enactors from the skit saw us off by shooting a few rounds. 

Given how hot and humid it was supposed to be, Michael and I discussed strategy for this race, and we planned to run around 10:30 min/miles for the first half, to try to get as many miles under our belts as we could before it got oppressively hot. Our splits for the first 12 miles hovered around 11 min/miles with our walk breaks.

I forgot just how gorgeous this course is! While the race really advertised the feud aspect (obviously), I think they do a disservice by not mentioning how beautiful the region is. I tried to soak it in while I was cool enough to enjoy it.

I think both Michael and I were a little apprehensive about running another marathon after the sufferfest that was Blue Ridge, so it was nice when the biggest hill of the day, Blackberry Mountain, was no big deal. We did power-walk, but there was no soul-crushing defeat.

Soon enough, we were at the top. This was the first aid station with "extras," and I had the best, freshest piece of watermelon ever. I had a few more slices at other points in the race, and they were all just as good. Michael got a bit ahead of me on the downhill, so I finally got a picture of him running!

The course flattened out for a few miles after this, and we continued making good time. Until about mile 12, that is. I think there was a moment where we both looked at each other walking out of an aid station and were like "It is hot!" At this point we started implementing walk breaks whenever we felt like it. I really appreciate that this race doesn't have a time limit. It was nice to only manage our bodies, not our bodies and the clock.

The person I ran with last year really started struggling around this point, so it was nice to enjoy downtown Matewan when we came through the halfway mark this time.

I also stopped to take an identical picture of the river as I did last year, only this time no one came up to tell me it was an ugly spot and I shouldn't photograph it.

This was the point where my companion dropped out last year, and I was surprised how little of that part of the course I remembered. I totally forgot about the long section along the river, though this meant the dirt road part was way shorter than I was thinking, which was a nice surprise. But that didn't mean the dirt road wasn't still there!

Luckily, there hadn't been unseasonable rain the whole week before the race, so it was not all mud like 2014. But I was glad the entrance to the golf course didn't disappoint and was once again hilariously bad.

I was really excited for another chance at the swinging bridge, and I even got a picture this time around!

The last section of the race had very little shade, and it felt like we were in the middle of a Marathon Maniacs walking club. It was really fun getting to talk to a bunch of different people, including some others going for the 50 States. It's easy to get down about how slow walking is compared to running, but our chats helped pass the time.

Michael also spotted my returning racer sign! I was getting worried we had missed it.

In the last half mile, it finally started to rain. We passed a couple other racers, and we all just shook our heads and laughed! And finally, the end was in sight.

The finish downtown came up quickly, and the re-enactors were once again there to greet us.

Time: 6:11:50

We were given our medals and immediately grabbed some chairs in the shade. A volunteer came over with some towels soaked in ice water and said we looked "done." Considering how bad I felt, I don't want to think about how bad I looked.

My entire legs had gotten horrible cramps the last eight miles of the race, and I was worried they would persist. But once I sat down, they quickly went away. I was relieved, since I had been imaging writhing in pain in the backseat the whole drive home.

Michael and I walked the few blocks back to the car and enjoyed a change of shoes and some time in the air conditioning. Once we felt a little more normal, we walked to a nearby restaurant to get our free post-race meal (there were four other restaurants we could have picked). I got two hot dogs, chips, a pop, and finished it off with soft serve ice cream.

I loved this post-race meal concept! It was so nice getting a pretty solid meal and having a choice on what it was. I just wish they had advertised what each restaurant offered. Hurley Drug ended up being great, but we weren't exactly up to wandering all over downtown to find out all the options.

Once full, we drove a half mile up the hill to the abandoned high school to shower. Not as creepy as I expected, actually, and I survived taking a shower in an open room with a bunch of other ladies. Also not as intimidating as I imagined.

I'm not planning on repeating any other marathons until the 50 States is complete, but it was fun to get to re-visit one of them. But I can't wait to see what the next 38 have to offer!

Home

The radio silence is over. Michael and I are finally, finally in our new house, and I can breathe again. The process went smoothly and quickly - but it still took over a month!

I thought I knew what to expect, since I spent my entire childhood in a house, but, after four years in dorms and apartments, owning my own place is even more magical than I imagined.

During the pre-buying process, both sets of parents suggested maybe buying a condo as a starter place, but I (and Michael) were completely against this. Our rule was our walls couldn't touch anyone else's walls. (We later had to modify this to also disallowing homes where we could touch someone else's house while still standing on our own land - some cities here really jam their houses together!)

I'm still adjusting sleep-wise to a new place with new ambient noise, but I can't get over how amazing it is that it is quiet enough to sleep virtually whenever I want. (Irony - our neighbors had a huge birthday party for their son the day after we moved, but it wrapped at 7 PM!) I knew being in an environment with the possibility of loud noise was really stressing me out, but I didn't realize how much until Sunday night when I started noticing lots of palpable tension in my shoulders and back around 9:30.

I'm also adjusting to a new running environment. While we're still in a suburb of Cleveland, we're straddled right on the edge of a county of nothing but farmland. This means that while our subdivision has nice sidewalks (and some running paths!), the surrounding area has none. It took me a minute to realize I can just run along the road safely because we're out in the country, but it will take some getting used to. For what it's worth, everyone on my run this morning was super courteous!

But to get to the important part - the house! We were really lucky to find a city that had homes with all our "needs" (an attached two car garage is a must in Northeast Ohio but surprisingly hard to come by) within our price range. I can't decide what my favorite part is yet (if you don't count the peace and quiet). However, a little work needs to be done. My parents came to help, and they get a huge shout-out for whipping our exterior back into shape.

Yard mowed, landscaping weed-whacked, trees pruned, mulch added.

We do need to call in a few tradespeople to fix a few minor things (ie, our dishwasher isn't attached to anything and tries to run away while being loaded), and our radon mitigation is scheduled for next week. There are a few minor aesthetic items to tackle as well. We started with spackling some giant holes left in the spare bedrooms, under the tutelage of my dad, - but next up will be painting over the giant baseball motif in the guest bedroom.

This is how I react whenever I look at it.

When we're supposed to tackle all these tasks, I have no idea! We're out of town the next two weekends (ok, we will be here Sunday, but I'm not sure finishing up the mulching would be fun the day after a marathon), and gone every weekend in July. Luckily, Michael has the option to work from home, so we can at least get the trades out ASAP and just deal with everything else...some time. (Our first guest will almost certainly be my best friend, and she assured me as long as the baseball room is climate controlled, she will be happy!)

I don't want to sound like I'm whining though - I will happily figure this whole thing out in turn for living in place that is actually mine. Which is a weird concept in and of itself. I was thinking this morning it'd be nice to have a little shelf or basket by the door for my Garmin and iPod - then I realized I could put in whatever I wanted! I think I'm focusing on the more straight-forward tasks first, because the thought that Michael and I could theoretically change everything is a little overwhelming.

But back to this weekend, we'll be running the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon! I'm super excited, especially since I'll have a sign to look for, since I'm a repeat runner. Plus the atmosphere is so much fun - everyone is so much more relaxed and outgoing without a time limit.

But - the predicted high is almost 90 degrees, and the written description for the day is "humid." I ended up being sore from moving (!!), but my legs felt fresh and normal today after a super slow, dead-legged run Monday morning. I'm hoping with a little more rest this week, they will be ready to go come Saturday. Either way, Michael and I are just running this one for fun together.

And no matter what happens, I know we have a home to come back to.

Jog into Spring 5K Recap

I realize this recap is coming pretty late, but I've been prioritizing other areas of life right now. We're closing on our house in less than two weeks (you have no idea how excited I am for this!), and I think once Michael and I are in a place that feels like "ours," rather than his with my stuff scattered everywhere in boxes, I'll have a much greater sense of normalcy and can get into a routine. (Plus I'll be able to sleep whenever I want for however long I want!)

Anyway, even though this is several weeks late, I would be remiss not recapping this race since (spoiler alert) I set a new 5K PR there! My purpose is signing up for this race was to actually race a short distance and evaluate where my fitness stands after some extended base-building through the spring. I'll be the first to admit my training was nowhere perfect, what with job-hunting and my move, but I did my best to stick with it and was hoping to run somewhere in the neighborhood of my PR, even if I didn't beat it.

The race was only about 15 minutes from my apartment and didn't start until 9 AM, so I left a little before 8 to give my time to pick up my packet and do a warm-up. I've hesitated doing a warm-up for short races for a long time, since I felt like that was only for "fast" runners, but I've come to realize that is totally silly, since a warm-up will help pretty much anyone run relatively faster.

Packet pick-up only took a minute or two, then I grabbed my phone from my car and put on one of my favorite 8Tracks playlists ("Epic Motivation") for a mile warm-up. The race started at the Independence Civic Center, which is next to a few baseball diamonds and a fishing pond; surrounding this area was a sidewalk almost perfectly .25 miles around. I did four laps, picking up the pace on the second and fourth lap. That pace was still far slower than what my PR pace would be, so I hoped adrenaline would carry me through the actual race.

I finished my warm-up with about five minutes until the gun, and they actually sent us on our way a minute or two early. I haven't raced a 5K in probably about a year, so I paid careful attention to my pace the whole way to keep myself from blowing up.

Initially, I panicked when I saw my pace was around 8:45 min/mile. I'm slow - I had no business running that fast! (When I ran my previous PR, I had no idea that I would PR and only saw how fast I was going about halfway through, so I didn't psych myself out.) I was tempted to pull up right away, but I took a step back to evaluate how I actually felt - it was obviously hard, but I wasn't dying.

I asked myself if I felt exactly the same but my watch read 9:30 min/miles, would I slow down? The answer was a very strong no, so I knew I was simply getting in my own head. I was determined to hold that pace. I think everyone was regaining their sea legs for racing season, so whenever I tried to tuck in with someone, their pace would vary dramatically. Because I'm not used to running an 8:45 pace, this made it a lot harder for me to stay on track, since my body couldn't "feel" that pace independently.

My main mistake in that first mile was chasing down people I thought were running my desired pace. I didn't really taper for this race, and my legs kept screaming when I did this. I eventually gave up that strategy, but I think it did some damage.

Mile two was definitely a mental struggle, and I ran it 15 seconds slower. I thought maybe I was close to blowing up, so I made my goal to run under a 9 min/mile, to avoid a total mental meltdown. I think this mile contained a slight uphill that really took a toll, but when it ended with a long, slight downhill, I was able to catch my breath and recommit myself to the final mile.

I tried to do some race math and realized a PR was still doable, I just had to give it my all in mile three. I focused on landmarks and catching other runners around me in turn to distract myself in that final stretch. The course was a loop, and I had seen the mile three marker on the way out, so I knew from quite a distance when it was coming up. This helped give me a tangible goal to work toward. I used my usual trick of promising myself I wouldn't have to sprint the last .1 if I didn't want to, and just plowed ahead to the marker.

Around 2.75 miles it really hit me how short a 5K is compared to a marathon. (Who knew, right?!) Even though I was in a ton of pain and out of breath, I couldn't believe I was almost done! In fact, I was even more almost done than I thought, as the course ended up being .05 short.

Time: 27:14*

(This is adjusted from 3.05 miles to 3.1 miles. I used my average pace for the race, even though my pace for the last .05 was faster than that. This estimate seems conservative enough that I feel totally comfortable using this number as my PR.)

Not me...simply just a picture of the finish line.

I mentioned this before, but I had to adjust my last 5K PR for a short course as well. It was a huge bummer to get a sub-27 time on my watch again, only for the real time to be over that. I know it's much better to have an accurate PR, otherwise I'm just lying to myself and will get frustrated when I don't beat it, but it is a bit of buzzkill. But don't get me wrong - I was thrilled to PR!

I've been using Hal Higdon's Multiple Marathons plans since Myrtle Beach, and not even following them perfectly, and I still PRed by 26 seconds! Even though I know Higdon's methods work, I always feel like a less serious runner for using them, plus it is so weird to run an easy pace and just trust that the speed will magically show up on race day. I plan to use Hal Higdon to train for Chickamauga in the fall, and this was just the reminder I needed to trust the training. (Again - who knew?!)

After walking it off a bit, I went into the pavilion where packet pick-up had been to grab some post-race food. They had pizza, and I enjoyed it at a picnic table outside. I stuck around for an extra hour or so because they were having a huge raffle, though I sadly didn't win anything.

However, first came the post-race awards. I'm used to marathons, where the ceremony happens way before I finish, so it took me awhile to figure out why they were waiting to start (because of the walkers). It felt very strange. I didn't place, but I was still really excited when I looked up the results.

I placed 6/9, however - I finished eight minutes ahead of the woman in 7th place. This isn't a put-down to the women who finished after me at all, but it was so weird to look at the results and see a significant dividing line between "fast" and "slow"...and I was on the fast side! In my head I'm always the really slow runner, and it's bizarre when I see something that definitively shows that's not the case.

Now the question is - can I have similar success this Saturday at the New Moon Half?

Weekly Training Recap: 5/3 - 5/9

I'm going to start out this training recap with some exciting house news - we are under contract on a home! Our close date right now is the beginning of June, but our lender thinks we could close much sooner. However, buying a house is a huge time-sucking vortex. We are lucky to be moving very quickly, but there still seems to be 30-60 minutes of house "stuff" to do every night, which gets very tiring.

I'm trying to stay positive, because we both love the home we're under contract for, but I will be glad when the buying process is over. It sounds so petty, but having my workout and evening schedules messed up makes me cranky! But it will be totally worth it when we're in our own place. 

My week got rearranged a bit, but I stuck with last week's plan of prioritizing, and I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished. It certainly wasn't perfect, but I'm becoming more and more okay with that.

Sunday, May 3

9 mi easy, 11:14 min/mile

I was still in the winter running mindset, where heading out mid-day in the full sun is glorious. However, when it's 80 degrees and you don't take water with you, it is actually pretty terrible. I could tell I was getting very dehydrated and that my body wasn't cooling itself effectively, so I cut it short. (After drinking 36 oz of fluids, I was still down two pounds, so it was the smart decision!)

Monday, May 4

PM - 3.7 mi hills, 10:47 min/mile

PM - NROLFW Stage 1A-2

I did four sets of last week's hill workout, instead of three. I managed to do two of them at my "updated" MP (based on last week's 5K), but I had to dial it back for the second two. They were killer, so I'm still happy with the effort I put in.

Tuesday, May 5

AM - 1000 yd swim

PM - 6 mi easy, 11:11 min/mile

I set out at a bit faster pace, but when my breathing started getting a little harder, I backed off, and enjoyed the run a lot more. I think all the preceding days of hot running and had really taken their toll.

Wednesday, May 6

rest

My intention was to lift in the morning and run after work, but I was so tired when I woke up that I opted to go back to sleep. It's a good thing I did, because we had our home inspection after work and it took three hours. We didn't get home until after 10 PM, and I was wiped!

Thursday, May 7

AM - NROLFW Stage 1B-2

PM - 4 mi easy, 11:19 min/mile

I had a little trouble dragging myself out of bed in the morning, but I felt much better after a good session at the gym. Once again, I incorporated a warm-up and noticed the difference. Since I was in house mode, I threw on HGTV and watched a couple whine about their $1MM. Guys, there just was no room for their grand piano!

Friday, May 8

1 mi WU, 4 mi @ 9:55, 1 mi CD

I waited until after dark to run because it was so hot and humid, and I still felt like death towards the end of the run. The pace was harder than I wanted it to be, but I stayed around the apartment (because it is well-lit and right by the police station), so it was a hilly course too. I'm already over summer!

Saturday, May 9

11 mi long, 10:40 min/mile

Michael and I went in to see our parents for Mother's Day this weekend, so I ran on my parents' treadmill while they were at their bowling league (and Michael went to see his parents). The goal was 16 miles, but the treadmill turned out to be wildly inaccurate, so 5.3 MPH was reading as 10:30 min/miles on my watch (which also matched my perceived effort). The plan was only to run 11:28 min/miles, so I was okay throwing in the towel a bit early. But hey - it was a new treadmill PR!

Shout-out to the LotR marathon on TNT for getting me through!

Run Miles: 39.7 mi
Swim Miles: .6 mi
Lifting Time: 39:38
Total Time: 8:20

All in all, I am happy with the week. I missed one swim (the least important type of workout) and cut out 8 miles of running as I acclimated to the heat. (Though I really wish I had found .4 more...oh, well.) While I want to have some good preparation going into Missoula, I have to remind myself it's still really about building a base for Chickamauga training.

One of the last major pending house items is getting radon mitigation installed, which can take several hours, so I might have to switch up some workouts again. (The seller's are paying for it, but we're allowed to be present and to choose the spot.)

I'm also having a mother/daughter weekend with my mom this coming weekend. I had been planning a 20 mile long run, but I think I will flip flop it with my 12 mile long run the following week. I would like to be well-recovered for my half the week after that (are you still following?!), so I will cut out an easy day if my legs need it.

How do you acclimate to the heat?
What is your treadmill PR?

Weekly Training Recap: 4/26 - 5/2

After taking a complete week off following the Blue Ridge Marathon, this week I got back into the swing of training. I'm so glad I listened to my body (for once) because I was excited about getting in my workouts again, rather than dreading them. My legs were a little more tired than normal, but nothing horrible to complain about.

This week was also exciting because we toured some homes! Knock on wood, but we're now working with our realtor to put in an offer on one we love. Our realtor said to not expect to take possession until mid-June, but our mortgage broker said if we go through a credit union, we could close in two weeks.

Luck would have it that the home we like is move-in ready, so I'm hoping with all my might things go well, and we will have our home sooner than later! I know I might have to miss a workout or two to make it happen, but I'm prepared to do that. This is way more important!

Sunday, April 26
rest

I enjoyed my last day off from training by going for a walk. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day. I think I still needed a jacket, but the dose of vitamin D was amazing.

Monday, April 27
PM - 2.9 mi hills, 11:01 min/mile
PM - NROLFW Stage 1-A

After work I headed to the gym to do some hills and weights. I tried a new hill workout, where I did sets of:

90 sec MP @ 6%
1 min recovery
1 min MP @ 7%
2 min recovery

It really kicked my butt, but I think it was a great workout to get me into shape. The effort level is supposedly the same as my 5K race pace, but it didn't beat up my body nearly the same as normal intervals do for me! I did three sets, and I plan to add more as I go.

Tuesday, April 28
AM - 900 yd swim
PM - 6 mi easy, 11 min/mile

My legs felt awesome for the first two miles, but then dead for the last four. This is normally how I feel when I start running after a marathon, so while it sucks, I know to expect it. I also figured out how to run to the nearby metro park via sidewalks!

Wednesday, April 29
AM - NROLFW Stage 1-B
PM - 3 mi easy

I stuck to my guns and actually did a 10 minute spinning warm-up before I lifted. It made a huge difference in how I felt, and I wish I had done it sooner! I was also pleased to see when I spun on a normal bike, I could keep up a decent pace.

Thursday, April 30
PM - 800 yd swim

This swim was 8x100 at a tempo pace. I worked really hard and got each 100 under 2 minutes, except for the last one (which I missed by less than second!). I'm not making excuses, but I felt really blah after I got through six of them, so I think I need more calories before a tougher swim.

Friday, May 1
rest

It was a beautiful day out, but Michael and I spent the evening at the theater to see the new Avengers movie. We treated ourselves to a popcorn dinner, and the movie was a lot of fun. Obviously disappointed that the Tom Hiddleston cameo was a lie, but you can't win them all.

Saturday, May 2
Jog into Spring 5k, 27:14

Yes, for anyone keeping score at home, that is a 5K PR! (My chip time was 26:44, but the course was .05 short, so I adjusted my time based on my average pace. I actually had to do that with my last 5K PR too....)

I hadn't raced a 5K in a long, long time, and I was really nervous in the couple days leading up to the race. I always get this irrational fear that I will forget how to run (I know, right?!), and I worry about blowing up. I won't spoil the full recap, but I'm obviously thrilled with how I did! It was a great way to kick off my Saturday.

Run Miles: 16 mi
Swim Miles: 1 mi
Lifting Time: 42:02
Total Time: 4:13

This week looks a little low in terms of mileage because I moved the long run to Sunday. Next week will be a lot higher because it will actually have two long runs. I want to stay conservative and try to run a 4:30 at Missoula, but I think I'm going to adjust my training paces to be a bit faster based on my 5K time. I tend to race below my potential anyway, so it should work out well. Our half is about a month away, so that will be a good checkpoint on where my fitness is.

I've also prioritized the workouts I will keep if house stuff gets crazy - swims will be dropped first, then lifting, then running. However, they said drafting the offer will take an hour on the phone, so I'm hoping I can just schedule everything perfectly!

Anything exciting happen to you this week?
How do you prioritize workouts?

Fitness Trends

As I've mentioned on the blog, I've recently moved to Cleveland. I haven't mentioned a lot about my new job (other than it's still accounting-related), but it is in the healthcare industry. This is a big change from my previous job in the manufacturing sector, and there's been a lot of new things to learn. I've been trying to educate myself a bit on my own time, and I came across a post about Fitness Trends of 2015 by the Bankers Healthcare Group blog. 

BHG provides solutions and financing for physician loans, including physical therapist loans, which help empower caregivers. My employer offers a lot of different incentives and programs to help us maximize our wellness, and the BHG blog has a lot of informative posts that remind me of that! I thought I would give me own take on fitness trends.

I've always wanted to be a runner. I have encountered lots of other people that want to be runners: "That's so cool you can do that, I wish I could!" is a common refrain I've heard. (And one I've said myself many times!)

But while I have distinct memories of watching other people run, and run well at that, and wishing I could emulate them - probably dating back to middle school -, I can't pinpoint a reason why I fixated so strongly on running. The closest thing I could come up with was track was a no-cut sport (thereby making it relatively accessible), but swimming was as well, and I had no interest of joining, despite my parents' urgings.

It seems a little "out there" to suggest, but I truly believe humans have some innate connection to running. It's what we evolved to do, and I think that creates a draw to the sport, even if we can't explain why. In fact, when I was trying to jog my memory about why I personally wanted to become a runner, I tried a few Google searches, and I was shocked how many top results were articles about learning to run despite hating it. I think it's safe to say people generally avoid things they hate, so there must be something deeper drawing them to running.

Before I took up running, my only real exposure to fitness (other than hearing about classmates playing high school sports) was group exercise classes offered at MSU. These ended up being a great way to develop some fitness, which made the transition to running smoother. The classes were also very low-key - though still a great work-out! My first race was a 5K at a very small event around Labor Day, which only re-enforced the idea that fitness was fun and relaxing.

However, some time after I ran four miles for the first time (which I still rank up there as one of my hardest runs to date), I saw a real future for myself in running and wanted to learn more. I read every Runners World I could get my hands on and went on research binges online, trying to absorb everything I could about my new sport. While there was a ton of variety out there, I was glad to see many fundamental remained the same across the board. And, as before, the tone of everything I read was very welcoming and helpful. I don't think I realized there was anything different - yet.

I think the turning point for me was when I was flipping around TV channels one summer and happened upon the Crossfit Games. Maybe it was because basketball season was so long ago and football season was so far away, but I got totally sucked into watching. Michael was equally engrossed, and I think even my parents eventually ended up on the couch with us. I think I had heard the Crossfit name before, I didn't know much more, so I read a little about it.

I was shocked by what I found. While there are plenty of anecdotes of welcoming boxes, there were plenty of images online about pushing yourself to the breaking point - and then continuing. After inundating myself with running articles that urged listening to and honoring your body, I was honestly pretty stunned by this new side of fitness I had uncovered. (And I don't mean to throw Crossfit under the bus completely - I'm sure many other fitness trends have similar rhetoric - this was just the first one I stumbled across.)

I'd saying calling it a day if you fall over crying is perfectly legitimate.

Even though I have been running for a few years now, I am still learning how to listen to my body's signals. (As well as how to make myself appropriately respond to them, but that's a different story!) Any new trend that values completion over health seems irresponsible and dangerous. When I tried the Hanson's Marathon Method, I suffered from overtraining from weeks, even though I expected it might happen, just because I had never felt that way before. I can't imagine how much longer I would've been a zombie if I had been drilled to push through the feeling no matter how awful it got.

Lacing up my running shoes is such a simple act, but it signals that I'm about to do something good for both my body and mind. When you get away from that basic principle, it is too easy to lose sight of that and break. I know I'll never come anywhere close to competing to be "the fittest woman," but being the happiest runner sounds even better.

Do you have fitness trends that you love or hate?
How did you get into running?

Full disclosure: As always, all opinions are my own. I did not receive any compensation for this post.

New Rules of Lifting for Women - Introduction

(Side note - I decided to skip doing a weekly recap this week since I sat on the couch the whole time! Not exactly the most interesting topic, but I do feel fully recovered from Blue Ridge now.)

One of my first exposures to regular exercise was watching my dad lift weights about six times a week at home when I was little. Sometimes I would grab the two or three pound weights and join in too. I didn't really get the purpose of what we were doing, but I thought it was pretty fun.

Flashing forward to college, I started taking group fitness classes to try to be more active. I tried some step classes that totally kicked my butt, and I really liked the instructor. She also taught some weight lifting classes, and I gave them a shot one summer. The classes, while open to everyone, ended up being only women and were really non-intimidating. It was a great introduction to weight lifting, especially for learning proper form for a lot of staple exercises.

Eventually, I felt like I would need heavier weights if I wanted to improve. (The dumbbells provided only went up to 15 pounds.) I also started getting a little turned off that our instructor always preached about how we shouldn't lift heavy because we would "bulk up like the guys in the weight room across the hall." I wasn't very educated about lifting at that point, but that seemed like fear-mongering to me.

However, I had no idea what I would do in the unstructured weight room. I really like having a specific training plan for running, so I tried to find something similar for lifting. After doing some research, I came across the New Rules of Lifting for Women book. Luckily, it was in stock at the local bookstore, so I was able to peruse it pretty thoroughly before committing to buying it. The book was laid out with exactly what exercises to do and exactly how to do them. I was sold!

The plan is broken into eight stages, though one of those is optional. I will admit I've tried following the plan before, and even made it to stage three once, but I've never gone any further. I think my downfall was not striking a balance between running and lifting, as well as not really holding myself accountable. I have also been following it recently, but there have been large breaks, what with three spring marathons, plus my move. (I also find slightly different machines for the same exercise cause me to use vastly different amounts of weight, which makes it hard to track my progress!)

I've done a lot of thinking about my training recently, and I believe I've set myself up for success (aka not getting burned out), by limiting lifting to twice a week. (NROLFW strongly recommends lifting three times a week, but does admit two is fine.) While another move is in our future (hopefully sooner rather than later!), I plan to stick with the same gym. The only remaining problem then is holding myself accountable. If only I had some public mechanism to do that....

Starting today I am committing to completing the NROLFW plan. I will still allow myself breaks when I'm tapering and recovering from races, but otherwise I will stay consistent with two sessions a week. I have been trying to finish up Stage One recently, but I'm going to begin again today. (I figure this will only benefit me in terms of strength.) I also plan to be more faithful than I have been in the past - including the recommended warm-up, for example.

Stage One consists of 16 workouts (plus two optional ones at the end, that I might just skip because of how it falls in relation to Missoula), so it will actually be quite a bit of time before I check back in on my progress. Wish me luck!

Do you have a specific weight-lifting routine?
Have you ever tried NROLFW?