Things have been going well these last few weeks (despite the lack of posts about my progress). The night before we headed to South Carolina, Mike and I did a 12 mile run on the lake. In South Carolina, we did one early morning run on the beach of 3 miles. That was the only run we did that week, unfortunately, but we also went kayaking one morning, which we rationed was some form of "cross training."
Then last Saturday, while Mike was out of town, I did the longest run to date of our training - 13 miles. I got a bit of a late start, but luckily the temperature was supposed to be pretty mild, and even a bit cool for most of the morning. I attempted to change my running form a bit to make my steps/strides a lot easier on my knees, and it seemed to work. I was a bit sore later in the day on Saturday, but all things considered, I felt really strong after the 13 miles. Granted it was almost 3 years ago, but I remember being a lot more sore after some of the long runs when we trained in 2009.
This week is a roll back week - not sure if that's the official term - but it means our long run is only 10 miles. You know you are training for a marathon when you can say things like only 10 miles. As a result, we should have done some long-er runs during the week - 3 miles on Tuesday, 7 on Wednesday, and 4 on Thursday. Well, we didn't quite hit that goal, but I personally ran 3 of the 3 days, I just didn't do all the mileage. On Tuesday, Mike and I did 3 miles at a pretty good pace (see image below). Wednesday I did just over 3 miles on the treadmill, again, at a pretty fast pace, and finally, I ran a 5k race (3.11 miles) last night with a few friends. I averaged under 9min/mile, which all things considered, I was very happy with. Had the weather been a bit cooler, I may have been able to push that more, but oh well. After the race, I got to catch up and have a few beers with my friends Kate and Roni. Today is an off day, so I'll spend most of the day watching the Olympics and doing some reading. Lately, I've been reading a lot of articles/posts on the Gatorade Sports Science Institute website - everything from nutrition advice, how to improve sports performance, the best type of strength training, etc. Its not just a big advertisement for Gatorade, its a sports performance virtual library.
Another thing that has been invaluable in our training is the Nike+ running app. So long as you have a smartphone, it replaces the need for the Nike+ iPod software that is still widely used by some people. The old version involved a small sensor that tracked mileage based on steps, not unlike a pedometer. It was linked to your phone or iPod, as the name suggested. Unfortunately, as I learned recently, the sensor has a certain battery life, and once it dies, the only remedy is to buy an entirely new sensor. At $20 per sensor, its a big waste of money. The Nike+ running app was a budget friendly $1.99 at the iPhone App Store. It remains the only app I've ever paid for, but has definitely been worth it. It uses the GPS technology of your phone to track mileage (it is very accurate) and plays audio feedback during your run, if you choose. The audio feedback includes your miles, total time, and per mile pace, which is a must when training for a marathon. Finally, once you complete a run, you can sync all of your data to the Nike+ website, and not only view the information, but also link up with your friends to "compete," or just to get some extra motivation.
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| Nike+ running app tracks our mileage and other run info |
In other exciting news, I got a new pair of running shoes! For years, I have sworn by the Asics Gel Nimbus as my main running shoe. It got me through the marathon last time without any major injuries and I've always found them oh-so-comfortable. However, they are one of the more expensive shoes on the market, so I usually try to buy the previous year's model at a discount. I mean, really, who cares if you are wearing last year's colors? Since I've worn these shoes before and know my size is very consistent, I can also shop for them online and try to find the best deal (free shipping or % off and so on). All in all, I think I came away with a pretty good deal, and some sweet looking shoes for the marathon. It should make me a little easier to spot, right?!
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| New shoes! Asics Gel Nimbus 13 in black/green |
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