Just Plodding Along

Well I have trained fairly well for this.....as in I actually got in a 20 mile long run and besides my knee still being a bit wonky, am not injured. I am super grateful I had my amazing training group I was coaching at the same time to train with. They made it so much more fun than training on my own. If you can find a group of crazy people who you can convince to run for multiple hours at a time with you I highly recommend it. I love my tribe of crazy weirdo runners. They are the absolute best. Unfortunately for me the weather for the marathon is predicted to be a bit warm. Low of 55, high of 86. I would prefer the high to be 55 because I do better in cooler weather. But seeing as I have yet discovered how to control the weather I guess I will just have to roll with it. Keep it easy and drink lots of electrolytes. I am a completer not a competitor so shouldn't be too hard. I always find it hard to set goals for the marathon. Well beyond the goal of not dying. No matter ho...

or more accurately the time I started a marathon and finished a half marathon. Six months ago when my friend Kelcey brought up the idea of the Philadelphia marathon I was all in. Even though I was already set to do two other marathons before Philadelphia. In the end it ended up being a bit too much marathon fun for me to handle. But I am glad I am insane and said yes because I had an awesome time with Kelcey even if it included 'only' 13.1 miles for me. Feeling welcomed at the race expo  Both Kelcey and I flew into Philly around the same time Friday. After grabbing a taxi for a bit of a terrifying ride through city traffic and checking into our hotel located in the Old City we headed out to Market Street to find some dinner at Sto's Bar. The food was good but the bar was filled with loud youths so we didn't hang out long there cause I embrace my inner senior citizen and after awhile I want to shake my fist and yell at them to get off my lawn. I guess this is ...

I am gonna start this post by saying I am glad I did the Marine Corp Marathon. It was an amazing opportunity to run through the nation's capital in beautiful fall weather. I was happy to have family there to cheer me on and the medal, I got to say, is top notch. All that being said I would not choose to do it again. Wanted to get that out of the way cause I have a feeling things are about to get a bit whiny.  The Expo The expo was held at the convention center in D.C. There were signs marking where packet pick-up was held plus employees pointing people in the right direction. All good there. The 45 minutes of waiting in line to get into the Expo was less than awesome but fine. Security was tight. For the whole race. Which I am okay with. Better safe than sorry. Finally break on through to the other side and get into the expo and bam another line. A way huge line to buy anything Marine Corp Marathon related. Shirts, coats, pint glass, anything. Brooks was the main sponsor...

Today was my first attempt at running longish and it went pretty well. Over six miles at a not too horrible pace. I felt better about the marathons after this run. Not great but better. I had originally envisioned the half moon bay marathon as a solid athletic event full of speed, grace and glory- all the athletic prowess that my blog title - Just Plodding Along- conjures. Okay no....but I was hoping to finish under 4:50. I like the feeling of making progress and anything under that time would be progress. After the lack of training and injury that has been happening the new plan is get strong enough to finish without turning into a ball of mush. Good to have goals. The plan to get there is pretty simple- be on my feet. I am running by time not by distance. I would like to get a three hour run in before the marathon. Not concerned with speed, mostly with endurance and strength.  Training plan until the marathon involves running for time about every other day, biking every other day...

Now that I have completed all of my running goals listed out under Bean's Goals  for your reading convenience I am in need of a new focus. I have gotten a few suggestions: 40 marathons before 40- this seems like a perfect fit number symmetry and all but that is a lot of freakin marathons. And marathons are hard so I am not ready to commit to that one. I will put it in the back pocket for now with the option to open that can of worms at a later date.  Triathlon- I swam in high school and do enjoy swimming although for some reason rounding up a suit, goggles, cap, towel and locating a swimming pool that is open at a time that is convenient for me to swim at seems to be a bit of a challenge at times. Of course the running part is pretty solid most days. It is just the biking. Currently I don't even own a bike, well I own a spin bike but I don't think that counts as it only has one wheel. I am also the world's worst biker. I fall. I fall hard. Usually on my face (th...

This past week I am been focusing on recovery and reading the Hansons Marathon Method Book. After running 19 miles this week I got the section that says do not run for two weeks after the marathon to fully recover.  I waited three days. Now I am second guessing myself- thinking I have messed up royally. Oh god I have killed my legs. So now because this book has freaked me out I am going to take it easy for another week. Maybe stick to walking and biking. A break is always a good thing. Hopefully keep me injury free. Which is a good thing because I have another marathon to run...... on Sunday. I broke another Hanson rule- signed up for another marathon while hyped up on endorphins and Gu. I am running Originally I was going to do the half but I couldn't resist the lure of trying 26.2 again. This time I want to work on pacing the first half (there are supposed to be pacers to there- general plan is to stick to the 10 min pacer for as long as possible) and staying st...

The other day my husband asked me if I was going to win my age group at the marathon. Just so we are clear: Number one marathon goal- finish. I was gonna say don't poop myself- but feel that should just be a given. Thank you hubby for believing in me and yes, maybe one day I will win my age group. Dream big! Fun Fact: In 2006 I ran the Colorado marathon. My first and only so far. It took me 5 hours and 33 minutes and 28 seconds. 2:20 for the 1st half and 3:13 for the second half. If there are no disasters or getting distracted by something shiny, I see a possible PR in my future Another Fun Fact: The marathon is probably all you will hear about between now and May 4th when I actually run the darn thing. I apologize in advance.

After long runs - you know runs 15 miles or longer - I think about how many more miles a marathon is and I am just like and then I think about how my hamstrings are tight, my feet are sore, my upper body is tired, my abs have given up- basically I have turned into a giant ball of whiny pain and then begin thinking marathons are just too much but then I read about the ultra adventures of Yo Momma Runs ,  Fast Corey and 50 Marathon in 50 States  and I am all an ultra seems like a great idea. Just maybe not this ultra  that my friend warned me about which is her way of saying 'I know you are crazy so just a heads up this is off limits'. But seriously I want to do an ultra one day and I found this one near family so I am thinking next year maybe I can convince them to be my crew or at least come pick me up and carry me to bed. And if you could throw me in the shower too at some point that would be great, thanks. So I need a 'Bean wants to be stronger so she...

2012  has been amazing. Regular Life D & I kicked school out of our lives  We both became part of the employed masses = Yay jobs We moved from Arizona to Illinois  D &  I celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss Visited some awesome places- Chicago, California, Sedona, Colorado to name a few Running Life I ran 1031. 5 miles I ran 18 half marathons So much loot I achieved two big goals A half marathon under two hours Ran 1000 miles this year.  I PR'd in a 5K and 10K - well I haven't run these distances in years so we will say PR (high school aged awesomeness does not count). I registered for my second marathon. I ran one in 2006 but it went kind of not awesome so looking forward to redemption 2013. Hello Wisconsin marathon- I come to dominate. Well hello there 2013. I have big plans for you. Regular Life Keep working hard at my job Save some sweet cash Figure out the house situation in IL- buy or keep renting E...

Well this happened this evening. Fingers crossed that the end of March is not as brutally cold as last Saturday was. Either way the medal for this race looks amazing and there is an Easter Egg hunt involved. Pretty much had to register. Half #26 looks like a lot of fun. What is weird is that I for some reason can't seem to pull the trigger on the marathon registration. I have a training plan. I have placed training plan on the calender so I know when training commences. There it is- the date of the Illinois marathon in pen so pretty committed.  I have pretty much begged Yo Momma to be there. Just do it already. But you know when you register all of the sudden it becomes real. The twenty mile long runs, yep they have to happen. The injury fears after so many miles of work become a weird type of paranoia where every twinge is a shattered bone. The self doubt about staying upright and moving forward for 26.2 miles becomes loud when your finger hesitates over the enter ...

After watching the Chicago marathon on Sunday I want to run one. Bad. Thinking about what to do next after my 30 before 30 goals is over (only 9 more to go) I am thinking marathons are the next step. I don't know if I want to define a goal (like 40 marathons before 40) but I do know I want to run some marathons. I have come up with a tentative 2013 marathon wish list. April 2013- Illinois Marathon It is close to home. Spring, so will be cool and there will not be any dead of winter long runs or heat of the middle of the summer to deal with, just early spring long runs which might be tricky. Course is supposed to be nice and has good reviews. PLUS I am trying to coordinate with Yo Momma to run with me. And by run with me I mean we can pre-race face stuff carbs together and have a celebratory beer/wine/champagne/apple juice (pick the beverage of your choice oh and brunch, we can go to brunch) together after (in which time I will convince her we are running BFFs in real life)....

Hello blog world long time no type. I have been busy moving, unpacking and being cranky that we have no Internet in our new house till Friday. I am typing this on my phone and it is the worst ever but wanted to give an update. We have arrived safe and sound in IL and have been having tons of fun exploring our new home. News flash driving for four days in a moving truck with two dogs is not a ton of fun but visiting family along the way is. I have yet to run since my leg is still being special but plan to head out tomorrow. We have done a ton of walking and found a long bike trail, large park and Lake Michigan so I am excited to get going. I have also registered for the Oak. Brook half on labor day. Can't wait to add to my medal collection and race in my new state. I have also realized I need a whole new cold weather running wardrobe and a treadmill. Yo momma runs has identified a marathon for us to do together (and by together I mean I will see her at the finish about two hou...

Random: The best thing about BBQ's is the left over fruit salad to eat. Yum! Moving on. Reading the latest edition of Runner's World has stoked the 'I want to run a marathon' fire. Especially because there is a marathon plan in there   and start dates for one marathon in particular I want to do, the Portland marathon . I have already pretty much done the first week two weeks ago so could jump in on week two and make the magic happen. Just three little problems: 1) As mentioned (whined about?) before our lives are kind of uncertain right now so committing to something so far in the future might be setting myself up for failure (failure= not being able to actually run this) 2) This race is pricey for #1 to happen, plus I would be super sad. 3) I have this fear of getting injured and throwing off my 30 before 30 goal. (and would Portland count for two 1/2s, one 1/2, no 1/2, hmmmm?) I think I will start the training program since it has hills, speed, easy ...

1) I am totally ready for a marathon (as long as there are 12 hours of down time including a good solid 8 hours of sleep in the middle of the race). Pizza helps too 2) When planning to run two races in a row picking the hilliest most difficult race possible is probably not the greatest idea. 3) If your hip hurts before you start running 26 miles in 2 days it will still hurt, maybe even more, when you are done and hills do not help. 4) Always, always have baby wipes with you for after a race. You never know when you will be stranded on the side of a road for awhile unable to shower and still wanting to remain friends with the people who have to ride in the same car with you. 5) True friends let you wear compression gear to breakfast and don't bat an eye. 6) They will also let you drag them to race expos and drive your tired ass home for seven hours afterwards. 7) That even when I am tired and sore I can still crank out 13.1 miles and have a great time doing it. ...

One of my favorite ways to waste  pass the time is to read other runner's blogs. Some of the blogs I read....they are just amazing. Million mile training weeks, marathons every other day, and in no way am I exaggerating. Okay so marathons every other weekend but still there are some pretty amazing runners out there. All of this reading about others training and running marathons has made me lose my mind  more motivated and now I want to run a marathon. I almost signed up for the Marine Corp Marathon on a whim. I have visited the Richmond Marathon website 3 times in the last two days. I viewed the course video of the San Fran. marathon. And I want to do them all. So why have I not signed up......cause I am afraid. The last time I was training for a marathon I broke myself. And it is just so far and so much running. Plus I gotta finish 30 before turning 30. If I end up broken again that could severely hamper my half marathon goals. But even knowing that I st...