trail running |

01/24/2019
by She's Going the Distance 8 Comments

Mud, Vegas, Fire (Part 1)

Holy cow. Life is awesome. I FINALLY did a Tough Mudder. Remember a while back I did a Spartan Beast and it made me feel like a badass? Well, the Tough Mudder gave me those similar fluttery warm, iron feelings. Spartan and Mudder are definitely different events, but they both test strength, grit and endurance all while getting dirty in mud. I loved them both and happy I have another obstacle course race in the books.

The special thing about this particular Mudder is that it took place on the same course I pitted for Stephen last year at the World’s Toughest Mudder. The familiarity helped, and I was stoked I got the chance to run around the rocks and hills. I was super jealous of Stephen knocking out miles upon miles on such pretty terrain and happy I finally was able to experience the course firsthand.

Pre Mud, clean and sunscreened! Our friends Matt and Erin came out to Vegas for the race and all the other Vegas activities. It is so fun traveling with friends! img_20181020_090439

That sun got hot pretty quickly on the course…

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Stephen

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Me (and look at how proud Steve is) —————————————– > img_5656-b293bbf5d46f61fb88240de3bb7c020a

Out of 10 miles and lots of obstacles, I completed all of them! Felt strong with my grip strength and even stronger with hill and trail running. Check out the elevation for our run! 2,320ft gain! (loss was 2,238) Screen Shot 2019-01-08 at 5.39.06 PM.png

Obligitory ugly face picture.

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And our finishing picture. I earned an orange headband which i’m sure is the first of many more to come!

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So we spent some time in Las Vegas where our hotel was, but about half our time we tried to get off the strip to do adventure/outdoorsy stuff. Hence the Tough Mudder. That night after the race we hit up Las Vegas Beer Fest, which was SO much busier than the local brew fests i’m used to back in Maryland.

img_20181020_181739 We’re ugly photo professionals. If you need tips feel free to email me! img_20181020_190053

The next outdoor activity was hiking around the Valley of Fire (1 hour outside of Vegas). We did several short hikes on an incredibly beautiful day. I’m not going to narrate this, just take a look at these pictures and go the next time you’re near Vegas. It was SO WORTH IT.

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These were called “beehives” mvimg_20181023_104520 img_20181023_105343 img_20181023_113426 img_20181023_104348 mvimg_20181023_133948

Stephen, Me, Matt, Erin img_20181023_135111 img_20181023_115637 mvimg_20181023_122717 img_20181023_114923 img_20181023_115240 mvimg_20181023_134348 mvimg_20181023_134223 mvimg_20181023_122350 img_20181023_125457 img_20181023_125636 img_20181023_123801

I felt like I was in Mad Max following behind Stephen, every picture I took made him look like an action star. img_20181023_125114 img_20181023_125009

Vegas Part 2 is coming early next week! Hope everyone is enjoying these photo dump posts!

Ever Been to Valley of Fire?

What’s your favorite thing to do in Vegas?

11/19/2014
by She's Going the Distance 12 Comments

Shifting Focus

Monday: 45min upper body

Tuesday: 5.6m “race pace” workout

(^ Race Pace progression workout. 1 mile warm up 9:05, 1 mile marathon pace 8:45, 1 mile half marathon pace 7:35, 1 mile 10k pace 7:08, 1 mile 5k pace 6:40, half mile cool down. Very fun workout I pulled from a RW magazine. Very interesting to feel pacing for different distances.)

I still haven’t picked out any races, but i can say that I’ve enjoyed taking the stress out of running right now. There’s always pressure to preform well during a race, especially to hit time goals. I might run a 5k for fun this winter, but honestly i’m ready to put in the time to cross-train and build mileage to set up for a healthy spring. Winter is all about maintaining…and pumpkin pie.

I would love/like/hope/willsitonsantaslapandaskfor a sub-20 5k and a 1:30 half marathon next year. Hitting these goals in the past has been difficult since I’m constantly training for several races at a time. Just because we “run” doesn’t mean we can run well at each distance. I think somewhere along the lines of blogging and personal expectations we forget that the 5k, 10k, half and full are completely different races with different training cycles.

The Chicago Marathon was the kick in the grass I needed to realize that if I want to qualify for Boston and run a marathon 15 minutes faster in the upcoming years, I need to solely focus on marathon specific training. Elite runners don’t run every distance well, how am I supposed to? LIke I said, I think we get caught up in seeing everyone on Instagram or blogs and think we can do it all. Chances are we can’t, especially when running isn’t our full time job.

little baby deer from my run Sunday

I’m not trying to be a downer here, just trying to remind myself to take one race distance at a time and put the effort toward one goal at a time. If I want magic to happen and goals to be met in 2015, I need to focus on one thing at a time.

this guy crossed right in front of me

So far, and this can change on a whim i’m sure—I’d like to focus on my 5k goal in the spring and the half goal in the fall. That way I’m not squeezing several goals into 2-3 months just to buy into a race. The 5k will be a different type of training for sure, but I can take a few go’s at it since recovery is faster. Then after my normal June low-mileage month, I can focus on 1-2 fall half marathons, again to have more than one shot to hit my time goal.

no, i will not stop wearing my favorite sweater 🙂

OH and I passed the 1000 mile mark for this year 🙂 feeling good!

Last Week

Monday: 4m trail run 9:17/pace

Tuesday: 6.5m easy 8:35/pace, 1hr TRX full body workout

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 5.4m easy 8:25/pace, 40min triceps/shoulders, low back

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 20min back workout

Sunday: 8m easy 8:16/pace

Total Miles: 23.9

What do you guys think? Is it a good idea to take a break from the marathon and focus on speed?

11/05/2014
by She's Going the Distance 13 Comments

Trail Running & The Reverse Taper

Wednesday: 3m easy 9:00/pace, 20min core

I know this happened last week–but i have to talk about it. GUYS, i went on my first real, lots-a-miles/hills/creatures trail run! I don’t know what it was but I felt kinda like some sort of badass hippie. haha! I’m sure you trail runners out there get it.

Returning to base training after a marathon is one of my favorite times. Lots of easy running and low mileage is just what my body likes after a hard race. After the marathon I took 10 solid days off running and returned slowly–my first week with just 2 miles, the 2nd week 13 and last week was 20.

I’m finally getting the rest of my tattoo finished tomorrow which means a few days off from running as it heals. Next week I’m anticipating my mileage to be closer to 18. I like taking a week as I’m building up mileage to check in with my body and make sure i’m not increasing too quickly. (I do this about every 6-8 weeks)

I’m thankful this is the week to ease off the buildup–my shins are being a little picky so backing off more mileage, a visit to the chiropractor and a good calf massage are on the weekly schedule.

Remember, you don’t always have to increase mileage every single week as you build your base. Plus, when you don’t have a race on the schedule yet there’s no rush to get back into full on training mode—just got to make it there healthy! Seriously though, i need a race. I feel like there’s a medal-shaped-hole in my heart that needs to be filled.

almost squished this fuzzy bug

Hope everyone is doing a good job at recovering from the fall marathons! Be safe & smart with your return to running!

Weekly Workout Roundup!

Monday: 5m easy run 8:06/pace

Tuesday: 3.1m easy 8:50/pace, 10 abs

Wednesday: 45min shoulders & core

Thursday: 5m tempo 7:23/pace

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 7m easy 7:56/pace

Total Miles: 20.6

How long do you wait before returning to your normal weekly mileage?