Posted by
Vanilla on
We here at Salty Running love running. It’s what we do. We strive to be better runners. It’s something we love to the point of evangelizing here. I can’t speak for everyone, of course, but I gather that there’s another activity that ranks right up there with running in our list of favorites.
That’s right. I’m going there. Come on back, Let’s Run trolls, because today on Salty Running I’m talking about your favorite topic.
Posted by
Ginkgo on
I was running in a downpour a few weeks ago, bundled up in my spandex and sweatshirt, cursing to the wind and grumpy that I couldn’t use my iPod in this type of weather. Suddenly a group of 20-something youngsters frivolously splashed through puddles in their short shorts and whipped past me down the running trail and my mind flashed back to my time running for Ohio Wesleyan University. I must confess. I got jealous of those kids. From the mile-repeat-hell-runs to the leisurely Sunday “conversational-paced” long runs followed by hours-long team brunches at the dine-in hall, there’s just something about that varsity collegiate athletic atmosphere that can’t be matched.
You might think I’m exaggerating when I say running made college the best four years of my life, but really, it was amazing! Here is my top ten list of reasons I still love collegiate running:
Posted by
Salty on
I don’t know about you, but it’s been crazy cold and snowing like the dickens where I live this week. I don’t much mind it as I’m currently banished to the basement treadmill during the week with the whole new baby thing. I remember minding it quite a bit the year I trained for a spring marathon. At that time, while I was able to do tempos and fartleks on the treadmills at the gym a floor below my office, I didn’t have the luxury of a home treadmill and had to do all my long runs outside. Sure enough it seemed like every weekend was blizzardy, complete with sub-zero wind chills. After lots of cursing on the treadmill and slipping and sliding on the hard cambered roads, I made it through training, but suffered through several minor injuries that could have been prevented if I did one simple thing:
Switch up those running surfaces!
Posted by
Coriander on
Last July, while Clove was on her way to an awesome Burning River finish, I was volunteering at the mile 80 aid station. I called out bib numbers as runners came in. As night started to fall, I had to go back to mile 71 to wait for the runner I was going to pace from there to the finish line. He arrived way behind schedule. He laid down and shivered. His first pacer and I forced him to eat. He hadn’t been eating enough calories and I was worried he was going to drop out right there. But he didn’t. I forced him out of the aid station and we began the trek to the next checkpoint.
It took nearly four hours to cover that nine miles, as my runner was getting dizzy from the lack of nutrients. We made it, but he had to heartbreakingly call it quits at mile 80. Another DNF due to nutrition mistakes.
Small mistakes like that are easy to make. When you’re running 26.2 road miles, it’s easier to gut it out as you only have a few hours of suffering until the finish line. But when you start running longer distances on tougher surfaces, mistakes are costly and can lead to a DNF or worse, a hospital stay.
The longer you’re out on the run, the more important proper nutrition becomes. And eating for an ultra is much different than eating for a marathon, so here’s a few things to consider while training for your first ultra. Read more >>
Posted by
Clove on
My nemesis is a rodent. My archenemy, my greatest competition, the driving force behind my current training cycle. That’s right, a rodent.
His name is Rocky Raccoon.
I’m not sure how he and I first met, when this all started. I know it was sometime last year, not more than a year ago. It wasn’t until December of 2011 that I signed up for last year’s Rocky Raccoon 100, and at some point, the rodent challenged me to a competition. He’s a raccoon to be sure, but depending on my mood, I imagine him a hamster, a squirrel, something small, furry and menacing.
He haunts my dreams, and like Rocky and Apollo Creed, I am determined to beat him. Read more >>
Posted by
Licorice on
Get a group of experienced runners together, and sooner or later the topic of conversation will turn to heart rate. Maybe someone will talk about how they bailed on their speedwork last week because their resting heart rate was higher than normal. Maybe someone will casually mention how the nurse thought her equipment was wrong the last time they went in for a physical because their resting heart rate was so low. I have heard several conversations on this topic that turned into a bizarre form of reverse one-upmanship, where the winner was the one with the lowest value. In the interest of trivia, the winner of the game usually brags about a resting heart rate around 40.
Even if you’re not interested in impressing people at the group run, your resting heart rate is a valuable tool that can help you stay healthy in your quest to big PRs. Read more >>
Posted by
Cilantro on
I do it in the summer. I do it in the winter. I did it five times this week.
Even Meb Keflezighi does it.
My mother thinks I’m crazy. My father is disgusted. My sister thinks I’ve taken things too far. Why?
It’s called an ice bath, and I swear by them. After my long runs and intense workouts (read: speed training and hills), I fill my bathtub full of cold water and a bag full of ice from the gas station down the street and hop in.
BRRR!
Posted by
Sassafras on
I haven’t talked much about my secondary goal that I spelled out in my resolution post. So I’ll tell you what I want, what I really want: it’s to run a 3:45 marathon this spring.
In exactly three months, I’ll be toeing the line at the Carmel Marathon. I’m following the TLAM Own It! plan again this training cycle, which I love. One cool thing about using the same plan this time around is I can compare my log to where I was at this point last time. I’m feeling good about things so far, but I still have a long time between now and April!
Monday – 5 miles with some of my neighborhood runners! I cranked this out at 8:45 pace, and added 8 strides at the end for good measure.
Tuesday – Today’s goal was to negative split 5 miles… that is, to run the last mile faster than the previous two, faster than the first two. I did it – my splits were 9:50, 9:21 and 8:46.
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – A double workout day for me. In the morning, I did hilly intervals (total mileage of 4.8). In the evening, I went to a 2 hour yoga class that really focused on flexibility and range of motion. Such a perfect pairing with my morning hills!
Friday – 4 miles at 9:30 pace
Saturday – Isn’t it kind of crazy when 35 degrees seems warm to you? I was practically overjoyed to see that number in the hourly forecast. I got a super early start and ran 16.2 miles on what is quickly becoming one of my favorite routes. Someone even told me I looked perky after this run, so I guess that joy didn’t wear off! (I had 9:17 pace overall.)
Sunday – Lots and lots of walking!
Total – 35 miles, 2 hours yoga
Posted by
Mint on
It is that time of year. Many of us are dusting off our trainers and starting our shiny new training schedules for the spring marathon season. As blogger Mark Matthews, recently explained, there is a lot more than just registering for a race. You have to own it and get ready to put in a lot of commitment and hard work before race day rolls around.
Or do you?
Posted by
Licorice on
Two very important conversations happened this week. The first was between my legs and my brain, when my legs said, “Oh hells no!” to running on hills in addition to climbing up (and down) a massive half-mile incline every day as part of my new commute. I think the walk down is killing me more than the walk up, but it’s tough. And while running on hills is (sort of) happening, since I have to drive to flat ground, my legs are most certainly not pleased about it. I’m hoping things even out in the next week or two, but until then it’s going to be slow going with lots of walking.
The other conversation was between myself and reality, when I realized that the trail race I’ve been looking at just isn’t going to happen this year. While I am loving my current internship, I am coming home both mentally and physically exhausted. I’m on my feet all day, I’m using 95% of my brain power to get the hang of practicing hospital inpatient physical therapy, and the hospital I’m in is the regional level I trama center, which means we get all of the crazy things that other hospitals in a 5-state area don’t want to deal with. In the past two weeks, I’ve seen patients recovering from spinal surgeries, TWO broken collarbones, broken hips and ankles, and even one young man who’s heading in for a below-knee amputation after getting his foot caught between two fishing boats. It’s intense, is what I’m saying, and by the time I get to the weekend I have absolutely no desire to go out and log the kind of miles necessary to really prepare for that race. It might be different if I had a really good distance base built up and could click off 10 miles without even thinking about it, but I don’t. So I’ve decided to punt that race to sometime in the future. Not having that training hanging over my head has been such a huge relief that I can’t even say I’m disappointed about it. Which means it was the right choice.
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 ugly miles. I spent the first half of the run thinking it would get better once I got warmed up, and the second half just waiting for it to be over.
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: the return of freezing fog and icy roads
Friday: rest
Saturday: Jasyoga workshop. This was a yoga class specifically designed for runners, and it focused on stretching out everything. It was absolutely delightful. My poor, tired, whiny legs felt so much better afterwards.
Sunday: I headed out for what was to be 10 miles, and it wound up being a 1 mile run and 1 mile walk. I just wasn’t feeling it and, more telling, just didn’t care. Which is when I knew that logging big miles just isn’t going to happen right now.
Total for the week: 5 miles
Posted by
Mint on
This week was a cut-back week for me. It was good timing for it too, as I was travelling Sunday through late Wednesday night. I was in New Orleans for the Girls on the Run International Annual Summit. The days and evenings were packed full of activities and I had a ton of fun. There wasn’t much time for running though and I was not about to hit the streets of NOLA by myself in the dark, so I only managed to get in one group run while I was there.
Monday – rest
Tuesday – group run with no watch. I’d estimate about 3.5 miles.
Wednesday – off / travel
Thursday – 5.3 (8:38 pace) in my new Brooks Pure Cadence.
Friday – 6.7 miles (8:59) with a few striders – BRRRRRR it is cold here.
Saturday – 10.3 miles with 5 strides (8:47)
Sunday – 3.5 miles (8:44) on the treadmill.
Total: 29.3 miles
I was going to attempt the tempo interval workout that I missed while I was in NOLA on Sunday, but my legs were super tired and sore on Sunday, so I stuck with the scheduled 30 minutes. It is frustrating to feel so beaten down on such a light week, but I need to make sure I am actually resting some on my recovery week rather than trying to cram everything in on the weekend (which I often do).
Fortunately, the legs are feeling much better today, so hopefully it will be a good week. It will be another cold one though – it is supposed to be -25 today! BRRRRR!
Posted by
Vanilla on
Once the extreme cold temps left Colorado, we were blessed with gorgeous weather and sunshine. But… even when it was only 5 degrees, it was still beautiful to get out there and run! There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t consider myself super lucky to live here!
Sunday: 12 chilly miles in 5 degree weather, but we were blessed with bright, sunny skies and no wind. (It was still cold, though). About an hour of weights and core in the evening.
Monday: 2,650 yards in the pool. Ahhhh…. the legs needed that!
Tuesday: 8K workout with a balmy temp of 1 degree! That’s right, 1 degree, but somehow I managed to run the 2*2K at goal half marathon pace. Easy shakeout in the evening to total nearly 12 for the day.
Wednesday: Weights/core, 30 mins in the trainer in the morning. Coaching in the evening for 7 miles total. Paced two ladies on a 35 minute tempo run starting at 10 min/mile down to 8:30, which was just awesome!
Thursday: One hour in the trainer; 5 mile run with the Newton group in the evening. Damn, these runners are fast!
Friday: Weights/core in the morning. Just a wee bit over 6 miles in the evening with 50 degree temps and clear skies to see all of the stars. All I kept thinking about was “Starry, Starry Night!
Saturday: 50 minute tempo run consisting of 30 mins then 4*5mins. Started at 8:00/mile, ended at 6:58 pace. About 9 miles total.
Weekly Totals:
Running: 50.4 miles
Biking: 90 mins in the trainer
Swimming: 2,650 yards (1.42 miles)
Weight Training: 2 hrs; 15 mins
Posted by
Coriander on
It was a big week for me! I finally bit the bullet and registered for two races! In less than 10 minutes, I was $210 poorer and registered for a 50K in March. And my first 100 miler! It’s crazy that it’s really happening now.
So here’s how my week went down:
Monday: rest/20 minutes of yoga.
Tuesday: 60 min of yoga/5 miles in one hour on the trails. I was hungry and kind of bored during this run. I don’t know why, but shorter distance trail runs alone are not my thing. Yoga was great though, I did a headstand! I’m getting closer to finally doing inversions unassisted again!
Wednesday: 60 min of yoga/5 miles at run club. I ran a quicker-than-normal pace at run club and it was a good run. I got to run with a friend I usually don’t run with, so I considered it my speedy run for the week.
Thursday: 30 min yoga/rest. Thursday is supposed to be hill day, but my legs were so beat up from the past two days for some reason.
Friday: 4 miles before work. I got up and ran in the dark for the first time in a while. It was cool to see the sunrise on my way back home.
Saturday: 17 miles of trails. It was great to have a Saturday off to run with some of my best trail running friends and take lots of fun photos.
Sunday: 7 miles of trails. I shared a few early miles with Salty. Then I had my worst trail fall EVER and ripped holes in my tights and banged up my knee. It didn’t hurt too much until afterward and I think my ego is bruised more than my knee. Other than that, it was a good run.
Total: 38 miles.
Posted by
Salty on
It took me just 7 weeks to realize I’ve been unnecessarily adding a dash in the word ‘postpartum.’ Mommy brain at it’s finest, folks! That’s definitely something any woman, runner or nonrunner, can look forward to after a baby – a sudden decrease in brain cells accompanied by bizarre spelling errors, forgetfulness and other incredibly embarrassing duh-moments.
But now I know and even better Week 7 was a good one running-wise. (Is that dash supposed to be there?) Read more >>
Posted by
Ginkgo on
Thinking a lot about spring racing season this week and getting my racing goals in place! I have a winter run (a 7.5 miler) put on by the Columbus Road Runners Club in a few weeks and am looking forward to the Capital City Half Marathon and Cleveland Half Marathon as my bigger races this May. Taking suggestions for other good races (particularly 10ks, halfs) going on in Cleveland and Columbus(ish) area, though I’m not opposed to traveling somewhere warm, either. I’m also looking to invest in a Garmin of some sorts to help me track my runs more accurately – taking suggestions on that one, too! What do you have? I’d like to keep in the $100-$200 price-range, so I know I’m a bit limited (planning for a wedding is sucking my bank account dry…even though I’m trying to be as savvy as possible).
Here’s what I did this week! Sam and I finally took the time to check out the LA Fitness (formerly known as Urban Active until recently bought out) gym down the street. We’re hoping to get on the 5:30 a.m. spinning bandwagon soon. So, I’ll hopefully be adding some spice and cross-training this week. Last week I was boring…again…and stuck to just running.
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: 3 miles (with Otto and his Ruff Wear jacket!)
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 3 miles
Saturday: 9 miles…what’s up WIND?!?!?!
Sunday: 6 miles (with Otto and his Ruff Wear jacket!)…again…what’s up WIND?!?! I’m still defrosting, but on the bright side, I have rosy cheeks from windburn.
