Being our own worst enemy + Training update

There's something about writing on this blog that I find so therapeutic and helpful, particularly during training. Life throws a lot of curveballs, and my mind isn't exactly the most reliable when it comes to navigating through things...I often don't cope well. But as I'm training, my mind sometimes works a million miles an hour, and I like to get those thoughts out on the blog as often as I can. Looking back at old posts during each cycle can definitely give me new insights and motivations to keep working harder, and this often translates to how I deal with other areas of my life. It's a pretty big win for me.

One topic I've been thinking so much about....probably because I struggled with it in the past pretty often....is how we sabotage ourselves.

There are so many things that can derail training...illness, weather, emergencies...but after 11 years of doing this marathon thing, what I have found is that the biggest obstacle to a great training cycle is OURSELVES.

We are truly our own worst enemies.

When you sign up for a race, you have made a big commitment. Sometimes it seems a bit overwhelming, particularly if it's a long distance race like a marathon or Ironman. But you succeeded at the first step of committing.

After securing a coach and/or a training plan, obtaining the proper equipment, and taking a deep breath, it's time to dive into training. 

And then the excuses begin, right?

Why did I think I could do this?

I'm not fit enough.

The weather sucks.

I feel like crap.

I overslept.

Why did I eat that? 

I'm so slow.

I'm sore.

With the exception of the weather conditions (let's face it, we live in Texas and the weather will always be a crapshoot), we are in control of all those other excuses and hindrances to good training.

Yes, you can do it. If you train properly.

Yes, you will be fit enough. If you train properly.

The weather sucks but so what? Race day might bring the same kind of weather. 

Of course you feel like crap. You're human. Unless you're truly sick, get out there and try.

So you forgot to set it or you turned off your alarm instead of getting out of bed like you committed to. Either get out there now or commit to an afternoon or evening workout. Oversleeping doesn't get you out of training.

Why DID you eat that if you knew it would make you sluggish? Some foods are delicious, sure, but they will definitely work against you sometimes. So skip it. You won't die.

The only person who cares about your pace is you. I wish I was a 6 minute miler, too, but unless it's for a half mile, I'm just not and nobody cares. No matter our pace, we can get out there and compete and enjoy ourselves. Also? If you train right, you'll get faster.

Of course you're sore. You're in training. But the better you train, the less likely you'll be sore after a hard workout. Or you can just do a recovery workout. But get out there anyway.

I have probably used all these excuses and then some over the years. But two years ago I told myself to stop sabotaging my training.

Did I commit to a plan? Well, then I'm sticking to it (unless sick or dealing with an emergency, of course).

Unless there's lightning or dangerous ice, I'll be out there training...or at the gym. I have options.

Sometimes I'm going to wake up not at all wanting to train, but I will still get up and do my best and 9 out of 10 times, I feel a million times better when I'm done.

If I oversleep or choose to stay in bed, I know that it might mess me up for that training day if I don't commit to doing the workout later in the day. But I also know that my training is structured in a certain way and messing with it too much is a disservice to me and could bite me in the ass.

Do I want the chocolate cake? Sure I do! But I also know there are other healthy sweet options that will curb my sweet tooth and not work against me. It's possible to say no to sweets and foods that don't allow you to perform at your best, I promise you, and it's really not that big of deal and you won't really miss them much.

As for speed, well.....I'm really only competing with myself. I've done the research on how to improve my speed and I know it doesn't happen overnight. Chipping away at it every day will reap huge rewards later, so I know I just need to hang in there and show up everyday. The speed will come and there's no use whining about it today (I might still whine, though).

Sometimes after a really tough workout, I am sore. Like very sore. That doesn't get me out of my workout today or tomorrow. Chances are, it will help me to be LESS sore. So I stop whining (mostly) and I get to work.

It's easy to let the negative thoughts overpower the positive ones. We are human. But we must train our minds to focus on what we CAN do and not where we are lacking. There are far more variables within our control than there are left up to chance. Focus on that! Control what you can!

When I was frustrated and fed up with years of bad races, I vowed to pull myself out of it. I looked at everything I could control: my nutrition, my medications, my schedule (to a point, of course...life happens and I get that), my attitude, my priorities, my strengths. And I got to work. Every time I had a win (whether it was one pound or inch lost, a healthy snack I chose, a faster interval workout, better heart rate data on a run, a better night's sleep, picking up a heavier weight at the gym)....I celebrated it, since every little win was a positive and an improvement. It did me no good to dwell on the negatives or the things out of my control. It's HARD to shut that off, but over time you CAN do that.

When I got injured in September, it messed with my head BIG TIME. When I was able to get back to training I had lost a lot of fitness and had missed two races. But if I chose to complain about it everyday versus plugging away workout by workout, I never would have been able to get to where I was on my January 20 race day, where I shaved two minutes off a six year-old half marathon PR. And now, seven weeks from my next marathon, I'm seeing my hard work paying off little by little. I get out there everyday and do my prescribed workout, and on rest days I relish in the relaxation while my body gets stronger.

It all comes together when we choose to stop sabotaging our efforts.

Even after my half marathon, I had a few doubts creeping in on whether or not I'd be BQ ready for Boston, even though my race time translated to being on the cusp. But that race was very, very hard for me. I don't think even my BQ marathon felt that hard. I needed to get away from this mindset. I needed to have a few breakthrough workouts so I could see a glimpse of what was possible.

That's exactly what has happened. My last three interval workouts have been some of my best ever. I've averaging in the low-7's for 3-4 miles of intervals and I'm feeling great. My recovery intervals are mostly all jogging rather than big chunks of walking, and my VO2 max has climbed after being somewhat stagnant for a few weeks. All of this is happening during a 200 mile month, which is A LOT of miles for me.

I have my first 20 miler of the cycle this weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel. It's just a simple easy pace run, no workout built into it, so the pressure of pace is off. I'm focusing strictly on perceived effort and trying to dial in a comfortable pace.

I'm also finding that with this increase in mileage, I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME. I ate three lunches today, for crying out loud! I am at my racing weight and know that I need to up my calories so I don't lose anymore weight. Just a terrible problem to have, right?

53 more days.

I am my own coach...for now

Do I use a coach? I have had many people ask me this, and many people suggested I hire a coach when I talked about wanting to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

No, I don't use a coach. I am my own coach. I have all sorts of reasons for making this choice.

I have been coaching runners both professionally and as a volunteer for about 8 years. I became RRCA certified nearly six years ago and briefly had my own business. My volunteer duties with a local running club ended a few years ago but have been sporadically coaching runners on my triathlon team through our group workouts. I dissolved my business officially last year. I am a full time mom to two high needs teenagers and decided to dissolve my business and instead focus on their needs. Keeping the business did not seem necessary and I knew that down the road, I could always restart that career. The volunteer duties are at my discretion and that works well for me. I also spend some time advising friends on their running and goals and I always enjoy those talks.

I was an ok coach for a bit, and I was actually coached by others during my early marathon pursuits. But I remained a poor marathoner as compared to shorter distances. I absorbed all the knowledge from my RRCA course, tried to listen to others (good and bad advice, unfortunately), and continued to study training methods over the years. I went through a difficult couple of years medically that set me back in my marathon pursuits and took a couple years off from the distance.

In 2016 when my health started on an upswing and I felt like I could give the marathon distance another chance, I decided that I didn't just want to get better, but I wanted to become a good enough to go to Boston. Fortunately, for the 2019 race I'd be aging up and get another 10 minutes added to my qualifying standard, so my target timeframe became September 2017 to September 2018, the qualifying window for the 2019 Boston Marathon.

I had a lot of work to do. I had never taken heart rate training seriously, and few in my training circle had ever really suggested it. I vaguely had an idea of my training zones, but honestly wasn't comfortable with the idea of taking it as easy as the heart rate plans suggested. Training a minute or more over my marathon goal pace? That was a tough pill to swallow for my ego, even though I knew that was what I was "supposed" to do. What I always thought felt like easy pace was always too fast, and it took me a long time to realize this. Hence, why I was a crappy marathoner. When you are in big group settings and being pushed by others, it becomes very difficult to tune that out and do what you know is right for YOU. Having never been a runner until I was well into my 30's, I hadn't learned discipline yet and it took me forever to shut out the noise. Honestly, I needed to tune everything out and get into my own head, on my terms.

I didn't want to hire a coach. I wanted to do this on my own. I wanted to work around my own schedule, to be able to still train a couple times per week with my triathlon group, to analyze my own data without prying eyes, and frankly, I wanted to see if I could do it. I realize this sounds incredible stubborn, and I was incredibly stubborn.

Plus? Coaches are expensive and my family did not need another expense. Remember those high needs kids? One of them has needs that are quite expensive and that was way more important to me than anything else. I could coach myself for free, and I liked that.

If I failed, I'd suck it up and hire a coach.

In the meantime, I spent the rest of 2016 getting to know "heart rate training." It was a process and I was ok with it that first year. My body responded well, I had a good half marathon that October that told me I was going in the right direction. Unfortunately, I had not been able to completely control my asthma, and struggled in warm and humid weather considerably. My January 2017 marathon was very warm and humid and I had no choice but to take it easy during that race. I was very fearful of going into an asthma attack. But, I was happy with my race, although it was 40 minutes over what I would need later that year in order to qualify for Boston and 18 minutes over my PR set in 2014.

Meanwhile, I continued to read as much as I could, to pour over article upon article about training as smart as possible and adding in volume and getting my head right so I could believe I was capable of reaching a very crazy goal.

In April I changed up my diet and ended up losing 18 pounds by December, and 23 if you go back to my health issues from 2015. I was as lean as I'd ever been and stronger than I'd ever been. My asthma was being controlled better through some treatment changes on the advise of my doctor, and this was a really big deal.

I never relented in my pursuit and to do it ON MY TERMS. This isn't something that everyone can do. Many people need an accountability partner in order to stick to a plan AND I TOTALLY GET THAT. This was very hard on some days, and many times I wanted to just skip a run and sleep in, or to cheat on my nutrition plan, or not do that speed work. Many, many times I struggled.

But every time I looked in the mirror, and every time I analyzed my run data, I saw the vast improvement and it continued to spur me on to keep going.

I wrote a really tough training plan (for me). But I was disciplined when needing to run really easy, and frankly I started to love these easy runs. To not worry about hitting a certain pace felt so freeing to me. I didn't have to feel embarrassed at the time on my watch. It made sticking to the hard days a little bit easier and those hard days were getting better and stronger and I was getting much faster. I did leave one run per week in the hands of my triathlon club leader (on Tuesdays, we did either intervals or tempo runs) and she gave me the paces I needed to run. I sometimes thought she was crazy for saying I could run that fast, but her faith in me pushed me to do it. I'm not sure I would've had that same discipline without her. Christine remains a huge reason why my I developed my confidence.

I spent a lot of time working on my mental strength. While you do feel the physical effects of the distance as you enter your last hour of the race, most of the struggle truly is in your head. I knew that I needed to silence my doubt so I read as much as I could on the subject and felt much more mentally tough heading into my race season.

Writing my own training plan and being accountable to myself worked so well (thank God!) and I succeeded in my goal to qualify for Boston. My qualifying race gave me a 28 minute PR, and I ran it 46 minutes faster than the year before. I squeaked into Boston.

During this last year, I also ended up coaching my husband. He basically used the same plan that I had used, even though it was actually his first marathon. He wanted to BQ, too. He succeeded but unfortunately didn't make the cutoff to run Boston (9 damn seconds!!). This told me that how I was approaching training was working, that I had come up with a really good formula, and that I would stick to it.

I do believe that if I hadn't become injured (pulled muscle from strength training aggravating by interval running), I would have had a pretty good shot at setting a new PR at my planned December 2 marathon. I was running well through the summer, despite the horrid weather that just wouldn't go away. I tweaked the plan a bit to make it higher volume and a little more intense and I was getting through it, although there were definitely still times I wanted to sleep in instead of run. I'm very disappointed I had to pull the plug on my races and I'm basically starting over as I ease back into running after a four week layoff.

So there you have it. I am my own coach. I experimented with it and took a big chance that between my plan and my triathlon team leader's guidance, I could improve enough. Will I hire a coach in the future? Maybe! But right now, this works for me and I enjoy the challenge. We are all individuals and with different needs as runners, and what works for one person may be bad for another person. Only we can decide that for ourselves.

We make a great team!

Go Time

This blog post has two parts to it - "Go Time" as it relates to my upcoming training, and "Go Time" regarding my husband's marathon journey and the start of his taper.

My marathon training technically starts today (with a rest day! Ha!). Twenty one weeks of intense training leading up to California International Marathon on December 2. The last few months I've been trying to maintain my fitness, gauge where I'm at, and prepare for the rigors of my most ambitious training cycle yet. These last two months have been especially great for me as I've been running purely for the love of it rather than because of some obligation I feel. Since May 1, I have run 300 miles.

Most of my miles have been easy pace, trying to build my base and my aerobic capacity, with a couple of days and a few miles per week of speed thrown in there to keep it interesting. With this summer being warmer than normal, being able to run easy without guilt has been vital to keep my head in the game. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the heat and humidity and to dread each workout, but when you take the pressure of speed out of the equation and put the focus back on base building, that dread can virtually disappear. While it's certainly not as fun as running in cooler temps, I'm still finding a lot of joy in every mile that I'm out there. I honestly don't remember ever feeling this at ease during the summer months.

So what is my training going to look like? For Mississippi Gulf Coast and Louisiana last winter, I increased my volume and the percentage of easy miles run, while upping the intensity and pushing my limits during my hard effort runs. I religiously wore my heart rate monitor and tracked my improvement. I got my body into pretty darn good shape (for an almost-44 year old). The formula worked, and because I'm entering this training cycle ahead of where I was a year ago, I don't see any reason why I can't push my limits a bit more. More miles, longer tempo runs, more race pace simulation, while still taking rest and recovery very seriously and listening to my body and my head. I'm looking forward to honing in on more marathon specific training again. The last few months have been fun, but the focus will get tighter now.

But let's hear it for my husband! He just finished peak marathon training week with a 21 mile run yesterday and a 58 mile week. He's run over 270 miles since June 1! His race is on July 29 in Washington and he's as ready as he's ever going to be. He has done the work, shown me that the speed and endurance is there to meet his goal. This is his FIRST marathon, so he's entering uncharted territory on race day. I've run 14 marathons, some great ones and some truly horrendous ones so I know where his head will be on race day and throughout the marathon. I've tried to coach him to the best of my ability to not only prepare his body physically for the demands of 26.2 miles, but to prepare his head for the possibility of wanting to quit 20 miles into the race. He knows he's capable of completing the race in the time goal he's set for himself, and so hopefully with the mental training, his head won't sabotage him. The marathon can be a dirty beast sometimes, but it's not inevitable that one will hit the mental or physical wall. I have a lot of confidence my husband will become one hell of a marathoner on July 29.

I am so excited to go on this journey with him, and then to have him by my side cheering me on and supporting me as I begin my training for marathon #15.  Teamwork!!

My Husband the Marathoner

Something CRAZY just happened in the Hahn House.

The husband registered for his first marathon. The husband, and I quote, thinks "marathons are stupid."

HE'S GOING TO RUN 26.2!

Years and years ago, he told me he would run one marathon, and that would be Rome, and we arbitrarily picked 2020 as the year to do that together. He's always maintained that he would be one and done and he would have a great time in a beautiful city doing it.

Well.....

I think he cooked up this idea while I was racing Mississippi Gulf Coast. When he saw that I was going to Boston qualify, he started thinking about running Boston with me, but as a charity runner. As soon as I was done with that race and had caught my breath, he told me this crazy idea, and I was so excited.

Come to find out that it's not quite so easy getting picked as a charity runner, plus they start in a different wave than where I would start, so we couldn't run together if he was a charity runner. So that plan started to evolve into something even crazier.

He's going to try to QUALIFY for Boston and run it with me. Boston 2019 happens to be 3 weeks before our 20th anniversary, making it extra special.

So, the man who says marathons are stupid, who's never run longer than 2 hours and 3 minutes, is going to run 26.2 miles on July 29. He needs a 3:25 to qualify and will be shooting for a 3:20.

He's a great runner, but has only raced long distance once, a half marathon back in 2009, at a 7:50 pace while injured and on relatively low mileage (fast bastard). He has run several half marathons since then, but always with me or in training. Talk about an awesome and inspiring leap of faith!

I get to be his coach, and over the last two months I've been helping him build up his base miles and endurance, knowing he was thinking about taking on this challenge. He's up to 30 miles per week already, and provided he stays consistent and healthy, we will get him over 50 miles per week as we approach summer. Yes, a Texas summer spent running 50+ mile weeks, which will only serve to make him even stronger on race day.

I'm so excited about the opportunity to coach another runner to a Boston Qualifying time, or at least die trying! To take on the challenge of doing this for a new marathon runner will be even more exciting. If I didn't think he was a strong enough runner, I wouldn't want to do this, but my husband is pretty damn incredible. He has the discipline and focus to stick to a schedule, he's fast, he saw how hard I worked to hit my goal and the commitment doesn't scare him. All those factors are huge in order to pick such a lofty goal for a first marathon. He chose a downhill marathon, with a gradual downhill that will hopefully not destroy his legs but instead give him that extra boost to achieve his goal.

We have 5 1/2 months to work on this.

BQ or Bust!

Unlucky #13 but I still won - THE FINALE

Now that the race is over, my stats have been analyzed, my emotions all over the damn place, it's time to truly reflect on the past several months.

(Note: For the purpose of my analysis, I'm using my adjusted Mississippi Gulf Coast time of 3:50:54 rather than my official shortened-course time of 3:48:19.)

How did I got from a marathon PR of 4:17:53 all the way down to 3:50:54? This equates to a time difference of 26:59, or 1:02/mile. It's been nearly four years since I ran that 4:17 marathon, and since then I've run a 4:21, 4:25, and 4:35. Not exactly stellar times, especially when I'm a much stronger runner at shorter distances.

The last few years haven't been too kind to me on the running front, and it's been a two year long battle to come back to better shape and better mental strength. When the weather in Baton Rouge in January forced me to hold back, I had to abandon my PR and run smart and slow, which was a bummer. But even if I had "raced," I likely would not have run faster than a 4:10 or 4:15. When I ran in the Texas Independence Relay in March, I fell apart and was miserable. It pissed me off.

So then came April and I made the decision that this was not acceptable and I was going to completely change things up and get my sorry ass into shape and blow my marathon PR out of the water. I've written several blog posts since then about my journey to Sunday's race.

From my 4/20/17 blog: Are you ready for a marathon? And OMG I want to go to Boston

"I want to go to Boston. I want to qualify. My new age group qualification window opens up in September, and it gives me another 10 minute cushion for qualifying. But I still need to run a 3:55, and because of the demand of the race even that time will not be enough to gain entry. I will need to shoot for a 3:52. This is nearly a minute per mile faster than my fastest marathon. I have run a 1:51 half, when I was in fantastic shape, so I know the speed is there for me. I just need to tap into it and have a really great BQ race day.

I WANT TO GO TO BOSTON.

I'm laying the groundwork now for making this possible. I want this. I'm ready for this."

The journey had begun. 

Then I began writing about how my Training Plan took shape and started to progress from that early version to something even more intense.

From my 4/30/17 blog: Training Plan

"Writing all of this out is helping me to see the big picture. I'm still slightly terrified of the work ahead of me, but strangely excited. It will forever be so weird to me that this girl who never really did any sports growing up (well, I tried and I kind of sucked) is talking about running 800 miles in the second half of the year and tackling two more marathons by the time I hit my next birthday. Pretty damn cool."

From my 6/7/17 blog: Progress

"I know this means that all the work I'm putting in with regards to my nutrition and consistency and effort is paying off. My head is telling me I can do it and my body is responding. Huge boost for my mental game, that's for sure. Knowing my body is stronger and my lungs are working better than usual tells me that no matter what crazy workout Christine gives us, I can do it. This also means she's probably getting wise to me and will make me run faster."

From my 6/19/17 blog: Summer has arrived

"There's a time and place for race pace and faster runs. Long run weekend is not one of those, especially in this part of my training cycle and in the summer. I'm building up my base so my body is ready for more mileage. I added a fourth day to my running last week, and I have 4 weeks until the difficult training technically starts. As I get deep into training, some of my long runs will incorporate race pace miles, but usually no more than 30% of the run, and the rest of the miles will be at long run pace. Speed will happen during interval runs, tempo runs, races, track nights, and runs like those, but in order to properly prepare oneself for the rigors of the volume of marathon training, you have to allow yourself the luxury of recovery miles and long, slow miles. If I ran 8:58 pace day in and day out, at 40 or 50+ miles per week, I would be depleted on race day."

It was becoming more and more clear to me at this point that my strategy, while frustrating because it forced me to run over 10:00/mile pace, I had to stick to it and be patient.

From my 7/13/17 blog: Intentional Training

"I'm not stressing about my long run pace at all anymore, whereas I used to be so bummed if I didn't train at a certain pace all the time. By focusing more on my heartrate and cadence I'm able to steadily improve my aerobic fitness."

"Proper recovery from the tougher workouts is vital (yay recovery runs!) to be able to continue to perform well during those particularly hard weeks. I'm just continuing to chant that mantra of "easy pace, easy pace, easy pace" (no matter how much my teammates laugh at how anal I've become). My long slow runs are paying dividends during hard workouts and will (hopefully, oh pretty please) pay off on race day." 

 From my 8/13/17 blog: Trying to see the light

"I'm doing just fine with intervals, tempos, and hill repeat pacing. I can see all that improving, I can see my cardiovascular strength improving, and I know I'm making progress. But those 10+ minute long runs....ugh....I think realizing the benefit of long SLOW runs is a tough thing in general for marathoners to deal with. It's hard to see that when you run so much slower than goal pace, you're actually doing something good for yourself."

"I know that my biggest strength right now, besides my improvement in cardiovascular strength, is my attitude, and while I am struggling to push a few doubts away, I do really believe in myself. Most of the time, at least. But I'm also human and have anxiety and need to take a few deep breaths now and then to calm myself down. My attitude is a thousand times better than it's been in recent years and I'm trying so damn hard to hold onto that!"

From my 9/15/17 blog: It's the strangest thing

"I read an article titled 'Change your mindset to improve your race times.' It couldn't have come at a better time, right when I'm starting to incorporate race pace miles into my long run and I'm pushing myself harder during hard workouts now that the weather is better.

Be mindful of the deceptive paralysis that can take hold when you become intimidated by your increasingly faster paces.

Basically this means that we allow the fear of the faster paces we are running, and the daunting thought of actually running that in a race, hold us back on race day. We are physiologically capable of our goal, but our minds work against us and we fail to truly believe in our ability. We fear going 'balls to the wall' and then failing."

 It's fascinating to me to read all of this again and see my newfound strength taking shape as the training cycle progressed.

My my 10/6/17 blog: 9 more weeks

"The next few weeks will really see some serious commitment. 170 miles in October, 190 in November, and then tapering to December 10 race day. Tempos, long runs, track work, easy days, strength work, balance work....did I mention serious commitment?

This shit is so good for me. It's hard and I love it. I'm scared as hell of failing at my goals, but dammit I'm going to do everything I can to get myself to that starting line in the best shape of my life."

From my 11/10/17 blog: Hello Hell Week

"My training volume is more than I have ever done and I can't deny that I was really worried when I wrote the plan. I knew I needed higher volume to do what I want to do, but it frightened me to think of doing midweek long runs in addition to the REALLY long runs over the weekend, to sometimes run 6 days per week...and even 6 days in a row.

But I'm still alive and I'm right smack dab in the middle of hell. Last week I ran 54 miles, this week is 49 and next week is 54. Then I get to taper. November 19 can't come soon enough!"

From my 11/24/17 blog: Turkey Trot Badassery

"I'm so glad that I decided to race this. I was in a good position to run well, to shake my demons out one last time, and to finish out the rest of my marathon taper with really good thoughts in my head. Running 7:45 average for 5 miles was not nearly as hard as I expected it could be, so to add over a minute per mile to that pace and hold it for 26.2 seems very doable to me. So far the weather in Biloxi is looking great for the marathon. I will have rested legs and I'm at my best shape ever. My confidence is as good as it's going to get and I'm very happy."

From my 11/29/17 blog: The Home Stretch

"I need to keep remembering how all of this feels, that race pace is not a big deal to me, that I'm perfectly capable of dialing into that pace during my race and being okay. I really need to remember that I can run a marathon probably much faster than a 3:52 if I tried even harder. Because I can. Every single data point is telling me this.

And I need to STOP remembering that if I run my stretch goal, I will have taken an entire minute off my pace from my PR marathon. I need to STOP telling myself that people just don't do that. Because I'm perfectly capable to doing that. I made it my goal, I did the work, and the glory is right in front of me to take."

Wow....going through my posts since April was fun and crazy.

Do you want to run a fantastic marathon? Do you want to improve beyond what you thought possible? Everyone has different strengths, and some plans that work for others might not work for you. But I can tell you what I did and why I think it worked, and perhaps you can take some of this into your own training.

1. I lost weight. I lost over 10% of my bodyweight since April. I am probably well below 20% bodyfat and am my leanest ever. I did this by cutting out sugar. I didn't eat desserts, I didn't eat candy, I avoided it like the plague. Any sugar I got was in the form of cocktails, because let's be serious...this is marathon training and I needed a damn drink sometimes. I cut out most refined carbs and processed crap. I cooked with whole grains and no white sugar. I snacked on fruit. It was exactly what worked for my body to drop all the excess. I'm sure a big side effect of this was also being able to consistently feel strong in my workouts.

2. I was consistent. If I had to run that day, I did. I didn't get lazy. I respected the training plan and the process.

3. I significantly, but intelligently, increased my volume. I had been working on my base from April to July, when the training plan kicked in. By the time the harder workouts really hit and the 30+ mile weeks started, I had a very strong running base. Adding on the volume and intensity week after week was completely doable. I decided that to be serious, I needed to consistently be running 40-55 mile weeks during the final 10 weeks of training.

August miles: 131
September miles: 163
October miles: 167
November miles: 186

I ran 5-6 timed per week, every week, and sometimes 6 days in a row. The volume was high and relentless.

4. I respected recovery. In order to run at a high volume, I never ran two intense training runs consecutively. A typical week would consist of Monday recovery run (4-6 miles), Tuesday interval or tempo run (7 miles), Wednesday easy longer distance run (8-10 miles), Thursday track work (6-9 miles), Friday rest, Saturday easy run (4-8 miles), Sunday long run (with 3 runs over 3 hours). Goal race pace, for my stretch A goal of a 3:52 marathon, was 8:51 pace. My long runs rarely were below 10:00 pace, my recovery runs were more like 10:15-10:30 pace, but because I took it so easy on those days, my Tuesday and Thursday quality workouts were intense and I ran better than expected. My Sunday long run, even in high humidity and high temps, were strong up to the end of the run. When I incorporated some race pace miles into my long runs, I didn't have much trouble hitting the right pace.

It's a difficult thing for us to throw out our ego and run slow and admit we ran slow. It's so much more glamorous to post that we ran our long run at 8:45 pace instead of 10:15 pace. But you won't hit your goals if you overtax your body. Your hard run days will suffer. Your body simply can't sustain that kind of intensity and you won't be rewarded on race day if you tear your body down. The goal is to build your aerobic endurance. If you do that, you'll be amazed at what you can do on race day.

5. I paid attention to my heart rate. I needed to stay in Zone 2 or less for 70% of my running miles. Because of the summer/fall temps and humidity I would get into low Zone 3 during long runs, but not Zone 4. As the training progressed, I was finding that my heart rate average was steadily declining during quality workouts, so I was able to see that I could start to push even harder during those. I could hold a Zone 3 and 4 heart rate for longer and longer during tempo runs. By analyzing this data, it gave me the confidence that my fitness was heading into the right direction and I was on my way to achieving a much faster pace for a marathon.

6. I took care of my body with non-running work. Strength training, balance work, physical therapy to work on my imbalances, foam rolling, stretching. All of this was vital to keep my body in tip top shape and injury free.

7. I believed in myself. Half the battle during a marathon is mental, not physical. During the last 10K, while your body is definitely fatiguing, most people give up their pace because they allow their minds to screw with them. They forget to trust their training and they give in to all the doubts. But with the right kind of training under your belt, you don't have to allow this to happen. It's not easy, but a slow down in the second half of a marathon is not inevitable. As a matter of fact, with the right training, you should be able to run a negative split race. You HAVE TO believe that. You HAVE TO trust your training. You HAVE TO believe that you are strong beyond measure.

8. I had nothing to lose. During the race on Sunday, which you can read about in yesterday's blog, I went out from Mile 1 with the intention of RACING. There was no real warm up in those early miles, no super slow miles to ease into the distance, like there has been in every other marathon of mine. It was great weather, it was a great course, and I had absolutely nothing to lose by racing fiercely and fearlessly.

I had put in the work, I knew I had tapered the previous three weeks properly, I had so much training volume under my belt, I knew what pace I was capable of, I knew I could probably run even faster, so that is exactly what I allowed my body to do. I felt good, I was running miles faster than my racing plan, but I didn't let that scare me. I kept at it and kept running faster and knew that even if I slowed a little at the end, that I had done everything I could do meet my goal. I ran a negative split race, just like I planned.

I HAD TO BE FEARLESS. 

I CRUSHED MY DAMN RACE. I ran a Boston Qualifying marathon by a long shot. I basically secured my starting place in Hopkington on April 15, 2019 (until the course was de-certified, unfortunately).

So today, four days post marathon, I am attacking my new plan with fervor. In 31 days I will once again get to a marathon start line with my plan to crush my Boston Qualifying time. As a matter of fact, I want to crush my shortened course time of 3:48:19, which would require me running an 8:43 average pace. I absolutely can do this. My legs feel great, I am ready to ease into running again, starting tonight, and my heart is ready to embrace this journey once again.

2014...Decisions Decisions!

6 weeks into the new year and my race plans are starting to come together for the year. I've tried to force myself not to commit to anything else in the first half of the year, however.

This weekend is the Austin Half Marathon, a race I haven't run since it was my very first race in 2008. Since then I've run the Austin Marathon five years in a row, so I knew that 2014 would be a good break from the full course and instead go back to where I fell in love with running and racing. It's not an "A" race, meaning I won't be attempting a PR. Austin is not an easy course, and I have not been training to run a sub 8:30 pace half. I'd still like to do well and to feel good, so I'll run hard regardless. Then I get to cheer on my Round Rock Fit runners at Mile 26 of the full course. Some of them are running their very first full marathon and for the first time since I started coaching, I'm going to be there cheering for them as they finish up that last mile.

Next month is my fifth year running in the Texas Independence Relay, and that race will serve as training for my April marathon in San Luis Obispo. It's a lot of tough running coming up, and my focus really needs to be on keeping my endurance up and staying in marathon shape.

I've gotten back on my bike and back in the pool, although with hesitation. I've only swam twice since October, and am happy to say I don't think I lost too much of my form, although my speed (of which I had little) has suffered. It will take time to get my comfort back, but I'll slowly peck away at it. This past Saturday I did my first outdoor ride in a very long time and I forgot how tough hills can be in cycling! It was a good ride, but slow and fairly difficult. I'm going to continue to try to incorporate rides into my schedule in the next few months.

I will not be doing long distance over the summer like I did last summer. I need the break during the hottest months. Instead I'll be getting on my bike more and keeping the runs under 90 minutes. There won't be any crazy 30K trail runs in my racing schedule this year!

A triathlon is still in the cards, but I haven't picked exactly which ones I will do. And I won't make that decision until April or May. I need to focus on my upcoming races, especially my marathon, and I need to get more comfortable being back on my bike and in the pool before I decide what race is right for me. I can't have the distraction of committing to a triathlon in my head just yet. A lot of people want to know what races I'm going to do and I simply can't answer that question yet.

The only late year race I had in my plans was running the BCS half marathon again in December. I had so much fun running it in 2013 that I couldn't resist the early registration price and signed up. I will be committing to running the Houston marathon again for January 2015 and early registration for that is in May (I'm thrilled my qualifying time from January 2013 is still valid!). But otherwise, I planned to put the breaks on any race registrations.

BUT THEN.....

My friend Tricia asked me to join a relay team.

Not just ANY relay...a TRAIL RELAY. In October. In Texas Hill Country.

A SPONSORED trail relay in October in Texas Hill Country. That's right...I'd be part of a team sponsored by Nuun. 

How could I say no to that? Tricia is one of my best friends, I know she'll put together a great team, and relays are my favorite kinds of races. The answer was an almost immediate yes.

The more I read about this race, the more excited I get. Three different trail loops of differing terrain and distances that every team member runs, a central Ragnar Village location where we hang out, camp, and have fun. Right now we have 5 of our 8 members picked and I love each and every one of the women on the team.

SO....

I really REALLY won't be committing to anything else until April!

REALLY.

So stop asking.

Five in a row, baby!

February 17, 2013...5 years to the day after my very first race (the Austin Half Marathon)....and my 5th consecutive full marathon in Austin. Bound to be an exciting day!

In the few weeks leading up to this race, I have to admit I wasn't all that excited about it. Going into the training season, my "A" race was going to be Bryan-College Station in December, and Austin was going to be "fun" (yes I used the word "fun" to describe running 26.2 miles). Although BCS didn't pan out like I wanted (read my report here), I still wasn't planning on going crazy in Austin. "Fun" still sounded like a good plan. I thought it might be possible to PR, however (under 4:26).

Race day weather was looking good, although it was going to be getting pretty warm after 11am. After BCS, however, I could handle "a little warm." I was happy that start temps were going to be in the 40s. I planned out my Team Luke's race gear and was getting nervous and excited. No matter how many marathons I run, my nerves are ridiculous. I know it's going to hurt and sometimes those thoughts outweigh the memory of how it feels to cross that finish line.

Race morning was awesome. A fun carpool to the race, hanging out with Round Rock Fit and Luke's Locker folks, peeing 3 times in the span of 15 minutes....yep...race morning!

I decided awhile ago I didn't want to run anymore marathons by myself, so I had friends with me.

Karen, me, Tony, and Kalynn

Karen was turning off to finish the half, while Tony, Kalynn, and I were running the full. Kalynn was coming off an injury but our pace was much slower than her normal pace and we hoped it would be perfect to keep her with us. And our first half pace was exactly aligned with Karen's plan...I love running with my friends!

By race morning our plan had evolved into running about a 4:15, or getting as close as possible to that. That would be a 9:45 average, something that on a good running day was very reasonable. It would be a PR for Tony and me and push Kalynn a bit more than her last 2 marathons (the girl was running her THIRD in 2 months!)...sounded good to us! We still planned to run the first half in about a 2:09, so it would require a negative split to hit that 4:15 but we've done it before and could do it again.

Just like most races, this one started off uneventful. Our first mile was a very conservative 10:50, exactly what we were aiming for. After the first couple miles we could settle in to a 10 min pace and then drop to under 10 minutes after 5 or 6. From miles 2-5 there is a slight incline as you cruise down Congress Avenue so you have to play those miles smart. As you run north again from miles 5-8 you have a nice downhill, but overdoing it there will kill your legs unless you've done a lot of downhill training. We definitely played it smart and kept just over a 10 minute overall pace through that first third of the race.

I got to see the family at Mile 9 on Cesar Chavez Blvd, just like always, and it is always a mental boost.

Heather, Yvi, Amber, and Daniella - the best cheerleaders!

But now it was time to pick it up. Only we didn't really have any pick up in us. Running much faster than that just felt "off." At least for me it did. Tony kept urging me to slow it down, so I think he was feeling it, too. Or he has some freaky sixth sense about how I feel.

This is also the part where I start getting pissed about all the hills. Texas is flat as a pancake because they put every damn hill in Austin, and the Conley Sports picks the hilliest race course possible.

Click on the pic to see it in all its evil glory

Okay, it's a great course. Really it is. Austin is beautiful and we get to see so much of it. But holy hell, the hills. After a particularly steep hill during mile 13 (thankfully it's short), I always feel a bit better. Once that one is out of the way, it's more of a slow incline over several miles before you get to the net downhill final 7 miles. At the top of that hill we saw the family again. Always a joy!

I totally love this pic...I'm happy!! 

Heather standing at the top of The Hill

We had become separated from Kalynn during these middle miles and hoped she would be catching up with us before long. I wanted to make sure she made it through this race happy and healthy. Karen had long ago taken the turn to finish the half (which she did in 2:10!!).

The next several miles is where the marathon distance can really test you. You know you're only halfway through and that can seem daunting. But you have to just keep plugging along. We hit the halfway point at 2:12, which isn't where we wanted to be, but still on target for a good marathon time, at least an Austin course PR for both of us (under 4:24) and an overall PR for me. If we could just hold steady and not let the wall get to us, we had it in the bag.

We sped up a bit through a few miles, dropping the pace to just under 10 minutes per mile overall. But when we got through 16 miles, Tony asked if we could slow it down just a bit until we hit Mile 19 and started the downhill. His hip was bugging him and things just felt sluggish. I was fine with that. A 10 minute pace still got us one of our goals.

We passed up the 4:25 pacers during Mile 17 and that was a really good feeling. One of them, James, was in our RRCA coaching class a couple of weeks ago (he called himself "Sexy") so we chatted for just a bit and then kept going at a faster pace than them. If we could stay ahead of them we were golden. We saw the support crew at Mile 19, got Tony some Advil (the conversation is on video, too..."Do you have Advil? He's hurting.") Ha! (Aw, poor Coach)

Why do I keep smiling??

Now we're in the home stretch...a net downhill, although there are a few uphills. Only 7 more miles, another hour or so of running. We just weren't feeling great, but not horrible, so we kept going. The miles were not clicking by quickly, however. We actually did walk for a little stretch after we saw the family at Mile 19, our first walk break of the race. I wanted to see some sub-10 minute miles, but I we just couldn't get our legs moving well again. Mile 20 came at 3 hours, 21 minutes, so still just over 10 minute overall pace. This may have been my best Mile 20 split in a marathon. A quick mental calculation told me we needed a 1:03 final 10K for an Austin PR for Tony, a final 1:05 exactly for a PR for me, and less than a 1:08 to beat last year's time and give me an Austin PR. Totally doable if we could just keep moving.

The wheels fell off at Mile 22.

At seemingly the same time, our bodies just wanted to STOP. We willed them to keep moving for 90% of every mile, but it was getting tough. At this point we saw 11 minute miles clicking by and slowly, our goals slipped away as well. Neither of us really cared, however. I kept remembering that we were almost done and barring something catastrophic we were still going to finish the race with a very respectable time. Perhaps it was the sun that was hurting us, perhaps it was the south winds that seemingly came out of nowhere, perhaps we just let our training slip off too much in those final weeks leading up to the race. This was most certainly the Wall....and it royally sucked.

As we ran through the Mile 23 sign I just about lost it. I became tearful as I said to Tony "Why does this hurt so bad?!?" He became even more frustrated with any incline we encountered, stopping to walk just a bit while I slowly jogged and waited for him to catch back up. We spent the final miles of the race doing this. Our worst mile came in a 11:38, which seems surprisingly good considering how bad we felt. The suckiest part I think was when the 4:25 pacers passed us up for good. Such a huge bummer.

At one point around Mile 24, I think I definitely was losing it and decided that I didn't want to hold my water bottle anymore, so I actually threw it away at a water stop. 2 miles to go and I tossed over $20 worth of running equipment into the trash. But I couldn't handle the thought of drinking anything else or holding anything, and it just seemed like the thing to do. The final marathon miles can certainly make you crazy.

With one mile to go we could see the San Jacinto Hill in the distance. We needed about a 10:30 mile to break last year's time and get me an Austin PR (4:29:01). Just a 10:30...surely we could do that, right? I started feeling a bit better and was letting the thought of there only being one more mile left carry my legs, but Tony was still hurting so badly and getting very discouraged about that final hill. I told him I had never walked that hill in the 6 years I've raced that course, and I wasn't about to walk it this time. Something tells me he didn't appreciate that. Haha.

One final little walk before tackling the big hill and seeing the family one last time before the finish.

You can see just how crazy windy it was by looking at the "600 meters to go" sign

There I am smiling again!

Heather and Daniella cheering us on

Funny enough, just like last year, I grabbed Tony's hand on this hill. Last year it was for moral support...this year I literally did drag him up that hill! Talk about role reversal for the second year in a row! I think I also chanted "4:29" a couple times to keep him moving.

Getting to the top of the hill is glorious. 200 meters to go and it's all downhill. Only a minute of running left.

We crossed the finish line at 4:29:40...39 seconds slower than last year. We just missed that Austin PR for me, but it makes no difference. Seeing a 4:29 instead of a 4:30 was a relief to me.

I danced around in a circle right after the finish. Such an incredible feeling! And let me tell you...finishing with a friend is infinitely better than crossing that finish line alone.

As we walked to get our medals, I found Bart Yasso...RUNNING LEGEND! I've been wanting to meet him for years and finally I could! I didn't let this opportunity pass me up and I introduced myself and got a picture with him.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures ever

After making our way through the finish area, we stopped to wait for Kalynn, who had never caught up to us. I checked her splits on my phone and saw that she was actually over 20 minutes behind us at the 20 mile mark, so she still had a ways to go in the race. I hoped she was okay.

A slow, painful walk the few blocks back to the Round Rock Fit tent felt like miles, but we finally made it and saw some friendly faces waiting for us. Greg and the kids had our beer ready and waiting. I think this is my favorite part of any race! Kalynn did end up finishing the marathon...the last half was just very difficult for her. But she finished her third in 10 weeks, qualifying for Marathons of Texas and Marathon Maniacs - incredible!

Kelly!!!

Round Rock Fit Director Kat Misiti...love her!

Derek!!!

So now Marathon #8 is in the books. In the last 364 days I ran 4 marathons, with an average time of 4:30:50. I'm still chasing that elusive sub 4 hour marathon, but on the right race day I know I'll accomplish it. 

Oh, and you know why I felt so sluggish?  I AM SICK. I came down with a full blown cold right after the marathon. So there you have it!

It wasn't exactly a perfect marathon but I'm going to think about all the positives:

1. I finished my EIGHTH marathon. EIGHT!!!

2. Still finished around the top 40 percent of women. That's typical marathon placing for me.

3. I got cheered all along the course for being a member of Team Luke's. That was AWESOME.

4. I saw tons of friendly faces along the course...friends, Round Rock Fit members, and all those wonderful spectators cheering my name even if they didn't know me.

5. I was in Austin, the best city in the country!

6. So many of the guys I coach finished strong and happy and I'm so proud of them.

7. I had one of my best running friends with me the whole time and we didn't drag each other down, but rather kept each other going through the hard parts.

8. It wasn't 80 degrees at the finish like in College Station.

9. I didn't feel like an asthmatic during any part of this race.

10. Did I mention I've now done EIGHT MARATHONS???

Now onto the next one...

So who is "Coach Steph"?

I've been thinking for the past couple of weeks about what my philosophy is with regards to training, fitness, and health. Every fitness professional needs a philosophy and everyone is different. I am constantly throwing ideas around in my head about how I would describe myself as a trainer and I started making a list. I think it's a pretty good start.

I don't focus solely on weight loss. I focus on body composition change - fat loss and muscle gain.

I don't use the word "diet." I discuss "nutrition."

We will talk calories, but I don't "calorie count". I focus on portion control, food quality, and food variety.

Fueling is key. Starving is stupid.

There will be weight training. Lots of it. More cardio does not mean better results.

Finding something that can be maintained is the ultimate goal.

I will hold you accountable.

I will push you into uncomfortable territory.

I do not believe in fads or too many restrictions.

I will make you believe that fitness is necessary for quality of life. You will make it a part of your life permanently.

Regarding nutrition, I see way too many people focused solely on calorie counting, with little focus on food quality. Their main focus with exercise, therefore, is to burn calories. I just don't completely
subscribe to this...although it can be a good start to understanding portion control and getting a big bang for your buck with exercise. But fitness is so much more than calorie counting and cardio. You'll never get the results you have the potential to achieve if you use this narrow focus. While it's important to understand calories in general, it's much more important to eat proper portions, eat quality food, eat a variety from all food groups, and eat throughout the day. With a consistent practice like this, your caloric intake will regulate itself properly.

Cardio is not the only way to proper weight loss. In order to obtain healthy body composition you have to include weight training. Lean muscle mass will boost your metabolism like nothing else. Your fat burning potential is increased since muscle is where fat is metabolized.

But that's not all. Muscle improves heart function...your heart simply doesn't have to work as hard. You will also protect joints and connective tissue and reduce arthritic symptoms in the process. Your bone density is increased with weight training. This ability to protect your joints and bones will lead to fewer injuries. Strength train with functional movements (using more than one muscle group at a time in a strength training move) and you're improving core and balance as well. With a stronger core, your ability to perform daily activities and exercise without injury improves even further.

Nothing can be achieved without a solid plan, consistency, motivation to succeed, and holding yourself accountable. I have always said that if you don't schedule fitness into your day, you're going to make every excuse in the book to not get it done. So schedule it like any other appointment....and then stick to it. If you need someone there to hold you accountable, join a fitness group. Make them depend on you and you will show up and you will work hard and succeed.

Exercise isn't always fun. If it didn't hurt at least a little, it isn't doing you any good. But there is a way to find the comfortable in the uncomfortable, and you have to be willing to understand that and put it into practice. You have to be willing to take yourself to a difficult place and push through it. What's on the other side is amazing and very much worth it.

Fad "diets" or fad "workouts"? Not my thing at all. I'm very simple and basic when you strip my philosophy down. I don't cut out any macronutrients and don't believe in diets that tout that. While I think some of these fad workouts are good to get people off their butts, a lot of them have too much fluff to do any kind of good in the long term. You want to be successful? Get your heart rate up, work your muscles to fatigue, don't be afraid to suffer, know your limits, do not do anything beyond your ability, get that core strong, and you will lose the excess body fat and gain that lean muscle in the process.

My philosophy is coming together. I'm enjoying the process of discovering it.