monday, monday: can’t trust that day

December 15, 2008

weekend antics
what is it with all the monday songs? that’s two that have come to mind in the last few days, and yet i can’t even think of a song that has ‘wednesday’ in it. actually, i guess the cure’s “friday, i’m in love” covers all the weekday bases. and it’s a fantastic song. but i digress . . .
i really did have a great weekend at home the past 2 days! a great balance of fun, productivity, and relaxation. interestingly, we did not go out to dinner at all — i am kind of in a cooking phase and am really enjoying hanging out at home and making my own delicious creations. however, i also really like trying new restaurants, and there are more than 10 in our area that i am really excited to try (i’ll do a post on that in a couple of days!).

training plans!
so i spent some time yesterday poring over various marathon training plans. the race i want to run isn’t until may, but for a 16 or 18 week plan, that means starting in january! the nice part is that from february to may, i really have a very training-friendly schedule, so the timing is perfect. i will just have to get used to doing more long runs in the cold (although in my opinion, it beats NC summertime weather hands down).

i looked at pfitzinger’s advanced marathon plan, daniels running formula, and the runner’s world ultimate plan, all of which i have used before for marathon training. a little history: i have run 3 marathons. the first (cleveland, may 2005) i only did a mini-training tacked on to some half marathon training. amazingly, i didn’t bonk and ran a 4:01. i decided to get serious and used pfitzinger’s 18 week/55 mile-per-week peak program for my 2nd marathon in november of 2005, and improved my time by a (not-so-whopping) 5 minutes. my 3rd marathon was in may 2006, and i used the runner’s world ultimate plan. it was a tougher race (more hills) and i was happy with my 3:53.

in 2007, i was in a very easy phase of med school (4th year!) and decided to go super-hardcore and try the pfitzinger program that peaked at 70 miles/week in preparation for the miami marathon (i had boston dreams). i definitely did get faster (i remember banging out 17 miles with 14 of them at average 8:06 pace and being very proud of myself) but i also completely wrecked my achilles tendons. i had to stop training abruptly and actually could not walk normally for weeks. i spent the week in miami that i was supposed to be running limping around in pain. it pretty much broke my running heart to realize that actually, i was not indestructible.

i recovered enough to do the outer banks half marathon last november, where i ran a good race (my official PR, 1:46:56), and of course i was raring to go for another marathon! i set my sights on the shamrock race in virginia beach in march ’08, and trained using daniels. it was hard, because i was an intern and was on call months for much of the training (including 6 NICU weeks!). the training ended up being a positive thing for me and really kept me going, but unfortunately right towards the very end my hip started to hurt. a lot.

i had done every training long run (multiple 20s, a 21, etc) but i was unable to run the race. i actually considered running through the pain but in retrospect am SO glad i held myself back. it would have been miserable, and i don’t know what kind of damage i might have done! i actually got an MRI which showed a labral tear (that is a tear in the lining of hip joint, basically), but i still don’t know if that was what really caused my pain, or just something that’s been there for forever.

fast forward to now — i’m pain free, and again ready to train! but this time, i’m not so confident that i can do this without injury along the way. i thought about that, and about my lifestyle (i am no longer willing to spend 2 hours on a weekday running!) and i have decided to use the 16-week advanced runner’s world ultimate plan again. i just really like the variety and am hoping that since i didn’t get hurt using it the first time, it will be a success once again! i will also try to incorporate more cross-training than i had previously, and of course i will be customizing it to my schedule. i am excited that there are 2 shorter races incorporated — a 5K and a 10K — and i have already picked out some local events that fit in with the plan!

so training starts january 15! until then, i will basically just maintain a base of 30-35 miles/week with cross-training (including weights and yoga). as always, the weekly plan is posted on the sidebar (and yes, i am pretty good about sticking to what’s there — and modifying it if i decide to change things midweek!).

hopefully, this time i can remain injury free. that is goal #1. anything else is just gravy.

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12.14.08

workout: 5 miles easy (9:13/mi, 0.5% incline) + 20 minutes yoga
HBBC points: last week’s total was 35.6 points.

reading: chapter on autoimmune disease

doin’ time: man, i love soup. i am sad there are only a couple more soup recipes in the winter section of martha’s book! last night i made curried carrot soup, and i luuuuuuved it. it made a mess in the kitchen because the food processor is apparently NOT water-tight enough for the job, but i still luuuuuuved it. (i also luuuuuuv josh for helping me clean it up). while cooking, i had a pyramid snow cap ale. mmm.


and, i even made dessert! i forgot how much i really like baking yummy-smelling things. mostly because i like how the whole house smells and i feel like a domestic goddess. this chocolate swirl gingerbread was dark, rich, and and had a fantastic moist texture (i had to say it despite really REALLY hating the word moist). served with a bit of stoneyfield vanilla frozen yogurt, which i didn’t realize was fat-free until i brought it home. honestly, a little fat might have done it some good. but it served its purpose as a sweet cool contrast to the warm cake.

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