The idea of finishing a marathon in all 50 states sounds like a lot of fun to me. However, my income does not allow for such an extravagant goal. So, I came up with the idea of finishing all the marathons in my own great state of MICHIGAN!! I was quite surprised by the number! We have 12 marathons currently! Now this doesn't mean I won't go out of state at all. I'd still love to travel as time and money allows. After all, if I qualify for Boston, I'm GOING!!
Here's the list of current Michigan marathons. For all I know, some may be cancelled or added as the years go by. If anyone knows of any others that I missed, let me know!
Michigan marathons
Road
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Martian
Bayshore
Boyne 2 Boyne
Run Charlevoix
Beaver Island Marathon
Carollton Marathon
Trail
The Trail Marathon
Grand Island Marathon
The North Country Trail Marathon
Fallsburg Marathon
I should have 2 crossed off the list by the end of the year! Wow! That's progress! May is Bayshore, of course and this Fall will probably be either Grand Rapids or Detroit. Next year I would like to do the Grand Island Marathon. That's as far out as I've planned so far. Exciting!
February 27, 2009
Peanut Butter Makes Everything Better
**For the benefit of those not in the Runner's World Community, Leslie Bonci is a sports dietitian who has an ongoing nutrition blog on the Runner's World website along with several videos about, you guessed it, sports nutrition.
After reading Leslie's blog post about refueling after running, I decided to start taking a package of fig newtons to the gym with me so I can have something with calories right away after working out. When I didn't bring anything with me, it could take an hour or more before I got home and raided the fridge/cupboard. I knew refueling quickly was important, but I just needed that little extra nudge from Leslie's blog to get me to throw those newtons in the bag. Thanks, Leslie!
Also knowing that protein is important in the refueling/recovery process (but not willing to spend the extra money on protein bars), I wanted to get some of that important nutrient in me when I got home today. The freezer is filled, the cupboard as well and the fridge isn't exactly empty, but nothing looked appetizing to me. So what did I do? I grabbed a spoon and dipped it into the peanut butter jar!!! Oh Yeah!!!!!! Mmmm.... Peanut butter makes everything better. Or was that cheese? Oh, no, it's peanut butter. The cheese thing goes like this: There's no such thing as too much cheese. That's right.
Today's weather report included decent temperatures, in the low 30s, but also very strong wind gusts. So I opted for the treadmill today. I did a 3/4 mile walking warm-up and then hiked the speed up to an 8:49 pace and left it there for about 4 miles. Over the next 2 miles I slowly increased my rate until I was at my marathon goal pace of 8:34 at the very end. Though the average pace of 7:59 felt relatively easy yesterday, for some reason a much slower pace on the mill today seemed much harder. I find that to be true quite often. Weird. Anyway, overall I felt pretty good about the run. Tomorrow is a nice, easy 3 miler and then my first longish run since my return on Sunday, 8-10 miles.
Yay, peanut butter!
Meow.
After reading Leslie's blog post about refueling after running, I decided to start taking a package of fig newtons to the gym with me so I can have something with calories right away after working out. When I didn't bring anything with me, it could take an hour or more before I got home and raided the fridge/cupboard. I knew refueling quickly was important, but I just needed that little extra nudge from Leslie's blog to get me to throw those newtons in the bag. Thanks, Leslie!
Also knowing that protein is important in the refueling/recovery process (but not willing to spend the extra money on protein bars), I wanted to get some of that important nutrient in me when I got home today. The freezer is filled, the cupboard as well and the fridge isn't exactly empty, but nothing looked appetizing to me. So what did I do? I grabbed a spoon and dipped it into the peanut butter jar!!! Oh Yeah!!!!!! Mmmm.... Peanut butter makes everything better. Or was that cheese? Oh, no, it's peanut butter. The cheese thing goes like this: There's no such thing as too much cheese. That's right.
Today's weather report included decent temperatures, in the low 30s, but also very strong wind gusts. So I opted for the treadmill today. I did a 3/4 mile walking warm-up and then hiked the speed up to an 8:49 pace and left it there for about 4 miles. Over the next 2 miles I slowly increased my rate until I was at my marathon goal pace of 8:34 at the very end. Though the average pace of 7:59 felt relatively easy yesterday, for some reason a much slower pace on the mill today seemed much harder. I find that to be true quite often. Weird. Anyway, overall I felt pretty good about the run. Tomorrow is a nice, easy 3 miler and then my first longish run since my return on Sunday, 8-10 miles.
Yay, peanut butter!
Meow.
February 26, 2009
Great Weather and a Great Run!
Weather Report: 42F and Sunny -- How could I NOT run today?! And so I did! It was fantastic. No gloves needed. No hat. No vest. My heel felt great. The side stitch was mostly held at bay. I felt so good I even put in an extra kick at the end. My average pace was 7:59 min/mile over 5.5 miles. Probably a little faster than I should have gone, but when I'm not on a treadmill, I have a hard time holding back. That's something I'll need to change come marathon time!
My plans for the rest of the week include another 6 mile easy run tomorrow, a 3 mile easy run Saturday and then an 8-10 mile longish run on Sunday if I still feel good. I consulted with SmartCoach again to get an idea of what kind of long run plan would be doable in the 13 weeks I have left before the race. This is what it came up with: 10, 12, 14, 6, 16, 18, 20, 6, 16, 20, 20, 8, race. With the nice base I had before the injury, I should be okay with this plan, but I still haven't totally recovered my confidence. Sunday should go a long way to restore that confidence if my run goes well. I also don't plan on attempting any speedwork for a few weeks.
The rest of my workout today included core training Lolo style with my usual additions and leg and back strength training. Then I headed to Matt's restaurant to refuel with a calzone stuffed with chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, basil, oregano and mozzarella. Mmmm....
I have yet to indulge in any tiramisu. Matt. Ahem.
Meow.
My plans for the rest of the week include another 6 mile easy run tomorrow, a 3 mile easy run Saturday and then an 8-10 mile longish run on Sunday if I still feel good. I consulted with SmartCoach again to get an idea of what kind of long run plan would be doable in the 13 weeks I have left before the race. This is what it came up with: 10, 12, 14, 6, 16, 18, 20, 6, 16, 20, 20, 8, race. With the nice base I had before the injury, I should be okay with this plan, but I still haven't totally recovered my confidence. Sunday should go a long way to restore that confidence if my run goes well. I also don't plan on attempting any speedwork for a few weeks.
The rest of my workout today included core training Lolo style with my usual additions and leg and back strength training. Then I headed to Matt's restaurant to refuel with a calzone stuffed with chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, basil, oregano and mozzarella. Mmmm....
I have yet to indulge in any tiramisu. Matt. Ahem.
Meow.
February 24, 2009
Doc Report
The free clinic by the podiatrist was today. I was there early as promised. The first thing the doc did when he took a look at my foot was make fun of my flat feet. Then he teased me because of my extremely inflexible, well, everything. I don't bend very well. "Relax your feet," he says. "They are relaxed!!!" "No, really, relax them." "That's as relaxed as they're gonna get!" Then he took one look at my achilles and said that if I didn't already have achilles problems, I would have them eventually. Sheeesh! Apparently my achilles are very thin as achilles go. My one saving grace in that regard is my tiny-ness. :-)
He did a lot of palpating of my foot, paying special attention to the heel and achilles area. None of his manipulation caused any pain - good news. He said the problem I described was achilles related but that I wasn't in danger of rupture any time soon - better news. I got the A-OK to continue my training! YAY!!!!!
And to top it all off, he gave me his card, told me he has an ongoing study using some sort of ultrasound machine as a treatment aid, and if I continue to have achilles problems, he would include me in the study and my exams and treatments would be free of charge. WOW!
All in all, it was a great way to end an otherwise so-so day. My day at work was horrendously boring - we had two appointments from 8 - 1 pm. TWO! And one was a suture removal which took all of 3 minutes - snip, snip, his incision is healing perfectly and have a nice day. We didn't even get any money off of it because suture removals are courtesy (as long as we did the surgery). The other appointment was a cranky brat kitty with a mysteriously high white blood cell count. It still only took about 30 minutes and most of that was the doctor talking to the client. Zzzzz...
Then I went to the gym for my second run since my hiatus. It didn't go as well as Sunday and I started to get depressed again. Though there wasn't any outright pain in my heel, I could feel some tightness and these random pin-prick sensations which worried me. I did a 10 minute brisk walk warm-up and stretched before running even! The run itself was very slow and I slowed down to walk periodically as Pat suggested. The whole run felt "off", and not just because of my heel. I felt clumsy and awkward, like I'd lost all my form. When I reached about 4-5 miles, my legs really started aching. Three weeks ago I did 16 miles with no discomfort and now I can barely do 6. After my run, I carefully stretched again, did my core and upper body workout and then went to see the doc. That's when things finally started going my way. :-)
So now I'm sitting at home, waiting for Matty to return. Hopefully he'll bring dessert. He was supposed to bring it yesterday and FORGOT!! Are you reading this, Mr. Antoniou!? I want tiramisu!!
Meow
He did a lot of palpating of my foot, paying special attention to the heel and achilles area. None of his manipulation caused any pain - good news. He said the problem I described was achilles related but that I wasn't in danger of rupture any time soon - better news. I got the A-OK to continue my training! YAY!!!!!
And to top it all off, he gave me his card, told me he has an ongoing study using some sort of ultrasound machine as a treatment aid, and if I continue to have achilles problems, he would include me in the study and my exams and treatments would be free of charge. WOW!
All in all, it was a great way to end an otherwise so-so day. My day at work was horrendously boring - we had two appointments from 8 - 1 pm. TWO! And one was a suture removal which took all of 3 minutes - snip, snip, his incision is healing perfectly and have a nice day. We didn't even get any money off of it because suture removals are courtesy (as long as we did the surgery). The other appointment was a cranky brat kitty with a mysteriously high white blood cell count. It still only took about 30 minutes and most of that was the doctor talking to the client. Zzzzz...
Then I went to the gym for my second run since my hiatus. It didn't go as well as Sunday and I started to get depressed again. Though there wasn't any outright pain in my heel, I could feel some tightness and these random pin-prick sensations which worried me. I did a 10 minute brisk walk warm-up and stretched before running even! The run itself was very slow and I slowed down to walk periodically as Pat suggested. The whole run felt "off", and not just because of my heel. I felt clumsy and awkward, like I'd lost all my form. When I reached about 4-5 miles, my legs really started aching. Three weeks ago I did 16 miles with no discomfort and now I can barely do 6. After my run, I carefully stretched again, did my core and upper body workout and then went to see the doc. That's when things finally started going my way. :-)
So now I'm sitting at home, waiting for Matty to return. Hopefully he'll bring dessert. He was supposed to bring it yesterday and FORGOT!! Are you reading this, Mr. Antoniou!? I want tiramisu!!
Meow
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