Oh a marathon this weekend? Why not... and Training for Two!

Marathon this Weekend? 
I found out yesterday that I have to be in Hartford early next week for work. Being that it's only an hour and a half from Crazy Lady (my mother and other half of my "mother/daughter first 50 state marathon awesome team"... we need to work on that name) I let her know I would be close by and could visit. What do normal families say when they hear about the sudden return of the prodigal daughter? Here are the options...

Option 1: I will start baking the cookies now!
Option 2: Oh we can go visit Grandma!
Option 3: Oh good you can come run a marathon in Vermont!
Option 4: It's so good to have you home... just relax pool side!

... guess which one my family picks? Let me tell you know, there aren't any cookies coming my way anytime soon and my Grandma is far too busy and popular to try and get anybody squeezed in her schedule last minute. Soooo off to the races I guess. What does that mean? We have a sudden addition to the race schedule: The Shires of Vermont Marathon. Haven't heard of it? Either have I! Let's just say the 3rd female came in just under 4 hours last year. Either this is hilly hilly hilly or it's tiny tiny tiny. My guess is a little bit of both. Are you running this race? Know anybody that is?

More to come on the race...

Training for Two...
No, I'm not gracing the world with a miniature me-- not that you can get much smaller. Training for 2 types of races. I always run into trouble here, but I can't help but take on a challenge. We have a 5K here at work every year. Now I will run marathons and 50-milers and even attempts at 100 miles... in trails, up hills, doesn't matter. But 5Ks??? ARE THE DEVIL. Seriously... the devil. That God awful feeling that your lungs are going to collapse- I just can't do it! Why do I do it then? 1) it's free and 2) people around here know me as "the runner." How can I live up to my name if I'm going to opt out of a running event on our work campus?

If you have done speed training for races before you realize that speedwork for marathons and speedwork for 5Ks are 2 entirely different beasts. Marathons speedwork usually entails holding 7 min/mile pace (at least for me right now) for a half mile or a mile at a time with jogging breaks... but for a considerable distance. Trying to get faster for 5Ks means going much faster for 400m or so.

When you start edging toward the faster end of your marathon spectrum, as a runner, you'll start to realize your pace for any race is about the same. It's a threshold and you are maxing out, my friend. So that I'm not crossing the line at an 8 min/mile pace, I decided to up my Yasso's and try to train for both! I pushed them from a 7:00 pace down to a 6:20 and held on for dear life! After about 4 my legs were SCREAMING. I went to bed last night in more pain than I have after any marathon. Please note, I used to do Yassos at this pace all the time-- clearly somebody has slowed down!

In an attempt to stay positive about my training (at least in word) I'm going to stop my thoughts here. Let's just say-- I'm going to need an ice bath or two before this marathon that I didn't prepare for.

Easy running today and tomorrow... race day on Sunday! Woohoo!

-Stephanie
"Run to Win" -Meb