Regular Athlettuce readers will know that I have been spending part of each week in beautiful Colorado for work. I have been packing my mornings and evenings with amazing group runs. But Colorado offers another perk that I can’t find in DC: indoor skiing. That’s right, folks. I introduce SNOBAHN!
Each December, I like to sit down and write out my goals for the coming year. Last year I set several goals, outlined here. I hit many of them, including my goal to run four marathons in 2016 (I did six), go camping (check!), hike and run trails (I did that a bunch), read Move Your DNA (done), and run a marathon under 3:45 (woohoo!). A few others, not so much.
But I have only one goal for 2017: B. Q.
Race: Kiawah Island Marathon 2016
Location: Kiawah Island, South Carolina, about 40 minutes from the Charleston Airport, at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Size: About 1000 marathoners, plus about 2800 half marathoners
Time of Year and Weather: Saturday in early December. Race day was sunny, breezy at times, with temperatures in the 40s. Perfect running weather. This course has the potential to get windy, but I lucked out and it wasn’t bothersome.
I believe that “diet” is a bad word. I believe that there’s a lot of evil happening at the hands of the diet industry and their co-conspirators (looking at you, women’s mags). I believe that our society has done a shamefully good job of teaching girls and women that they should always be “trying to lose weight” and should never be happy with their bodies. I believe that men need to speak about women differently. I believe that women need to speak about themselves and each other differently. I believe that girls need to be raised differently — including but not limited to changes to shape of their toys and the appearance of their Disney characters. I hope my kids never go on diets, and I don’t plan to use that word in front of them.
I set this all up to say — I’m going on a diet. A real one. With rules. And Excel charts. It’s not touchy-feely. It’s not “eating by intuition.” It’s actually the opposite of how I’ve been peacefully but unsuccessfully “trying to lose weight” for the past several years. Which is exactly why I chose it.
A few weeks ago, after my Chicago Marathon recovery, I mapped out my mini, 5-week training plan for the Kiawah Island Marathon. The first week of real training was a high (for me) mileage week, with a record 54 miles (!!!!!!). I had two other higher-mileage weeks planned after that one. Then the election and tons of work (gotta make that hours requirement for 2016…) and the darkness of daylight losings time and maybe some fatigue from those 54 miles and a head cold and various other excuses happened. (If you haven’t seen my listicles about backpacking, DC, and vegetarian airport food, which I posted over the past couple of weeks, check them out.) But here I’ll report what I got done in terms of training…
I’ve been traveling a lot for the past few months, commuting between DC and Colorado each week for work. I’ve spent a lot of time in airports, and a lot of time hangry on airplanes. But I’ve figured out a few tricks for how to eat healthfully (and as a vegetarian or vegan) while on the road or in the air and avoiding that gross-I-just-ate-a-ton-of-junk-and-now-sit-the-rest-of-the-day-on-an-airplane feeling as well as the I-am-going-to-eat-my-luggage-because-I-am-so-hungry feeling. Here’s what I’ve learned.
As I was traveling out west and various other places this summer on my 50 state adventure, I noticed that when it would come up that I live in DC, I would get one of a few different reactions. One: the look of disgust and assumption that I worked in politics (aka was part of “the swamp” that needed “draining”). Two: shock that I lived in the city. You know, where there are people that don’t look like me. Three: the ever-classic, DC’s part of Maryland, right? Kind readers and countrymen, I’m here with a listicle to help clear up a few things about this place!
This summer, I developed a strong desire to spend some time in the wilderness. Real adventure that gets me out of my comfort zone. (For the record, I had done one real, adventurous, very legit camping trip in Alaska when I was in high school, but I was along for the ride with some camping experts and didn’t do any of the planning, so it didn’t feel like that counted.) So bought a bunch of stuff at REI, researched online, and planned a short, beginner backpacking trip for my husband and our dog in Shenandoah National Park. Of course it rained on the planned weekend and we had to cancel our adventure. A few weeks later, I did some camping in Wyoming at formal campsites and really loved sleeping outdoors, but I didn’t want winter to arrive without having done a real backpacking trip. So I somehow persuaded my wonderful husband to head out in much colder weather than originally anticipated (it was now October instead of August!) for a backpacking trip. We survived! Even with just one little weekend trip, I’ve already learned a ton, and I wanted to share it with other aspiring adventurers. Without further ado:
Next month I’ll be running the Kiawah Island Marathon, which will be my 20th marathon in my 15th state! (Nice round numbers.) I’m hoping to keep the momentum going after Chicago and come home with another PR as I inch my way towards that coveted BQ… Here’s my training plan, plus what I did this past week — my first week of real training.
Yesterday I ran the Bank of America Chicago Marathon! This was my 14th state and my 19th marathon. Here is my recap and review.
Race: Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Location: Chicago, Illinois.
Size: Big! Over 37,000 marathoners. (But no half option! YAY!)
athlettuce 