VCM Training Week Five: I Won the Lottery!


Last week (yeah, the one that ended four days ago — I’m late! Sorry!) was just OK in terms of fitness progress… TONS of things going on at work that had me a bit stressed at times and interfered with my desire to sleep and/or go to Orangetheory.  BUT!  I also found out that I got in to the CHICAGO MARATHON (!!!!) through the lottery.  I’ve been wanting to do this race for YEARS but for various reasons haven’t made it happen.  2016 is the year!  So I’ll wait to check off Oregon (my backup plan) and instead get ILLINOIS.   Shockingly, I have never been to Chicago.  I don’t even think I’ve flown through Chicago… CRAZY.  As soon as I found out I was picked (which was right when I woke up because the Chicago people, unlike the NYC people, are merciful and send you a nice notice at 4:30 am instead of making you check your credit card statement a million times a day), I booked a non-refundable hotel for race weekend and made this this official.  So… as some of you may know, Chicago is a pretty fast course.  Which has me thinking… This is probably a good time to get a new PR and see how far I am from a BQ time…  BUT FIRST!  Vermont City Marathon.  So here’s what I did this past week… Continue reading

VCM Training Week Four: Running Long

  OK, OK.  Week four.  Really into it now.  Only six weeks left until race day!  (And can we talk about how it is LEGIT springtime right now???

Here’s what I had planned:

  • OTF
  • Yoga or back to pilates?
  • Run 17 miles
  • Do UVA Speed Clinic remedial exercises DAILY

AND I ACTUALLY DID IT (for the most part).

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VCM Training Week Three: Start Strong, Finish Strong


OK, a little delayed on this recap of last week.  But here it is.  Week three of training!…

Here’s what I had planned:

The reality? Let’s just say this week started and ended well…

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Results Are In! My 28-Day Challenge with Composition ID

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Twenty-eight days ago, I did my first DEXA scan with Composition ID, a body fat composition testing company here in DC.  Since then, I’ve made a few tweaks with the aim of reducing my body fat percentage and lowering my total weight, outcomes that I am hopeful will improve my marathon times.  Today, I went in for my second scan…  Just like the first time, it was super easy and painless, and Tiffany even provided all my results in a nice email attachment.  But anyway, the results… drum-roll please…

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VCM Training Week Two: OTF, Gardening, and Sleeping

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U.S. Arboretum

Another week has come and gone, and we are already into APRIL!  This was my second week of training for the Vermont City Marathon.

Here was what I had planned for this week:

  • OTF X 3
  • CorePower Yoga X 3
  • Run 10 miles
  • Lose some body fat
  • Do UVA Speed Clinic remedial exercises DAILY

And here’s what I did…

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First Week of VCM Training

IMG_1085I announced last week that I had registered for the Vermont City Marathon, held over Memorial Day weekend in Burlington.  This will be another two-month training cycle, which I’ve been liking a lot lately.  I took a full recovery week after the Asheville Marathon, and then I slowly started back up this week, without a focus on mileage.

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CorePower Yoga Review

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You may have heard me mention CorePower Yoga in a few of my posts.  The studios seem to be popping up everywhere these days, so I wanted to give it a try and provide a review for y’all.  CorePower offers the first week of classes for free (nice!), plus I picked up a 10 class online discount coupon.  I’ve been to a bunch of classes and am ready to report back!

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Which State Will Be Number 12???

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I went back and forth about how many races I was actually going to run this year, and in particular, about whether I’d run something between the Asheville Marathon in March and the Mesa Falls Marathon in August.  Summer isn’t really what I think of as marathon season, and it’s fun to take some time off for weddings and triathlons and fun, non-running travel.  But I guess I’m addicted at this point, and I went ahead and registered for a May marathon.  What did I pick???….

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What A Training Cycle REALLY Looks Like

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Training for the Mississippi Blues Marathon

At the beginning of each training cycle, I set out my plan for the workouts I hope to do each week.  But I’ve never looked back after the fact to see what workouts I actually completed.  Until now!  (Since I’m in taper mode for the Asheville Marathon, I had a little time on my hands.)

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Asheville Marathon Training T-Minus 6 Weeks

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This was my last week before taking a little break for my honeymoon in Hawaii (!!!!!). I really wanted to get in a lot of core work while I was thawing out from the snow storm and while my legs were getting back into distance-shape.  But I also was really hoping to (finally) get myself out for a long run, especially given my new goal

 

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