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.
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…
As I reported earlier this week, I recently completed the Mesa Falls Marathon in Idaho (no, you da ho). But that was just the beginning of the fun. The race was conveniently located near Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, so of course I had to check them out. Especially because the National Park Service had just celebrated its centennial! Woohoo!
I LOVED these parks and they each had unique vibes and attractions. Here are some of my top tips for when to visit, where to stay, what to eat, and what to do in Yellowstone and GTNP. Oh, and a few notes on things to do in Jackson Hole, Wyoming during the summer.
Sorry for the delay! I traveled around after the Mesa Falls Marathon (post on that travel to come!) and wasn’t able to do a write up right away. But here it is!
Race: 20th Annual Mesa Falls Marathon
Location: Finish/packet pickup was in Ashton, Idaho, in eastern Idaho about 2 -2.5 hrs from the Jackson Hole, WY airport. Note for sea-levelers: Ashton is 5,259 feet above sea level (and note, a week of easy running at a similar altitude is not sufficient acclimation).
Time of Year: End of August, on a Saturday.
Weather: Can vary, but for me it was wonderful — started in the high 40s at 6:30 am and ended in the low 70s, I think. Temperature felt good the whole time running but a little cold standing at the start.
Number of Runners: 146
Other Races: Half marathon, 10K, 5K, fun run.
Hi all,
I have been totally delinquent — too busy watching the Olympics (eventing!!!) to blog. Oh, and running and hiking (Billy Goat, Old Rag) and sleeping and OTF-ing and reading some awesome books (Into Thin Air (read it twice in row…), How Bad Do You Want It, A Walk in the Woods) and listening to the Ultrarunner Podcast and watching awesome documentaries (Meru and Sherpa) and modern dancing and trying my darnedest to eat reasonably healthy. Busy busy but mostly good stuff! Training is going well for Mesa Falls, and Chicago is just around the corner so I am working on my A-race mentality and getting all the pieces in place to give myself the best shot at a PR/BQ. Oh AND I entered the Big Sur lottery. Slim odds, but as they say, if you don’t play you can’t win. But the BIGGEST update…
Given a crazy summer schedule, I am not planning on doing weekly training recaps for my Mesa Falls Marathon training. HOWEVER, I had a shockingly spectacular — dare I say, breakthrough — training week last week, and so I wanted to share some of the changes I made to my training that worked for me.
Tomorrow is the Vermont City Marathon! Woohoo! Stop by early next week for the recap. Here, I wanted to give a few thoughts about the race, my preparation for it, and most importantly, the taper I’ve been doing for the past two weeks. In no particular order:
Week eight of training for the Vermont City Marathon is here! Well, it just passed, actually. TAPER TIME. (Should I create a video re-doing the Hammertime video as Tapertime? Probably. Maybe it’s been done before?) In addition to getting in some last-minute training, this week I also picked back up the old My Fitness Pal app to see if I can start shedding some of this weight that’s slowing me down. Continue reading
I wrapped up another week of training for the Vermont City Marathon. This was week seven with just three more weeks until the race — aka one more week of training before the taper! I’m feeling really ready, maybe because this will be by third marathon this year, maybe because I’m actually sticking to my “training plan” pretty well. This week, things were still busy but slightly more calm at work so I was able to get in a couple good workouts although maybe not as many as would be idea…
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