What I'm looking forward to this spring
It's time! Time I stopped procrastinating and actually signed up for my spring races, so that's exactly what I did this past week. My spring 2017 races are officially on the books: Rock'n'Roll Raleigh half marathon on April 2 and, for some inexplicable reason why I'm running this for a third time (ughhhhh!), the Tar Heel 10 Miler on April 22. This is my fifth half marathon and my third 10 miler and yes, it does seem crazy to run this much, but I'm excited about these races! Here are the top things I'm looking forward to!
It can be tempting to run hard every time you go for a run, but really you shouldn't. Here's why.
10 miles can be an exhausting long run.I know this woman who has a son who, when he trains for a half marathon, goes all-out on every long run. He's young and full of energy and feels no fatigue throughout the training plan. For the rest of us though, we're not so lucky, and we have to train smart on the long run. While it can be tempting to run the weekly long run at race pace, it's actually smarter (especially for beginners) to take the long run at a nice, easy pace.
My favorite gear for transitional weather
I am not a leggings kinda person. I'll wear them for climbing and yoga, and that's it. Even when it's horribly cold I'm the person who lounges around in shorts and goes running in shorts. It's partly because it's never quite that cold in North Carolina to necessitate getting really bundled up, and partly because it's just not that comfortable to me - they ride up awkwardly, they cling in places I want a little more room, and they chafe on long runs.So the other day when I was browsing gear at one of my local running stores I picked up a pair of leggings to try on - mostly out of a little self-Schadenfreude (but also because of their crazy rad print). And - shocking! - they fit in all the right places! I couldn't believe it!
Oh hi, February! How are everyone's resolutions going?! Hopefully by now we've gotten past some of the difficulties of sticking to a fitness routine, we've reignited our resolutions, and we've identified some of our motivations and obstacles. For many people one obstacle to chasing fitness goals can be simply how to track progress, especially since tracking goals and setting smaller goals is so important for resolutions success! Back in October during my 31 day running streak I posted about a fitness tracking app called MapMyRun. I've used it since 2010 and this app is still by far my favorite tracking system, but over the years I've used a few different devices to track the data that goes into MapMyRun. I'm super excited to share my (not so humble) opinions with you, and point you to some great posts on other fitness trackers via a link-up with other members of the Triangle Area Bloggers (triFABB) group!
I love running in circles. No seriously, I do! I love track workouts - the precision of the distance and the pace, the consistency, the controlled environment where you can push yourself and test yourself. How does that mile time measure up against your last attempt? How has your cadence improved? How far can you go on a hard effort?
Okay, let's be honest - raise your hand if your resolution was to run or go to the gym more in 2017 but for whatever reason - time, health, stress, whatever - you haven't done as much as you'd planned? You say to yourself, "I will, I will, I will, I will," but your legs say, "But this couch is so nice," or your hands say, "But we can just pour ourselves this glass of wine instead, it was a rough day after all," or you just don't want to get out of bed. Yeah, we all struggle with this, but it's been a few weeks after New Year's so now is a good time to check in, evaluate progress, and ask ourselves what else we can do.
When the flu hit me in Charleston I felt like death on two legs. I still toured around the city and enjoyed my stay on the houseboat despite the fever chills, but getting back to running has been more painful. Stiffness, muscle soreness, fatigue, and a persistent cough all have plagued me for days, so I've been focusing on a few tips to help with recovery and getting back to running fitness.
Snow in North Carolina can really put a crimp in training runs. Most of the powdery snow has already melted or been trampled into a thick sheet of ice so running is treacherous - so much so that as I write this I just watched a neighbor's kid face-plant on the street (it's fine; the kid is okay - they got up and just kept running. Good kid).
