Sparkle Pants Has Some Big Guns!

Watch grandma babysit Sparkle Pants.
Watch her dress him up in the dog's Halloween Princess Dress(he asked).
Watch grandma settle on cutting up her old socks and making arm warmers for Sparkle Pants(yes, he asked).
Watch Sparkle Pants take off his shirt for running(yes, that's how we run and roll here in San Diego on December 27)and step into Grandpa's WONDER shoes.  Actually,  Gpa is often  HASSLED when he wears these...the running dudes call them his CHARGER shoes.  That's NOT a compliment around here anymore.
Watch grandma take two dozen pictures of Sparkle Pants acting cute and kiss him  a zillion times in between photo  shots.
Grandma needs to go back to school to entertain herself.

Several days ago I announced that my marathon training was almost ready to be declared OVER and that TAPERING would be my next project.  There were so many OTHER things I wanted to say about training and some of you commented on sharing my similar training philosophy this time around...

Develop a base for training hard by going slower on your

long runs!

Let your body rest from the two to three hard workouts a week by doing your light days very, very SLOWLY!

Eat an apple or other carb and a little protein right after your hard workouts, it will help with recovery!

Finally,  using a heart rate monitor will help you keep these runs slow which  will definitely help you recover quicker and stay injury free.

I still have two more hard workouts before my tapering but I had to let the cat out of the bag.... 

THIS IS THE FIRST MARATHON I'LL BE RUNNING IN THE PAST THREE YEARS WHERE I WASN'T INJURED IN SOME WAY!

It's a miracle really.  Then again, no.  It's just running smarter and not going crazy with speed and trusting the training.  

** I do have ONE secret weapon that SANTA brought BS and I for Christmas and it has also helped us recover from the usual aches and pains.  More on this $$WEAPON of CHOICE$$ soon .

Run for fun!

meg

Hello Marathon, Hello Whales, Hello Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Southern California finally feels like Christmas! The Santa Ana winds are blowing a colder wind at odd times of the day(like during my speed workouts along the coast)and the California Gray Whales are making their way to Scammon's Lagoon in Mexico.  BS, my trusty running partner/husband and I,  received a WHALE SPOUTING show at sunset on Wednesday night and I was jumping up and down along the cliffs as I spotted the water sprays over six times!

I love whales.

I love sunsets.

I love running.

I love my running partner.

Enough said about that.

Only 3 weeks and some odd days until the Carlsbad Marathon! 

This training has been a mix of the ooh's and aah's...

**a long, long base phase of slow, slow long runs

**a lot of hills run at various paces that have both killed me and made me stronger.

Have you tried running up hill for 60 mins?

In Southern California?  On the coast?

(witch cackle inserted here...bahhhhaaaahaaaa)

More hill sprints, bounds and 1 min. repeats.

**a lot of marathon pace long runs which I've only just started so I hope they kick in and stick for the race!

OOOh and ahhh all I want,  it's RACE DAY that counts and I'm feeling like I can keep myself happy and feeling confident if I keep up with the rest of the workouts for the next two weeks and then sigh that ultimate ahhhh...for taper.  I'm ready for that.

Goals?

To start and finish injury free!

Be strong!

Be happy!

I can do that...

Finally,  I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and my thoughts and hugs go out to each one of you this season.

Meg

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. This helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life.

The Dali Lama

Periodization and Other "New" Discoveries...

This picture of Matthew reminds me that life is too short to sit around and stew, fret and wallow in the way the winds blow.  Sadly, friends,  I've been in this state of CHAOS for a few weeks.  CHANGE has a way of doing that to us.  However, one can't fight the winds forever.  I need to settle in.

So, like the little piggy who's house was FLATTENED by the Big Bad Wolf,  I'm fleeing to another house and starting out all over.  JUST KIDDING.  Well, I have made the mental leap to move into a better place and keep moving forward, because that's WHAT WE STRONG WOMEN DO!  **Please read my past blog posts if you have NO idea what I"m talking about!*

Sparkle Pants(our  2.5 year old grandson-now-house-mate) amuses us with his dances with flashlights and the way he wears the headlamp around his tummy and struts his stuff during power outages and HEY...there's nothing like having a TWO and a half year old around again!  His mommy continues to move forward as she starts over with us as well.  BOYSCOUT and I have realized that we aren't parenting anymore.  We can't!  We're co-living.  There's a sweetness in this somewhere, I feel it.  It's the "processing" that is taking some time!  Thanks for your AWESOME EMAILS and comments.  I feel like I'm back to following YOUR running, your experiences and your expertise in this area.  I've missed YOU!!

I guess I've celebrate enough and with the XC Championships over,   I've moved into the THRONGS of marathon training.   The short stuff was so easy to maintain...just speed work and resting but...

Marathon training is baaaaccckkk!

I've stumbled on to something called PERIODIZATION in marathon training.

My last 11 marathons were run according to the average marathon plan with my mileage hitting about 70 miles at the peak.  I would  run the usual weeks of training that included:  track/speed work,  a tempo run with progressively more mileage each week and then the major long run that gets longer each week and usually tops out at 24 miles.   What I've found is that my 46 year old body usually handles everything until about that last week of tough training, right before taper.  SUDDENLY, at that point, hell breaks loose.  I fall a part.  The plantar facitis kicks in and I end up tapering with a hobble and a strict habit of PRAYING 10 times a day that a miracle with happen.  I also end up visiting my physio twice a week.  I'm usually a mess by the time I hit the starting line and then,  of course my goals and plans are less than what I hope for.


THIS TIME, it's different.


Since I started training for the XC Championships,  my training has consisted of one workout of mile repeats/strides and hills,  a long run but a VERY slow one and a moderate run.  I take two days off and do one other day of very easy running.


My training calendar was broken up into three distinct cycles: base, hills and marathon specific training. 


Sunday, I ran 60 mins. up hill and the rest moderately for a total of 16 miles.  Next week I have one more long run with hills and then I start my marathon pace work.  


I'm feeling strong, not broken.  Usually, by now,  my body is aching from the tempo runs and they would  get tougher for me.  NOW,  each and every run ends with me feeling stronger.  It's the STRANGEST THING!  My body has been preparing itself for the hardest and most demanding part of my training and it's ready.  


6 weeks until The Carlsbad Marathon.  So far so good.