jan photo series: snowy grand canyon sunrise

This past Friday, we took in the cold, snowy sights of the Grand Canyon at Sunrise.  Unfortunately, the sun itself never made an appearance, but it was still incredible to see the Canyon slowly start to glow in the morning light.

rock and roll half arizona

Race post!

You know the race went well when the post starts out with a Rocky pose.

It was a brisk morning in Tempe - around 42 degrees. I was originally slated to start in Corral 6 (there were at least 16 corrals, I think), but I knew I'd be a little faster than anticipated.

I kept warm by walking around ASU's campus. And by taking selfies.

The start! I've never actually been in this big of a race so it was kind of neat to always be running with people the whole time.

And then the race kicked off! I wasn't quite sure if 1:45 was realistic but I was feeling good for the first 10k.  However, I knew hills were approaching near the 8 mile mark, and they did not disappoint. Mile 9 was basically a hill where you are running between two mountains - I've actually driven on this road but forgot about that until I reached the top - and you looked down on the entire city of Phoenix.  Also, playing at the top of the hill was an African drum band and I narrowly avoided being hit by one of their drum sticks.  There were actually local bands around every mile marker - that was pretty neat.

Then, down the hill we went. I knew I had to pick up the pace here since I was a little slower on the uphill.  At mile 10, I calculated what I needed to reach 1:45 and it was within reach - as long as I had sub 8 minute miles the last 5k.

Which, I was able to do! Thankfully there was a bit of elevation loss to help me out with this though it was not all straight downhill..it was hilly. 

Then we crossed over our final bridge, and saw and heard my friends shouting for me, and then booked it to the finish line, finishing in 1:45:45!

Stars!

Overall, this was a pretty fun race - extremely well organized, entertaining, scenic, and tons of goodies that were given away. 

The Rock and Roll Series actually assesses your results and gives you badges. This one is my favorite :P

No, I did not have any seafood though..

Afterwards, we got some coffee at Smooth Coffee near downtown Phoenix (extremely shady part of Phoenix for the record, but a really neat coffee place), and then headed over to a Seafood Buffet.  I was having breathing hard for a bit after the race, and coughing often - which is normally how I feel when I run hard at Elevation.  But I felt much better after eating even though I wasn't hungry.

I'll take it.

It was definitely a great race day, time to recover for a day or so, and then back at it for Marathon training!

marathon training week 7.7

Not a complete training week recap since I have a race on Sunday.. but might as well update now since that race will have its own post!

Monday

Intervals

6.5 mi/9:05 pace

Getting used to intervals at 5a - get them out of the way early, and a..fun way to wake up to say the least.

Omelette salads..are those a thing?

Tuesday

Elliptical @ hard effort.

Taking pictures in my car like a tourist.

Flagstaff hit the mid to upper 40s a few times this week!

Wednesday

Tempo 

6 mi/8:42 pace 

I tried to outrun the train and then everything went downhill from there. Gah!

The plan here was 1 mile easy, 4 miles tempo, 1 mile easy. Unfortunately my excessive snacking during lunch came back to haunt me about 3 miles in.  So many unpleasant feelings.  Never again, I'm looking at you Cashew Power Clusters.

Thursday

Elliptical

I have friends visiting this weekend so I had to get the workout in early.

Dinner that night was at Criollo and I had some great veggie tacos!

Now it's time to rest, eat well while showing my friends Northern Arizona! More pictures to come from this visit..and oh yeah, race time on Sunday morning! I am shooting for a PR (under 1:49), and a 1:45 as my stretch goal.  Here goes nothing!

marathon training week 6

The week of the treadmill - more exciting than it sounds...

Monday

I have learned that I need to keep it easy on days before interval, so cross-training is just walking briskly with an increasing incline on the treadmill for 45-60 minutes.

The boss's pup. She has grown up so quickly!

Tuesday

Intervals
6mi/9:10 pace 

Intervals at 5a! Happy birthday to me! (I honestly did this so I could watch Making a Murderer all evening. Priorities.)

Another year - but now I enter a new age group... #old

Didn't hit target paces (per usual sadly) but I thought it being my birthday was a good excuse.

I ate at least half of this fruit tray. No shame.

I also got a pretty bad headache once I got to work... 

Wednesday

Cross train on elliptical.

The little snow storm before the big one.

The headache returned right after I worked out. Since I am my own doctor (not highly recommended by any patients), I diagnosed myself with over hydrating (I believe it was Monday where I drank 125 oz+ of water), so I lowered my water intake down to 60 oz on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday

Tempo
7 mi/8:59 pace

I finally got my new running shoes! Let me give a shout out to USPS who delivers no matter the weather, Fedex couldn't manage to deliver my shoes on Wednesday thanks to the snow. Literally - the package got into Flag a little late on Wednesday, they put in on truck for delivery, and then just didn't deliver it.

The snow storm hit.

We got over two feet of snow this week - Midwest, you're next!

I had my tempo run and actually hit my paces (for 3 mi between 4 easy miles) - say, what!?! I almost puked after. So that kind of ruined it. Not quite sure why I felt this way, but once again, I am my own doctor. The blame is being assigned to my weird lunch of a baked sweet potato, avocado (whole), ketchup with turmeric. That's probably not a normal meal.

Friday

A hair cut! It has been too long...length-wise and time-wise...

Friday was a rest day so naturally I still walk on the treadmill for "active" recovery. I'm not sure how legit active recovery is but I'm going with it.

I also went to Run Flagstaff (the local running store), where I bombarded the employees (who are folks running in the Olympic Trials next month) with questions about the best nutrition for long runs. This is a weekly occurrence and I am not ashamed.

Saturday

Long run
10 mi/9:26 pace

I don't know why I was so excited about this long run. Probably because it hit me that I have a race next weekend and I wanted to make this run good. 

This didn't feel like 10 miles at all. I watched Meet the Fockers on my iPad and that made time fly by.  Lifted afterwards. Oh hey, look at those snazzy new shoes. 

Then I went on a little drive since it was a very pretty day and I have a very nice camera.

Spring can come now.

Sunday

I cycled this morning watching Good Morning America because why not? I'll probably walk on the treadmill later to get up to 12k steps. The Fitbit is still so addicting for me after almost a year and a half of having it.

Next Sunday will be madness.

In a week, at this time, I'll be nearing the finish of the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix! Before then, two of my close friends are visiting this week, and then they will be down there with me! Which means there is a very slim chance of locking my keys in my car this time. Score.

marathon training week 5

Monday

30 mins on elliptical at medium/hard effort, 30 mins on treadmill (always above 4mph and above 3.0 incline).

Love my new cross-training shoes! Also..why did I think working out in a tiny gym with a long-sleeve shirt was a good idea?

Tuesday

Intervals

5.48 mi/8:50 pace.

Still haven't had intervals that I am completely proud of yet. Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as getting used to them though. Lifted a little bit after.

By the way, the sisters did an awesome job with running Christmas gifts! Can't wait to hang the board up and already used the belt during my long run this week! The Christmas Brooks socks are not seen here - but super cute and comfy!

Wednesday

30 mins on elliptical at medium/hard effort, 20 mins on treadmill.

Always an epic sunset here in AZ.

Thursday

5 mi tempo/8:32 pace. 

Not the pace I'd like to hit (do I adjust paces at all for altitude? only 8 secs over goal).  Paused a few times - felt like I didn't have enough energy, and also was running in the AM during the week, so not used to that. Not sure if these are excuses or are legit reasons. 

Weights + gel manis FTW.

Lifted after...not sure why I thought 100 bodyweight squats in addition to regular weighted squats was a good idea. Was still feeling those on Saturday during the long run.

Friday

Rest! Fiesta Bowl.

Go Buckeyes!

I enjoyed a soft pretzel and a berry kabob drizzled with chocolate. Bought my friend pop so I could have the souvenir cup. Can't stomach pop anymore like my college days.. P.S. Buckeyes won!

Hit up the best buffet ever afterwards.

The salad bar had AWESOME mixed salads this time. I made sure to load up on carbs for my long run too. Also, I love mousse.

Saturday

12 mi long/9:20 pace.

So many brands... rocking my new Underarmour and of course, the OSU running jacket.

Ran this in the early afternoon, need to figure out the proper nutrition in the AM - Stomach was a little rough in spots. Tons of ice and snow, so more stopping and walking than what I would like.  

This guy definitely had better form than me near the end of my run.

Really need to use self-control to not take pictures but it was so pretty!

Also, my right shoe has a little hole where the big toe is...

This was my first long run at Flagstaff altitude in 2 months and man, I was feeling it after. Lots of stretching, icing and foam rolling occurred the rest of the day. Also watched Forrest Gump to regain inspiration.

Sunday

Lifting - focused on core, 30 mins medium/hard effort on bike.

Getting it done bright and early at 7. (if it was summer, I'd be done by 7...)

Post-workout meal - the more colorful, the better! (pre-workout is peanut butter and banana)

Focus for the next week is babying my right foot aches and trying out new road running shoes. The half marathon is the weekend after next, and whatever shoes I get, there should be at least some miles on them before I go for 13.1!

2016 goals

Happy 2016!!!

Strava actually made a cute quick video of my 2015 running data..

As promised, let me share my 2016 goals.

Running

- Finish a marathon under 4:30..ok, let's be honest, I want a sub-4.

My goal should probably be just to finish a marathon, but that doesn't motivate me in the slightest.

93 days!

- Finish a half marathon under 1:45.

My only scheduled half marathon is actually in a few weeks: the P.F. Changs Rock and Roll Phoenix. This will by far be the biggest race I run in, so this will be an interesting experience as far as crowds go...

- Finish a 10k under 50:00.

Nothing scheduled yet for a 10k!

- Finish a 5k under 23:50.

Running this one the day after a 14 mile run...so...this goal will probably be reached later in the year..

- Yoga once per week.

Honestly..this is going to be difficult (not like the others aren't..). Any good DVD or YouTube recommendations are appreciated.

Ollie does more yoga than me currently.

Nutrition

- Limit added sugars to no more than 32 g per day.

Oh, sugar is my downfall. My self control has really improved with the candy bowl at work over the past year but... I still have my moments.

Luckily, I don't really care for ice cream. Unless it's Jeni's.

Hobbies

- Feature photos from the Canon monthly on the blog.

Let's hope I've got the camera somewhat figured out by Europe..

- Read a nonfiction and fiction book every month.

Goodreads is an awesome website/app to track you and your friend's latest reads!

There are more goals regarding fun budget stuff, but I need to research that more this weekend. But that's all for now! Here's to 2016!