We had a great time today at the Inaugural Hokie Half Marathon! Barry and I were able to meet up with Deb, her husband Bill, and her daughter-in-law-to-be Julie. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for a mid-September race. It was in the low 40’s at the start and couldn’t have been much above the mid-50’s at the finish.

Deb’s picture of Julie and me around mile 6 I think

Once I was on my own, my mind just went blank and I actually thought of nothing. That’s really odd for me, as usually my mind wanders to some random and often entertaining places. Without my mind entertaining me, all I could do was keep chugging along and that’s exactly what I did. We got to the end of the trail in Blacksburgand looped around through the neighborhood roads. Once I passed mile 10 I started to feel better, like my legs had gotten their own second wind.

Home stretch!

Have you ever had to scramble to get to the start of a race on time?

Do your legs ever get a “second wind” during a long run/race?

What is the funniest sign you’ve seen at a race?

This morning I met up with Kim for a 5 mile run on the Dora Trail. Guess what the temperature was!? It was a chilly, you-can-see-your-breath 45 degrees! It felt amazing to run in some cooler temperatures. Of course, I still ran in shorts and a t-shirt because it’s not quite cold enough to add layers, yet. It definitely is looking and feeling like fall, though. The leaves are changing and falling already.

Just like last week, we saw another loose/stray dog on the trail. This one wasn’t as cute as the one from last Saturday. At first we weren’t sure if he was friendly because he tucked his tail and put his head low while he looked up at us. But then as we passed him, he fell into step behind us and had his tail up and his tongue hanging out. I tried to get a good picture of him, but he chose to ignore me when I tried to get him to look my way.

Once Kim and I finished up our run, we were standing in the parking lot stretching and talking and this guy rode up on a road bike. At first I didn’t recognize him and then I realized it was Barry! How funny that I didn’t even recognize my own husband. He was so professional-looking. Did I tell you he recently got a fancy-shmancy road bike?

If he looks cold it’s because he was. He said dressing for biking is not like dressing for running, and he still needs to figure out how many layers to put on.

Now it’s time for some breakfast and watching College Game Day before settling in to watch the Hokies kick off. The game starts at noon and it’s the Hokies versus the Purple Pirates (also known as Virginia Tech v. East Carolina). GO HOKIES!!

At the end of the game, Barry and I will head up to Blacksburg to pick up our packets for tomorrow’s Hokie Half Marathon! I am both excited and nervous about this race. Nothing new there.

I am excited to get to run with Deb and to be part of the inaugural Hokie Half. I am nervous because it’s a half marathon, and no matter how many I’ve run it’s still a long distance to me. Plus tomorrow I technically have to run 14 miles, which I plan to do by running a mile prior to the race. This will be a new personal distance record for me, as the furthest I’ve ever run is about 13.2 miles. It’ll be a small PDR, but new territory nonetheless. One thing is for sure: tomorrow is going to be fun and the weather is looking perfect!

Anyone else racing this weekend?

What is your personal distance record?

Do you get nervous about races, whether you’re going for a PR or running for fun?
I do. But I think a certain level of nervousness is part of what we love about running races. The day I don’t get the least bit nervous for a race is the day I need to find a new hobby.
Anyone else enjoying a cold front?

This morning I woke up a little over an hour before my alarm, so I decided to go ahead and do my 5 mile run. I had planned on running this afternoon after work, but I’m glad I ran this morning because it’s nice and cool outside. Anytime I run in the morning when it’s not a long run or race, I think of this advertisement I saw on the side of a bus in Denver last summer.

I started out by running three miles with Sven, since it was still dark outside. Once the sun came up I headed outside for the last two miles of my run. I never noticed how cushy my treadmill was until this morning when I went from the treadmill to the pavement outside. Aside from the weather being wonderfully cool, I have another reason I am glad I ran this morning. I would have missed out on how pretty the sunrise was.

Last night Barry showed me a picture of the fish that was recently voted the world’s ugliest animal. It’s called the Blobfish and lucky for you, I am going to show you the picture:

The funny part is I kept thinking the fish looked kind of familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Are you thinking the same thing? If so, don’t worry. I have solved the mystery. The Blobfish looks like Ziggy!

Finally, I read an interesting article yesterday about technology and running. The author makes a case for and against technology. The gist of the article is that on one hand, gadgets like heart rate monitors and GPS watches gives us a lot of feedback about our pace, distance, effort, elevation change, etc. But on the other hand, combining technology and social media with running keeps us from unplugging from a day that’s often already filled with staring at a screen. It helps to make the sport more accessible, but at the same time technology can over complicate a sport that was supposed to be simple at it’s core. In the end, it’s important to find a balance between getting the data you want and not becoming data-obsessed.

If you usually workout in the afternoon or evening, do you ever go ahead and workout in the morning if you wake up early?

Had you ever heard of or seen the Blobfish before?
Not until Barry showed me the picture last night.
Where would you rank yourself on the technology scale when it comes to working out? Are you old-school or are you leading the technology revolution?
I think I’m in the happy middle. I like seeing my pace/distance/elevation, but I’m not obsessed with the numbers.

What a difference a complete rest day makes. I was still feeling a little bit tired yesterday, but considerably better than how I was feeling on Monday. In fact, I was feeling good enough that I think I will take a complete rest day today as well. I really want to feel good and be able to enjoy myself at the Hokie Half this weekend.

After work yesterday I hopped on the treadmill (also known as Sven) for a five mile run with three miles at marathon pace (10:18/mile). And I can honestly say I felt great.

I started out with a warm-up mile. I intended to run around 10:30, but pressed 6 mph to get the treadmill going and forgot to ever bump the speed down. It just felt good to run and that pace felt relaxed. After my warm-up, I paused the treadmill and stretched my calves a bunch since they’re still a bit tight and sore. Then I nailed 3 miles at marathon pace: 10:13/10:12/10:07. I felt comfortable and for once this pace felt like one I can definitely settle into for a long time. Thank goodness.

That’s my little post-it note I use to help me keep track of my splits. Don’t get me wrong, I have a really good memory. But for some reason I cannot remember my splits when I run on the treadmill. So I write them down. See that “40:33” that looks a little messy? That would be where I nearly fell off of Sven while writing. Guess I should pause the treadmill if I want to avoid injury. On a random note, writing down splits makes me feel like I’m a swim coach again.

Back in the good old days when I answered to “Coach Meagan” or “Miss Meagan.” Don’t mind my lazy eyes. I probably wasn’t awake, yet, when this was taken.

I think I will incorporate two complete rest days per week as my training progresses. After this week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays are listed as rest days on my training plan. I plan to make one of those a cross training day each week and let the other two complete rest days. That seems like it is going to work best for me. Hopefully in the future as I become a stronger runner, I can drop down to just one complete rest day per week. In the meantime, here’s to figuring things out! (This is the part where we toast…. where’s your drink??)

Have you ever worn the title of “coach”?

Tell me about your last great workout!

What’s something crazy you do while running/biking/walking?
Someone one-up my post-it note!

My training plan for the Thunder Road Marathon has Tuesdays and Thursdays as rest days throughout the entire 20 weeks (Sundays as well after this week). I like the flexibility of being able to make one or both of those a cross training day as it suits me each week. I also like the flexibility of being able to take both days as a rest day as needed, which is exactly what I’m doing this week.

I’ve been mentioning over the past few days how tired I have been feeling. During my long run on Saturday in addition to the fatigue from running I actually felt like I could just lay down on the side of the trail and take a nap. It makes sense since I hit a new personal weekly mileage high of 30 miles last week, and I ran 25 miles total from Friday-Monday. But at the same time I keep feeling like that’s not really that much. Either way, I am listening to my body and it said to take a rest day yesterday. I am feeling a bit better this morning (albeit still fighting a stuffy nose).

At this point, I am still planning on running all of my miles as scheduled this week (34 miles total when all is said and done). It definitely seems like when you train for a marathon, particularly your first, you walk a fine line between pushing yourself to new levels and over-training. Deb at Deb Runs recently wrote about over-training, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I venture into new territory. Here is a poster she created that lists the common signs of over-training, in case you are also walking the line:

So far I do not think I have crossed into over-training territory. Deb has reminded me that it’s a fine line. You have to pay close attention to how you’re feeling, but at the same time you don’t want to baby yourself. There’s certainly going to be a certain level of tiredness as my body adapts and I push it further than I ever have before. Hopefully I will continue to walk the line, but never actually cross it.

Oh, you thought I was going to title this “I walk the line” and not have a picture of Johnny Cash?? How could I not?

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United we stand.
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How do you tell the difference from training hard and over training?