New Jersey Marathon training update: week 12

Look how excited Leela is to take a photo with me to show off my new Oiselle lux side zip! Really? Twelve weeks down already? DAMN! training is flying by! Last week was a small step-back week with 48 miles—following an intense 57 the week before—and I was glad to have it. My legs were pretty tired through most of my mid-week runs, but they held up reasonably well, I guess. [Read More]

New Jersey Marathon training update: week 11

Oh, you know, just jumping around a bit before my run! All I have to say about last week’s training is that it was EPIC! Literally my best week of training ever! EVER! I broke my weekly distance record by four miles with 57 on the week! And I nailed my first 20-miler this cycle. I started off the week with an easy five-mile recovery run, but by Tuesday, I was ready to put in the work and push myself. [Read More]

New Jersey Marathon training update: week 10 and Shamrock Marathon weekend

Last week was supposed to be the week I got back to running six days a week and got myself fully on schedule again after my knee issues. Unfortunately, my knee still didn’t feel up to it on Monday so I ended up with just five days of running instead. On Tuesday, I threw 5x1’ fartleks into my eight mile run for my first bit of speed work in a while. [Read More]

New Jersey Marathon training update: week 9 (and other things)

WHAT A WEEK! Holy crap, last week was busy as hell! Monday I started off with a rest day on Monday. I had five miles on the schedule, but I wanted to give my knee an extra rest day after 29 miles across the previous three days. The plan was to get back to my training plan on Tuesday, but without the speed work, which I would start back up with again this week. [Read More]

New Jersey Marathon training update: Week 8

I took my seventh pair of New Balance 1600s out for their first run this week. Can you tell I like these shoes? I think I might be turning this thing around! I started the week off really down about training. I was still in pain and close to writing it all off and changing my plans. Still, I kept with what I had been doing to recover and brought my mileage up a little while still staying under what was scheduled. [Read More]

It's time for me to admit this: I am not a smart runner

Like, just look at my knees! I come from a family of calamities. There’s always some injury or illness or something going on with my mother, father, and brother. Shattered pelvis, MRSA, severed fingertip, heart attack, broken toe…the list goes on and on. It’s actually a big joke in our family, but it does make my heart start to pound every time I see one of my parents’ phone numbers pop up on my phone. [Read More]

New Jersey Marthon training update: week 7

Tank top and shorts! Also, lots of crap on my knees. Week seven of training was a complete wash. It was planned to be a step-back week to 42 miles, but I stepped it all the way down to just 23 miles. My knee is still a mess and three straight rest days to start the week didn’t seem to make a difference. [Read More]