Thursday, December 19, 2013

Nine Miles. Nine Degrees.

Well it’s been quite a busy week in marathon training land!  Every Saturday the MS Marathon team holds a long team run and last week was my first run with the team.  9 miles in 9 degree weather. Delightful.  On Friday night I had a gig with WTL at Toby Keith’s in Foxboro, so it was already going to be a struggle to get up early the next day and run.  I decided not to drink at the gig… got some interesting looks from the guys lol, but in the end I think it helped.  I woke up Saturday feeling tired but otherwise fine.  Then I pulled up the weather on my iPhone and saw this.


Christ.  This would certainly give my winter running gear a run for its money! I got to Forever Fit in Newton and met up with the team.  I decided to give myself a little bit of head start knowing that I was slower than most of the team and set out on the route that Coach Karen had mapped out for us.  We actually got to run a little bit of the Boston Marathon route and got a taste of the Newton hills which was cool! Down route 16, left on Walnut street, then left on Comm ave and run till you get to BC.  Turn around.. run back. Whew.  As expected I’m the slow poke of the team, but I’ve decided I’m ok with that… just going to keep working hard and not let it bother me that I was getting passed left and right. Haha.  And my team is the best… I got so many high fives and “thatta girls” along the way, I couldn't help but feel motivated.
From the waist up I was toasty warm but for that kind of weather I have to revisit what I wear for bottoms.  My Under Armour leggings did not cut it.. I literally felt like I had two icicles for legs and when I showered later it burned like HELL to let water hit them… almost like I had wind burn or something.


This Saturday will be 10 miles.. my first double digit run since October of 2012 at the Amica Half Marathon in Newport. Weather is looking positively balmy (hello 40 degrees!) so I’m excited!

123 days....

xoxo
Ash

"We choose to run for those who sometimes can't."

I am running the 2014 Boston Marathon on the Marathon Strides Against MS Team! To make a donation to help end Multiple Sclerosis please visit my personal fundraising page:  http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=12612971&pg=personal&fr_id=22897

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Happy Training, Week 1

Well.. it's Wednesday and I'm halfway through the first "Official" week of training.  Meaning instead of making up workouts as I go, I'm now following the team training schedule provided to me by Coach Karen. Coach set us up with two options... a novice schedule and an intermediate schedule.  I'm opting to follow novice because A) This is my first marathon, and B) I don't have a specific "time goal" to finish by... I simply want to finish and stay injury free.

Last week I was able to take an amazing trip to Key Biscayne for my Uncle's 70th birthday. (Thank you Uncle Tom and Aunt Kathy!)  The beach, cocktails, and overall relaxation was exactly what I needed before my training started... it sort of felt like a last hurrah before my life becomes totally consumed :)

   

Basically my training schedule consists of three shorter runs each week, two cross training days, one day of rest (THANK GOD) and one long run with the team.  I've decided my cross training days will be spent swimming... I just love my time in the pool... and then when I have additional time I'll try to get some yoga in or some weight training.  My goal is to attend at least one yoga class a week. It's good for me on so many levels!  So this week looks like this.

Monday - 4 miles
Tuesday 5 miles
Wednesday - Cross train
Thursday - 4 miles
Friday - REST
Saturday - 9 miles with the MS Team
Sunday - Cross train

So far I've been doing well. The weather really tested me this week... first two runs of the week were in sleet and snow.  I really have to find better winter running clothes. That is the mission for this weekend I think. And maybe Santa will bring me some too.

I'm super excited for my first team run but I'm also a little nervous.  I'm always plagued by negative thoughts. What if I can't do the full 9 miles, what if I'm the slowest one on the team, what if I don't make any friends on the team.  But as my wise friend Krystina said while I was venting to her.. "Just do it".  She's like a Nike commercial. ha. But she is right! I'm going to just do it, and try not to care about all those silly things that don't matter. It's going to be a GREAT 9 miles. (repeat in head over and over).

I'll update you all again while I'm icing on the couch come Sunday afternoon :)

Don't forget! I'm running to support the National MS Society and any donation is greatly appreciated! Please help me get to my goal of $4,000 by clicking on the link below!

131 days....

xoxo
Ash

"We choose to run for those who sometimes can't."

I am running the 2014 Boston Marathon on the Marathon Strides Against MS Team! To make a donation to help end Multiple Sclerosis please visit my personal fundraising page:  http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=12612971&pg=personal&fr_id=22897

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Oooops! Official Marathon training hasn't even started yet and I'm already slacking on my blog! I'll blame it on family time and Thanksgiving taking up all my time over the last week :)

Can't remember what I did exactly for training last week but I know it included a few short runs, some swims and definitely some yoga! I also had my first team meeting with the MS Marathon Team which was AWESOME! I am so lucky to be running with so many inspiring people.  And FYI, our coach is an Ironman Winner at the World Championships in Kona. Ummmm hello badass!  Our training schedule comes out sometime this week and Saturday morning long runs start next weekend. This is getting real fast!

I've been on vacation all of Thanksgiving week and was lucky enough to spend it down in Rhode Island with family and friends.  Diet was of course going to be a challenge this week (although I did better than expected) so I wanted to make sure I was on top of my workouts.

Monday: 4 mile run along the beautiful East Bay Bike Path in Bristol. I feel so spoiled when I get to run at home in Bristol.... talk about some beautiful scenery! This was my first REALLY cold run on the year, and I have to say... running along the ocean may be beautiful but damn it was windy. I felt like I was moving backwards on the way back haha.  I spent the rest of the afternoon with Dad putting up the Christmas lights... I think climbing up and down that ladder counts as a workout as well :)

Tuesday: Another 4 mile run, this time I took a right turn into Colt State Park.  Again... gorgeous. I was lucky to grow up in such a beautiful place.

Wednesday started out fantastic!  Managed to convince my Mom to come with me to her first yoga class in 20 years. She claimed to hate yoga... hey, that sounds familiar!  But I thought it would be good for her to try.  It was the perfect class... Mostly beginners and the teacher moved nice and slow. She admitted to enjoying herself afterwards! Thanks to the Bristol Yoga Studio... you made 6:30AM yoga enjoyable :)

Later on Wednesday I got a totally different workout... Dolly (my cat) escaped my parents house at some point on Wednesday morning and we didn't realize it till later in the afternoon.  I must have walked 6 miles around my neighborhood over and over again looking for her.  Long story short, she came back from her little adventure when she was ready and all is well. Unfortunately it lead to a little stress eating on my part... hellllooo wine and cheese.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving! I had every intention of going for a morning run before the big meal but I just ran out of time. But it was a wonderful day and a fantastic meal with my parents and my aunts.  I was pretty proud of myself at dinner... I had a taste of everything, but was really careful about portions. I left the dinner table satisfied but not "stuffed".  That was a win!  We closed the evening with our tradition of watching National Lampoon Christmas Vacation with everyone. I have probably seen it 20 times and I still laugh out loud!

Cooking with butter is fun! 


Friday: HOLY shit. So my Mom started working out with a trainer once a week at her gym named Adriana. She was kind enough to let my Mom bring me along for Friday morning's weekly workout. First off, Adriana is awesome, and I would love to work out with her again.  Two days later and I am still sore!!! Here is what we did after a 20 minute warm up run on the treadmill.

  • Walking lunges across the gym holding 2 kettlebells
  • 10 Burpees
  • Walking lunges back
  • 20 Walk Down Planks
  • 20 Flutter Kicks
  • 20 Kettlebell Swings
  • Side shuffle across the gym and back
  • 20 Reverse Pushups
  • 20 squats with Kettlebell
Repeat that sequence 3 times.

Yeah. I'm sore. hahaha. But it was great and gave me some new ideas for strength training.  And I was so proud of my Mom! I have never seen her do a workout like that before and she completed the whole thing. Pretty awesome.

Saturday: Ugly Sweater Run!!!!!! A few weeks ago I signed up for the Ugly Sweater 5K in Boston and today was the day.  My cousin Amie and I went shopping for our sweaters a few weeks ago and let me tell you... we found some ugly ones haha. This was a really fun, laid back run.  No timing chips, and the water stops were hot chocolate stops!  We got to run through some really fun Christmas decorations and just looking at everyone else's outfits was fun. I got to meet Amie's BF Dan and their friend Heather, and they were both super nice. We finished the race, enjoyed our free beer and then Dan suggested we head over to R.F.O Sullivan and Sons for their famous burgers. OMG. Probably one of the best burgers I've ever had. It was a great call.

Best Ugly Sweater Team Ever!!

Helllooooo delicious reward. 

Today is Sunday... I'm supposed to be running in another 5K in Boston (Yulefest) but it's shitty out and my legs are dead so I picked up my t shirt and I'm skipping out on this one.  I'm bummed but I need to make sure my body stays healthy with all the stress I'll be putting it through over the next few months.  I think today will be all about relaxing and pulling out the Christmas decorations.

Sorry this one was so long, I'll do better this week! Thanks for reading :)

141 days....

xoxo
Ash

"We choose to run for those who sometimes can't."

I am running the 2014 Boston Marathon on the Marathon Strides Against MS Team! To make a donation to help end Multiple Sclerosis please visit my personal fundraising page:  http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=12612971&pg=personal&fr_id=22897