Getting that itch again........

          I am getting that itch again to sign up for a race.....this time a 50K. My plan is to run a 50K race nearby home in Springfield, VA about 3 weeks-4 after the 2016 Marine Corps Marathon; therefore banking on the fact that I can use the marathon training and the marathon run itself as the training run for the 50K. I know, I am quite a little genius. The main issue now is WILL I BE ABLE to finish the race before the cutoff. Things are looking quite hopeful. One, my foot feels fine after yesterday's 7 miles. That is HUGE!! Second, I was able to finish the 7 miles in a 12.5 minute/mile pace! Granted this is treadmill miles, so I cannot be too sure this translates to my real pace on land...but, it cannot be that OFF, can it? 

        So which race am I thinking of? Well, I went onto the Trail and Ultra Running Group on Facebook and asked for a flat-ish 50K with a forgiving cut-off near my home and near the MCM date (third week in October). One race that stood out amongst the few suggestions was the Rosaryville Veterans Day 50K  . Sounds fine with the exception that it's, not two, but THREE 9 point something  loops.....emotionally, loops are a bit tough to swallow. But, it's the most possible one so far. 
             
         In doing research for the race I always look up last year's times. Having once before been THE LAST person in a race makes me keenly aware of other last place folks. As you can see, last year one person, age 24 came in at 9:02 hours....so this gives me hope that maybe, just maybe their 8 hour cut-off is not so hard and fast. Of course, I have no intention on going past 8 hours, but it's just nice to know. There is 480 minutes in 8 hours, for a 31 mile race that's about 15.5 minute mile average. Half of me is convinced I can do this EASY, but another part of me keeps reminding me, "it's a trail race", paces are often a bit slower due to obstacles, hills, and roots. 

Ran 12 miles for Mya this morning!!

                Via Facebook I got connected with a child with disability and dedicate my miles to her. Her name is Mya. (I will ask the family if I can share pics of her here and post them if they agree.) In the meantime, check out the I Run For organization online at http://www.whoirun4.com, or go directly to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/irunformichael/ .  

                  I ran my usual route when I do 12 miles....down Connecticut and into Downtown DC. I love this run. It goes right past Dupont Circle, the Starbucks there brings back so many memories! Then I run down 17th street into Constitution and you can see the monument and tons of other runners. I wore a t-shirt and 7" compression shorts despite the weather being 47 degrees and I am SO glad I did not wear my jacket. It was a perfect run. For a long run I was much faster than even my shorter runs. Even ended with a kick at the end with a negative split! Feeling amazing. 

Windy, windy morning....

Cloudy skies, lots and lots of wind. 

The Monument (in repair mode). 

View of the bridge that heads over to Adams Morgan from another bridge that connects North Dupont to Woodley Park. 

2 miles to go!! Yes....this is where my kick started and the sun also peaked its way through the clouds. 

I am done!! yes! feeling on top of the world and ready to make this MY day. 

Want to Hear More Narratives from Back-of-The-Pack Runners

              I am tired of running's obsessions with speed. For once, I'd like to tune into my favorite running podcasts or open my running magazines and not have to hear/read an interview with some super speedy 18-something year old. Instead, how about interviewing a person like me, someone who got into running a bit later, but that is committed, curious and yes, slower. I know for a fact that an interview with a person much more like me would make me more inspired, and more interested to tune-in in the future. 

               It's not like I don't understand this fascination with speed. On days I go faster than my typical slow pace I am ecstatic and the feeling of strength and invincibility I feel are unmistakably addictive. But, I also have this need to internally celebrate the fact that I even get out there at all. Perhaps my disinterest in this top 1% running speed-freak 'anomalies' closely parallels my general disinterest in famous people, celebrities and pop stars. I guess you can safely say I am not the 'star struck' kind of girl. I strongly suspect and am starting to believe that the narratives of those in the back of the race as just as interesting, if not more interesting. 

Map My Run APP.......cannot run without it!!

                                I use MapMyRun app, the free version, to measure my overall distance. Since I am not officially 'training' for any race I have become somewhat relaxed about measuring every single aspect of my workout. I am also aware, from using it during several races that it's a bit off; meaning the measurement of miles is a bit less than the true miles you might be running. But the difference is minimal, and the benefits of the service FAR outweighs this little issue. For those of you who might have not used it before, MapMyRun uses your smart phone's GPS to locate where you are. It can show you exactly where you are on a map. My favorite feature is being able to predetermine a route and visually following my coordinates from the phone. I did this on my most recent trail run in which there were no street names, but because I have set the coordinates from home, I was able to follow my pre-set  route on a map. There are tons of other features such as  

pace, ability to adjust your lap distance, ability to share your results on various social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, elevation charts, average pace....and lots, lots more....what do you use?

This is what the APP looks like

This is the home screen 

Got my dose of TRIUMPH this morning....

                     I love, love, love running in the mornings. This morning I ran 5 miles ending this week at 28 miles total, three more than last week. I have been slowly trying to both maintain a good running base as well as slowly raise the amount of miles I do weekly so that I am race-ready for any last minute half-marathon I might want to join. I am trying to do about 3 runs during the week at 5:30am that total to about 15 miles, and a long run of 13 miles on the weekend. 

                   Lately, I have been very slow in my runs. I've had to be very mindful of my form in order to not get any injuries. I believe my increased pace is due to the fact that I've been having salad dressing daily with my salads, making me retain water; salad dressings have massive amounts of salt content. In addition, I partied with some friends twice this week and had some alcohol, which I'm also sure is making me retain water. Therefore, I am not surprised that my speed has been slower. 

                       Nevertheless, all is great....summer is almost here....I finished this huge project that was due for my job, am running a half-marathon this Sunday in Maryland, going to the race expo Saturday with Nora, Luke has a Little League game this weekend and the weather is getting warmer and the flowers are everywhere.... 

                 

                 

Plant-based fast and increase juicing....

               For the last couple of weeks I have increased the amount of vegetable/fruit juice I drink to double the normal amount, that's about 56 fluid ounces of juice daily now, then, afterwards having either a big salad meal or some type of oven-baked root vegetables. I feel much more aware and awake than I did the last few weeks when I was just lethargic every morning. My main objective is to lose some of these pounds in order to become faster at running. As I said in my last post, speed has never really been my goal while running, but since  I have been naturally feeling  much lighter on my feet I now think it's a reasonable goal to have. The idea of becoming faster and thinking of myself as an 'athlete' are still so foreign to me, but slowly I feel this image of myself shifting and I have got to admit that it's very exciting. 

Vegetable/Fruit Juicing Fast Begins Today!!!

                     I want to get faster and the extra pounds I am carrying on me are not helping me reach that goal. Vegetable/fruit fasting is the only and healthiest way I have found to lose those extra pounds that will also benefit your body and not deprive it in any way. Last time I did a fast was 2 years ago with the master cleanser and the entire experience made me feel a huge disconnect with my body, therefore the vegetables and fruits are the way to go for me. Plus, I have been juicing daily already for over 1.5 years so upping the amounts will be quite gentle on my body. 

                     I decided to do this fast after this weekend's long run where I, unknowingly, beat my pace by about 40 seconds per mile. That is HUGE!!! I am now under 11 minute a mile runner....that is quite amazing, I could not be more excited.  I now have new aspirations for my running, one I never even cared for, speed. In total honesty, speed has never been my goal in this running journey. I was perfectly happy to be an average 11 minute a mile runner, but after 8 months of running I am seeing that very slowly I am getting faster, just naturally. Yes, blasting merengue, salsa and mambo on my itunes helps with speed, but this new speed came so naturally, without effort. 

                     Another reason I am doing a vegetable/fruit fast is because I am trying to move myself (and my family eventually) towards a more plant-based diet overall. This weekend I happened across a video called, 'You Will Not Believe Your Eyes' (see below). Although it's only a trailer for a movie, it affected me deeply. I felt so helpless afterwards, I hate seeing animals suffer but do you make something like issue this better? Most of me wanted to move away from it, move on and ignore how I felt, but the affects it had on me persisted. 

                  I am aware that not eating animals may not directly help these very birds on this very island; perhaps it will never even help any animals at all, even the ones being slaughtered right now. But what I do know is that most of me wants to opt out of my dependency on animals for sustenance period. I am going to make a monumental effort to take myself out of the equation altogether, no matter how inconsequential its impact. I choose to be free of needing animals to live. Call it stupid, call it what you like, but karmically, that is what I need to work towards to better align my life to my beliefs and it feels right moving in that direction. For now, I know I need to seriously teach myself how to cook and eat more plant-based foods and try to reduce the only animal products I do eat such as cheese, eggs and chicken. I will work on me first and hope my family will follow, but I need to start with me. 




Here is another movie I watched this weekend and in the end (the last 25 minutes or so) they explain how the deep water fishing has wiped out this specific population of fish that can live to over 100 years, but also how it has destroyed thousands of years' worth of corals which fish depend on to live.