Guilt goes a long way

I never want to be standing at the starting line wondering if there was more I could have done.

Today, my brother Ryan planned on going to the gym. I only planned to do a short run in the afternoon, but I knew if that if I didn't go to the gym in the morning, I would lose my only chance of the day. The guilt kicked in, and I hopped in the passenger seat to head to the Y.

To train for a marathon requires more than just logging miles. Yes, it is possible to "just" run and complete the marathon that way. But it is the ancillary things which can make a significant difference, not just in your finishing time, but how you feel in the final miles. Once I added weights, I found my quads handled miles 20-25 of the marathon a lot better. When I added swimming, my muscles relaxed and it gave them a chance to heal after long runs. I've slowly been adding core work, which is hard, and why I think most people (myself included) are reluctant to do it.

The bird dog is a great overall core exercise that not only strengthens the abs and back, but also involves the glutes and improves balance and stability.

I did the bird dog at the gym, holding the pose for 90 seconds at a time on each side. It's quite tricky, especially as the abs start to "shake." But it's hard to deny the positive effects of such exercises, especially when it's proven that the abs can help a lot in running. More guilt, but ultimately more good effects, too.

Perhaps there is more guilt than necessary, but the marathon is an investment. The way I do it, I only get a few chances each year to do it, so I want to make sure I am prepared on those few occasions. So, even if I grudgingly start a new regimen or take on other forms of training, I know in the end it will help.

What has guilted you into good?

Chills in June

As a runner, I tend to get fairly sweated, even during long runs in the winter. I heat up quickly, within a mile or two, and that's that. Today was a bit different. Today was an 8 mile run, and as far as my route was concerned, standard. It was in the high 60s and humid. Around mile 5, I was starting to get really hot, but then the opening from the "Spirit of the Marathon" soundtrack came on. Chills. From having sweat all over, my body cooled down. Goosebumps on my arms and legs. The music from "Spirit" is quite beautiful and inspiring. I even played it in the car driving to the Boston Marathon on marathon morning. It helped calm me down and focused on the day ahead. So, I think the memories of that came flooding back today. Once the song ended, I figured that was it. But about a mile later, "I've got a feeling" by the Black Eye'd Peas came on. How does that cause chills? They played it in the Athlete's Village as we were walking to the starting corrals. That was the final thing that both relaxed me before the race and what got me excited. Since then, whenever I hear it, I always think about Boston. It was back on today, and as it came on, my strides grew bigger and faster, and the chills were back. It's amazing how good music and memories can do that.
On a different note...
What is it about track workouts? The endless circles? Whatever it is, IT'S WORKING.
Mark (http://tridadoffive.blogspot.com) and I went out on Tuesday to do mile repeats. I was supposed to start at 7:25 pace and knock off 5-7 seconds per repeat (4 in total). But in reality:
7:20 (oops)
7:11 (slow down!)
7:03 (this was the hard one)
6:57 (hurry, hurry!)
So fast! But managed to successfully knock off time with each repeat, even at a pace faster than expected. It's amazing what you can do when the conditions are right. Mark did very well too. We were both really happy with how it went, especially given the heat that we had when we did mile repeats the last time.
It definitely kicked week 2 of training off to a good start:

Monday, June 7: swim, lift

Tuesday, June 8: 2.5 mile warm-up; 4x1 mile, 500 meter jog between each mile repeat. Start at about 7:25 minute pace, try to cut-down each mile by 5-7 seconds. 2.5 mile cool-down. Total mileage: 10 miles

Wednesday, June 9: 6 miles easy

Thursday, June 10: 8 miles easy

Friday, June 11: OFF

Saturday, June 12: 15 miles easy

Sunday, June 13: 7 miles easy

Total Mileage: 48 miles

Ode to the Kettlebell

O Kettlebell, 10 pound kettlebell,
Didn't know you were going to give me hell.

"Just swing and lift,'" the instructor said
As I lifted the kettlebell over my head.

"It will work your core, and your lower body too,"
She left out that climbing stairs would be hard to do.

My quads are asking "Why?!" and screaming,
Feels like a nightmare, but I'm certainly not dreaming.

It's almost like post-marathon ache,
But with no medal or glory - this is hard to take.

Despite the soreness from the weight,
I've got a feeling I'll be seeing the kettlebell for another date.

A Naked Run

On Thursday, I went out for a naked 8 mile run through Spencerport.

No, not that kind. I did not wear a watch or play any music. No technology whatsoever. Just me and my shoes. There was no reason to time myself - it was an easy run - no reason to speed. It was pretty freeing, to not be attached to any technology. I do recommend it, every once in a while. It's like going on vacation without bringing a laptop. Nothing crazy or major will happen if you leave it behind.

Added bonus: it's the kind of naked run you can do without seeing this guy:

In my dreams, I'm a Kenyan

Dream race to run: Boston was my first dream race. Even when I wasn't running, I knew I wanted to do it someday. Now that I've done it, it would be fantastic to run in the Olympic Trials.

Dream time in marathon: I would love to break 3 hours some day. And to run in the Olympic Trials, you need to run a 2:46. I know that would incredibly hard, but that would be amazing. The way I look at it, I've only been running for 1.5 years continuously. I think with more coaching and more mileage, I can slowly work my way down to a sub 3, and hopefully 2:46.

Dream running achievement: To run in all 50 states and on all 7 continents.

Dream job: I would love to teach medieval history at a small liberal arts college. If Runner's World wanted to hire me as their medieval runner columnist (every magazine needs one), that would be cool too.

Dream destination: Italy - I was there for 10 days in college, but it certainly wasn't enough time. I've studied so much Italian history but actually want to be able to explore the churches, piazzas and castles where the history happened. I would love to live in Lucca (a small city in Tuscanny which still has medieval walls around it) for a year.

Dream athlete to meet: I've already met Kathrine Switzer, Bill Rodgers, and Joan Benoit Samuelson. Next up - Deena Kastor and Kara Goucher!

Dream date: Going through museums in Paris, and then a picnic in Parc Monceau. There will be lots of cheese (including compte - my absolute favorite), and then a walk along the Champs-Élysées.

Dream achievement: To raise a family while balancing my life as a professor and runner.

Kicking off Fall Marathon Training

Today kicked off marathon training for the fall. For what marathon, you may ask?
Announcing...
I will be running the Rochester Marathon on Sunday, September 12th. It is my hometown marathon, and I am very excited about it. This will be the chance for my grandparents to see me run a marathon, and so I am very determined to train in the best way possible so I can have a great race. But there's more...
I will also be running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 31st. Last year, a deal was struck between me and my friend Jenny (of Florida fame): if I qualified for Boston, she would run a marathon. So, she is running MCM as her first marathon, and I will be pacing her through it. Some friends go out to dinner - we're running a marathon together! We work together in the summer, so I will do a lot of runs with her. While running is not her first sport (she was a collegiate swimmer), she is a great athlete and will do will in the marathon.
But I digress...fall marathon 2 is so far away.
Today kicked off training for the Rochester marathon. My friend Sarah is designing my plan again, which means 4 week cycles. This is the first week of cycle 1:

Monday, May 31: Swim and weight-lifting

Tuesday, June 1: 2.5 mile warm-up; 2 mile on track; start first mile at 7:35 pace, cut-down second mile to 7:20 pace. 2 lap jog. 4x800, 1 lap jog between each repeat. Start first 800 at 3:35, try to cut-down by 5 seconds or so for each 800. 2.5 mile cool-down: Total mileage—10.25 miles

Wednesday, June 2: 6 miles easy.

Thursday, June 3: 8 miles easy.

Friday, June 4: OFF

Saturday, June 5: 14 miles easy

Sunday, June 6: 6 miles easy

Total Mileage: 44.25 miles

My track workout this morning went well - I hit all of my splits. Felt great to get back on the track. It was pouring rain, which can often be a deal-breaker in a run. I loved it - it pushed me to go harder as I was splashing through the puddles on the track. The 800s were tough, especially the last 2. The lactic acid started to build up, and and the following phrase started to come to mind in the last lap of each interval "When the body says "No", the mind must say "Yes." Because that's what you need to do - mind over matter, right?

I am at home until the 20th. Until then, I have two main tasks at home - training and studying for my master's exams (which are in July). 60 books to master - and I am well on my way. If anything I feel like Rocky in Siberia (again). He went there just to train, and that's what I'm doing. Running and reading about medieval things - that's the name of the game.

Five Things Fridays

5 things you may not know about The Medievalist... (usually the marathon goes in there - but that's pretty much a given in this blog). Thanks to RunMonkey on the Loop for distracting everyone on a Friday afternoon.
1) I have only chewed 3 pieces of gum in my entire life. The first was on my first plane ride. The second time, someone gave me what I thought was a hard candy and turned out to be gum. The third time, a friend wanted me to "try again." Nope!
2) I read faster than I can run. I have to read 60 books in preparation for my MA comps this summer, and I can crank through books faster than mile repeats.
3) My brother Ryan and I have a mole on the exact same spot on our left hands.
4) Chris Matthews and I went to the same college (Holy Cross). This is us at an alumni function after a HC basketball game (I went straight from the game, hence the sweatshirt, Chris came straight from work/TV, hence the fancy pants outfit).
5) When my brother and I were little, our mom taught us our phone number (no area code) to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." We thought it was so cool that our number fit in with the song. It wasn't until later that we realized that the song works with every number.
Bonus: Until college, I wanted to study modern American history. I even remember having the following thought in middle school "Nothing interesting happened before 1750." I was proved wrong!

You've got me begging you for mercy

You've got me begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?
I said release me.

I don't know what it is, but I have a small knack for motivating people to workout. At the very least, I have a few friends who don't want to disappoint me, so they show up to workout with me. One friend from school told me she would buy me breakfast if she was late to meet me to workout. After two breakfasts on her, it seemed to do the trick.
My friend Mark (the Ironman) asked me to "whoop his butt" this morning with a speed workout. Okay, I can do that. Thanks to all of my training, I have a variety of speed workouts that can whoop butt in many ways.
The heat is here in Rochester (it is in the low 80s), and while I know it is so much hotter in the southern parts of the country, it is still hot. We did a 2.5 mile warm up and I was already sweating by that point. Time for mile repeats! My plan was to start at 7:10 and knock off 5 seconds per repeat (and do at least 3). I told Mark to start at 8:00 and then would knock off 5-7 seconds per mile. My first mile - 7:08. Mark's 7:36. Too fast. I told Mark he needed to at least match that first mile for the second repeat. He did, and I ran 7:01. Unfortunately, the heat got the best of him and that was it for him. Definitely begging for mercy. I did one more at 6:53. We then ran home, and I gave some advice on speedwork. I know he is going to rock the next session. That's the thing - it is all a learning process. Even if you don't get it right at first, you'll take that experience and learn from it.
I need to work on my abs. I've started doing knee raises on this machine:
If only he was training me!
But seriously, strong abs means a better marathoner, so sign me up. My brother just got The Bender Ball and it comes with a few DVDs. I did the first one today - the core one. Aah! It was 18 minutes, and I yelped a few times at the end. My abs were definitely begging for mercy. I will definitely keep doing that a few times a week. Hopefully it makes a difference!

I don't know what this is
but you got me good
just like you knew you would

I don't know what you do
but you do it well
I'm under your spell.

You got me begging for mercy.

5 Mile Aurora House Race with Pace Report - A Homecoming

I came home Friday night after another year of grad school in the books. I am 2 months away from having my MA - just need to take my comprehensive exams this July. Moved out successfully and was very happy to arrive at home. I will be home for a month, which will give me some solid time to study for my exam and get some great runs in (and get back to the pool and weight room - oops). But I digress.
This morning was the Aurora House 5 Mile Race with Pace. I like races at home - my parents come (well, they come to the far away ones too, but a mile drive is a lot easier), I know a lot of the people who are running, etc. I did a 1 mile warm up around my neighborhood. I don't know what it is, but it is when I warm up that the butterflies set in. I feel like I'm puttering around and then I worry about my ability to hold a fast pace. Luckily, I am aware of that feeling and I know that the nerves tend to go away once I start.
I knew that I stood a good chance of placing, so I was trying to size up the other women. 3 women (myself included) stood at the front of the starting line, and when the gun went off, one went out in front of me and one was behind me. Definitely felt like I had a hometown advantage - a lot of it was on the Erie Canal, which I run on a lot. I went over one bridge, passed a kid who I had been running with, and mile one they shouted out 7:02. Oops! Too fast (that is my current 5k pace). There was a turnout at about 1.5 miles, and I could see that the first place woman was way out in front of me - time to let her go. I was comfortably in 2nd place. Although I could hear a man and a woman behind me. The man was talking and singing, which was good for two reasons. 1, I knew they were staying together and I hoped that would tire him. 2, I could hear how far away the 3rd place woman was. There were actually 3 water stations on the course - which was great because I just kept dumping water on my head. At the third water station, the Katz's (Mr. and Mrs. - I went to high school with their daughter Jen and she is an excellent XC runner) were there and they were cheering me on. That gave me a little boost and put a smile on my face. Then climbed the 2nd bridge at mile 4 - just one more mile to go. Again, this was a bridge that I was familiar with. I felt like I only took 4 steps to get up and over. This was a bridge that challenged me when I was younger, but not today. Going up the bridge, I could see that I had about 200m on the 3rd place woman. The guy in front of me was about 100 m ahead, so I really was running my own race. Made the final turn, and had about half a mile to go. So happy that the finish sign was huge and had a very clear idea of where it was. Finished at 37:00 on the dot. The picture my parents took was just as I was about to cross - so close to breaking into 36, but that is okay. Lots of people clapping - I was second woman! The overall female winner did it in 34:06, so there was no way I could catch her. We waited around for the award ceremony and I was able to catch up with a lot of people from my hometown. There were lot of people who I knew from high school, and so it was surprising for them to see me run (they all knew me as a singer and musician). Even saw my old music teachers, and my junior prom date (his dad was the race director). I ended up winning the open women's division, which was cool (a $25 gift certificate to Wegman's). It was a fun race and a great way to kick off my time at home!

The Medievalist experiences a Renaissance

Every year in Kalamazoo, Michigan, there is a major medieval conference where 3,000 medievalists from all of the world gather for a 4 day conference. Those who study music, history, literature, theology, all come together to present research on various and sundry medieval topics. This was my third time going, and it was fantastic. It is refreshing to know that there are so many other people who have devoted their professional lives to researching topics in this field.

I gave my paper on Saturday, and must admit, the butterflies set in when the preeminent scholar of my field came in. I am still very new and young in this field, so I certainly wanted to make a good impression to this person who has profoundly shaped my own research. Once I started to speak, the butterflies settled. Every time I looked up, it seemed as if people were engaged in the topic and more important, no one was nodding off! At the end, there was time for questions and comments. I got a number of questions that I was able to field well (mainly they were things that I left out of the paper for the sake of time), and people came up to me afterward to shake my hand and congratulate me. The Preeminent Scholar came up to me afterward and said it was a good project and that he was impressed. I asked him if I could contact him in the future for questions and feedback, and he said that would be great.

There was a meeting of the organization which sponsored my panel later in the day, which I went to. They were looking for some graduate students to get involved, so now I will be helping them with editing their semi-annual newsletter (which includes short articles). They know that I don't really have any experience in that, but they said you just need a good pair of eyes. So that will be some good experience for sure. The professor who organized my panel told me that people told her that they enjoyed my paper and that "that MA student gave the best paper of the morning."
Needless to say, I am very pleased with how the conference went. I went to many great sessions and made a few good connections. I also brought a few classmates and they enjoyed their first Kalamazoo experience. And my paper gave me some confidence and assurance that I am on the right track and that hopefully I have the ability to make some impact in this field.

Honestly, I feel like I just conquered Boston all over again. For someone who can run marathons, I don't have the most confidence in my academic work. So, this was certainly what I needed. I feel refreshed, recharged and ready to dig into my research with confidence. It may not be a marathon high, but it was certainly a victory.