Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Houston Marathon Race Report: 1-19-2014

Well this past weekend I completed my first stand-alone marathon and am pretty happy with the results. Conditions were absolutely perfect, great weather and course. My goal time was four hours and I finished in 3:49 and did not have to walk even once so my pacing was good. I did not stick with my original plan but the overall results were still good.

The original plan: Start at a 9min/mile pace, speed up to 8:30 at mile 18 if possible.

What actually happened: Started at an 8:45, held consistently with the intention to drop to 8:30 at mile 18. Wasn't feeling it at mile 18, or 20, but I cut down to 8:37 for mile 22, getting progressively faster and finishing on a 8:02. At this point I think I was running fast based purely on the thought that the faster I ran, the sooner I could sit down. As a whole, I finished about two minutes faster than was originally planned.


Some snazzy data for your enjoyment, check out that heart rate drift!
My awesome emotional support crew at Mile 23
For the race I wore my new Daft sunglasses from Spy Optic, my Newton Running Distance U's and a good layer of Ruby's Motion Potion for Every Notion. Very comfortable the whole race and not a single complaint! The Daft glasses fit perfectly against my face, keeping the wind from drying my eyes out, and they fit tight enough to keep sweat from dripping into my eyes behind the lenses. I've been a huge fan of the Newtons since I got them last fall and this being my longest run in them I am still very impressed and will be getting a new pair of the same when the time comes. 

I'll take a few weeks easy on the running, keeping my bike and swim workouts as planned but reducing morning runs to 5 or 6 miles runs and my only weekend run between now and then around 10 miles. On February 1st I'll be running the Surfside Marathon and plan to have a similar finish time to the Houston Marathon, depending on conditions. The Surfside Marathon is the only marathon that occurs entirely on the beach and it'll be fun to run this very unique course. I highly recommend signing up if you are in the area. Nice course and great swag!

Recipe of the week: Recovery smoothie!

It's starting to warm up again down here on the coast, and looking forward to a cold fruit smoothie makes the workout much more. It's also a great way to get good nutrients for recovery in while you relax!

What you need:


  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 3/4 cups of your favorite berries, I like raspberry and blackberry mixed
  • 1/4 almond milk
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tbsp Flax or Chia seeds ( I prefer chia)
Toss is all in a blender with some ice, blend, rock and roll!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Getting Ready to Hobble Through the Houston Marathon

Quick Update

Relocating for work after college leaves me 1200 miles away from my nearest relative and leads to a whole lot of holiday traveling. Trip went from Houston to Denver to Truckee to San Francisco and as a whole I kept up quite well with 1-2 workouts a day between running and swimming and taking one off day a week as per the usual. On the good side of things I was able to do two long runs and get a baseline time for the Ironman swim distance (1:29:15). On the bad side, the airline getting me home really, really screwed up my flights (I know weather was preventing trips, but my plane came in From Los Angeles to Oakland then to Houston, all of which are known for their pleasant winter weather so that excuse is schenanigans). 
Original plan involved a couple days to settle back in and get long weekend workouts taken care of, what actually happened was I got 90 minutes of sleep before  having to go to work on Monday then had to make the hour trip back to the airport to pick up my lost luggage so I could get my run gear and do my long run that evening.
Work the next day.

Apparently long runs, in cold weather, on 90 minutes of sleep and in a generally poor mood are a no-no and I am now terrified for the Houston Marathon 10 days from now, shortly followed by the Surfside Marathon two weeks later. I am trying to relax a bit about it because the main purposes of those races is to get me ready for the run in Ironman Texas so as a whole time doesn't matter; however, we all know that isn't what we are thinking the day of the race.
The thing is it is happening whether I am ready or not so here we go!


Product Review: 

I have always used chamois butter and various other skin protectors while working out because my skin apparently flees my body at any signs of abrasion. I use it running on my feet, under arms and thighs and biking on my…uh hem… exactly where it says to. Ruby’s is a bit thicker that creams I was using previously which makes it last a lot longer but you want to make sure to get it everywhere you have trouble. I would provide the before and after pictures, but then I’d have to charge $9.95 a view.


Interpretive before and after.



Recipe of the Week: Quinoa Breakfast Porridge

If you’ve read any previous posts you know I am a die-hard fan of this super grain and like to incorporate it as often as possible.  This breakfast is easy to make in a large batch and refrigerate for use throughout the week and I like to throw a few berries and nuts before I microwave it to get a bright start to the day.

What you’ll need:
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa (~3/4 cup dry boiled in 1 ½ cups of water)
  • 1 cup almond milk (keep some extra around in case it gets too dry)
  • Personal taste but approximately
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
    • 2 tbsp Brown Sugar

What you need to do:
Mix the almond milk in with the cooked quinoa over heat, add cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar. Cook until there is very little excess almond milk and refrigerate for tomorrow’s breakfast!



Workout of the Week:

My adventures this weekend lead to me being very sore (walking like a duck sore) so I have been spending more time on my foam roller. I typically do a deep roll after long workouts but this week have been light rolling before working out, and then five minutes after and can tell a significant difference. I am going to try to continue this habit and use it daily from here on out. That sore feeling of a good workout is satisfying, but it’s also important to live to fight another day and appropriate rolling, stretching and cools downs will make that possible.  




Next time you hear from me will be the Houston Marathon race review! See you then!