Monday, April 21, 2008

What a Beautiful Day!

sunshine

What a beautiful day today! It's in the 70's here in Minnesota and the sunshine is finally out! About time!

This weekend I accomplished quite a bit. Following my great run on Friday, I managed to plead with my boyfriend to run the Race for the Cure with me. He isn't a runner so it was a bit of a struggle but he finally agreed. I had planned on getting my parents to at least walk it with me but they said that they didn't feel ready. So instead, I have successfully recruited the bf with the promise of getting him trained prior to the race so that he doesn't feel like he has to walk it. Anyway, it should be a nice short race.

So, the answer to your question Chris...I am running the Race for the Cure in May and then I am running what is called the "Lindstrom Loppet", another 5K in a small Swedish town where my parents live. I plan to get a 10K in there somewhere but I really need to do some more investigating to figure out which one I want to run.

The side stitches aren't really completely out of the dark yet. I had them a few times this weekend when doing pretty mediocre things like walking. But we'll see and hope that they don't stick around.

And now I have a question to pose. My overall goal was to run a marathon next year. But the half marathon needs to come before it. The Twin Cities Marathon is in October and I don't think there is any possible way that I could run it this year for sure. I think I'm getting ahead of myself to try to achieve that one yet. That and it's too close to my half marathon. BUT...let's say I finish my half marathon in August. The Twin Cities Marathon has a 10 miler that I could potentially run. But the question is...would I be able to run a 10 miler just 2 months post half marathon? I'm still debating. The other problems that I foresee is that it's kind of a crowded race and I hate parking in the city. It's also not exactly a cheap race to run. So I'm thinking I should maybe halt it until I can run the full marathon next year. Anyway, give me your thoughts if you have any.

5 comments:

*jen* said...

I'm so jealous you were able to convince your BF to run with you; mine doesn't like doing activity that doesn't have a goal or clear winner/loser. Basically, if it's not a game, he isn't interested. It sucks!

Unfortunately, I don't have much sage advice to offer on whether you should do the 10 miler 2 mos after the 1/2 mary...maybe you could just find a few smaller races (5k's) instead? Especially if the 10 mile race is crowded and it's a pain in the butt to get there, etc. Is there a timeframe that you have to make the decision by? I'm such a newbie with races...

Anonymous said...

I say go for it!!! the full marathon in October!! You just ran 7.5 miles on Friday (with side stitches!), and you have 8 weeks? (maybe more, maybe less, don't now the exact dates) between your half and the full. This means that 2 months before the marathon you are already going to be able to do half of it easily!
Also, if you start thinking now that your goal is the full, and start training for it (making your long runs a bit longer) you're going to be more than ready for it!!
I've found out that one of the hardest things in running long distances is convincing your mind of what your body can do! There are plenty of programs to go from zero to running a marathon in 16 weeks, you have more than 16 weeks and are already running a lot regularly!!
Just think about it... You'll end up reaching the double of what was your initial goal for this year! You can do it!!! And you have blogland to support you through it!

Chris said...

Lots of questions in there, Rachel. First, yes I think you could run a 10 miler 2 months after a half marathon. From what I understand, you want to take a couple of weeks off from long runs after a half marathon. However, by time you are ready to run the half, a 10 miler won't be that 'long' for you. My buddy routinely runs 10 and 11 milers all the time. You will be fine.

Can you do a half in August and a full in October? I think you can do it as long as you stick to a training plan. Of course, the downside of you running a marathon in October is that I will have to change MY plans from running my half in November and go for the full marathon. I already upped my goal once because you and Alien were both running halfs--now you are doing this to me!! What's next? An ultra marathon? 100 miles??

If you have not done it yet, make sure you check out Runners World.com's Smart Coach. It will really help you get prepared.

Jen, let your BF know that running IS a game and that there IS a clear winner and loser. It really is a battle between your mind and your body. The body is tough, but convincing your self you can do this stuff is half the battle. That might get him out there with you. If not, call him names. That might work.

Anonymous said...

Just call him names, it will work!!

EmLit said...

You could definitely do a 10-miler that soon after completing a half. Make sure you give your body enough time to rest, although that needn't be all that long. If you were training for a marathon, you would routinely be running a 13-mile long run one week, a 15-miler the next, etc. Doing the 10-miler would actually allow you to still keep your fitness level high while not putting a huge training toll on your body. I say go for it!