The marathon in Reno is already this week, and I feel really good about being able to do the whole 26.2 miles, but this past weekend I got anxious when I saw the course map because I know I have a horrible sense of direction and I’m afraid I’ll get lost if the course is not very well marked. So this Saturday, the boyfriend drove me around from downtown, going thru Iddlewild Park, Mayberry Dr., 4th Street, Silva Ranch Rd., 3rd Street, all way to Crystal Peak Park, which is the turn around point. Then on Sunday he dropped me off at the park and I was able to do the whole 13.1 miles back to downtown in 2h25. I am feeling very confident with my training and the course now, but I’m still not sure about my 5-hour goal. There are quite a few hills near Crystal Peak Park! Nevertheless, I’m super excited for Sunday.

Other highlights of the week: my friend S.’s birthday dinner at “Slice of the Peak“, the “Up & Atom” fundraiser improv show the boyfriend did for my students’ trip to NY/DC, and spending all day painting shoes with my students.

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Monday: basic training at the CrossFit place next to yoga. The workout went faster than last week’s, but I still don’t like how they push us. The result: my right knee started to hurt.

Tuesday: met my friend T. at the lower Galena Creek trail. 1.5 miles uphill. Horrible. 1.5 miles downhill. Much better. I know hills are important, but I really can’t stand them. 2 hours later: my right knee was really hurting.

Wednesday: had to rest. Grr…

Thursday: had to rest again. Grr…

Friday: had to rest again. Triple grr… Now I missed 3 days of training! How am I going to complete my 20 miles tomorrow???

Saturday: after 3 days, my knee was finally better and I was excited to run, except when I checked the weather it was cold and windy… Four hours later I’m still on the couch, thinking of every single reason not to run. Finally, I tell the boyfriend I was going on a quick one. 4 hours later: I had done over 20 miles!!! To celebrate, I went dancing for 4 hours with some girlfriends.

Sunday: felt great! Still got a massage, just in case 😉

What a great first week of spring! Loving this March weather we got. Besides running, I have been doing some spring cleaning for the boyfriend and cooking a bit. I made an awesome Coconut Shrimp Curry with cabbage the other day, but I’m too tired to post the recipe here since this week I did over 35 miles!

Shrimp Coconut Curry

The pups enjoying the spring

I also added a new workout (besides my 3 short runs, my weekend long run, and my 2 yoga classes.) There is a new CrossFit place in Midtown and they offered a free one-month membership for the people who went to their Grand Opening. I hate group workout classes so I know I won’t go to many of them, but I wanted to at least give it a try. Good thing I did it on Wednesday, after 2 of my short runs, because for the next two days I couldn’t move. I was only able to do my long run after I got a massage on Saturday. It was by far the most challenging run so far. The first 8 miles were easy and fast, but I hit the wall on mile 9 and was almost giving up. It was hot, I had a stomachache, and I started asking myself why I was training for a marathon anyway. Around mile 13 I got my second wind for another couple of miles, but by mile 16 I was out of water and miserable again. All I wanted to do was lay on the pavement and go to sleep. Finally completed my 18 miles in 3h40 (12 min/mile). It’s great I didn’t give up, but I’m concerned I won’t be able to finish the marathon in 5 hours at this pace.

I just love daylight savings time! Now when I get off work, I can go home and still fit in a nice run before it gets dark. This past week I felt so good with temperatures in the low 70’s and flowers blooming, that I decided to change my training and do 16 miles on Saturday instead of my scheduled 10. A few months ago, when I was talking with the organizer of a race here in Reno, he said if you can do 16 miles, you are physically fit for a marathon, because the last 10 miles are just a mental challenge. Well, I’m glad to say I can do 16 miles without any problems (except that my GPS stopped working on mile 7 and I’m not sure of my exact miles… I went longer, so I probably did close to 17 miles)! So I signed up for the Downtown River Run marathon here in Reno on April 13^th, which was actually my original marathon date. I’ll try to run as much as I can that day and if I complete the race in under 5 hours, then I’m done and can relax and get my life back, but if I don’t complete it, then I’ll continue training for the marathon in San Diego in June.

Downtown River Run

River!

Spring time is approaching

I didn’t run at all while I was away for a conference in San Jose, but I did make sure I jogged and did yoga the day before and the day after my trip, so I was actually able to finish my training for the week on time, which included a 14 mile run (2h48). Very proud of my high-mileage week, but not so proud of my eating habits… So far I have lost only .5 since Week 20. How is it possible to run 20-35 miles a week and not lose any weight?? Breakfast burritos, steak, wine, nachos, whiskey, pizza, cookies… That’s how. Decided that I needed a change, so I’m giving up Girl Scout Cookies for lent. Don’t laugh. It’s been a huge sacrifice already.

It was a crazy stressful week trying to fit it all in before my Oscar party and the conference trip. I had to split one of my weekday runs in half again, but got the boyfriend to go with me for one of them, which is always nice. Not sure what this coming week will look like for running since I’ll be out of town and busy all day long. Good thing I’ve schedule a floating week off in my training anticipating a situation like this. Nevertheless, I’ll bring my running shoes just in case.

Ps.: Made a delicious crustless quiche the other day with all the vegetables I had left over. Yum!

Steamed vegetables + 5 beaten eggs + 350 degrees for 45 min. = Delicious Quiche

Super slow training week: completed my long run of 13 miles with 13 min/miles. That’s barely jogging, but at least I did it. However, I’m glad to report that my hip pain went away after a trip to the gym. The personal trainer made me do a super hard full-body workout and the next day my hip pain was nothing by comparison.

Fitness for 10 Gym

Since I was going away for the weekend, I had to do most of my runs during a weekday. I also had to split a 5 mile run in half because I didn’t have time to do all of it in one day. In the end, it all worked out and I completed my miles! I got to go to different places each day, like Virginia Lake, the gym, and by the river in Carson with my friend T., and did my long run of 12 miles at night in my neighborhood. Glad to know I don’t have to rely on weekends for my workouts, but because I didn’t rest enough between jogs, my right hip continues to hurt a bit 😦

Carson Run

I finally had a week where I felt my training was progressing and it all started with a treadmill: 4 miles in less than 40 minutes! The gym also paid off when I went to the marina with the boyfriend and did a 9 minute mile. Sweaty but hungry, we had dinner at Jazz A Louisiana Kitchen afterwards. When did I lose all my vanity and started going to restaurants wearing a hoody?

Fish at “Jazz A Louisiana Kitchen”

When the weekend came around, I was ready for my 10 mile run. I ran the first 5 with my friend T. and after she left I continued on along the river. The weather was a little depressing though: cloud and rainy. Tons of homeless people under the bridges were a little sad too, but I completed my long run feeling great. The last run of the week was at Virginia Lake, which was slow, but rewarding. I can’t believe that even with the rain I got to run outside 3 out of 4 times. Unfortunately, the next day my right hip was hurting and the annoying pain hasn’t gotten any better…. Maybe it’s because I had to skip yoga on Sunday to go to church? I hope the karma points will at least help my hip heal soon so I can run my 12 miles this week.

The most sun I saw all week