Running – Page 56 – Zenaida Arroyo

Category: Running

20
Nov
2016

Birthday Week

My birthday is today. I remember when I turned 21, 30, and 40. As I’ve gottten older I don’t do anything wild or crazy. I am just happy that I get to celebrate another birthday because I know many people do not. So, let me tell you about my week leading up to today.

Monday:

Back to work. Tired as usual. Woke up at 4:30 and could not go back to sleep. Thankfully I had to get through the week and two more days the following week till Thanksgiving Break.

In the evening I enjoyed a glass of wine. Or it might have been two glasses.

Tuesday:

I do not know why but woke up again at 4:30 am. My cat thought it was time to eat so she meowed until I finally fed her.

I could not go back to sleep so I went to the Running Warehouse site and ordered two pairs of the Mizuno Wave Rider 19. A few people have reviewed the 20s and I wanted to try them out too (I know it is different but it has pretty good reviews). I went with the 19 because they were on sale. I usually wear a 9.5 but have had to size up a few times with some shoes so I ordered a 9.5 and 10. I also ordered a pair of the Mizuno Sayonara 3 which were also on sale on Amazon. I’ve worn this shoe before and did not really care for it. But I’ve heard good things about the updated version so I want to try them out again.

After work I felt sick. I felt like I had a fever. I left at 3 and stopped at Target to get some things for a parent volunteer breakfast the next day. Once home I took a nap and woke up at 5:45. I debated on whether to meet my running club for our workout (1×1600 and 4×400). I ended up going and am glad I did. I ended up running my fastest mile in 8:24! It was tough!

Don’t pay attention to the rest of the splits. I’ve had my watch for almost a year but rarely use it at the track so I never figured out how to use it correctly for track use. Well, after Tuesday I have a much better idea.

After my workout I went with a friend to eat tacos. Since it was Taco Tuesday there were so many people there and we waited a long time. I think we waited more than the actual time it took us to eat the tacos!

Wednesday:

The usual stuff at work and a meeting after school. I was supposed to meet a friend for dinner but ended up cancelling to work late.

Thursday:

It is almost Friday! Plus, it was supposed to get to 70s. That is unheard of for November but I’ll take it.

I got my shoes from Running Warehouse. Cute colors and very comfortable. I posted a picture on Facebook and Instagram and asked friends if I should keep both. Ha, they all said to definitely keep both pairs.

I took advantage of the weather and did my run in shorts and tank top. Why not? 6.02 miles @10:05 average pace.

Friday:

The best day of the week. Payday and breakfast. The day went fast but I did stay at work till 5pm to grade papers and finish my lesson plans. I did not want to do that this weekend.

I was not too crazy for the pink and purple shoe colors. I ordered another pair in lilac/white/violet. I think those will look prettier! I mean running shoes have to be comfortable and pretty too, right?

Saturday:

I went to Fleet Feet to check out their Thanksgiving Sale and to return a pair of shoes. I bought the Saucony Zealot 2 at the Chicago Marathon Expo and while they felt great when I tried them on, they hurt my feet when I ran in them. The manager was nice enough to take them back even though it was over 30 days since I had purchased them. I ended up buying a TrailHeads hat (which I have to return because I realized the next day that I have one in the same color) and a Brooks running jacket during the cold winter this year.

I made a quick stop at Staples and found this Atari game console on sale. I remember my siblings and I had one when we were kids. It was tempting to buy it.

Sunday:

My birthday!! I ran 4.4 miles to commemorate this special day! It was cold and windy and I was glad it was just 4.4 miles. I am not ready to run in this cold weather.

Lola loves cuddling with me!

For lunch I went to Home Run Inn with my siblings and nephews and niece. It was fun to catch up and eat delicious food. I even got a free sundae to celebrate my birthday.

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.

Hoping everyone had a good week!

01
Nov
2016

Birthday Month Giveaway

categories: Giveaway, Running, Things I Am Loving

Disclaimer: None of these items are sponsored by the companies but are items I purchased with my own money.

Hello November! I love this month! It is my birthday month. Do I need more reasons? And because of it being my birthday month, I have a cool giveaway for you!

So what is included in this AWESOME giveaway? The winner will receive a NUUN container (I have various flavors), a Momentum SPARKlet, a pair of Lock Laces, Headsweats Visor, Honey Stinger Organic Chews, and Honey Stinger Strawberry Waffle.

To enter, click on the image below where you will be directed to Gleam and enter several different ways such as leaving a blog post comment, following me on Instagram, commenting on any of my Instagram posts, or tweeting about the giveaway.

This giveaway will run for seven days (until November 7th at 11:59 pm). The winner will be selected on the eighth day. The giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be contacted via the email address associated with their Gleam account and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. All entries are verified, so please be sure to complete them or a new, random winner will be selected.

Best of luck to everyone who enters!

I am linking up with Erica and Smitha for this giveaway!

30
Oct
2016

Thoughts on Hansons Marathon Method

categories: Chicago Marathon, Hansons Training, Marathon Training, Running, Weekly Recap

If you read my marathon training weekly recaps then you know I used the Hansons Marathon Method. In a nutshell, this training is based on the concept of cumulative fatigue. You train your body to run often so that you are frequently running on tired legs. The idea is to run this way so that during the last miles of a race you are prepared to push through the final miles. These plans are 18 weeks and have you running 6 days (easy, speed/strength, tempo, and long runs) a week with one rest day.

This was my first time using this method for the marathon. I was fortunate to be off this summer (I am a teacher) so I knew I would be able to handle running 6 days a week. However, going back to work did not go well. Please note that I am NOT saying that if you are not off this summer that you will not be able to handle it. This girl has a job and always made time to get her runs before going to work.

This plan is HARD. However, I am not saying that it isn’t doable. It is but you need to make sure you can run 6 days a week with only 1 day to rest.
Tempo runs freaked me out. I ran all of them on the treadmill and they weren’t bad after all. I managed to run them at the specified pace and that was a confidence booster.
Plan to run high mileage. I was not used to running so many miles in one week. The Advanced Plan had me running over 40, 50, or 60 miles in one week.
I was constantly tired. Oh my goodness. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as tired as I did this summer. Again, I was fortunate that I did not have to get up early to go to work.
Sleep was my best friend. See point above. I slept and napped like a baby.
Wednesday was the best day of the week. Remember that one rest day mentioned above? Yep, that is on Wednesday. Each week I looked forward to this day.
No strength training for me. In the beginning I did a few TRX sessions before my runs but stopped once I realized I could not wake up in time for the class. <<Excuses, I could have taken the class in the afternoon or evening. See points 4 and 5.
You can choose from 3 different plans. In the book you’ll find plans for “Just Want to Finish”, “Beginner”, and “Advanced”. I chose the latter because, well, this was my 8th marathon so I knew it would be perfect for me.
Read the whole book; a few times if necessary. I didn’t and ended up asking many, many questions that could have been answered if I had read the whole book.

Going back to work was challenging. I was fine the first two weeks and then BAM it was a struggle. I had to stay late most days and found it hard to run after work. I am not making any excuses. I know everyone has a job and finds a way to make it work but I just could not find a balance nor get back to a different routine. That left me worried and frustrated and various times I thought about giving up.

Now that the Chicago Marathon is over (read my recap here), I’ve asked myself if I would use it again for another marathon. At this point I have NO desire to run another marathon. However, if I were to run another one then I might use the Hansons Marathon Method again. I am already familiar with it. I know it is doable. However, I would run my speed/strength and tempo runs outside instead of the treadmill. Or at least alternate a bit so as not to do all of them on the treadmill. And I will make sure I do not skip so many runs.

I do wonder if my marathon experience would have been better if I had followed the plan exactly as stated. However, I know that there are no guaranteed and anything can happen on marathon day. I mean, I was ready for my marathon but somehow my hip decided to be a jerk that day. I did get a PR and I am definitely happy about it!

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.

Hoping everyone had a good week!

17
Oct
2016

2016 Chicago Marathon

categories: Chicago Endurance Sports, Chicago Marathon, Running, Weekly Recap

On Sunday, October 9th, I ran the Chicago Marathon (my 8th one and my last one for a while). This one was special to me. It was 10 years ago when I ran my first one. I remember my feet hurting a lot, I was cold and wanted to quit. I told myself I would never do another one again. Yeah, right.

I took it easy the days prior to the marathon. I went to the expo on Friday and stayed home most of Saturday. I was excited, nervous, but looking forward to running 26.2 miles around Chicago.

Saturday night I went to bed at 8pm since I had a 4am wakeup call. I took a sleeping pill and fell asleep right away. However, Sunday morning I woke up at 2:30 and could not go back to sleep. Finally at 4 I got up, ate a peanut butter sandwich with coffee, and got ready.

Perfect running weather, right?

I picked up a friend, drove to the train station, and then boarded the train to get downtown. We had access to a “resort area” offered by Chicago Endurance Endurance. There was lots of food and plenty of bathrooms. I had a banana with peanut butter and tried to relax. I did get a little emotional just like last year but quickly got my act together.

Finally it was time to walk to my corral. Let’s do this! I met up with two other pacers and decided to run with them for as long as I could. I was in wave 2 and it took us 10 minutes to cross the start line. However, we had been in line waiting for almost an hour.

I knew that the satellite signals were going to be wonky so I turned off the auto lap and opted to press the lap button at every mile marker.

As you’ll see from the picture below, I was doing really good for 11 miles. I set my watch to only show the current time and I would only look at it after pressing the lap button. I was shocked but happy and proud of myself to see the numbers after each mile. I began to feel pain in my left hip around mile 9. I remember I was a few feet behind my friends but managed to catch up to them. By mile 11 I knew I could not stay with them any longer. I decided to wait till the halfway point to see how I was feeling and to decide whether to stop or continue running.

At mile 13 I saw Wendy and Marcia. I remember smiling and saying Hi to them and kept on going. I was still hurting but decided to see how much longer I could hold on. I mean, I was already halfway done so just keep running, right? I remember that when I saw the sign for Mile 16 I realized that I only had 10 miles to go. I was more than half way there and now more than ever I had to keep going. Shortly after that I saw a coworker with her family and stopped for a few seconds to talk to her. She asked me how I was doing and I mentioned my hip and how I wanted to quit. She told me not to quit and to keep on going.

At mile 17 I saw a some Oiselle team members. They motivated and encouraged me to keep going. My favorite area was Pilsen. Wow, so many people. It was one big party with loud music and people cheering for us.

I don’t know if I hit the wall but miles 21-25 were difficult for me. The sun felt strong and I was tired of running. I kept telling myself that I was almost done. At mile 21 my time was 4:09 and knew that I could get a PR. That was my motivation. I would push myself to get through each mile. I saw the 1 mile to go marker and I was in tears. So close to the finish line. Then the 800m sign and then the 400m sign. I couldn’t believe it. Just a little bit more to go. I walked most of the small incline on Roosevelt (cursing again why this was before the finish line) before making one final left turn and seeing the finish line. I ran as fast as I could. Finish time is 5:12:59. Yep, it was a 4 minutes PR set in 2012 in New Orleans and I bettered my time by 40 minutes from 10 years ago. I was very happy to finish but even more happy that I did not quit or give up.

Overall, it was a great race. Lots of wonderful volunteers and so many people cheering for us. AMAZING!! And great course!

I may not have gotten a huge PR and I am a little disappointed in myself. I trained hard this summer. OK, so I did miss a few runs and the last 3 weeks I hardly ran at all. I am glad I was able to finish but I know I could have done better. I was hoping to finish under 5 hours. Sigh. Maybe I should just stop here, let it go, and move on. Another marathon in the books and call it a day.

Who is signing up for next year? Applications for guaranteed entries will be available on October 25 and those with non-guaranteed entries will open November 1st.

Did you read the article about the Chicago Marathon medals showing up on eBay? Would you sell your medal? I really dislike this year’s medal and the one from last year is even worse.

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.

Hoping everyone had a good week!

10
Oct
2016

2016 Chicago Marathon Training Week 18

categories: Chicago Endurance Sports, Chicago Marathon, Hansons Training, Marathon Training, Running, Weekly Recap

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.

Hoping everyone had a good week!

Last week training for the Chicago Marathon. I am excited (and nervous) to be training using the Hansons Marathon Method. In a nutshell, this training is based on the concept of cumulative fatigue. You train your body to run often so that you are frequently running on tired legs. The idea is to run this way so that during the last miles of a race you are prepared to push through the final miles. These plans are 18 weeks and have you running 6 days (easy, speed/strength, tempo, and long runs) a week with one rest day.

Week #18, October 3-9

Monday:

PLAN – 6 easy @10:52-12:16 pace
ACTUAL –6.02 miles @10:28 average pace

Great evening for a run! Ran faster than I wanted to but overall felt great.

Below is a picture of this year’s medal. Not sure how I feel about it. I don’t love it but I find it to be plain and boring. It features an engraving of the original starting line of the marathon, which once began next to the Picasso statute located in front of the Richard J. Daley Civic Center.

Here is the one from last year.

Tuesday:

PLAN –5 easy @10:52-12:16 pace
ACTUAL – 5.02 miles @10:41 average pace

Took it slow today and ran perfect negative splits!!!

Wednesday:

PLAN – OFF
ACTUAL – OFF

After our building meeting I went back to the podiatrist for another cortisone shot. It was painful but my foot feels better. I went back because the bunion area in my foot was bothering me.

Major carbo load begins today. I tried this new cream cheese and it is delicious!