Thoughts on the Hoover Dam Marathon, Dietary Changes, and some Workouts.

It has been nice to take things easier, and just enjoy running for what it is.  That is until I start perusing my training logs, blog posts, and Garmin data  from a year ago.  Then I start to feel bad for not running as much as I used to... or running as fast as I used to.   Patience is not my virtue.  but, I really want to exercise my patience, going into this next training cycle and hopefully build myself up to be stronger than I was last year (distance wise) .  I have also made a few adjustments to my diet but,more on that later.

Thoughts on the Hoover Dam Marathon

I still haven't registered for that fall marathon just yet.  But, I'm 90% sure that The Hoover Dam Marathon is going to be the one I register for.

I have started to study the elevation profile of the course, and I'm beginning to day dream about the race itself.  Once the weather begins to cool down, I'm going to do some of my longer runs through the train tunnels to get my legs used to running the trail. This marathon has about 14 miles of dirt trail.    The elevation profile looks pretty intimidating but, because of the tunnels the elevation on this chart isn't accurate.  It appears that there is 4600 feet of climbing, and that sounds awful.

There are about 24 false hills on this elevation profile.

However, when you go through the tunnels the GPS signal gets blocked by the tunnels itself, and it creates a false hill in the elevation profile.  Those 5 hills going through the tunnels are non-existent. So in reality this course only has  about 2200 feet of elevation gain.  This race won't be a walk in the park, but it's not nearly as brutal as the elevation map appears to be.


For training I'm going to try to follow a 16 week training program, I haven't decided which program I'm going to use yet, but I have narrowed down the start date of my training cycle.  I will start officially training for this marathon starting Monday, August 24th.  That gives me two more months to take it easy and base build.  I have one more 5k on the calendar before then, but I don't think I will be doing any hardcore interval training to prepare for that 5k.  My mindset is, "please stay healthy legs, I promise to strength train instead."

Dietary Changes

I dont' talk about food, my diet, or nutrition much on this blog.  I think there are much more valuable resources online to discuss how to eat properly.  I also take shitty food photos, and do you guys really care about my daily oatmeal?   I do feel however it is necessary to bring up  this topic.

For Mother's day, my husband and I purchased a juicer, and since then we have been juicing daily.

Green Drink with Chia Seeds
(Kale, Spinach, Carrots, Celery, and Apples)

I'm not really drinking juice as a meal replacement, but more like a supplement to my existing diet.  However, this has caused me to think differently about the food that I eat and the chemicals that I sometimes put into my body.  My goal has been to eat less processed foods, and less animal products.
I'm not vegan, but I am pretty close to being locto ovo vegetarian.  I haven't had any meat in the last couple of weeks, and I don't really miss it.

My husband also tried to go gluten free, but we both like bread way too much, and our bodies don't seem to reject gluten, or feel any ill effects from it.  No need to go too crazy with the restriction.

I'm also trying to cut back on my beloved diet soda.  I am a self proclaimed diet coke whore.  I love this awful stuff.   I have about one soda a day now.  But, that's much better than my usual 2-3 cans a day.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm hoping to drop a pound or two, by switching up my diet.  But, I don't really have a whole lot of weight to lose.   My weight has always stayed in the low to mid 120's and  I don't see myself dropping 10lbs before the end of the year.  I just hope this translates into recovering faster from my runs, and using better foods for fueling the muscles during training.

Okay enough weight talk... Let's talk running.

Last Week's Training Updates

Monday 6/15- Two a days -I was pressed for time in the morning, I didn't have time to run,  but, I did  a few exercises for upper body and core.  I did the following exercises in a circuit:

• Sit ups on an incline board
• Chin ups- I can do two chin-ups, but then I hop down and switch to lat pull downs with 80% of my body weight
• Side Step-down Lunges on a bench
• Rope Curls

I did a total of four circuits

At lunch time, I ran five miles on the treadmill,  I did this as a progression run, where each mile gets faster than the last.  I started out running 6.4 (9:23 pace), and by then end I was running 7.7 pace (7:49 per mile) I also set the treadmill to a 1% incline.

Tuesday  6/16 Two a days-  I ran two miles in the dirt at Cornerstone Park.  There are quite a few ducks in this park, and other than the duck poop, I have to dodge sometimes, I don't mind the ducks.  I leave them alone, they leave me alone. This morning I was running along a path, and I noticed a lone duck, and she started hissing at me...  I stopped running, and she made a clearance for her babies.  I had to take a picture.

Mama duck and her babies.  

At lunchtime I lifted weights, and I can't remember which exercises. I did.

Wednesday 6/17 -Rest- I took the day off from work. My kids had various dr's appointments for check ups.   We then went to Chuck e Cheese as a treat.  I hate this place with a passion, but my kids enjoy it.

It was too hot to go play outside.

Thursday 6/18 Two a days- I ran three miles before work, I ran these in the business park area. It was flat roads, with little to no traffic.  It was quiet and nice.  Except for the fact that it was 90 degrees at 7:30 in the morning!  

At  lunchtime, I did some core work, lower body, and a few upper body exercises.

Friday 6/19  I ran five boring miles on the treadmill and then I stretched.

Saturday 6/20-Rest

Sunday 6/21 Rest- It was too damn hot to go outside.

Monday 6/22-  Two a days 8.25 miles.  I ran 2.25 miles before work, and at lunchtime I ran six more miles on the treadmill.  I felt bad for being lazy over the weekend.

Tuesday 6/23- I ran a little over 3.5 miles this morning. I stayed away from traffic, and I ran along the Pittman Wash Trail.  At least the weather wasn't as bad.

I will probably head to the weight room, at lunchtime.  

That's all I've got for now.  Thank you for reading.