Xena runs the plan

[Xena]

Epic quests?? The most specific one is to get back to a sub-4 hr marathon. Beyond that, be strong and lean, keep my body in good working order. Live a happy, peaceful yet adventurous life.

 

1. Run the plan

Short version: Run 170 miles, complete at least 6 “quality workouts†as RXed.

Long version: I’ve signed up for a marathon on November 1 and have worked out a training plan. I’ve run variations on this plan before (Daniel’s Running Formula, Marathon plan A)…it’s HARD, but it works. I’ve had big success with this before, but I’ve also gotten frustrated and given up. I’ve thought about how to work a bit more flexibility into it. If I hit my ideal mileage every week, I would get 209 miles for the challenge. I set 170 as a realistic target, since stuff happens. The plan has two hard scheduled workouts every week, but they aren’t particularly compatible with training with other people. For this challenge, my target will be to do at least 6 of these as specified. For the other 6, I can substitute things like a race, a long run with friends, or a group track workout.  This is my major goal for the challenge. +4 STA for the 170 miles, +2 STR for the workouts

1. Find balance

Cross-train at least 3x a week for at least 20 minutes. Anything counts. I’ll try to do as much as possible outside, but that’s just for fun. +3 DEX for all workouts complete

1. Keep pushing

750 pushups. At least 5 of each session need to be full pushups. The others can be negatives as necessary. +2 STR for all pushups done.

1. Cleanliness is next to Rangerly-ness

Complete the “Weekly Home Blessing†(Flylady website), generally on the weekends. Also do a mid-week cleanup (basically just straightening up a bit). Full credit for 10/12 completed. +2 CHA for having a charming home.

1. Win the Kitchen Olympics!

Use all the things that are sitting around my kitchen: fondue pot (got it for Christmas >5 years ago, never used), deep fryer (I know not so healthy, but I haven’t used it in years), breadmaker (got as a gift, used once), springform pan, bundt pan, rolling pin, cedar plank, skewers, citrus juicer. Full credit for using at least 6 things.Don’t worry…I’m planning to give away most of the baked goods, and will have friends over when I fire up the deep fryer!+2 WIS.

[QuirkyDM]

That's a lot of running and a lot of pushups. I approve!

 

Do you have a goal pace for your marathon? We already know you can run those with your eyes closed. Well maybe not literally. But you're a strong runner already, so I assume all that extra training is with a goal in mind.

 

The kitchen olympics sounds fun. A good way to replenish all those carbs after the run.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Wow - ambitious, but I have no doubt that you'll do it!!

 

I love baking bread, but then I have a hard time letting it go out the door to good homes.  I salute your resolve and fortitude!!

[Xena]

That's a lot of running and a lot of pushups. I approve!

 

Do you have a goal pace for your marathon? We already know you can run those with your eyes closed. Well maybe not literally. But you're a strong runner already, so I assume all that extra training is with a goal in mind.

 

The kitchen olympics sounds fun. A good way to replenish all those carbs after the run.

 

I apologize if this ends up being a long answer, but it's something I've been wondering for myself! I would like to go under 4 hours, but I haven't done that since 2010. Lately I've been hovering around 4:30. I did 4:34 back in June. That race was at altitude, so I think I should be able to improve. I recently ran a 15K at ~8:30 pace. When I look at the pace predictors (they scale your time from one distance to another, accounting for slowing down over distance), it predicts at 3:58...so I don't think I'm crazy to try.

 

A 4 hour marathon is a 9:09 average pace. I find the trick to running a faster marathon (for me) isn't so much to run a faster pace for the "average miles" but more not to crash out at the end...a 12+ minute mile hurts a lot more than slowing from 9:05 to 9:15. When I've run ~4 hours before, I did the first 1/2 around 8:30 pace

and then gradually slowed to around 10 minute pace during the second half. That's a fairly reasonable slowdown, and I would take it. When I've run a 4:30 marathon, it looks a lot uglier!

 

4 hours is honestly very ambitious for me right now. I'm going to train for it (my training plan is based around current aerobic threshold, so I'm at the right level), but realistically, I would be happy with anything under 4:20 (10 min average pace).

 

...Sorry so long...the answer is mostly for myself :-)

[Xena]

Wow - ambitious, but I have no doubt that you'll do it!!

 

I love baking bread, but then I have a hard time letting it go out the door to good homes.  I salute your resolve and fortitude!!

 

Thanks Chris...somehow I cut out most bread from my diet years ago. It's not really my vice. Cakes and other sweets are a different story. I need to have a very clear plan for the day I break out the springform pan :-)

 

It probably doesn't really make sense for me to have the breadmaker...I'm forcing myself to drag all this kitchen stuff out, partly to decide whether to get rid of some of it.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Thanks Chris...somehow I cut out most bread from my diet years ago. It's not really my vice. Cakes and other sweets are a different story. I need to have a very clear plan for the day I break out the springform pan :-)

 

It probably doesn't really make sense for me to have the breadmaker...I'm forcing myself to drag all this kitchen stuff out, partly to decide whether to get rid of some of it.

 

One step closer to out the door, but with style!

[QuirkyDM]

I apologize if this ends up being a long answer, but it's something I've been wondering for myself! I would like to go under 4 hours, but I haven't done that since 2010. Lately I've been hovering around 4:30. I did 4:34 back in June. That race was at altitude, so I think I should be able to improve. I recently ran a 15K at ~8:30 pace. When I look at the pace predictors (they scale your time from one distance to another, accounting for slowing down over distance), it predicts at 3:58...so I don't think I'm crazy to try.

 

A 4 hour marathon is a 9:09 average pace. I find the trick to running a faster marathon (for me) isn't so much to run a faster pace for the "average miles" but more not to crash out at the end...a 12+ minute mile hurts a lot more than slowing from 9:05 to 9:15. When I've run ~4 hours before, I did the first 1/2 around 8:30 pace

and then gradually slowed to around 10 minute pace during the second half. That's a fairly reasonable slowdown, and I would take it. When I've run a 4:30 marathon, it looks a lot uglier!

 

4 hours is honestly very ambitious for me right now. I'm going to train for it (my training plan is based around current aerobic threshold, so I'm at the right level), but realistically, I would be happy with anything under 4:20 (10 min average pace).

 

...Sorry so long...the answer is mostly for myself :-)

I'm glad you gave the long answer. It's what I wanted to hear. And it helps me figure these things out as my runs and activities get longer and longer. That would be such a great jump, but like you said, even a 10 minute increase would be huge.

[DarK_RaideR]

It probably doesn't really make sense for me to have the breadmaker...I'm forcing myself to drag all this kitchen stuff out, partly to decide whether to get rid of some of it.

May I suggest banana bread?

[Phytomancer]

May I suggest banana bread?

 

I will add zucchini bread on the list. Less grains. More veggies.

 

Also, a marathon! That sounds excitingly ambitious. There will be a lot of running! 

[Xena]

I've done lots of marathon.. but I want to be able to do them fast(ish!) again :-)

 

Regarding the zucchini bread and banana bread, they are both awesome, but I think they are both batter breads...meaning you don't really need yeast, kneading or a breadmaker.  Phytomancer and DarkRaider, you are both sort of making the case for me that I can occasionally bake awesome things and get rid of the breadmaker.

 

...but the breadmaker needs a heroic sendoff into the Valhalla of kitchen appliances...I'll make something...hopefully it will be "eventful" enough that I will have a strory to tell.

 

By the way, and old college friend stayed over tonight (I've known her 23 years!). She's vegetarian, so I dug out the cookbooks and prepped for some recipes I would be scared to make on my own. We made some kind of Persian recipe that involved a "pyramid" of rice and lentils. Frankly delicious, but we did plow through a bottle-and-a-half of wine. Ok, I could remember crazy college stories from 20 years ago, but maybe that's not too smart :-)   Funny that I still feel exactly the same.

[Mistr]

Thanks Chris...somehow I cut out most bread from my diet years ago. It's not really my vice. Cakes and other sweets are a different story. I need to have a very clear plan for the day I break out the springform pan :-)

 

It probably doesn't really make sense for me to have the breadmaker...I'm forcing myself to drag all this kitchen stuff out, partly to decide whether to get rid of some of it.

 

I understand how you feel about unused kitchen items. I got out my deep fat fryer this winter to make rosettes. They are a family favorite that my grandmother used to make. I sent most of them to my brothers. I also made donuts, just because I had the fryer set up. Doing that reminded me that homemade donuts are about the same quality as the ones from my favorite donut shop - not better. The problem is that I end up with a couple dozen donuts that are best fresh. It is only worth doing for a big group, but it is too messy to do when I have a house full of people. I'll keep my deep fat fryer with the holiday baking stuff.

 

A bread maker does not make a lot of sense if you don't eat much bread. As you note, banana bread and zuchini bread are closer to cake than bread.

 

There are some tools that are worth their weight in gold for one specialized task. A cherry pitter for example. Most of these are special occassion or seasonal things. If those occassions don't happen, the tool is just taking up space.

[Xena]

Day 1 not so epic, but more-or-less on plan. Ran 2 miles (with some 800 m intervals), which was 2 miles more than I felt like running :-)

25 pushups (5 full). Tried out 8 min abs (level 1) as part of a PVP. Didn't seem too bad, but ab work has a way of coming back to haunt you.

 

Tomorrow just planning to go to yoga class. Ranger awesomeness planned for Wed. They left me in charge of the track workout (suckers!) so we're going to do 3x1 mile with burpees after each lap* (8 for the fastest person, 3 for the slowest, and 5 for everyone in the middle). Then we are going to have "peer pressure situps." I'm grinning evilly, just thinking about this...

 

* Inspired by a post last challenge from AgentSka

[Xena]

Did some yoga this morning. Track workout was awesome. We have two groups that start 30 min apart. The slower, beginner group is first. Sometimes I don't really enjoy running the workout for them because many of them are new to exercise/running and either aren't interested in working out hard or haven't really learned to challenge themselves (yet). Tonight we had such an awesome group. They did 3x800 with 5 burpees after the first lap of each 800. I was so proud of them. It was the hardest I have ever seen that group work, and they seemed really into the burpees. Then with the later group, I did 3x1 mile with burpees after each lap. We had an unusually big group, and people were pretty into it. SInce I wasn't the fastest in the group, I had the awesome experience of rounding the last curve and seeing the first couple people hitting the deck. It was awesome. Finished with situps and yoga/stretching. The most fun I've had at the track in a while.

[Thom Stépan]

That is a lot of running, I only dream of completing a marathon let alone run one under four hours.

[Phytomancer]

Nice that you found a group to work out with. It's always fun that way

[Xena]

That is a lot of running, I only dream of completing a marathon let alone run one under four hours.

You could do it...you just have to like running enough to spend a lot of time training.

----------------------

 

I think I forgot to mention the key part of the burpee workout...I was in charge that day...everyone was doing burpees because I told them to. What power!!  :-)

[Xena]

I can't decide if I should count burpees toward my pushup challenge. Last challenge I specifically decided not to...but I did 60 burpees yesterday and am feeling it (to the point that I'm not sure I could do pushups today). I guess I'll keep track of both and give myself a gold star if I get 750 with just pushups, and a silver if I have to throw in some burpees to reach the goal. It seems lame to hold off on the burpees because I don't want to tire myself out for pushups.

 

Last night I did my mid-week cleaning routine it took about an hour (mostly because it included prepping a bunch of CSA vegetables) but it is nice to have a clean(ish) house.

 

I felt really tired today. Went out and ran 2 miles this morning. Was planning to paddleboard this afternoon, but honestly felt too tired. Will go to be early tonight and hit it hard tomorrow.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Yeah you should count them. You go down and push yourself back up, sounds like a push up to me.

[maegs]

That is so many miles! I think you run more in a week than I do in a month  

[Thom Stépan]

Long term dream/goal for me actually. It is in my Epic Quest thread, along with other long term goals. The hardest part for me is time, six kids chew up a lot of time.

[jstanlick]

Running and pushups is awesome. Running and burpees is just kick ass!

But man, that's a lot of miles!

[Xena]

Long term dream/goal for me actually. It is in my Epic Quest thread, along with other long term goals. The hardest part for me is time, six kids chew up a lot of time.

That is a marathon of sorts! They'll grow up faster than you know (so I've been told)...lots of people start serious distance running a little later in life when their kids are more independent. If it doesn't fit into your life right now, maybe it will later.

[Phytomancer]

I love how you always add cleaning as a part of your challenge! I think it helps leveling up your life, but too lazy to admit I have to clean once in a while.

[ShadowLion]

Love the workout you planned for the group - sounds like a great time was had by all!

[Xena]

Yesterday 8 min abs and some yoga in the morning. 5.5 mile run at night.

Today 21.6 mile run with crazy friends.