How's that Weather Working out for You?

GAAAAAAA!!!!!!

It has been cold in Ohio, Peeps. Yes, I realize that you didn't need me to tell you that.  I have been confined to the treadmill for days, and it's starting to make me soul-sick.

The treadmill would be SO MUCH BETTER if I ate ice cream like this dude.

I have made a point of getting out on the weekends, and that really helps.  Last weekend I didn't get the opportunity to do back-to-back long runs because I was working in Columbus, so I decided to do a long trail run with the Trail Sisters on Sunday.

Our start at Boston Store: Me, Wendy, Renee, Marta

Stopping to catch my breath (Renee is patiently waiting for me)

As you can see, it was very snowy, very cold, and very steep.  Running in the snow was like running on sand, and at the end of 12 miles, my Garmin registered that I exerted as much effort as I would have on 17 miles!

This weekend, I ran 14 miles on Saturday and 7 miles on Sunday.  All of the miles were incredibly hilly, which is exactly what I need for Forget the PR 50K in Mohican.

This gives you an idea of Saturday's run: I am the tiny speck in orange and white on the left.

Halfway through the run, Wendy, Marta, and I crashed a golf and chili event at Hale Farm.

Wendy and Marta have no shame. I am hiding.

The chili smelled so amazing; it was difficult to leave.

Wendy and I reluctantly leave the Chili Open.

I made sure to nap and fuel after cleaning the house on Saturday, and I got up early to run with the Canal Rats this morning on Sand Run--more hills. Normally the Rats run WAY too fast for me, but they were kind enough to run a leisurely pace. . .which still kicked my butt.  

My runs this week totalled 42 miles, which is pretty darned good considering we had the polar vortex. I also managed to do yoga and strength training. 

At this point, if I don't get into the Forget the PR 50K, I will be in stellar form for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon in May.  Speaking of which, would you like to sign up to join me for any of the races in the series? If so, use my code, SI2019, for a 10% discount on registration for any of the races, including the whole series.  Come on--it will be fun!

No matter how cold it is, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!

Race Recap: Home Run for the Homeless

This four-miler has become my Thanksgiving tradition. It starts and ends at Gennesaret, which is the  charity it benefits. Everyone associated with the race is a volunteer. Local businesses donate gift cards and door prizes worth hundreds of dollars. It's just a super-fun time for a great cause.

Gennesaret is an organization that helps homeless people to move into housing. Sometimes they donate furniture and kitchen supplies; sometimes they help financially. The Home Run for the Homeless is their only fundraiser. The race costs 20 bucks to register online--25 on the day of the race--for a four-mile jaunt through West Akron and the Glendale Cemetery. There is also a 1 mile Fun Run/Walk which is completely in the cemetery.

I picked up my packet on Wednesday afternoon. There was a tshirt option with online registration, but I don't have much luck in getting tshirts that fit me, so I took the gloves that come with the bib. I love those gloves.

On Thursday, I was able to roll out of bed at 6:30, eat breakfast, hang out, and then leisurely make my way to the start by 8:30. I used the bathroom before the crowds and then ran a mile warmup. I missed every group photo opportunity available to me: Phillips Phlyers, Canal Rats, Crooked River Trail Runners (I'm not really part of that group, but as a Burning River Goddess, I feel like I could have joined in). No biggie. There were soooooo many people there; the mayor said that there were about 4,000 people registered for both the Fun Run and the Four Miler.  What a testament to our community!

The countdown began, and then it was time to start. It took me about 2-3 minutes to get to the starting line, which normally is no big deal, but this morning on my group run someone told me that it was a gun start, not a chip start. What this means to me is that MAYBE I ran 2-3 minutes faster than I thought I did. I'm not upset about it because I had no intention of trying to beat my PR, which is 33:48.

The cemetery is hilly--super hilly. This is the run I did on Wednesday with Phillips Phlyers, and it is a toughie for sure. The first mile is through the streets of Akron, just outside downtown, and the rest of the course is basically inside the cemetery. I was feeling pretty good, but I decided to run the race conservatively based on what happened to me last year. I kept things at an even effort (rather than an even pace), which is important when running hills if you don't want to lose gas climbing all the time. I saw quite a few friends blow by me, and it made me happy. A woman dressed as a turkey, flapping wings and all, passed me going uphill, and that did not make me happy. At mile 3, we were about a half mile from getting out of Glendale, so I tried to push my pace as much as I could, until I popped out back on Exchange Street running toward Gennesaret for the finish.

The race was a bit short, so I jogged it out until I hit four miles, which means I had a nice cool down. My official time was 35:46, which I will take. I was 15/85 females in my age group, which I will also take. What I REALLY enjoyed taking was the gigantic piece of coffee cake that was waiting for me at the finish. I shoved that baby in my mouth while I stretched and talked to Pam and Steve.

Pam and I are horrified: Those hills are tough!

Pam won third in her age group, and Steve won first in his, which means they got a turkey, two mugs, and a huge jar of Smuckers jelly.  This is quite an accomplishment because the finish times at the top are incredibly fast. This race is a tough field of fast and experienced runners.

The Canal Rats CLEANED UP in the finishing categories; there should really be a Rat Party with the turkeys and pies they won. I was happy to congratulate them when we ran Sand Run the day after the race. It is important to note that the ONLY WAY I could run with the Rats was by choosing hills to run on a day that I knew they were tired from leaving it all out in the Glendale Cemetery. Even then, they were slowing down their pace to accommodate me, so THANK YOU, CANAL RATS!

I also found Joey Phillips and John Adams and took a post-race selfie with them:

By this time I've recovered and eaten my coffeecake, so I'm happy.

There were plenty of amazing door prizes and raffle prizes donated by local sponsors. I didn't win anything again this year, but I'm holding out hope for next year. It is a sure bet that I will be there next year. . .maybe with a shiny, new PR.

How was your Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving? I hope you pre-emptively burned ALL the calories you consumed, and I hope that you continue to run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Outta My League

Have you ever looked at a group of runners (probably completely cut, shirtless or wearing only running bras) who pass you chatting and laughing with each other while seemingly-effortlessly running 4 minute miles?  Have you looked at them and thought, "Whoa. Those runners are WAY OUTTA MY LEAGUE," yet you couldn't help but get a small twinge of wondering, "What if? What if I tried to hang with these machines? How far would I get before I cough up lung butter?"

You know, like this guy, who for one glorious mile got to hang with Meb and the elite pack at the Boston Marathon. Sometimes we just have to try to hang with people way out of our league, and that is what I did this week.

Example #1: I belong to quite a few online running groups, and while I lurk there, snooping on their runs and pictures, I have never run with many of them because. . . well, look at the title of this post. Phillips Phlyers is one of those groups.  They run at all times of the day and night, and there have been many times I've seen them at races or the same running route I'm taking that day. Last Tuesday, Joey Phillips (the leader of the Phlyers) posted a hilly 7-miler at 9:30 in the morning, which was just the time I was trying to kick my butt in gear. I first posted to Joey about pace because my main concern is I don't want to jack up someone's run. He told me to join them, so I did. After an interesting initiation ceremony that involved some group chanting, a selfie, and an American flag, Joey, John, and I got going.

This is EXACTLY how I look before running with Joey and John. 

We ran up the biggest hill ever. I tried to give up, but Joey and John weren't having it. I made that hill my bitch (you knew it was coming), and then Joey and I split off to the trails while John continued on the road. To take my mind off the fact that I was dying, Joey told me about his running history, and boy, am I glad he did! This man ran the Boston Marathon 20 TIMES!!!!  He trains hard, he is an amazing runner, and he is super-kind.

We met back up with John at the end, and he had water for us. I was feeling a little guilty because I knew they had run more slowly than they are used to, but they were both so kind about it that I got over myself. Thanks, Joey and John for letting me run with you on a super-hot day!

My Instagram Post after the run: I survived a run with Phillips Phlyers. I'm going to go throw up now.

Example #2: I needed a recovery run the next day, and I saw a post from the Canal Rats. I've run with the Rats a few times, so I should have known what I was getting into there, but, well, I'm not that smart. The Canal Rats meet before dawn to run the Towpath and/or Sand Run. They have a set weekly schedule, so I know that if I run with them on a Tuesday or Thursday, I could use it as a tempo run. This post was on a Wednesday, and it said "Relaxed Pace," so being gullible, I showed up at 5:50 AM to run "4 easy miles" on sore legs after my hill run with the Phlyers.  Umm.  Yeah.  The easy run was sure enough at my half marathon pace, and I had jumped into it with my eyes wide open.  Dumbass.  I ran the first two miles steps behind the pack (on the struggle bus the whole time), and then at the turnaround, Mary Jo ran back with me. This is usually what happens when I run with the Rats; they are so kind that one of them takes one for the team and runs with me for a few miles. I stayed with Mary Jo for one more mile, then I told her to catch up to the pack because I was going to cool down with run/walking.

My Instagram Post after this run: Aaaand today the Canal Rats kicked my ass.

Example #3: My friend Pam (@HopRunner), a fellow Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassador, is training for the Canal Corridor 100, and she has been putting in serious miles each week. She is a real badass, so I knew this was the time to try to run with her, while her legs are seriously tired before the taper. We made a plan to run 15 miles together on the Towpath on a hot Sunday morning. Pam needs to run slowly, so I thought I'd be able to keep up with her.  Unfortunately, I made a really stupid rookie move by doing lots of lunges and goblet squats the day before our run.  GAAAAAAA.  My legs hurt SO MUCH on our run. I have NEVER punked out by walking so much at the end of a run in my life! After mile 12 I was over-heated and my legs were toast. I felt terrible for Pam, but she was a great sport about it. We had a great conversation over the 15 miles, and I'm so grateful to her for letting me run with her and soak up some running-wisdom along the way.

This is the before pic. No way was I going to take an after-pic.  Look how fresh and pretty and cool we are here!

Ok, so I really stretched myself this week by running 47 miles, 15 of them counting basically as speed work. I'm pretty proud of myself; I ran a lot, I ran hard, and I didn't injure myself. I attribute the non-injury to my secret recovery drink:

Most importantly, I spent time with some inspirational people this week, and I learned a lot. As you have read, I learned that runner peeps are the best peeps, even when they are Outta My League.

How are you handling the heat? However you are doing it, I hope you Run Happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!

16 Miles!

Well, the mileage is ramping up.  Last Sunday Shelby and I ran 16 miles--the farthest I've ever run!  You know what?  It wasn't too terrible.  In fact, our last mile was our fastest, and overall we finished 48 seconds sooner than last week's 15 miler.  Damn, we're good!

I hear a lot about training burnout, but the novelty hasn't worn off for me yet.  I'm doing my best to stick to the plan and take care of myself while still doing interesting things to shake it up a little.  Like what?  I'm glad you asked.  Here are some of the ways I am preparing myself for the Akron Marathon:

1.  Track work

Wednesday Night Hell. . .er-- I mean Fun!

Wednesday is track night, and the members of TORN have been meeting to do a little speedwork in 90-degree weather.  Why?  Because we are awesome that way.

2.  Recovery-Wear

I love my compression socks!  I wear them after speed workouts and long runs.

















3.  Protein

I like chocolate.

I've upped my protein, particularly after workouts.  Muscle Milk isn't the most delicious shake on Earth, but it was on sale at BJs, and it has only 130 calories per carton.  Sometimes I eat plain Greek yogurt sprinkled with Grape Nuts, but frankly, I look forward to this shake.

4.  Friends--Old and New

I still run with my TORN peeps, but I decided to branch out, and I recently joined the Canal Rats.  They meet around 5:30ish AM, which suits my schedule. The only problem is that they are MUCH FASTER than I am; however, for two weeks in a row, there has been a kind soul who waits for me at the turnaround point and runs back with me.  Today that kind soul pushed me to an 8:39 mile in the last mile, and I am grateful for it.  I have decided to label my Canal Rats days the tempo run.

Thankfully, not this kind of Canal Rat.  Yuck.

5.  New Challenges

Of course the marathon is new, but I'm also running two new races in August: The Burning River Relay (Leg 7, 15.6 miles in the dark!) and the Ragnar Trail Appalachians ultra relay (3 loops of 10 miles each in 24 hours).  Trail running is a different animal than road running, and I'm looking forward to these weekends to see what I can do.

If I say it enough, I should start believing it.

6.  Rest

I am doing my best to get to bed at a reasonable hour.  Since it is summer, I also get to incorporate my favorite form of recovery: naps! God, I love naps.

All in all, I still have about eight weeks to go before the Akron Marathon, but I feel that I have a lot of exciting stuff to do in the meantime.  Let's hope I can keep a positive attitude.

Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!