Meet the Muir Family: Almost done - NYC Marathon training update

Do you remember a few weeks ago where I said "Running, I have that down pat. All I have to do is put one foot in front of the other." Well, since then I've learned that running isn't quite that easy. Don't get me wrong, some days you do just have to put one front in front of the other but most days there is a lot of more technical stuff involved. I am learning so much and have such a great group of people, family and friends supporting me. I have an un-official running coach from Team Challenge and he's taught me how the body works when you train, and what actually happens inside the body and how pace has a huge impact in preparing your body. It's not only about sore muscles and shortness of breath and lots of sweating but a whole host of other changes happening all at once.

It's important to know your pace. About 75-80% of my runs should be at a slower than goal pace. So that means you also have to know your reasonable goal pace. About 20-25% of your runs should be done at a pace faster than goal pace. Why? (Okay, stay with me on this because it's about to get technical.) Running at a slower than normal pace increases your mitochondria. Mitochondria are the only places inside your muscle cells where carbohydrate, fat and protein can be broken down int he presence of oxygen to create the energy you need to exercise. So basically the more mitochondria you have the more energy you can generate during exercise and the faster and longer you can run, bike, swim, etc. Running at a faster than normal pace increases your anabolic rate. When you raise your heart rate you build muscle, increase endurance which will require your body to make adaptations, like require the body to use energy more efficiently by increasing the amount of glycogen that can be stored in the muscle (more glycogen = more energy), increase lung capacity (easier to breath when labored) and will reduce your perceived overall exertion level. If you run at the same pace all the time you don't get the benefit of either of these! So do some interval training folks!!

Example of running faster and slower. If you are running 3 times a week- Run 2 runs at a slower pace. If your don't know your pace, you can figure it out by how long it takes you to run a 5K or 10K. My running coach helped me figure out my paces. Example of me: 5K pace is 27 minutes or roughly (9:40 minute mile pace) you want to run 2 of your runs at the slower pace of 10:58 minute miles. One of your shorter runs during the week will be a tempo run. Meaning you run the first and last mile at the slower pace and the miles in between at the faster pace. Example: If one of your short runs during the week is 4 miles, you run mile 1 and mile 4 at the 10:58 minute pace and 9:13 minute pace during mile 2 and 3.

On rest days, make sure you actually rest your body. Rest does not only mean not run but actually rest. listen to your body. Your body needs that time to heal and repair so it can get stronger. It's also important to stretch.

I have only 1.5 weeks of super long training runs left and one more half marathon race before the 3 week taper runs begin. Then it's marathon Sunday! Weeks ago at the beginning of training I was so nervous just thinking about November 2nd and now that I know I'm putting in the hard work and have had some really successful long runs, I feel confident, strong, powerful and am excited for that day to come!

Other than learning a ton, I've been running a ton too. The amount of training has slowly taken over my days and consumed my life. The past 4 out of 5 weekends I've had races and so my weekends are shot from doing anything fun. When I'm not running, I'm busy taking after two little people who have more energy than I could ever dream of and so my waking hours are filled with doing life; play ground, playing outside, going on hikes in the woods, play dates for the kids, play date for the moms, dentist, doctors, cleaning the house, cooking food, folding clothes, raking leaves, etc. I seem to be managing just fine as everything is co-mingled together but am looking forward to having a rest!

Playground early Saturday morning while Daddy had to work.

A night out with the moms to a painting bar!

Definitely Type A and stressed all night! But it turned out alright...I think I might just hang it up!

Pictures from the 18 mile tune up can be found (here)). They had professional photographers along the entire course and got some great photos!

18 Mile Run in Central Park on September 14th! It as the longest I've ever ran. Devon drove up for the race and we finished in 3 hours 40 minutes and 27 seconds. It was a slow time but the 18 miles went by fast. Our pace was slower and so we could talk. We also stopped 2 times for the restroom and 1 time so Devon could take off her ankle brace so our pace was actually faster than the results reflect.

At the paint bar. Not happy with how my colors transition so I have lots of blending to do!

Big slides for a small girl.

I sit down for one minute and have to rush over to this. She so badly wants to do the monkey bars and is strong enough to hold on but doesn't quite have the arm span to grab the next bar.

Okay, now I'm happy with the blending!

Almost finished. Our teacher suggested looking at it from afar as we won't ever look at it closely again once the painting is done.

Up and over - piece of cake!

Great balancing kids!

I'm at the Philly Rock and Roll Half Expo and saw this huge sign marketing the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation!

Lots of photos of me racing at the Philly Half Marathon can be found (here)
because obviously I can't run and take a photo at the same time. A fun and hot race!

Out of 23,000 plus runners and I ended up with the 2 unluckiest numbers. I guess it had to be someone. It didn't stop me from kicking but during the half marathon! We sprinted the last mile!

It was a hot and muggy and humid morning. I wore something cool and wicks away sweat. Ready to run!

Bailey came with me to pick up the kids from school!

Playing in my sweatshirts after school. They thought they looked so funny with no legs.

Chasing and tackling and rolling all over the lawn for an hour!

My fortune cookie after ordering take out sushi. :) How appropriate for me.

Champions are made when no one is looking. A nice early Sunday morning when everyone is sleeping made for a relaxing 16 mile run. I tried running at a faster pace than the 18 miles and was just a few seconds slower than goal pace.