Goals « Ariana Hilborn

3Mar/10Off

NEXT UP: Run for Ryan House Half Marathon…And other jumbled thoughts.

Picture I recieved from Jon, during Lost Dutchman. He was out there snapping pics! Thanks Jon!

So I am very excited to run the 1/2 marathon this Saturday at DC Ranch for the Run For Ryan House 1/2 Marathon. It is for a great cause read about it here! The course should be...hmm...interesting? It is 6.5 miles up, and 6.5 miles down. This should be *fun*! Check out the elevation chart, holy smoke! The best part of all is that there is scheduled to be some VERY fast women at this event. (Including Terri!) I have been having some stomach trouble in the past few days, I think I am going to attribute it to the green drink I have been having. I am not going to give the brand, because I love this place, but I think the green drink is not so good for me! I am hoping that with my pre-race 3 day ritual of no dairy, excessive fruit, all-rice diet, my stomach will calm down.

Anyways, my goal for this event is to run maybe a bit faster than my 1:22:47 at Lost Dutchman on 2/14. I like hills, and I feel pretty strong on the uphills and downhills (weeeee!!!!) so I will be very happy with a 1:22:xx. However, I would be even happier with better than that but I know I need to be patient! I have been getting more rest this week as I didn't have any doubles. I skipped the gym and I did my running in the afternoons which allowed me to sleep in until 5:30. (wild, I know)

In other news, *drumroll please* I have NEW RACE SHOES!!!! I am sure you have been waiting all day for that tidbit of information. I am wearing the Brooks ST 4. The BEST part of all.....SPARKLEY LACES!!! They even match my bright, bright Brooks race outfit! I plan on wearing them a few more times before Saturday to get to know them better. They felt super light at track last night, like ballet slippers! I think we will have a fine racing date on Saturday.

This week I have had a nice and easy cutback week. The nice part about racing is that track workouts are not as hard as usual. Coach John Reich (MWC! By the way, you should athlink him, he is so unbelievably fast.) gave me 10 miles with 4 miles of cutdowns. I only have 69 miles this week, then I will start climbing again, 86, 90, 80... as I get into my last big push weeks before Boston.

John has also given me my goal time for Boston, but I will save that until we get a little closer and as my confidence grows a bit more!

Even though I had a cutback week, I am still super hungry. I am a stress eater though. I weighed in at 114 today, so it will be interesting to see if there is any affect on my race this weekend.

One last thing, the 2012 marathon trials will be in HOUSTON on Jan 14th of 2012. It was just announced on Monday. I read that it will probably be a 5 mile loop course. Both the men's and women's trials will be held the same day. I was hoping for New York, as I have never been there, but Houston should be nice and flat and warm (er). So I am excited. Now I just need to run a 2:46 marathon so I can go! Details, details.

Off to make my Mark's famous blueberry tea!

Runningly Yours,

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Tagged as: Goals, pre-race 8 Comments

13Feb/10Off

Quick Run-By

Hey friends! I apologize for being blog MIA for 2 weeks. Work and training have been taking up a bunch of time. It is 5am right now, on my way to do 6 miles with strides and then to pick Matt up from the airport. He was gone all week and I missed him like crazy!

Tomorrow I RACE!!! YAY!!! I am running a 1/2 marathon called the Lost Dutchman here in Arizona. They supposedly made the course pretty flat this year after taking out a hill called "Dutchman's Revenge". This will be a very interesting race for me. Last year at this race I did a 1:34. (!!) However, I am not tapered at all. Which I am ok with because my legs feel ready. Last week I ran 90 miles, this week 80 miles. I feel great though, so here is my goal. I am putting it out there--1:23:xx. Hopefully my legs and endurance will come through for me. I feel pretty confident as I did 1:24 at PF Changs last month when just starting to train for Boston. But, anything could happen!

I get so finicky the day before a race. My nerves always make me think I need a trip to Runner's Den to browse and look for that perfect race shirt. It is so silly, but it calms me down. I am not really a big shopper either, but that day before a race, the prospect of a new, sleek, race top beckons me to the Den. So I am sure after my monkey cakes today, I will be making a trip to the store. Runner's Den employees beware- crazed runner girl coming through!

I will update tomorrow with results and pics from the race! Happy running!

Runningly Yours,

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15Jan/10Off

A PLAN

So I asked MWC about what he thinks I should run the 1/2 marathon in. (I am running PF Changs on Sunday) He asked me what I thought I could do it in. Well.... I ran the 10 miler without a taper at a 6:19 pace in November, but I have lost fitness due to recovering from my last marathon, so I suggested 6:30-6:40 pace and he suggested 6:30 pace, backing off if I feel it is too hard, pushing if I want to go faster, but STARTING CONSERVATIVELY! I consider myself new to this sport, and I always tend to leave the start line like a bat out of hell. Ahh.. inexperience. But I am really trying to work on it and my bff Terri helped me a lot with that this past summer. She taught me to go out slower than you think and pass competiors at the end when they are out of gas. I have employed this tactic a few times and it works like a charm!

Am I ready for this? I guess we will find out! I will head to the expo tomorrow to *hopefully* meet Deena Kastor, I know that will get me motivated!

Here is what I ran the rest of this week:
Tue - Track 10 miles with 8x800m at 6:00pace with 2min recovery in between. Felt tired and like I was getting sick.
Wed - 7 miles recovery Went to the gym to do some runner's strength exercises from "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald - See right!
Thur - 10 miles with 2 miles at my 1/2 marathon race pace -6:30. Have to admit, kind of tough. Then again it was 5am, dark and I was running by myself, so all I could think about was how uncomfortable the pace felt. Still feeling a little sick today. Didn't feel like eating much today. When that happens, I know I am really not well. I am always eating!
Fri - Off

It has also been a very draining week at school for some reason. I am exausted. I spend so much energy on the kids that I am beat when I get home. I don't mind, of course, as we have tons of fun during the day, but it is hard to then come home and plan or grade papers. Always so much to do. There is a lot going on at school right now and although we have MLK Day off, I will be going in to get caught up! I love the kids, but I sure am ready for the weekend!

Runningly Yours,

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Tagged as: Goals, Half Marathon, Race Times 2 Comments

14Jan/10Off

To race or not to race

In November, I signed up for the PF Changs Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon just in case I bombed Tucson. I didn't bomb Tucson so MWC (new acronym from here on out=My Wonderful Coach) told me that it would definitely NOT be a good idea to run the full marathon. Well, I already paid so he is letting me do the 1/2. However, I am not sure yet if I will be 'racing' it. I am really not in any shape to set a good PR. I won't be tapering at all either. So, this Sunday will be a mystery! I don't know if I can run a race as just a 'work-out' or tempo run. Could you? I think my competitiveness gets the best of me. I am just afraid of pushing too hard and not being able to finish!

However, I am *hoping* to PR as my 1/2 marathon times are pretty soft. (PR of 1:34 set last Feb) That would be nice!

I am very excited though to be in the corral behind Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall! I know that there are also some other super fast gals besides Deena running this, so it will be neat to see them run!

What do you think?

Runningly Yours,

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4Jan/10Off

Racing Weight

What would the new year be without talk about nutrition and weight? Yay.

Losing weight and running has always been mysterious to me. The more you run, theoretically, the more calories you would burn. However, the more you run, the hungrier you get! And not just for an apple, but for CARBS!!! YUMMM!!!!! To deny yourself food while training is just silly. You need to be strong to race well. But you also need to feel light and energetic to race well. Ah the perils.

*Disclaimer* As a person who has struggled with weight in a very un-healthy way in my early 20's, I know weight is a very sensitive, controversial thing to discuss, and I truly feel that society has a skewed outlook on it. This post is my review on what I feel is a very informative book on how to eat healthy for running. It is also about how I am putting this book to use in my training. I am no nutritionist! This is just what works for me.

Over my 2 weeks off from teaching, I was able to catch up on some reading. One book that I really enjoyed was "Racing Weight; How To Get Lean For Peak Performance" by Matt Fitzgerald (see link to the right under "Ariana's Survival Gear") who has also written "Brain Training For Runners". Matt Fitzgerald decided to write this book after running on an Alter-G treadmill (anti-gravity) that made him feel as though he were 15 pounds lighter. His run took less effort with less weight. Go figure. This is where the idea for the book was born. How does an endurance athlete stay well-nourished but yet get to that 'ideal' racing weight? Matt Fitzgerald helps us to understand why and how to do it.

This book has many great ideas on how to achieve your ideal racing weight, and how to determine what that weight should be. He makes sure to point out that your racing weight is not a weight you keep throughout training, as it is usually not a healthy weight. During your off-season, you will probably be about 8-10 pounds heavier than your ideal racing weight, during training. He also maintains that endurance athletes do not want to lose weight to 'look good' but rather to perform the best they can. I know that I definitely do not look my best under 113.

My 'race' weight is anywhere between 107-110, currently I am at 114, which is my normal training weight. I would like to hit my ideal race weight for Boston in April. The thing I struggle with most is SWEETS!!! I have a strict "one drink a week" rule when I am in training, and I don't care for cheese, burgers, or fried foods. But cupcakes, cookies, and brownies get the best of me. Yum! I went through a phase that I would allow myself to eat whatever I wanted because I was training so hard. However, that just left me with low-energy. I would feel so sluggish after 'indulging'.
The best part of this book is that Fitzgerald gives plans for over-all health while training. I found this book to be mostly about how to 'eat clean' and get all you need from natural foods. I love this idea. There are still plenty of carbs, fats, etc. because that is what runners need to perform! He just gets rid of the junk. Which I think is very doable. My main goal is to be as healthy as I can for racing, no matter how much I weigh. That's it!

I took note of what I ate last week as I tried to start eating healthier as I begin training for Boston. A lot of my carbs are coming from the quinoa, brown rice, fruit, etc. rather then from refined sugar sources as before. Here is a sample day:

Breakfast: Kashi cereal w/ rice milk, banana, hard-boiled egg, coffee, vitamins (multi, iron, D/Calcium/Magnesium, emergen-c, fish oil)
Snack- recovery protein smoothie, green tea, prunes- I love prunes, lol!!!
Lunch- quinoa with beans, spinach, cherry tomatoes and avocado, almond butter toast, green tea, FRS drink, apple
Snack- Whey protein smoothie with skim milk, almonds, dried cranberries, green tea.
Dinner- Salad, chicken, sweet potato, brown rice
Snack- Fro-yo with berries.

Now if only I can keep it up!

What are some of your favorite healthy foods? What supplements, if any, do you take?

Runningly Yours,