March 16th Update and Exciting Announcement

AHHH!  Exciting news!  I am proud to announce that I will be running Grandma’s Marathon on June 21^st.  I’m very excited to be running this marathon as it’s a nice flat course, in a great city/area and works out great timing wise for me.  I also got a really neat training shirt from the race, it’s neon orange so everyone will see me training haha. :)   Though it matches my blue and orange shoes so I like that.  Well on the topic of races I’d like to go ahead and let you know that I am also doing the RaceFest Half Marathon April 12^th, here in Charlotte to get a good sense of where my race fitness is.

Training has been going great these last 2 weeks.  I have gotten back into full length workouts now and my mileage is back to around 100 miles a week again.  I believe my strength is pretty much back to what it was in December.  My speed isn't back all the way quite yet, but I feel as though it’ll be back within a few weeks more weeks of having strong workouts like I have been.

Now for my training recap of the past 2 weeks of good workouts:  :)

March 5^th: 5 x mile repeats on the track- felt really strong and was very consistent with my times

March 8^th: 18 mile easy paced long run at McAlpine Greenway- was a little muddy out but still a great run, I enjoy going out to the trail and just cruising around (bottom picture)

March 10^th: 12 x 600m on a road straightaway- wasn’t able to get to a track for my speed workout so did this on a flat road we have measured out but I still ran them faster than last time

March 13^th: 5 mile tempo on the road- I feel stronger every time I do my short tempo, was able to keep pushing even when tired

March 16^th: 3 mile warm up, 10 mile tempo, 3 mile cool down=> 16 mile long run on the road- felt very smooth and strong the whole way on the tempo piece, very comfortable running at that pace

P.S. Thanks to Dad for taking these pictures for me :)

March 2nd Update

    

I’m back for another training update on the past two weeks! Training has been going very well and I’m feeling so strong now that I have had a few weeks to get back into training full swing now, secondary runs included now.  My schedule has turned into a 2 week cycle, where I do 5 stress workouts within the 2 weeks, and it works really well for me right now and I love it. 

    

Along with workouts being in full swing, I have been back to doing my drill circuits 4 times within the 2 week cycles and I feel like they have immensely helped in getting my strength and stride power back so quickly.  It’s hard to not feel strong after doing a drill circuit :)

  

Now for a recap on my workouts for this 2 week cycle :)

February 19^th: 4 x mile repeats on the track- was very consistent in times for each repeat

February 22^nd: 16 mile easy paced long run out at McAlpine Greenway- felt great to be back out doing long runs on the trail, enjoyed my chocolate milk afterwards ;) (first picture)

February 24^th: 10 x 600m on the track- took me a few repeats to get into the pace, but I ended up averaging a faster pace than last time I ran 600s even though I added 2 more than last time

February 27^th: 4.5 mile tempo run- felt very in tune with my body while running and felt smooth during this faster tempo run

March 2^nd: 3 mile warm up, 9 mile tempo, 2 mile cool down => 14 mile long run- Felt a little off in the beginning of the tempo section, however was able to run through it and felt much better around half way through and ended up significantly negative splitting my tempo

By doing all these workouts I can feel my strength and speed returning and couldn’t feel better about where I am right now.  I’m slowly starting to get back to the shape I was in back in December and that’s awesome! 

February 16th Update

HEY!!!!! I’m back with an update on how everything is going!  Last blog I said that I was back running and now I’m excited to say that I’m back doing hard workouts!   This past Monday I was back on the track for my first speed workout of 8 x 600 meters; it felt great to be back out there again doing something fast.  Then this morning I did my first AT tempo run back of 8 miles; I was happy to see that my endurance has quickly come back and now just need to work on getting my training times back down.

This week was also kind of crazy! We got around 8 inches of snow between Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday here in Charlotte, NC; which is the most we have gotten in 10 years!  But that didn’t stop me from going out and getting my runs in while it was snowing and when the snow covered the roads.  It was fun the first day and half the second then I was kind of done with snow haha.  Quite a few people thought I was a little crazy though getting my runs done in the snow, but hey it’s a runner thing you get your workout in no matter what; y’all understand that. J

As I’m getting back into training I can go into every run knowing that each workout has a purpose; to get me closer to qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team.  The goal has been made.  The date has been set:  February 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA.  Now it’s time to train.    

Jan 22 - Update!

Great news! I have currently been running everyday this past week and half! My foot is back to normal and I have been doing easy runs this past week and plan on focusing on getting back into shape over the next few weeks.  I should be able to get into doing workouts again in 2-3 weeks, then training will be back on track!

This past weekend my dad and I sat down and came up with my training schedule for getting back into shape and for this new cycle.  It is color coded and everything, as I enjoy my training schedule to be very organized!  I loved working with my dad and helping to create my workout schedule for the next training cycle.  I have it placed on my bulletin board in my room to check off every day and keep track of my progress. (^^picture^^) :)

I will keep you posted once I come up with a definite race schedule for the upcoming months, however at this point I want to see how training goes and how fast I regain the fitness that was lost in the weeks I had to take off.

Thanks so much for the well wishes and for being supportive as I go through this period of time. I’ll keep you updated on how training goes, love you all! - Alana :)

Happy New Year!

Beat The Heat 5k in 2013

Happy New Year!!!

One of my resolutions for 2014 is to get back to blogging regularly (every week or two) to keep everyone updated on how everything is going with training, racing and just life in general.  So be sure check back regularly for updates, pictures and videos.

Unfortunately this first update of the year comes with a bit of bad news.  In mid December my training was going very well, I was ramping back up after my break post Monumental Marathon, and was rounding into good shape as I prepared for the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in January.  My 30 minute tempos were back down under 5:50 pace and my 1 minute repeats were down in the 5:00-5:05 pace range and my long runs going well.   But as I focused on speed more, I started doing 3 things I had done in the past but none of them recently: 1) I started doing more short fast speed workouts  2) I started doing that speed work in light weight flats 3) I added back in my twice weekly full drill circuits.  Because I had done all 3 before I didn't think anything of it.  But the combination of adding all 3 things in at the same time caused me to develop a stress reaction in the 3rd metatarsal of my right foot.  Luckily my parents and I caught it quickly before it developed into a full stress fracture, and I have spent the past two and half weeks of my Holiday break staying off my foot, and treating it and allowing it to heal.  But with this forced time off from running I have to withdraw from the U.S. Half Marathon Championships later this month.  Bummer!  But it already feels a ton better and I expect to be back running shortly and will add back in things more gradually this time. This was my first major running injury in the sport, or at least the first thing hat caused me to miss more than a day or two of running all together.  So I know it was bound to happen eventually and after 10+ yrs as a runner I feel very lucky to have made it this long and I am glad we caught it quickly before it became a bigger issue.

But this down time has given me some time to plan out 2014 a set some goals for the year.  My 3 main goals for 2014 are:

1)  Get the Olympic Trials A standard of sub 2:37 in the marathon
2)   Lower my half marathon time to the low 1:15's or better
3)   Be in the top 25 fastest U.S. woman in the marathon for the year

Last year my goals were to "get my feet wet" in the marathon; get the Trials B standard; and run one of the top 50 fastest times by a U.S. woman for the year.  I am very excited to have accomplished all 3 of those goals in 2013 and am super excited to attack the new year and new goals in 2014.

I will update my spring racing schedule as soon as I get back training again and see how fast my fitness progresses.  

Personal note:  I turn 17 years old next week (Jan 8th).  WoooHooo!
 

2016 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier!!!

So happy and over come with emotion as I crossed the finish line

On November 2nd, I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2:41:56 to finish 4th woman overall and qualify for the 2016 U.S. Marathon Trials by over a minute.  I am beyond excited about it.  Here is a picture essay of my race.

So happy to have both mom and dad with me for this race.

Start line - just getting ready to go.

In the pack with Colleen De Reuck and Elizabeth Herndon at 3 miles (all 3 of us got qualifiers)

Here are my Garmin splits for the race:

1.     6:03

2.     6:08

3.     5:57

4.     5:59

5.     6:13

6.     6:09

7.     6:07

8.     6:14

9.     6:05

10.   6:09

11.   6:09

12.   6:01

13.   6:05

14.   6:17

15.   6:07

16.   6:16 (uphill)

17.   6:05

18.   6:14

19.   5:59 (downhill)

20.   6:08

21.   6:11

22.   6:08

23.   6:12

24.   6:06

25.   6:14

26.   6:07

.45   5:45 pace

Garmin Total 26.45 miles @ 6:07 pace -    Official 26.2 miles @ 6:10 pace  2:41:56 (1:20:25/1:21:30)

Great guys to race/pace with for the middle miles

Group thinned down by 20 miles, but so grateful to have people to run most of the way with

On my own the last few miles, but with the half marathoners on the other side of the street

Final straightaway - Almost there!!!

I can finally see the clock!

OMG - I did it!!!

Daddy congratulating me.

With Colleen afterwards - she won (2:39:22) - I was 4th (2:41:56)

Elizabeth Herndon was 3rd (2:41:30)

I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the weekend

My Adventure in Cleveland

Collecting my thoughts @ Cleveland Marathon starting line

Hey Everyone! 

Sorry it’s taken so long to put up this blog, I have had state finals at school this week, so it wasn't till this weekend I finally had the time to sit down and write this blog up.  Thanks for the patience. J

          Wow, last weekend was crazy! Let’s start with Friday, as my trip started that afternoon.  First off the hotel that we stayed in was crazy (in a good way)!  It was originally like a mall that was turned into a hotel with buildings built on both sides to add more rooms, so the thing was really cool as the first 2 floors still had shops in them.  Anyways after we got to the hotel we went down to the elite athlete check in and I got my number along with extra info I needed.  Turns out they now give out clear plastic bags that we use to keep our running gear in at the race, in order to prevent another Boston happening; pretty smart if you ask me.  That night I appeared on the local news’ 7 o’clock news program to answer a few questions about the race and how I felt about running it.  It was really fun and kind of weird at the same time seeing myself on the TV in the corner of my eye.  But the people at the news station were so nice and made me feel very comfortable.  Afterwards dad and I went to the VIP dinner the race had at the hotel; let me just say that the pasta they had was absolutely delicious!  During the dinner dad and I met Mark Lindsley (a blogger for the race) and his son Cairo (who was 17 and also running his first marathon).   I also had the pleasure of meeting Jack Staph, the owner of the Cleveland Marathon.

          Saturday was another eventful day as I started of with me trying to do a short shakeout run in the morning in the fitness center.  However it had been more than a year since I had last run on a treadmill so after only 5 minutes I got mad at the treadmill and instead ran around the block outside a whole bunch of times, by the end of my run the doorman had started cheering every time I ran by. J After that I headed back to the NBC news station with the Cleveland marathon’s PR person Leigh Greenfelder and my dad to appear on their morning news as well.  It once again was a nice interview and experience, though I never knew before that the news doesn’t use camera men anymore, they have cameras that are on wheels and are remote control.  It kind of scared me at first because I was just sitting in my chair and when I looked up a large camera is rolling straight for me!  Afterwards we chilled in our hotel room until we went down to meet with Salty and Ginger from Salty Running Blog along with Salty’s little baby, her daughter was adorable!  After that we headed down to the elite athlete room to grab some water but instead ended up having an hour conversation with Toni Reavis, which was awesome by the way, he knows so many top runners and has great stories as well. We also met and chatted with one of my dad’s runners Kristy Hill as she lives in Cleveland until we headed off to church later that afternoon.  The church we ended up going to happened to be having confirmation at that mass so the bishop was there.  After mass the bishop shook my hand as we left and told me to have a good Sunday, which made me feel pretty special.  Then we went back to the hotel and had dinner at the race’s pasta party, again it was delicious and plus they had giant brownies there that were just amazing.  Man I love food! Hahahaha J

          Sunday morning I was awoken at 4 o’clock to one of the most annoying alarms ever on my dad’s iPhone; I have since then gotten him to change the alarm sound.  Anyways after I got up I ran a couple minute shakeout because I am NOT a morning person at all, I think it might be a teenage thing but then again it might just be me.  After that we went down to the athlete breakfast so I could eat, we ended up sitting there for an hour just talking and relaxing with John Tope before I had to go get ready for the race.  We ended up walking down to the starting area and saw Trisha Drobeck on the way, whom we had met at dinner the previous night and ended up 4^th female in the marathon.  Getting warmed up for this race was a little weird as I didn’t need to do the normal 2 or so miles I normally do before a race, I only ran about a mile to get ready with only one repeat  of high knees and butt kicks rather than 2.  Before I knew it, it was time to get on the starting line.

          The start of the race was somewhat relaxing as no one sprints out in the beginning of a marathon. The goal was to try to get into pace and just click off the miles and that seemed to work for the first half of the race as I tried to find the pace that felt right.  Everything seemed to be going fairly smooth until after the half way point when I turned a sharp corner and hit a pot hole awkwardly with my right foot causing a twinge in my hamstring.  As I tried to keep up my pace I was running before, my hamstring just felt worse and worse.  But I knew I had slowed down a lot and that my hamstring felt horrible, so hitting my goal time was no longer realistic, but I told myself there was no way I was not finishing this race.  I then focused on getting to the next aid station, that’s what I needed to do to focus myself to keep going.  Each aid station was great, filled with so many smiling and cheering volunteers, each person was so supportive.  Running from aid station to aid station worked well up until about 22 miles, from then on I had to keep it every mile.  Along the way I had a few runners who were also struggling to finish running along side me encouraging me as we ran.  Around 24- 25 miles I was hurting really bad but I had to continue I had a new goal at that point to finish the race and to finish in less than 3 hours.  When the pacer for 3 hours came by me, I knew I had to go with him, there just wasn’t anyway I was going to let the pacer beat me.  So I just went for it; I was tired and my hamstring hurt but I just kept going finally with less then a mile left the pacer told 3 of us to go for it and said “it’s down hill from here just go”.  And that’s what we did, we just kept running knowing with every step we take, that’s one more step to the finish line.  Going around that final turn and crossing the finish line I was incredibly happy, yet vaguely disappointed.  I was happy to be done and happy that I finished after what had happened, but also disappointed that things hadn’t gone the way I had planned.  I will definitely learn a lot from this race and use my new found wisdom going forward in training and in races. 

          I would now like to take the time to thank everyone who has sent me well wishes and congratulations on my race.  I appreciate all the encouragement and just wanted to say a massive “THANK YOU!!!!!!”  ©©©©©© J