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April 19, 2024

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Location:

Mesa,AZ,

Member Since:

Apr 04, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Marathon Finish

Running Accomplishments:

Prs:

1 mile: 6:31

5K: 23:37

Half Marathon: 2:04

My first post-high school 5K, in which I thought I was going to die

The first time I won my age division. Yippee!

My first half marathon, in which I attack Sasha

The time I beat my high school PR for the 5K (as a 31 year-old mommy of 3!)

My first 5K barefooted

Short-Term Running Goals:

I'm just getting back into running after a long break to have my last child. I would like to race some 10Ks, a half, and a marathon in the next 2 years.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Be the oldest woman to complete a marathon. Yea! But hopefully I will also complete some BEFORE I geezer up, like, before I'm 40 for sure. I think it would be fun to dress up really strange for marathons, like impersonating celebrities and stuff. Except I don't really like celebrities, as a rule, so maybe I'll have to stick to the age old question of ninja, or pirate. I say ninja. *Hyah!*

Personal:

I am happily married to James W (Cool Runnings). We have 3 boys and 1 opinionated little girl. I love reading and I'm also a news junkie. I am a stinker.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Mon, Dec 10, 2007

Slow miles	Fast miles	Total Distance
5.00	0.00	5.00

5 Miles on the treadmill in 51:20. Incline 1.

Caution: Gingerbread house construction underway! Fun times.

I keep thinking about the Canyonlands half marathon in Moab coming up and I am really concerned (worried) about the hills. I live in a very flat place. I don't think that I will be able to spend the extra time to travel to a hilly course often enough to make a difference. Please help! Any ideas on how to simulate hill training? I am thinking of doing hill treadmill workouts. What incline range should I use? Also, I can do squats and stuff to make my quads stronger for the uphills, but I am completely at a loss as to how to train downhill without hills. Stairs maybe? I would really appreciate feedback from anyone who is familiar with the course. It's my first half ever, and I don't want to...you know, die, anymore than is absolutely necessary. I am hoping that it will go really well, and give me the confidence to shoot for St. George this year.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 0.00

Comments

From James W on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 00:29:09

Go Lybi! Fun times with the gingerbread house . . .

good job getting the miles in. Regarding the hills, we do have some slight hills that you can run up and down. With the treadmill, I recommend experimenting a bit. You can even go up and down during the run to better simulate rolling hills. Start at incline of 1, then go up to 2, back down to 1, up to 3, back down to 1, up to 4, then back down to 1 again. You can do 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile at each incline level. That will get you a killer workout :D

From Lybi on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 00:31:08

The only disadvantage of doing it that way is that you can't drag me up the "hills".

From Jim on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 10:02:11

Hi Lybi,

Since I run trails and ultras, I encounter a lot of hills and I'm a lousy hill climber. What I did this year that really helped in that department was to lift weights. For my legs I do squats, leg press and lunges. 3 sets of 10 each on the press and squat at the heaviest weight I can do without losing form. My legs didn't get bigger, but I really felt stronger and much more powerful going uphill. It was amazing to me. I also found that the weights also help with the downhill run. You're strengthening your quads and that's what gets trashed during the donwhills. Also, with downhills, I do as little braking as I can and just let gravity work. I have also done hill workouts on the treadmill. I have one called my devil workout, 6 miles, 6 mph (10:00 pace), 6% grade (666). In those 6 miles you're climbing almost 2000'. A good hill climb in anyone's book.

From Michelle on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 10:31:34

Lybi, I can offer no training advice what so ever, but I can say this. I think for the most part the down hill is fairly gradual and the up hill sections aren't bad either. It's been about four years so I can't remember that well but I think that just doing some incline on the treadmill and maybe a little leg strenghtening like mentioned above and you are going to do fine!!

From Lybi on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 15:06:09

Thanks Jim! I'll start doing those exercises pronto!

And thanks Michelle, that does make me feel better. All I saw was that the course was "rolling". Based on the steep rolling hills I experienced in North Carolina over Thanksgiving, I was expecting similar results: horribly slow pace.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 15:29:01

Moab is a very gently sloped course. You can train for it by running the loop on your block. Start from your house, take a left, then follow the road up, then right, right again, down, then right again, and more more time until you get back to your house. You can also do strides downhill starting at the highest point and going in the direction of your house.

From andee on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 19:28:14

The gingerbread houses sound great - you are a good mom to put that together! I'm excited that you are doing the Canyonlands half - I've heard it's wonderful. Good luck with your training!

From Lybi on Wed, Dec 12, 2007 at 15:50:17

Oh good, Sasha. I run that way almost every single day. Those count as hills? OK. I'm not complaining. When I first started training I thought they were massive uphills, but being in NC completely redefined "hills" for me.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Dec 12, 2007 at 18:16:51

You will not see anything much steeper than that in Moab. Moab half has a rolling drop of about 100 feet with lots of mild ups and downs.

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