[Mandy] Well, we’ve gone and done it again: we’re switching gears! With Christopher still lifting heavy but training to be in half marathon shape, I’ve also toned down my running and have allowed myself to focus on my other love: weightlifting. For a short time during my early 20s I focused solely on lifting heavy and putting on size…I was actually trying to gain weight! I got my bench press max up to 150lbs and was able to squat 185lb. I loved the feeling of moving heavy weight and feeling strong!  After my last marathon in October, it took me a little while to adjust to the idea of not running as much and to allow myself the freedom to try new things and to return to old loves. Christopher has been a great partner and has supported me and pushed me to venture back out and to take some time to devote to other forms of exercise. We’ve been lifting, running, cross-training on the elliptical, hitting abs pretty hard, biking, throwing in some crossfit exercises, and researching and experimenting new weight-lifting moves. We’ve been pretty impressed with ourselves in keeping things new and exciting and pushing ourselves to new levels…which brings me to my topic

I feel a little lost without goals, so I’ve set a few weightlifting goals that I would like to reach by the end of June.  I want to bench press 135 lbs, squat 185 lbs, dead lift 185 lbs, and do 12 unassisted pull ups. I have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time, but I’ve been feeling so motivated and having so much fun with our workout routines, I’m hoping my drive will get me there! I have the best workout partner who knows when to push me and when to taunt me with a pacifier when I’m being a baby We signed up for the Hospital Hill Half Marathon in June, which will be Christopher’s first official half marathon! We’re doing our best to keep up our running as much as possible while still pushing ourselves in other areas. We’ll keep you posted on the race, but I’m sure we’ll only have good things to relay!

Mandy had a bit of spill on the sidewalk on our late night 12 miler.

On a quick side note, I am very happy to report that I just got new shoes! I’ve been running in my Saucony Kinvaras and have loved them, but I’ve been itching to drop down to more of a minimalist shoe. I’d love to be able to eventually run in Vibrams, but I think my body requires more of a transition. The Saucony Hattori is the lightest and most minimal running shoe that they offer; and after ordering them last week I was able to run the first 8 miles of our 12 mile run in them on Saturday night. I didn’t want to do too much in them too soon and risk injuring myself, but it was so hard to take them off after only 8 miles. I think I’m really going to love running in them. They are extremely light weight and don’t have much to them at all. It’s pretty close to the feeling of running barefoot!

[Christopher] The original idea was to just sign up for the Waddell and Reed Kansas City Half Marathon in October, but we were already putting in the miles now, so I figured what the hell. Why not, right? I’m looking forward to it. I’m not really setting a goal for time. I just want to finish it and know that I can without any issues (i.e. endurance, injury, etc.). We are still going to do the Kansas City Half as well. Hey, this is my big year of turning 4 – 0. Why not bring it in with a bang of all sorts of events?

I got a new pair of Vibram’s just a couple of days ago. They are the KomodoSports. These are my third pair of Vibram’s and they are all a bit different than the next; but so far these are my favorite. They have an extra adjustment on the side to make them a bit more snug. I took them to the test on Saturday night and they worked well! I’m looking forward to taking them to the trails to see how they feel there as well.

As I said, we have ton of events coming up that we are looking forward to doing. This month especially is our most favorite since we will be celebrating our one year anniversary on the Katy Trail again for the Pedaler’s Jamboree! Bike month starts this month, and national Bike Week is May 14 through the 20th. Lots of things coming. We really need to step up our game. Mandy has to make sure and show off those BAD ASS socks I got her as a gift whenever she can!

As always, if anybody ever wants to join us, please feel free to ask or just show up! We always welcome everyone; the more the merrier.

M&C

[Mandy] Well the long-awaited day had arrived! Even though we had been training on treadmills for the past 12 weeks, the weather had been so nice lately that we opted to get outside for our big 13.1 mile run.  We chose to head to the downtown airport since it’s pretty flat, and we mapped out the mileage for one lap: 3.7 miles.  3 full laps and then one mile out and back would put us at our 13.1 miles for the day.  We let ourselves sleep in a little that day, and we had fueled up with a big sandwich the night before. It was a funny thought that while everyone else was out enjoying the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and drinking and having fun, we were having our own type of fun by running an unofficial half marathon! After preparing for this run for the last 3 months, I could tell that Christopher wasn’t nervous or worried the least bit about getting in all 13 miles. Marathon training usually does a great job of giving one confidence in knowing that it’s possible to train and complete a half.

 It was kind of cloudy and in the low 70s, a pretty perfect afternoon! We started out easy and rolled into it, knowing we were going to keep up a steady pace throughout.  Lap after lap we ran, feeling strong and breathing well, and enjoying the day.  By the end of the 3^rd lap, my right knee started giving me troubles; I made a makeshift knee brace out of a bandanna and carried on.  I was so impressed by how easily C was running right along; I knew he could have kept going if he wanted to!  Without the official race, it’s hard to get excited and feel the energy of completing a first half marathon, but I was so proud of him and never had any doubt that he was going to finish it and finish well.  I have to admit it felt really good to run that distance again.  We still plan on maintaining our training and throwing in a couple of long runs every few week to keep up the shape that we’re in.  Who knows…maybe we’ll find a half marathon to run before the KC Marathon in Oct?

[Christopher] A year ago, I never would have guessed that I would be running the distance of a half marathon. I made excuses as to why I didn’t want to run. I hurts to run. I get shin splints. I don’t want to lose my muscle. I don’t have the endurance. Running is for skinny people. Yea, I had a lot of excuses as to why I wouldn’t run. Somewhere along the line I got motivated to start running. A lot of the blame would be placed on Mandy. While she would do her running, I would always go along with her, but on my bike. I enjoyed being with her while she did this. But the more she ran, the more and more I got interested in it. I would read running quotes or motivational videos. I realized that the only thing that was holding me back from doing any running was me. The one thing that I have always told Mandy, “Don’t be afraid to do anything. If you say you can’t, you never will.” After her last marathon, I set a goal to run the Kansas City Half marathon.

After the first of the year I wanted to go ahead and start training as if the marathon was going to be at the end of March. That way I could tweak what needed improving and see what kind of obstacles that I might run into. I still wanted to keep up my heavy lifting while I was doing this training. So to be able to stay focused on both running and lifting I came up with a workout routine that would help incorporate both of these. I was surprised that I actually got stronger as the training went on. You can see this plan here. I stayed committed to my Vibram Fivefinger’s. Even though they were a very minimalist shoe, my body seemed to take to them very well. I believe it was due to running differently in these as opposed to a regular running shoe. In these, I have to run more on the balls of my feet rather than a heal strike. It prevented less impact on my joints and shins. I did run into some shin pain at about the third week of training and I found out that it’s the intervals that caused this. I’m good when it’s a casual run and a tempo run, but the sprints would be the ultimate cause of the pain. Note to self: make sure and warm up before doing any sprints. I also invested in a couple of compression shin sleeves and compression pants. If you have ever considered getting them but don’t know if they would really work, I for one would highly recommend them. I definitely believe they help with the recovery time and healing time. I also had the help of Hammer Nutrition products. Using the Perpetuem and Sustained Energy really helped keep me fueled and hydrated during my runs. Of course, I would highly recommend a great workout partner. Without Mandy helping me along the way and always running with me, I don’t know that I would have done this by myself.

Mandy have asked me “How did it feel to run 13.1 miles?” It felt pretty good. I didn’t try to run it for time. We just kept up a good pace and stayed with it the whole time. After each lap, we stopped off at the Jeep for a quick drink and a stretch and got back to it. After it was all said and done, it was just like any other run. Mandy is probably right by saying that I would need some sort of “official” run to make it more exciting and emotional. I’ll let you know when that time comes. I will say this, it’s not about how far I ran but more about the fact that I set a goal, and I did it. If you make excuses as to why you can’t, you never will. The video below hit home pretty hard. It gives me the goosebumps everytime I watch it. What’s your excuse?

M&C

[Christopher] Well, here is the last week of the mock training for the half marathon and this Saturday is the scheduled 13.1  mile run or a half marathon. I can’t believe it’s already here and I feel like I am ready for it. I am really glad that I decided to do this mock training. I learned a lot in the last 12 weeks.  I owe a lot of it to Mandy. She helped me along the way and gave me some great advice. I also learned what gave me shin splints. I do fine on the long run and on the tempo runs, but what caused my shin pain was the interval runs. If I did not let me legs warm up before doing the higher paced runs, it was inevitable I would get the shin pain. I also found a way for me to keep my strength and still be able to run as much as I do. In fact, I even gained some strength. I believe this was the mix of giving my muscles more time to rest and also adding crossfit in with our workouts. As I said, this mock training was good. If this were actual training, I might have been a bit behind and not felt as strong as I do now. Granted, I still have 13.1 miles to run, but I feel like I am better prepared for it and when I do actually go to train for the Kansas City half, I can tweak what I need and hopefully improve a lot.

[Mandy]  Well the day is finally here! We’ve gone through the ½ marathon mock training, and even though I’ve done this training countless times, it was much different this time around! If there’s one thing I have learned in life and have been reminded of during the last 12 weeks, it’s this: don’t limit yourself. Please don’t put a ceiling or a cap on what you think you can do. You’re so much stronger than you think, and there’s always one more mile, one more rep, one more set inside of you if you can get past that “I can’t do it” attitude and see what you’ve got.  I know that I was able to surprise myself over the last few months (along with Christopher’s help, of course!) with what I was able to pull out in my workouts. Switching gears and readjusting my training took a little time, but once I fully committed to it I was so happy to see that I was able to do all sorts of things! I could still run; I could still lift heavy; I could still cross-train and do different exercises.  It’s only made me stronger and a better athlete all-around.  I’m really looking forward to running this 13.1 mile run with C. tomorrow; he’s motivated me and pushed me in every way, and I’ve been so impressed with how well he’s taken to this marathon training.  If all goes well, we might be running a few half marathons before the Kansas City Half Marathon in October!  We’ll let you all know how the run goes after tomorrow!

[Mandy] Saturday’s long run was the best run I’ve had in a long time! I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by the distance. I haven’t run 12 miles in MONTHS, and I was a little worried it would’t go as well as I was hoping. Christopher had the genius idea of sleeping in just a little that morning, and it was exactly what we needed!  I ate my usual protein shake in the morning for breakfast and added a small protein bar before I stepped onto the treadmill. Sipping on my energy drink (my beloved Ephedra Tea) helped wake me up and get my body warmed up.  We got to the gym a little later than we planned, but it allowed us to wake up a little more and get our bodies warmed up before starting our run.  I was excited for Christopher to complete his first ever 12 mile run; there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to own this workout!  I took the first 6 miles fairly easy and eased into it by slowly accelerating as I ran along. I can’t believe how quickly the first half went by!  When the treadmill shut down at 60 minutes, I had completed 6.5 miles. I stretched my legs, sucked down my carb gel with caffeine, took a swig of water, and hopped back on to finish up the next 5.5 miles. I found a good song, settled back in, and pounded out the last 6 miles effortlessly.  I ran the 2nd 6 miles faster than the first, and I actually finished up with a total of 12.5 miles! I was smiling and exhausted, and it was a great reminder of why I love running. I was so impressed with Christopher who was flying right along beside me.  Here was a guy who had never run anything longer than 2-3 miles, and he was tackling a 12 mile run.  I’ll let him tell you about it

[Christopher] My cheesy song title will have to be “You’re the Best” from the Karate Kid movie, because that’s exactly what I listened to for the last few miles. I had downloaded a bunch of songs from movies that were motivational back in the day, and I thought I would give it a try. Hey, 2 hours on a treadmill is a long time to stay in one place. I might as well make it fun. 12 miles is exactly what I cranked out, and I did it in 1 hour and 49 minutes. It’s certainly not a “fast” run but fast for me. AND, I still had enough to keep going another mile and a half. I felt really good and was not wiped out like I thought I would be. The best thing about this whole training is that I have been able to keep up my heavy lifting like I wanted to. In fact, I think I have actually gained some strength by letting my muscles rest a little longer than usual. If I had started to lose strength, I probably would have given up on the running. I’m starting to like running a little, but it certainly will not affect my heavy lifting. I also think that the crossfit that we have incorporated into our workouts have helped improve our running and workouts tremendously. One thing Mandy did not mention is that she has improved a LOT with her workouts and lifting. That little girl is strong. I am super impressed with her ability to push heavy weight. Not only have I mentioned this to her, but people throughout the gym have mentioned it as well. She definitely makes for a great workout partner and she’s all mine.

The next long I have schedule will be the half marathon distance. I’m super excited to see how it goes. Stay tuned!

[Christopher] 10 mile = Complete. That’s what was on schedule for our Saturday run. When I said to Mandy, “after mile 9, I was feeling pretty good” she asked me to repeat it. I admit I was a little skeptical about the 10 mile run. Yes, I had run it once before a few weeks back, but I also remember that it wasn’t all that effortless. This time I felt as if I could keep going. I did in fact run almost another half mile before I started thinking about what was in store for the next weekend; my longest run yet of 12 miles. I hit stop on the treadmill and stamped it good. I felt pretty good and still had plenty of stamina.

A couple of weeks ago, our friend Tom gave me his compression shin sleeves to try out and see if they would help out with the shin splints. I like them so much that I went out and bought another pair, Zensah Compression Leg Sleeves. Both sleeves are really helping my healing time with my shins, which allows the blood flow to improve healing time. The Zensah’s are really helpful because I can wear these to work, to bed or while working out. The material is specially knitted to help provide optimal support throughout the calf and cool enough to wear all the time. I highly recommend them and they run about $40 for the pair.

I have also invested in a pair of compression pants by 2XU. I felt like my legs were not healing quick enough before I had to run again, lift weights or the crosstraining. I also believe this is causing my shins splints pain. So I figured if the shin sleeves work that well, why not invest in some pants? These did not come all that cheap at $160, but well worth it if they help. I will try them out on Tuesday for my 8 mile Tempo run and see. I’m crossing my fingers that this is really gonna improve the healing time. Stay tuned!

[Mandy] Much like Christopher, I had a great 10 mile run on Saturday as well!  I made sure to eat a big dinner the night before and added some extra carbs to my breakfast that morning. It was just what I needed!  I could tell my body was still tight and sore from the workouts the preceding week, but the added fuel gave me the energy I needed to knock out those 10 miles with relative ease. I felt strong, confident, and like I could run forever. I made myself stop at 10 miles even though it felt like I could have ran farther; I knew mileage increased the next week and didn’t want to overdo it. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had any injuries or problems while switching up our workouts.  My body is adjusting to the change, and I am LOVING feeling stronger than ever. I think I found a happy medium between running as much as I am and still getting in strong lifts and some fun cross-training. I think I might keep this up for a while!  If Christopher’s compression pants do wonders for him, I’m thinking of trying some out as well. I deal with some lower back and hip problems, and I would love if something as simple as that could help remedy the issue.  Until then I’m focused on stretching and recovering on my own as much as possible. I’m really looking forward to our 12 mile run this weekend!

M&C