Running Away from Adulting

Oh Pittsburgh Marathon, please come back soon! Happy Monday! So as some of y'all read on my recap from the EQT 10 Miler , I had a ton of knee pain following the race, and having a lot of difficulty with walking up and down stairs. I've taken this past week to work on strengthening, RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), and preparing myself mentally for the remaining days of 2017.  And what do these coming days entail? Setting up for Spring training! I've decided to utilize Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight Quick Start Guide .  The book is super user-friendly and allows me to keep running, add strengthening exercises, and eat a more wholesome diet geared for strengthening while also losing some excess fat stores that have scientific evidence for slowing runners down.  --- But Crystal, you aren't fat. You're at a healthy weight now. You don't need to lose weight. (insert whatever comment you will) I am doin...

GUYS! If you're in the Pittsburgh area (and run), you have GOT to run this race! It's like the Pittsburgh Marathon of the Fall. There is so much energy and excitement before and during this race; it's electric! Okay, I'll try to contain myself as I write this. But really, can you blame me? Just ruining the ending for ya, but... THIS GIRL GOT A PR! And the reason I'm extra excited about this? Because I literally just got back into running mid-September. I will make a separate blog post about this transition, but for now, lets talk about the race! Expo: The expo was quite small, tucked inside the shops at Station Square. But I did get to finally meet up with my girl Jen and her NEW husband after not seeing her since the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K! I'm so inspired by her and was so excited to finally meet up with her and run. Jen and I first meeting at the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K Race Morning: So my boss texted m...

Phew, this was a week! So I ran the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon last Saturday ... in my new Superfeet Black Insoles. Then on Sunday, I ran 3 recovery miles... in my new Superfeet Black Insoles. Then... Monday: 5 Mile Tempo Run I caught some rainy miles while my car was getting tires put on. On the schedule: 1M Easy Pace, 1M Tempo Pace, 1M 5K Pace, 1M Tempo Pace, 1M Easy Pace  I was feeling a little sore in my IT band, so I moreso tried to feel the run and not push the pace too hard if my body was telling me no. I picked up speed as needed, but didn't hit my "5K Pace". It was rainy and I was exhausted, so whatever, I didn't get it. But I felt accomplished in knowing that I was able to at least move my body faster than I had started out at.  and guess what, I ran in my new Superfeet Black Insoles... MY IT BAND IS STIFF AND I'M ACHING So lesson learned: don't run a half marathon, 3 mile run, and 5 mile run in a row w...

Okay, so I signed up for this race just this past week. I was debating if I should run this as part of my EQT 10 Miler training, but not many training plans have distances longer than the goal as part of the weeks building up. But I knew a bunch of great friends of mine were planning on running it, and everyone raved at how fun it was. So here I am, a Tuesday before a Saturday race, signing up for a classic Pittsburgh fall race. I wasn't going to race it - just have fun. Since I wasn't racing it, I didn't really prepare. I didn't eat a bunch of carbs prior, slept horribly, did not hydrate enough, and even ate a Fiber One bar on my way to the race. Talk about long run poops... --- It was a beautiful morning for a fall race! Cool, sunny, and with such pretty landscape to enjoy. The race was downhill and on a trail. I'll be honest, I didn't feel like it was as downhill as my Garmin showed - maybe because of the crushed limestone versus asphal...