Future Workouts/Advice Needed

I need some advice, so please leave as many tips/suggestions that you have.

I've just run 40 miles this past week and I plan on keeping it up. However, all of those runs were done on flat pavement and they were not that fast. In order to prepare for Mohican 100 Trail Run in JUNEEEE, I need to do more technical running on hilly trails. Furthermore, I haven't started to do any ab/other-body-part workout that I intended to do.

Here are my questions:

1. In Feb., should I start doing 45mi/wk?
2. If I do 45mi/wk, is it reasonable to include hill/sprint workouts on top of the mileage?

OR

1. In Feb., should I continue the 40mi/wk and just add some tempo/hill workouts and play it safe?

AND

1. What's an easy, doable ab workout that I can include after my daily runs?

THANKS!

Don't eat Greek after a 7 mile run :(

Yesterday was my husband and my 3 year anniversary. Our rehearsal dinner, and our 1st and 2nd year anniversary dinners were at this great Greek restaurant, Santorini Greek Kitchen. It's very good and they always give you a crapload of food. So all day yesterday at work, I was looking forward to it. I wanted to make sure I had an appetite, and that's part of the reason I ran 7 miles immediately before dinner. Bad idea.

My first mistake was to come home after the run and not drink or eat anything. About 40 minutes after my run, we headed off to the restaurant. We first ordered this great bottle of wine that we always get. After my first sip, I thought it tasted different than before- not that good. Then the feta/pita/cucumber sauce appetizers came and for some reason, they didn't taste that good either.

It sucked...I realized my body was depleted of something and that Greek food was not going to replenish it. That unusual Greek taste that I usually love now disgusted me. So I only ate a tiny bit of the appetizers and then put the rest in a to-go box. Then came our salads, and the gyros- packed on with huge piles of potatoes, green beans, and rice. I took one bite of the gyro and almost puked...and the same happened with the rice. Dangit!

I literally just sat there with tons of food around me and I couldn't eat it. I apologized to the waiter. (Woe is me)

After dinner, we came home and I was able to eat some of my vanilla Wendys frosty. :) Somehow that tasted perfect.

All in all- it was just really interesting to me that even though I was super hungry and I normally like Greek food, my body wouldn't take it because I needed carbs and other stuff. I kept craving a huge pot of spaghetti or even just plain bread. Ohh well. I'm now glad I have tons of leftovers that will last me the rest of the week. (I still have to run today to make my 40mi/wk goal, so hopefully that'll happen wayyy before mealtime).

Free Help for Your Runs

I've been thinking a lot lately about what helps me get through long runs (and even short ones) and I realized that a lot of it has to do with some of my nonverbal behavior (thank you Communications class).

Many of you might laugh at this post or think it's cheesy but I'm going to go out on a limb. I have found the following things below to be very helpful during long runs, especially when you really want to stop running and quit, and I thought I'd pass the info along.

-Smiling
I'm not talking about smiling at other people or anything (although that helps, too), I'm talking about smiling to yourself during a run. Similar to what I just said in my previous post, simply smiling at yourself can remind you of why you're even running. Why are you? You're running becuase you enjoy it and it's fun. Stop and take a break.

-Make the sign of the cross and thank God for the ability to run

Despite the funny picture above, I'm serious about this one. When I went to the Dormition Monastery last year, one of the Mothers talked about how important it is to make the sign of the cross. She said wherever you are, remember God and cross yourself. Even if you're in school or in public and don't want to physically cross yourself, make the sign with your eyes. This advice really stuck with me.

Furthermore, I always want to thank God for the physical/mental ability to run since so many people are not capable.

Having said all of that, during my long runs (especially when I'm struggling to keep going) I really try to make the sign of the cross and thank God that I'm even able to run. When I've been running for hours and I'm just in a zone, not smiling or thinking of anything helpful, I kind of wake myself up- smile- and then make the sign of the cross. It sounds funny but no one sees you and if others may see you, just do it with your eyes.

It works for me. Try it out.