Week 5 and a Half Marathon PR!

This week has been strange. We had a lot of winter weather. The worry about how and when I would run far outweighed any actually issues though. The weather started on Sunday night with sleet and freezing rain. Daycare was closed on Monday morning but Brian had worked the weekend and had Monday off so he could stay with the kids. I got to work fairly trouble free but it started snowing again and I had some difficulty getting home. Brian decided to chance a snow run and ended up with 11 miles. Since I’ve got Boston coming up, he advised against the same for me and I hit the treadmill for 10 miles at an easy 8:13 pace.  I listened to an interesting book and it wasn’t that bad. Daycare was closed again on Tuesday and I stayed home this time. The sun came out and temps came up to nearly 40. Unfortunately, Brian was really busy at work and had given several people rides so he didn’t make it home until after 5. I was dressed with keys in hand and was out the door before he even got out of the car. I had speed work to do which I can’t really do from home because of the hills and winding trails. Also, I needed to go somewhere that would be safe after the sun went down and where I knew I could find trails/road without ice and snow. I drove to a local hospital in an industrial park that has river trail access. My daylight was limited but I figured I’d use the trail as much as I could and then do laps around the well lit industrial park when the sun went down. It is roughly a mile and flat. I needed 11 miles total and planned for 5x1200m at 5k pace. I did 5 miles on the trail to warm up and then started the intervals on the industrial park loop. Between the cold and the dark and who knows what else, I could not do the intervals as fast as I wanted. They were ok though. They were all easily sub 7:00 and the overall pace was  7:37. I was just glad to not have to do the treadmill. The half dark run reminded me of Lincoln training and I am really appreciating my current schedule. Wednesday was interesting. Daycare opened because the roads were clear but the forecast showed a high likelihood of snow. I worked at the Conway clinic and we didn’t get any snow at all. Co-workers from North Little Rock started getting snow by 10 am and they all left by noon. Brian works in Little Rock and got lots of snow as well. My co-worker in Conway lives a half mile from me and her husband works from home. He said we got flurries for about an hour and nothing stuck. I ended up being able to stick to the plan and do 15 from home at my usual time. The run was hard. The cold and the cutting wind were really beating me down mentally and physically.  Also, my left foot is a mess. I have no less than 3 blisters going at all times and they really were bothering me. I did my best not to change my gait but it was a real struggle. Despite this, I did 8:06 pace. It actually would have been a lot faster but I fell off the pace hard with a mile or so to go and just didn’t care to push it. I went to the store and bought 2^nd skin and blister pads. On Thursday the plan was a 6 miler in the morning and a 4 miler in the afternoon. The temps were super low and I was worried that the wet roads might have patches of ice so I did the morning run on the treadmill and caught up on Better Call Saul. The worst part was that my blisters really hurt. I set the treadmill just below 8:30 pace and went for it. No reason at all to run fast. I went to work and after I finished my patients for the day, I headed to the gym on campus and did the 4 miler. My feet felt a little better but not great. I did that run in 8:16 and afterward, me foot felt really awful. When I got home I cleaned it up and got all the blisters patched up. They felt better Friday morning and I didn’t notice them much throughout the day. I did a 6 miler when I got home from work and they felt much better after the 24 hour rest. I did that run in 7:55 pace. I took my rest day on Saturday.  My training plan called for a 16 mile pace run with 12 miles at marathon race pace. I’ve done this run on previous training plans and it is always tough but confidence boosting. It coincided with the Little Rock Marathon so I signed up for the half so I could use the race to do this run. I parked and headed to the start line and ran into a training buddy. She was hanging out at the firm she used to work at so I was able to stay with her there in the warmth (it was 34 degrees and drizzling) and use the nice indoor bathroom  and avoid porta potties. Yea! We ran 2 miles to warm up and then got in the corral. She wasn’t sure if she was going to do a pace run or go ahead and race it. I knew I wasn’t going full out. I decided to try to stay between 7:20 and 7:30 pace. At the mile 4 timing mat, I was running 7:28 pace. At 10k I was running 7:25 pace. At some point around mile 8 or so, I sped up without really meaning to. Once I figured it out, I felt good so I went with it. When I passed the 10 mile marker I did a little bit of math and figured if I ran 7 minute pace to the end, I could PR. I was able to stay below 7 pretty easy. The course was terrible and doubled back on itself so in the 11^th mile, I started overtaking walkers. There were hundreds if not thousands of them and they took up all 4 lanes of traffic. I had to dodge them and run all over the road. It was such a cluster that I wasn’t even sure I was going the right way anymore. Around the middle of the 12^th mile, I saw the spot where I was supposed to go straight to finish so I knew I didn’t get misdirected. Even in the finish, I was overtaking people walking the 10k and got no relief. I hit the finish in 1:34:17 which is actually a PR. I had to laugh because I did not see that coming. I’ve always said that my half PR was not indicative of my ability and I think this proves it. I really wonder what I could run if I did an honest effort. Now isn’t the time though but I am happy to have my very first post Leo PR!

For the week, I did 68 miles. I feel pretty good besides the blisters but even they were better after taking Saturday off. My hamstring tendon doesn’t feel great today but that’s to be expected with the hills and the speed in the half marathon. I missed yoga all last week because of the winter weather and some apathy so I need to make that happen next week. Things are going to well to not take good care of myself.

Next week’s plan looks like this:
M-General Aerobic + Speed 7mi w/6 x 100m strides
T-Lactate Threshold 11mi w/6@ 15k to half marathon race pace
W-Med Long Run 15mi
R-Recovery 5mi
F-Rest
S-Long Run 20mi
S-General Aerobic + Speed 8mi w/6 x 100m strides

First 20 miler of the training cycle! I feel ready and I’m so glad to have the pace run out of the way. Because of the winter weather and the race, I didn’t get as much reading in as usual. On the treadmill I often watch TV and I didn’t wear headphones in the race. I did manage to finish Brain on Fire which was a really good, nonfiction book. I then listened to Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This is my first experience with her and I’ll admit, I’m not sure I get it. It is supposed to be satire but since it was written so long ago, I’m afraid some of it is lost on me. It wasn’t terrible though. Now I’m reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I like it so far and I’m guessing I’m around half way done.

Week 4

This week has been a real study in flexibility. The predicted winter weather on Monday became a reality. I had already decided that a 13 mile run would be a bit much after a 5k and then an 18 miler so it didn’t bother me to break it up. I actually had Monday off due to Presidents Day and was really looking forward to a day to myself. No such luck. Daycare was closed but Brian had to work. I got up at 6 and hit the treadmill for 6 miles. I watched The Maze Runner while I ran to help pass the time. I read the series and figured I might as well watch the movie. I always run slow on the treadmill. It is a mental thing but there was no need to set the world on fire anyway so I did 8:20 pace, took a shower and tucked in with the kids on the couch. When Brian got home, I did the last 7 of the 13 miles and finished The Maze Runner. I did 8:14 pace and was glad to get all the mileage in, treadmill and all. Daycare was delayed on Tuesday and I was supposed to go to work. I stayed home with the kids until I took them to school at 10am. My co-worker called to say that every single patient had cancelled and there was no reason for any of us to go in. If the roads and trails weren’t covered in ice, snow and slush, this would have been great. I ran a few errands and then literally waited for the snow to melt. The sun was out but it was only a few degrees above freezing. Around 1:30, I couldn’t take it anymore and I drove to the river trail. My run was supposed to be 10 miles with 5 at 15k to half marathon pace. I parked at the Big Dam Bridge (this is a .75 mile pedestrian bridge that spans the Arkansas River connecting the NLR and LR side of our river trail). I went out for a mile and back on the NLR side and then headed up the bridge. The trail was clear but the bridge was snow covered. It had started to melt but not much so it was a little slick but it was runable. It was deep so it was sort of like running in sand. When I hit the other side I started the tempo work. For 2 miles I was good but in the 3^rd mile I had to start and stop several times to go across patches of ice. It was so annoying. The last 2 miles were free and clear and then I finished up by heading back across the bridge and running the NLR trails. Other than the start and stop middle mile, it went really well. The tempo section was 7:08, 6:53, 6:49, 6:51 & 6:53 for 6:55 on average. Perfect! It felt great too. The overall 10 miles was 7:35. On Wednesday it snowed again! GAH!!! Daycare was delayed to 9am but I did actually go to work and was really busy. I left work early to do my 15 miler once I was done with patients. I ran in my neighborhood. Most areas had melted but the shaded places were still really icy so I had to get creative and do lots of clear sections over and over again. It was cold and the wind cut right through you. I got it done but it was pretty miserable. The pace was 8:10 though so not bad. Even when I’m mentally not in the run, I’m still able to hang on to a pretty decent pace. On Thursday, I just couldn’t bear a 5 am run. It was going to be in the low teens and I was tired of being miserably cold for every run. I do the early Thursday run so I can go to yoga on Thursday night. My gym was having a “yogathon” on Friday so I figured I’d skip my usual class and go to it instead which freed up my Thursday afternoon for my 5 mile recovery run. Once again, it was bitter cold and the wind was like a knife. I was miserable and 5 miles seemed so hard. I did it in 8:03 and couldn’t have been happier to be done. The weather was supposed to get warmer but it was also supposed to storm. Brian had to work the weekend so my sister agreed to babysit the boys while I did my long run. Instead of taking Friday off, I decided I’d do another recovery run and go to “yogathon”, rest on Saturday while it stormed and do the long run on Sunday. The 5 miler on Friday was so much better than Thursday’s. It was still cold and windy but it was better. I did 7:57 pace and then got cleaned up and drove the gym for 2 solid hours of yoga. Unfortunately, they cancelled it because of the cold, wet weather. I was pretty disappointed but what can you do. I never get to do yoga on Saturday because I’m always doing my long run so I hit the 8am class. It was perfect. We really worked on hips and also did warrior III to exhaustion which is exactly what my left hamstring needs. It didn’t completely make up for no “yogathon” but it was pretty good. On Sunday my sister came to watch the kids around 1030 so I could do the long run. Boston will start around 1030 for me so I’ve been trying to do some of my longer runs later in the day instead of first thing in the morning so I’m used to the time. I woke up sore in the upper body and deep in the glutes from yoga. Once again, it was cold and the wind was blowing around 13-14 mph. As soon as I got started, I could tell right away that I just wanted this run over with. Every time the wind gusted in my face I cursed the weather. My attitude was extremely poor and I didn’t even stop for Gu because I just wanted to finish. The bright side was that I did 8:03 pace. Even when I’m not feeling it, the pace is good.

Overall, I feel ok. Just the usual aches and pains, nothing new. My left foot is a blistered mess though. When I took my foot out of my sock after my long run, the entire tip was stained with blood. My lack of pronation leads to my toes on that side getting squished together which makes very weird shaped callouses that have been a real problem for me lately. I've been trying to ignore them but I guess I'll have to start wearing blister pads or something as coating everything with Glide isn't cutting it. There is the possibility of winter weather again tonight which I’m annoyed by of course. I also have a race next week, the Little Rock Half Marathon but I’ll be using it as a training run. My plan called for a 16 miler with 12 miles at marathon pace. This is a mentally grueling run normally so it will almost feel like cheating doing it in a race setting. I’m ok with that though.

Next week the plan is 68 miles.

M-General Aerobic 10mi

T-VO2max 11mi w/5x1200m@5k race pace
W-Med Long Run 15mi
R-Recovery 6mi am 4mi pm
F-Recovery 6mi
S-Rest
S-Little Rock Half Marathon-16 total miles with 12 at marathon race pace

This week I finished Eleanor & Park which I liked. I also read The House Girl by Tara Conklin which I felt neutral about and I started Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. So far it is reminding me of a more detailed, written version of the show Mystery Diagnosis and it is freaking me out a little bit. 

Week 3 and a Race Recap

3 weeks in already! This is going by really quickly. I feel so busy since I leave work early Monday through Wednesday, run and then start the usual nightly routines as soon as I’m done running. Life is a blur right now but it is a good blur. The mileage went up into the 60s this week so I feel like the buildup is over and now I’m in the thick of it all. With a race on Saturday, I decided that I would do whatever I could to keep the first of the week runs in check as they have really been a little fast. I did a hilly route on Monday. It was a 12 miler and it felt pretty good and still came in at 8:10. Tuesday was strides. I decided to do them on the river trail on an old route I used for tempo runs when I was training for Chicago. I loved that route because those tempo runs were the big breakthrough in that training cycle. The training was in the dead of the summer and that particular route offered a lot of shade. The tree cover also makes for inaccurate Garmin readings. In the summer that is a fair trade off but not in winter. Seriously, I’m never running that route again unless I actually NEED the shade. The 9 miles with strides was fine. I did it in 7:57 pace but mentally, it just dragged and dragged and the Garmin jumping from sub 8 minute miles to 10 plus minute miles only added to the annoyance. The Wednesday 14 miler was tough but I managed it in 8:09 pace. I was getting a little loopy at the end and may need to start taking a Gu with me on those mid week long runs. The Thursday morning run is getting better! Even after the exhausting 14 miler less than 12 hours earlier, I managed 8:16 pace for the 5 mile recovery run at 5 in the morning. This is a good sign. It shows I’m adapting to the mileage and I’m recovering faster now. I took it easy the rest of Thursday and all day Friday and got ready for the Valentine’s Day 5k.

This race is a favorite of mine. It has been around for a long time and is run on a system of trails. It is flat and the temps are usually cold so it is a good chance to PR or at least run a good time. My 5k PR is from 2008 and is 19:42. I thought I might have a chance to take it down but only if I had a GREAT day. I really wanted to break 20 minutes which seemed doable. I only needed to run a total of 5 miles so I did a one mile warm up. My legs felt good but my feet were like blocks of ice. Oh well, they’d thaw out in the race. Like my river trail route, the Garmin has trouble keeping up on this course because the trail is winding and tree covered. I know this so I kept telling myself that whatever the Garmin said, I needed to remember I was actually going faster. When the race started, everyone went out too fast. The girl that eventually won the race is horrible at this and lots of people went with her. I had a hard time pulling myself back but managed to get down to 6:20 pace about a quarter mile in (according to the Garmin anyway). It took me more than half a mile to pass all the kids that went out too fast and finally, I was on my own with two Arkansas Tech Cross Country girls about 10 seconds in front of me and the leader completely out of sight. I passed the one mile marker and my Garmin didn’t go off for at least 5 seconds and it said 6:20. I wanted to run 6:20-6:25 pace so that seemed ok but since my Garmin was behind, I probably ran more like 6:10-6:15 pace which was too fast. As I started the 2nd mile, the Garmin was saying I was running 6:35-6:40 pace which I knew was wrong but it was so discouraging. I pushed on and closed the gap on the college girls. I passed them a little before the 2nd mile marker. When I went through it, I checked my actual time so I would have a better idea of what pace I was really running. It said 12:49. This should have calmed me down because that is 6:25 pace, exactly what I wanted to run. After 2 miles in a 5k though, I’m not exactly rational. I did the math and knew what it meant but then looked at my Garmin and saw 6:47 pace and got discouraged again. For the entire 3rd mile, I went back and forth between getting excited and thinking I was going to do it and then complete discouragement and giving up. At one point, I caught a glimpse of the leader. She was too far ahead to catch but I saw her. She usually runs a low 18 something and ran a 17 something this summer so I shouldn’t be able to see her at all when I’m 2.5 miles into a 5k. This gave me a little jolt for a while and I picked up the pace. As I came closer to the finish, I tried to pick it up but I was spent. I came out of the woods and realized the finish line was right there. My Garmin didn’t even have me at 3 miles yet. I tried to kick as hard as I could and was watching the clock tick down. It was probably around 19:45 when I first could read it. I pushed so hard but it clicked over 20 minutes as I crossed the finish mat. My official time was 20:00. Seriously, exactly 20 minutes. I was disappointed at first but the more I thought about it, I’m pretty happy. It is my fastest 5k since having kids and I’m not even training for that distance. Considering that I went out too fast and let the Garmin get the best of me, even when I knew better, I’m pretty lucky that I did as well as I did. I was 2nd in my heat and 3rd overall (one of the masters women ran a faster time than I did in an earlier heat). Brian did great. He ran 16:37 which was only about 6 seconds slower than his PR. He was 2nd overall and two of us won the married “Sweetheart” division.

I was a little worried about my long run. I had to do 18 and I was scared my legs wouldn't hold up since I did a race the day before. I met up with a running buddy and did 9 miles of it with her and that really helped mentally. I ended up running it at 8:07 pace. I would have been happy with that any day but it was even better because the route was hilly and I wasn’t expecting much on my tired race legs.

Next week’s plan:
M-Med Long Run 13mi
T-Lactate Threshold 10mi w/5@ 15k to half marathon race pace
W-Med Long Run 15mi
R-Recovery 5mi
F-Rest
S-Long Run 17mi
S-Recovery 5mi

My only real worry is weather. I'm off work for the holiday on Monday but we are supposed to get freezing rain so I'm worried about daycare closing. I can always run on our treadmill but not if I'm home alone with the boys. Brian is an inpatient physical therapist so he can't miss work for weather. I'm pretty tired after today's long run so I think I'll probably break the Monday run up into 2 runs and do one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Hopefully, it will work out. Another snag may come next weekend as the weather may be bad again and Brian has to work the weekend.

I'm feeling pretty good. My left hamstring is feeling pretty tight after the race but it isn't anything I haven't dealt with before. I really am shocked at how well my body is responding to the training and how much easier it has been this time around with a different schedule. Books wise, I finished Attachments by Rainbow Rowell and then listened to The Diviners by Libba Bray and have started Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Loved Attachments. It was light and fun and easy to listen to. The Diviners is a series and it was fun too. It deals with paranormal stuff and is set in the 1920s. It is YA so nothing too serious but certainly a fun read and I'd like to read the other books in the series (which I don't think are out yet). I'm probably about half way through Eleanor and Park (hard to tell since I'm listening and not actually reading) and I like it so far. I can't believe how much reading I'm able to get in with all this running!

Week 2

Week 2 is done and I feel like I’m settling in well. Once again, I was able to run all the planned mileage. Being off earlier in the day is making this so much easier! Even on the long mid week runs, I’m done before the sun goes down and I’m usually home about the same time as Brian and the boys. When I trained for Lincoln, I ran so many miles in the dark and it felt like I got home so late. I’ve also noticed patterns in the training that are helping me break things down mentally and not get so overwhelmed with all the mileage.

Pace wise, things went well. I started out quick again on Monday with an 8:00 11 miler. No idea why I tend to run that one so fast but it is unnecessary. I’m not pushing the pace on purpose and the rest of the week went fine so I guess it is harmless. The tempo run on Tuesday started shaky. The first mile was 7:13. I was hoping to do more like 7:00 or 6:59. I was heading into the wind so I just kept pushing on. The next miles were 7:05, 7:03 and 6:51 so the overall tempo section was 7:03. The run was 9 miles and the overall pace was 7:37. Not setting the world on fire but a very good effort. The Wednesday medium long run was 12 miles and I did the hilly route again and ended up with 8:13 pace. Getting up on Thursday was hard, as usual, but it did feel better than week one and I ran 8:36 pace for 5 miles. I do love having the rest of Thursday and all day Friday off before hitting it again. I felt really good for the long run and ended up with 8:05 overall. I ran on the river trail because I had to meet Brian and the kids so that he could run a 15k. Our timing could not have been better. I set my alarm for 5 am. Seriously, getting up that early on Saturday was the hardest thing about this run. I drove his car to the spot on the river trail that I wanted to start at and got going around 5:45. I finished the run at the race course and he met me there with the kids in my car. I was in the last mile and I saw them drive in. My 17 miles finished right at their parking spot! Couldn’t have been more perfect. He left to warm up and the kids and I went for bagels. After the race, he ran to his car which was a little less than 2 miles from the course. Kid juggling at its best and sitter avoided! The river trail is really flat and wide open so I tend to run fast times out there. I just stayed comfortable and didn’t push the pace. It was tough (every long run is) but I was shocked at how good I felt during and after. I got tired but the pace didn’t slow and afterward, I could tell I’d worked hard but didn’t have the usually beaten up feeling that often comes after a long run. My 5 mile recovery run on Sunday was uneventful and came in a 8:13 pace. (BTW-Brian got 3rd place overall at his race and ran exactly what he had planned to run so kudos to him!)

Body is feeling pretty good. I do have a weird sensation on the outside of my left ankle. I call it sensation because it isn’t really painful. It just feels weird, almost like a weakness. The more I think about it, it is probably some sort of tendonosis/tendonopathy type thing. I’ve been icing it and it isn’t really a problem...yet. I actually felt less run down and tired this week so I seem to be adjusting well to the mileage!

Next week will be slightly different as I’m going to do a 5k on Saturday. Here is the plan:
M-Med Long Run 12 miles

T-General Aerobic + Speed 9mi w/10 x 100m strides

W-Med Long Run 14m

R-Recovery 5mi

F-Rest

S-Valentine’s Day 5k 5mi total

S-Long Run 18mi

The 5k is The Valentine’s Day 5k. It is a longstanding race here in Arkansas. It has a couples division and Brian and I have won the married couples division every year we’ve entered. It has become a tradition of ours and I feel ready to race a short distance. I haven’t done much speed work lately but what I did do a few weeks ago was faster than I would have expected. Depending upon conditions, I think I might be able to break 20 minutes so that is the plan. My PR is 19:42. If I have a great day, I think I could beat it but we’ll have to see. That PR is from 2008-pre kids. It is the only PR I didn’t set after Darwin was born. I’ve yet to PR at anything since Leo was born.

This weeks books were the last two of the Big Stone Gap series, Milk Glass Moon and Return to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. This was a really sweet series that was emotional without leaving me absolutely heart broken. I also got started on Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. It is entertaining so far. Seriously, audiobooks are the best thing ever to help pass all the miles!

Oh and one more random thing! I’ve added a training widget on here that always displays my latest run. It is on the right side of the screen so even if I don’t post, you can see what I’ve been up to running wise.

Week 1

Week one is done! The plan was 55 total miles and I did manage to run everything planned without too much trouble. The first few days were hard. I’m not used to double digit runs at the beginning of the week and by Tuesday afternoon, I was feeling exhausted. I did the 11 mile run on Monday at 8:07 pace which was a little too fast probably but it seemed comfortable at the time. On Tuesday, I tried to take it easier but there is something about those strides thrown in that seem to bring the overall pace down. I ended up at 8:00 pace overall. On Wednesday, I made sure to go out easy and I did a hilly route to ensure that I would go slower. I need the hills for Boston anyway. I ended up at 8:24 pace for that 11 miles. The real hard part was getting up on Thursday morning at 5 am and running a 5 mile recovery run. I really need to get my Thursday run done early so I can get to yoga by 6:30 pm and I don’t want to leave work early 4 days a week. It is tougher for me to leave early from the North Little Rock hospital (where I am on Thursday and Friday) than it is in Conway (where I am Monday through Wednesday). Anyway, I ran 8:43 pace and was a bit shocked. Especially since it was so hard. My husband assured me that a recovery run isn’t supposed to be fast and I agree but the 8:43 does kinda hurt my ego. The best part about getting it done early though was having nearly 48 hours to recover for my long run since Friday is my day off. On Saturday, I got up early to do my 15 miler. I did a lot of 15 milers to prepare for this training so I was ready for the distance. I decided on a route that took me up and down a big hill in the 12th mile. This will be good for Boston since the big climbs are in the last half and then there is a punishing downhill section for the the last 10k. I cramped up and fell apart with a mile to go when I ran Boston in 2008 and I’m scared it will happen again. I managed 8:08 pace for the run. I honestly didn’t feel that great for the run. I didn’t feel terrible but I can feel the added mileage. The good thing was that the hills didn’t slow me down much. I did the mile with the big climb in 8:11 which wasn’t anywhere near the slowest mile of the run. I recovered quickly too and was able to run the downhill at 7:42 and the last mile of the run, which was flat, came in at 8:02. It was a good effort. On Sunday I did a 5 mile recovery run at 8:04 pace which felt good.

Here is next week’s schedule:

M-Med Long Run 11mi

T-Lactate Threshold 9mi w/4@ 15k to half marathon race pace

W-Med Long Run 12mi

R-Recovery 5mi

F-Rest

S-Long Run 17mi

S-Recovery 5mi

Total-59 miles

Not too different from last week. The tempo run will be tough but I’m not too scared of it since I’ve been doing some with 6 miles on pace. This will be my first long run since training for Go!STL so that will be a milestone. Brian is running the 15k that morning so there will be some kid juggling but it should work out well.

After the first week, I feel pretty good. The hardest part is the middle of the week just due to sheer exhaustion but that is expected. Aches and pains wise I feel ok. I had kind of a weird catch in my left knee on Thursday morning but it was gone by Saturday. My left hamstring tendon continues to be sore but I think it is getting better. I haven’t done the therapy I promised myself I would do so I’ll try to get some of that in next week. In yoga, the instructor has us do Warrior III to exhaustion on each leg which is similar to the single leg deadlifts I’m supposed to be doing to strengthen that side. I think it is really helping but I’m sure I could speed things up if I did the PT exercises I’m supposed to be doing as well. Weight and nutrition wise I’m doing good. I probably need to lose about 5 lbs before the race to be in top form. I’ve dropped a couple of lbs in the last few weeks and I feel healthy so I don’t think it will be a problem. I need to be as light as possible when I am trying to carry myself up those Newton Hills on the Boston course.

One random thing that I’ve decided to include on here is books read. I am almost always listening to a book while running. I loved to read in high school but all the text book reading in college and grad school turned me off of reading for years. Once I wanted to start again I was busy with work, running and family. My husband turned me on to audiobooks which I can get free from the library so I’m able to get lots of reading in every week. This week I read Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani. They are part of a series and are pretty entertaining. They deal with a mining town in the mountains of Virginia and have some funny characters. They are quick and easy reads.

Let's Get it Started!

Boston is a little less than 12 weeks away as I write this! It seems so close yet I have an entire training cycle to complete before I get there. So close, yet so far away and so much hard work between point A and point B. There are a lot of methods and philosophies of training and many factors go into choosing how you will make it happen. For me, I have to find the balance between performance and reality. I have to be at work 40 hours per week, I have a 5 and a 3 year old and I have a husband that is very supportive but also happens to have a 50-70 mile per week running habit. Having a running husband is a double edged sword. He understands and will do what he can to make sure I can run. On the other hand, we both need to run and someone always needs to be watching the kids so this presents some obstacles. Lets talk plans first.

As far as a training plan, I’m going to use the Pfitzinger/Douglas method.  Their book, Advanced Marathoning, is incredibly helpful. They outline their training philosophy and provide numerous variations on their plans. For my first two marathons, I used some random plan I found on the internet. I have no idea what it was. It wasn’t horrible and, the second time around, it did lead me to a BQ, but when I signed up for Chicago in 2008, I decided it was time to take it up a notch. That’s when my husband introduced me to their book. The book outlines plans of different lengths and different weekly mileage. I chose an 18 week plan that topped out at 70 miles per week for Chicago. Not only did I PR in the marathon by 18 minutes but I also PRed in every other distance too. Even in the 5k I went from a 20:45 to a 19:42 blowing away the notion that marathon training makes you slower at shorter distances. It made me a better all-around runner and prepared me for the marathon. I later used their 12 week plan that topped out at 70 miles for the Lincoln Marathon and it was an even better fit for me. Last year, I used the Smart Coach Tool from Runner’s World’s website to train for MS Blues and it was pretty good. It has similar principles but it isn’t quite as intense. I don’t know when I’ll get to run Boston again so I am going aggressive! Pfitzinger/Douglas it is!

The plan you chose for marathon training is going to depend on several factors and is a personal decision. What works for one, may or may not work for another. The only way to find out is trial and error. This will only be my 8th marathon so I have a lot to learn still but I do feel like I have a pretty good idea what works for me. I chose a 12 week plan because the 18 week plan I did in 2008 was just too long. It mentally and physically wore on me and I seemed to get the most gains in the first half of the plan. I chose the 70 mile per week cap for several reasons. I need one true rest day per week meaning no running at all on that day. Some don’t need this but I do for both physical and mental recovery. When you start going over 70 miles per week, this gets hard to do. And I'm not going to lie. 60-70 miles per week is hard on my body. There will be times in this training that I cuss life and wonder why the hell I do this to myself. The thought of 80-90 miles per week is just too much right now. Also, time is a big factor. If I were to go over 70 miles per week, I would need to take a daily nap, do more yoga, have daily massages, etc…  With a full time job and a family, these things aren’t going to happen so 70 miles it is!

The next big thing is logistics. My husband I have gotten really good at this but it is still a big challenge. We are both schedulers by nature so that helps. We also tend to alternate our training a little bit. Since having kids, we’ve never marathon trained at the same time. If one of us is working on something big, the other is training too but not putting in as many miles. Some things will have to change now that I’m training for Boston. I’ve been running at 5 am which was really freeing up my afternoons but now that I’m having to do longer mileage, I’ll have to shift to the afternoon. There’s just no good way to get an 11-15 miler in at 5 am and still make it to work on time. I talked to my boss a few weeks ago and told her I would be leaving early Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in order to get my training in and she said that was fine. I have lots of leave and my patient schedule is usually over by 2:30 so it won’t be a big deal to cut out early a few days a week and it will really help me out. The last time I trained hard for a marathon, I was on a 4 day a week schedule working 10 hour days so I didn’t get to leave work until at least 5 pm. Most of my runs were done in the dark and I got home late. I had to be at work by 6:30 am so going before work wasn’t an option. My schedule is 7:30 to 4:00 now so I have a little bit more wiggle room. I plan to do my Thursday run in the morning still so I can free up some afternoon time for yoga-my other passion. While training for Lincoln, I hit an emotional low point and told my husband that, no matter how fast I ended up running, it wouldn’t be worth it. I of course, changed my mind later. I think the problem was being a first time mom to an 18 month old. He had just weaned a few weeks before I started training so even though my husband is a great hands on dad and had no problem taking up any slack for me, I felt really weird and guilty about it. He was also so little and my schedule was so long that I left the house before he woke up every day and if I had a long run, he might be asleep before I got home. It was tough on me. I’m in a better place now and I have a better schedule so this hopefully won’t be as hard. My husband will get most of his runs in during his lunch break and in the afternoon. Between me leaving early and daycare closing at 6 pm, we should all be able to make it happen.

So here is the plan for week one:

M-Medium Long Run 11 miles
T-8 miles w/10x100m strides
W-Medium Long Run 11 miles
R-Recovery 5 miles
F-Rest
S-Medium Long Run 15 miles
S-Recovery 5 miles

Total mileage: 55

I’m excited that there is no hard speed work the first week. I’ve been doing tempo runs with 6 miles on tempo pace and I just did an hour long race so I’m looking forward to just putting one foot in front of the other without having to push really hard. On the other hand, two medium long runs on random weeknights will not feel like a party. I plan to check in here at least once a week with a rundown of the past weeks training and the plan for the upcoming week.

Finally Feeling Like A Runner Again

So it has been a very long time (as usual). In November 2013, just a few weeks after my last entry, I learned I was anemic. No wonder I couldn’t get back into running. All summer long I pushed myself through marathon training. The mileage went up but the times got slower and slower. I was only mildly anemic so I didn’t recognize the symptoms. I wasn’t having trouble getting out of bed or falling asleep at work but it was devastating my running. I was planning on doing MS Blues just after the first of the year in 2014. About the time the training was getting serious, I got sick. I ended up going to the doctor. My labs showed the anemia and I started an iron supplement. I had missed some critical training and wasn’t sure if it was even wise to go ahead with MS Blues. After some thought, I decided to just see how training went and I could always run it as a training run. I was feeling better and got a 17 miler and two 20 milers in, each faster than the last. As Christmas approached, my easy pace dropped from 8:45 to about 8:00. The iron supplements were doing their job. Going into the marathon, I wasn’t sure what to do. My sudden increase in speed was making it difficult to set a goal. I decided to shoot for a BQ (Boston Qualifier) which is 3:40 for me. The race was warm and windy and course had lots of hills. I ended up feeling great, even with all the climbs. I ran a 3:32 (8:07 pace) so way faster than my goal. The icing on the cake was an age group win!

The Mississippi Blues Finish Chute

I was excited to train for Go! STL since MS Blues went so much better than expected. I was excited to be healthy too and told all my running friends to get their labs checked on a regular basis! I had never done back to back marathons before and used the guidelines from the book Advanced Marathoning to guide me. They advised about 4 weeks recovery, 5 hard weeks of training and a 3 week taper. I was back at it hard in less than 2 weeks though as the 2014 Arkansas Grand Prix series started 2 weeks after MS Blues. I felt good early on but once training got going, I started feeling really over trained and sluggish. Mentally, back to back was too much for me too and I pretty much lost my training motivation.

When Go!STL came around, my head was not in the game and neither were my legs. I realized pretty early into the race that I was in trouble. I backed off big time at mile 12 and salvaged a 3:30. It wasn't pretty and I had to run walk the last few miles.

The Go!STL Finish Line

When I got home, I knew I made some mistakes but also felt like I learned some lessons. I'm probably not a good candidate for back to back marathons. Also, it doesn't take a lot to get me over trained. I decided to shift my focus and train for shorter races for a while. This would have been a good plan but I got a little impatient and didn't give myself enough time to recovery. I started in with too much mileage and decided to add plyometrics to my training in the hopes that I could get faster. 3 weeks after STL, my groin/hamstring/butt on my right side started hurting. I was planning to do a 10k that weekend so I eased up but decided to do the race anyway. There was a month long break in the Grand Prix series after the race and I felt like I needed the points. After the race, I couldn't even walk without a limp. My hip was just white hot pain everywhere except the very outside. After a week of limping, I went to the doctor, got a steroid shot and a consult for PT. I started swimming laps, doing yoga and going to PT. I had torn my right adductor tendon. I didn't get to run at all for about 6 weeks. I started up again slowly only to strain my calf muscle. I actually think this was for the best because I took another 2 weeks off and when I started again, I was pain free and have been ever since.

It was a rough time emotionally. I had such a terrible summer trying to come back from pregnancy, figured out there was a medical reason and suddenly got tons faster with a simple supplement only to crash and burn in injury. Such a frustrating roller coaster to ride. At some point in the middle of all that I decided that I would sign up for Boston. My STL time would most likely get me in and I needed a goal to get me motivated to get back into shape. I added mileage slowly. When I got up to about 25 miles per week, I did a XC 10k at 7:24 pace. Considering the injury and the time off, I was pretty happy with it. Next, I decided to train for the CASA Half Marathon. It was early in December. In the past, I’ve used half marathons and their training to rocket myself back into top form. I was really hoping it would work. I ended up getting my weekly mileage up to 43 miles and did some really great tempo runs and speed work. I run a 1:38:46 (7:33 pace). About as good as I could have expected. Just as I had hoped, my training really picked up after that race. I took it easy for about a week and then made a 15k plan that I would use to get me to the Hour Track Run for the start of the Grand Prix 2015. I also made my Boston plan. For a 12 week plan, I needed to start training on 1/26/15-exactly one day after the track run. My tempo runs and speed work leading to the track run were really good and I worked up to 53 miles per week. I went into the Track Run feeling good and had a great day.

At the One Hour Track Run

I never felt terrible and kept a good pace. I ended up the 2nd place overall female and went just under 8.6 miles at 6:59 pace. There was a crazy wind so I was pretty happy with that.

Now it is time to train for Boston! I have decided that I will actually post regularly and document my Boston training. Here's to the next 12 weeks!