2018 in Review: The Year of Teamwork

2018 Goals:

• Resume logging food/nutrition intake: I definitely rocked this. Dropped down to a great, healthy weight and composition, and felt a ton better just by not eating crap. 
• Continue regular strength training (bootcamp 1-2x week): Um... not really. I'd say I've been anything but regular with this since, oh, about May. Definitely room for improvement here. 
• Make a habit of spending at least 5min stretching after each run: nailed! I think I only missed maybe 10-15 runs total? It's definitely a habit now. 
• Compete with the Masters Track and Field team: nailed!
• Continue the 1000mi/year streak: Um, yeah, I'm over 1600 :D 

Team! 

Other Accomplishments I'm Proud Of:

Using running as a coping method for some seriously tough life challenges
Strengthening my running groups, the Running Mamas and #10KTuesday
Training hard for a mile and a 10K, despite not PRing either
Top 100 on Cardiac Hill during the Atlanta 10 Miler
Run Leading for the 8min group this fall, and turning my easy pace into mid-8s for double digit runs, which led to an awesome half PR on Thanksgiving Day
The sheer volume of miles I've put in this year

Team! 

By the Numbers:

• 1612.58 miles run (this is over 150mi more than any previous year)
• 249 hours, 27 minutes, and 16 seconds spent running
• 9:17/mi average pace for the year 
• 23 days were affected by injury or illness: arch tendon, random June illness, strep throat, and a day off for a tight calf (healthiest year to date!)
• 3 new PRs (5K, 10Mi, half)
• a couple national age group championships 
• three stroller races (all podium finishes) 

Team!

Looking to Next Year, Goals:

• Finish the Atlanta Marathon in 11 weeks, healthy and happy, with no concern for my finish time (as long as it's within the course limit, obv) 
• Continue the 1000mi/year streak
• Continue to use running as a positive force in my life, as I figure the rest of it out :P

Team!

Atlanta Marathon Training: Week 7/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

My calves were super sore after Saturday's 14mi. This is the second week that's happened. Guess that means I'm marathon training for realz? 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Tuesday

Scheduled: 7mi hill repeats

Did: 7.29mi @ 9:37/mi avg, Big 5

It was a very merry #10KTuesday today as we celebrated Christmas together with 5x hill repeats and our traditional 10K route. Hooray, running friends. Had a bit of tightness in my left calf, just north of my Achilles when I finished, but nothing major.

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4mi easy

Did: 4mi @ 9:37/mi avg
Uh-oh. There's something wrong with my calf. That tightness from yesterday turned into discomfort  a bit after mile 3, and was a solid block of concrete in my ankle by the time I finished. Stretching it didn't hurt, but didn't seem to be productive either. Definitely not happy about this... 

Thursday

Scheduled 1mi WU, 6-8x800/400, 1mi CD

Did: 10min yoga for tight calves
It wasn't easy to bail on a workout, but I knew last night that I should not be running on my tight calf (especially not if the plan were speedwork). "It's one run," I kept reminding myself, but I definitely saw how missing one run and worrying about not being physically capable of doing something I wanted to do affected my mental state for the rest of the day. I scheduled a sports massage for tomorrow, and don't plan on running Friday either. 

Friday

Scheduled: strength + yoga

Did: nada, sports massage
I'd planned on doing a strength workout, but being up from 3-5am with my kiddo killed any ambition I had for that. Instead, I let my body sleep, and recover. Sports massage worked wonders, and I felt a TON better by how much the sore/painful/tight spot moved around while the masseuse was manipulating the muscles-- decidedly just a tight bit, and not a strain. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 14-15mi easy

Did: 14.04mi @ 9:57/mi avg, Big 5
Slept in calf sleeves the night before, heated before my run, and was STILL incredibly nervous about running today. So much so that I'd requested our training group do 4x5K loops for our long run instead of a longer distance course, just in case I felt something and needed to bail out. Running 5K loops wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and I found my confidence restored by the end of the run, since I hadn't felt any signs of issues in my calf. Hooray! 

Sunday

Scheduled: 6mi easy

Did: 6.14mi @ 9:22/mi avg with stroller, Big 5
All of our normal stroller-friendly routes are totally flooded, so the Running Mamas headed in-town today for some easy mileage on the Atlanta Beltline. No calf issues + flat course = happy marathon training mama

river + greenway = inundated 

Hello, Atlanta! 

some of my fastest miles all week

yay, return of confidence in my health!

 

Total Weekly Mileage: 31.48mi

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Grateful to have recovered so quickly/easily from the calf tightness
• Looking forward to finally hitting marathon training mileages next week, with my first 15 miler since Chicago! 
• 11 weeks to go, and I'm totally believing that I can and I will do this. What a great feeling! 

Atlanta Marathon Training: Week 6/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Wooo, I'm a third of the way there! :)

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Tuesday

Scheduled: 7mi with hill repeats

Did: 7.16mi @ 9:25/mi avg, Big 5
Enjoyed this morning's 5xhill repeats to start an easy 10KT... though talking about some life stress maaaaaay have caused us to run a bit faster than planned. Oops :) 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 3-5mi easy

Did: 3.12mi @ 9:36/mi avg, Big 5
Today's run was pleasant. 

Thursday

Scheduled: 1mi WU, 3xmile/400, 1mi CD55

Did: as scheduled (7:40, 7:25, 7:11), 6.43mi total @ 8:37/mi avg, Big 5 (delayed)
What is love? A friend going to bed at 2am, but still getting up at 4am to go run mile repeats with a couple teammates on a cold, rainy morning. I'm constantly amazed by the support of my teammates, and so grateful for them. 

Today's goal was just to keep a sub-8 pace, especially with life and weather being what they are... but then I ended up just feeling it this morning. None of these felt pushed, just a comfortable effort. On the last repeat, the rain picked up quite a bit, but I was able to use that as motivation. Bonus: they were all sub-8 ;) 

Friday

Scheduled: strength + yoga

Did: 20min strength
I'm still so unmotivated to do these workouts, but made something happen today because it was on my training plan: core + arms.

Saturday

Scheduled: 14mi easy

Did: 14.11mi @ 9:44/mi avg, Big 5
Truly, there's no better way to start a holiday weekend (or any day, really) than a double-digit, pre-dawn run with your best friends.  This run felt good and easy, and, as a bonus, it was the first long run I've done in a month without rain. Hooray! We've done the same route for the past few weeks, and, surprisingly, it hasn't gotten old yet. It's also been great training for Publix, since we had 750' of elevation gain in the 14mi we ran today-- not extreme, but certainly not a flat course. I'm loving these long runs and excited about getting up closer to the 20mi mark in the months to come. 

finishing view down the main street

Sunday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.19mi @ 9:49/mi avg with stroller, Big 5
Easy run along the river with munchkins. I felt like I could have gone further if I'd had to, but was very content to stop where we did. 

31 degrees can't stop the Running Mamas

Total Weekly Mileage: 36.04

Week-ending Thoughts:
Still doesn't quite feel like marathon training, but making Chex mix helped. ;) I think I need to do more than 3mi as my shortest run in a week, and up speedwork repeats a little before I'll feel like I'm there. 

As always, I'm grateful to be able to keep doing this running thing I love so much. 

Atlanta Marathon Training: Week 5/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

All this cold/windy/rainy weather is really putting a damper on marathon training motivation. Blergh. 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: 5mi @ 9:15/mi avg
I was not particularly thrilled about getting up and out in the cold this morning, especially with a forecast of 37 and rain. But, after not running at all yesterday, I didn't really want to take back-to-back rest days. Fortunately, one of my training buddies was up for some miles before bootcamp, and I figured if she could get me started, then I could continue. My plan was to get at least three miles, and, hopefully, closer to 6. She did the first 3 with me, and then I added our standard 2mi loop. I could've done another mile after that (the rain even held off for me), but I wasn't particularly enthused about continuing past my car up a hill, so I cut it there.

I intentionally skipped stretching, because I was anxious to get home, shower, and get on with my day. Five minutes is just SO MUCH TIME to commit to. :P 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 7mi

Did: 7.06mi @ 9:29/mi avg, with hill repeats, Big 5
I felt like I needed to do something more than just an easy 10K today, so I opted for a few hill repeats before the gang arrived. I never ran faster than an 8-flat up the hill near my house, but it was definitely a good way to warm my body up. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest
Yep. This was good. 

Thursday

Scheduled: 6mi

Did: 5.91mi @8:51/mi avg, Big 5 (1mi WU, 400/400, 800/400, 1200/400, 800/400, 400/400, 1mi CD)
Speedwork goals as of late have just been "sub-8 pace". I was fueled by some serious frustration today, though, and crushed that goal on my ladder. 

400: 1:44
800: 3:37
1200: 5:34
800: 3:32
400: 1:33

I had just wanted to do the back half faster than the front. Mission accomplished. 

Friday

Scheduled: strength+yoga

Did: 30min bootcamp
Ab stuff and push-up-y things at home. It's hard to motivate myself through three rounds of these exercises without Matthew and other bootcampers around me, but I'm making it.

Saturday

Scheduled: 12-14mi 

Did: 14.1 @ 9:43/mi avg, Big 5
Oof. Yesterday's bootcamp totally did something. I woke up SO sore. Definitely a sign I need to be doing more of that. Oof. 

Today was a great run with the girls through what's become our "normal Saturday route". I took the speed super easy (y'know, actually doing what a marathon LSD pace is supposed to be), and felt great at the end, like I could've done another three without any problems. I'm getting seriously anxious to start upping my mileage and wish I had a marathon in February instead of March. :P

After our run, my kid and I made French toast, and then I hunkered down for a two-hour nap before back-to-back chorus shows that kept me ocupada from 1pm until 10pm. 

This was seriously so much fun, though. 

Sunday

Scheduled: 4mi 

Did: 4.37mi with stroller @ 10:00/mi avg, Big 5
Slow and easy run with the Running Mamas to start the day. I picked it up to an 8:45ish by the end, and felt good. Kind of wanted to go longer, but we had rain picking up, and I really had to pee, so I stopped when we got back to the park/bathrooms. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 36.58

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I still feel like I'm sitting around "waiting" for marathon training to start.... despite the fact that I'm not too far shy of 40mpw
• I've slacked the past few weeks on strength training, and paid the price for that. 
• I need to focus on proper refueling and recovery after long runs. I was OUT for two hours after Saturday's LSD and seriously felt like I could've stayed in bed, asleep and under my covers, for another three hours happily. 
• Fueling at all has been hard this week. I'm just not feeling hungry, and struggling to find food that sounds good. One of my training partners joked that meant it was time to let Tostitos back into my life. Hahaha.