Atlanta Marathon Training: Week 18/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Whelp, my kid's sick with a 103 degree fever and I spent all of Sunday cuddling with him. This doesn't really bode well for marathon week... Mom life, right? 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Felt dead last night and slept for about 11 hours. Woke up feeling kind of normal, but then got to about 80% well by the time I got to the office. Nothing bad during the day, but still have zero appetite. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 10KTuesday

Did: 6.36mi @ 9:39/mi avg, Big 1

Feel like my ears are a little stopped up and I have some post-nasal drip in the back of my throat, but still operating around 80%. Run felt good. I just wish I could ENJOY a marathon week for once. Seems like every time we get to this point, I'm sick or stressing about something... *sigh*

Wednesday

Scheduled: 3mi easy

Did: nope
Laid in bed sick all day. 

concerned kitty giving cuddles

Thursday

Scheduled: rest

Did: nada
Worked 11 hours, through some light congestion and lack of appetite. Picked up marathon packets, but without any excitement or joy. Today's mantra has been "If I can make it to the start line, I can make it to the finish", and I really hope I'll be healthy enough to make it to the start line... 

Friday

Scheduled: 3mi easy

Did: nope
Still feeling stuffy-headed, though my appetite is starting to come back. If I'm going to exhaust myself running and risk a relapse of illness, I'd rather do that ON marathon day. 

Saturday

Scheduled: yoga

Did: nope
Couldn't even stomach the idea of a walk this afternoon to try out my new watch. I can't tell if I'm actually still sick or the nausea is caused by trying to eat too much too soon or too many different types of foods since I'm kind of desperate for calories today. *sigh* Still hoping I can wake up feeling ready to go in the morning and that I've done enough... 

Total Weekly Mileage: 6.3

Week-ending Thoughts:
This is NOT what I wanted my marathon week to be like at all. I'm grumbly, bitter, and quite whiny with my "this isn't fair" attitude. I've worked incredibly hard to prepare for this week and this is supposed to be a fun celebration of what I've accomplished, not just in this training cycle, but getting over all of the craptastic things life handed me in 2018. Instead, I feel like I'm still living through craptastic things. Grumble. Grumble. Whine. Whine. 

Do I need an attitude adjustment? Yeah, probably. If I'm lucky, that'll come in the form of a 26.2mi run on Sunday. 

Atlanta Marathon Training: Week 17/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

What? Taper week already?!?! I guess all I needed to distract me from marathon training was a wretched virus that had me down for about a week, another major and unforeseen derailment from "how I always thought my life would be" to cope with, grieve for, and start the long process of "getting over", and a national track meet. 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: 1.0mi on treadmill @ 10:00/mi, 2mi @ 9:07/mi
I took today off from work to recovery from the track meet (we got back super late last night), and it seems like a shame to waste an opportunity for a daytime run. Of course, laundry, grocery shopping, getting kid back, and all sorts of other "adulting" took over my day and I found myself still in need of some miles at 5pm.... so I got one mile done on the 'mill and then another two outside. 

Fun fact: actually using your arms while running evidently makes you run faster

...so does dressing inappropriately and being freaking cold for your entire two mile run. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 6.3mi

Did: 6.3mi @ 10:23/mi avg
Wow, I can't believe there's only one more weekend between me and the marathon! Today's run was tough. My body is tired, and I'm starting to experience some not-so-fun symphysis pubis diastasis (not enough to stop, but enough that I'm starting to notice it occasionally). Blergh. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 3mi easy

Did: rest

Especially with how work has been (in, y'know, the DAY I've been back), I'm glad to have had a rest day. :) 

Thursday

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

Did: as scheduled, 6mi @ 9:18/mi avg
As much as I love me some mile repeats, I was scared about this workout. My legs have been tired since the meet (I think that might be the first stretch of five consecutive running days, especially HARD running days, that I've done this cycle?), and the idea of maintaining that 8min/mi pace for my last speedworkout of the cycle was intimidating.

On the bright side, weather was ideal: 30 degrees, no wind. 

On the down side, I felt so slow and incapable going up our YMCA warm-up hill that I'm certain I would have been faster walking it. 

elevation chart on the track portion is obviously wrong.... 

"At least the track will be flat," joked my training partner. 

"Preach, girl."

The track was flat, but I still worried about keeping the pace. I decided to just focus on hitting each lap in 2:00, and see how I felt. I made it through the first mile in 7:50, and instantly had more confidence. I jogged the 400 recovery, took a water break, and headed back to the line for round 2. This was more challenging. I really tried to focus on my arms, something I've always struggled with (and, honestly, not paid much mind to), and think that helped carry me through to a 7:47 finish. 

One. More. Mile. 

One more mile at an 8:00, and you'll have gone the ENTIRE marathon training cycle hitting an 8:00 (or better) pace for every speedwork interval. While growing a tiny human. This is what unicorns are made of. 

Final mile: 7:44. 

So proud. So very proud.

Friday

Scheduled: strength + yoga

Did: yoga
Had you noticed something missing from all my runs this week? Like, idk, the "Big 5" or any variant of stretching... Yeah, legs were definitely not loose this morning, and I got myself up to do some serious stretching/yoga. We're one week out from packet pickup, and I need to focus on some self-care for sure. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 15mi easy

Did: 15.03mi @ 10:26/mi avg, Big 5, foam rolling
Lots and lots of thoughts during this run. I planned a route that took me through one of my favorite first long run routes, that holds great memories not only from marathon training seasons past, but also my first training cycle with Atlanta Track Club. It was hilly, but not crazy hilly. I'm really happy to have conquered so many hills on my runs this cycle, and even more pleased with how manageable they've felt. Publix is a hilly course, but I feel ready for it. 

today's route

I felt good throughout the run. It was the sort of day where I didn't want to do another half marathon at the end of it, but I felt like I could have: exactly where I ought to be un-tapered, one week out. By the last 3-5mi, my feet were definitely tired, and I worry a little about getting "marathon legs" around mile 20 next week, but, hey, I'll be running a marathon, so that's kind of to be expected, right? 

Came home, was treated to bacon/eggs/toast by my amazingly supportive family, and then enjoyed power walking another mile along the river while my munchkin bicycled. I can't believe the taper really starts now!

Sunday

Scheduled: 4mi easy

Did: nada
Sick kid = no running for mama. I suppose I could have done some treadmill miles while the munchkin slept, but I wasn't feeling 100% myself either. This close to the marathon, I decided it was much better for me to let my body focus its energy on staying healthy instead of logging miles. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 30.34

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Really, really hope that I don't catch whatever my kiddo has and wind up with a 102 degree fever this week... 

Mile Training: Week 6/6

It's the final week of milermethod.com training! 

Monday
Scheduled: rest
Did: 30min yoga


Tuesday
Scheduled: 4-6mi easy
Did: 6.23mi @ 9:36/mi avg 
Rough night of sleep through Hurricane Tropical Storm Irma = haaaaaard to get up this morning. Back, hips, and legs all felt wonky from sleeping on them poorly. Got up and got it done with B&B though. 


Wednesday
Scheduled: 10min WU, 5min tempo, 3min rest, 3x30s at mile pace, 10-15mi CD
Did: as sched, with 5min tempo @ 7:44/mi, and 30s around MP (mile pace)
Going to be bed early is the best.... until you wake up at 3:30am because your body is used to only 7 hours of sleep. Grrr.

This workout felt like a "why bother" workout. I wanted to go longer. I wanted to go faster. I wanted to feel the burn and make it hurt.

Good. That's how I'm supposed to feel during my taper week. :)

I botched my watch setup (yet again-- seriously, why is this so hard?), so I don't have actual splits for my strides. I thought I could use the 30s run/60s walk option since I didn't have a workout programmed. While it worked for in-run cues, it didn't record my walk vs run intervals. Grrr.

Spending way too much time to try to analyze things, it appears that I ran strides at:

1) 5:45/mi
2) 6:30/mi
3) 7:00/mi
4) 5:30/mi

So... all the ---- over the place. But the margin of error on those times is about +/-0:30.

I had a hard time stopping, and ended up doing an extra strider set because I felt like my third one was so poorly paced. :/ I wanted to do more, but held myself back. There will be plenty of time to do "more" on Saturday.



Thursday
Scheduled: rest
Did: massage
Had a nice lower body massage this morning to work everything out before race day. No hamstring problems at all this week (finally healthy after six weeks of training... lol). Now it's all about eating right and enjoying the rest of my taper. 


Friday
Scheduled: 1-2mi easy with optional 4x60m strides
Did: 1.91 @ 9:24/mi avg with 5 strides (oops-- I really thought I was supposed to do 5)
I'm feeling the taper. So much rest. So much recovery. So much extra energy. 

That said, my run this morning started off reaaaaaally slow. My right glute (piriformis, probably) still feels a little unhappy/sore, but I can run on it without trouble. I just felt blergh this morning... kind of like I just rolled out of bed at 4am and started running at 4:30am... 'cause I did. 

Strides shook out at: 6:21, 5:51, 5:58, 5:58, and 5:51 per mi. For ~15s each, I think my pace is pretty consistent, and I'm pleased. All of these felt absurdly easy-- just the way they should. 

WTF, in-wrist HR monitor?
Resting pulse = 171? lol

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 20/20

Weekly Summary

Miles: 14  (L2=11, L3=12) 

Days Run: 3
XT: -
Rest: 2 

Intermittent Injuries: hip trouble came back with a vengeance... during marathon week, great
Feelings: sad, overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, stressed, melancholy, apathetic, worried

Monday

Scheduled: 3

Did: 3.1 @ 9:16/mi

Nice, cool, short run with Courtney and Brandi. Shins felt a little sore from power-walking yesterday with baby boy in the stroller. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 3-4 + strides

Did: 6.32 @ 9:16/mi

Had so many moments during this run where B&B were running faster than I wanted to go. I stayed with them for a bit, and then said, "Screw it. This run means NOTHING. It's a training run", and decided to save my speed for Sunday. Hip felt sore during and afterwards. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 20min XT

Did: sports massage, 40min walk, stretching

Shin splits from the Sunday Stroller Walk are gone, but my hip's definitely tight/sore. Got a sports massage today to prepare my body for Sunday. Masseuse and I figured out one of the causes of my hip trouble: carrying 25lb baby boy around the house on my left hip. Go figure... 

Thursday

Scheduled: 1WU, 3 marathon pace, 1CD

Did: 5.01 @ 9:16/mi

Planned to get up and go with J&C on their morning tempo, but, after a late night giving a presentation, I decided to sleep in. I'm still dealing with throat soreness, hip stiffness, and some other ailments, and just generally in a worried/nervous/irritable mood. I figured extra sleep could only help. Body ended up waking up (WIDE AWAKE) at 3am and not getting back down until 5... 

I hate not running in the mornings. It just puts this weight on my shoulders for the rest of the day. It's this looming thing on the to-do list, and I hate it. 

It's been a struggle of a day. I'm in a bad mood because my hip still isn't right, and wasn't sure I wanted to run on it at all. What if I made it worse? Also, would I have time to shower afterwards and still get everything done during my day? I really, really should have taken today OFF of work. Oh well.

I had to run some errands at Target, so I drove and parked there, and decided to run a mile warm-up to the greenway, my MP miles there, and then cool-down on sidewalks back to Target. All morning (and week), I was stressing about what "marathon pace" was supposed to be. I ended up saying "forget it", not looking at my watch pace AT ALL during the MP miles and trying to just focus on my body and run a pace that I thought I could sustain for four hours. 

It sucked. I hated running alone. I hated running when I had to rush back and get things done. I hated feeling my hip tighten up and panicking about whether or not it would seize up on me on Sunday, and whether there was a chance in hell of fitting in a massage between coming home and showering and picking up baby boy for his flu shot appointment at the pediatrician. Oh, and did I mention I still haven't packed yet? I don't even have a list. 

All these thoughts made this run 75% unenjoyable. I hope my mood improves tomorrow. I'm too stressed out to enjoy anything right now... 

Friday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Planning on traveling up tomorrow, and then doing a 2-3mi run on Saturday to get used to Chicago weather/flatness. 

Chicago Marathon Training: A Normal Kind of Taper Madness

"I'm sick."

"My hip hurts."

"I haven't trained enough."

"What if I can't do it?"


...yep, taper madness is upon us. In the past 24 hours, I've almost broken down and cried four times (and this is after a different kind of taper madness had set in). I've been here before. I know what a mindmeld tapering can be. I've run a marathon before. I know I can do it. It doesn't help, though. Getting through taper week without a breakdown is mentally harder for me than (8) 800m repeats at pace.

I'm worrying about what my goal is going to be. I'm worried about people I'm usually faster than "beating me". What if I don't do as well as I "should"? This is supposed to be a redemption marathon. What if I don't redeem myself? 

I talked to another marathoner friend about all this this morning, and got this response:

"Yep. I get it. It's like the marathon is your big celebration party and you want the party to go perfect even though no one gives a shit if you get the wrong color napkins."

^so much this. 

Anyways, as I'm going through all this, I had this wonderful thing happen to me this morning at the office. We recently got a new admin, and she has access to all of our calendars for scheduling purposes. She saw "Chicago Marathon" on mine for this weekend, and started talking to me when I got in about it. She's done 28 marathons herself, including Chicago, so it's nice to finally have another distance runner who understands all that sort of thing in the office. 

As we're talking, she says, 

"I'm beyond impressed with you. Marathoning is one thing, but you just had a baby, didn't you? Like, less than a year ago?"

"Yeah, last Thanksgiving. He's ten months old now."

"And you found time to train for a marathon. How does that happen?"

"I have a super husband."

"But you still have to do the training. And your body went through a huge ordeal... less than a year ago. You don't even LOOK like you had a baby ever. And you're going to run a marathon this weekend. Wow. That's awesome. You're awesome."

I needed to hear that. I needed that so much, to have, essentially, a total stranger tell me I'm awesome. There was no talk of times, or splits, or goals. Just a "you're going to run a marathon, and that's awesome". It was a really necessary reminder that training in itself , what I've already accomplished, is a success. 

...I'm still going crazy, but at least I had a few minutes of reprieve this morning. :)

FOUR DAYS.

Chicago Marathon Training: A Different Kind of Taper Madness

Things are not fun right now. 

I feel a little overwhelmed with everything, and it's really preventing me from getting in a Chicago state of mind. 

one step closer to the edge...

Everything: 
1) Voice Issues
I've been having throat/voice problems that necessitated a visit to an ENT specialist. I paid a crapton of money this morning to have a tube shoved down my throat via my nose and, while there's nothing super serious amiss, and I should still be able to sing at the International contest in 14 days with my quartet and 15 days with my chorus, I'm not able to sing for the next ~10 days, which means less practice/rehearsal time. This is stressing my quartet out, which stresses me out. Also, it still hurts to swallow. :/

2) Work
Work has gone from chill-lax mode to OMGEVERYTHINGNEEDSTOBEDONERIGHTNOW mode... and over half of the things on my plate are things I don't know how to do. 

3) House
Our house is a disaster, and I've had no time to address any of it. A housekeeping service might vacuum, but I'm pretty sure it won't organize our junk for us.

4) Bad wife
Training + rehearsing for International = next-to-no time with family this past weekend

5) Unprepared
I have done ZERO preparation for Chicago. No packing list. No "do I need to order anything off Amazon?" check. I don't even know how I'm getting from the airport to my hotel. Did I mention I am the most Type A person you will ever meet? My Google Calendar has scheduled sleep, shower, and meal times. I also have a comprehensive GSheet with every packing list ever. I haven't so much as STARTED a sheet for the Chicago trip.

6) Bad mom
Baby boy is moving up a class and I wanted to get his Infant room teachers parting gifts. Nothing has happened on this front.

7) Fraud Crap
Our credit card got stolen last Friday and now I'm having to go around updating EVERY SINGLE THING we use it for. This is about a dozen AutoPays (most of which have stupid@$$ GUIs on their webpages that make it impossible) and all of my hotel/flight/travel/everything reservations for the next month of trips. Did I mention that every time I've called my Chi hotel to update the card number on file, they transfer me and the line goes dead? I hope I have a room when we arrive on Friday.

8) Bad friend
I've had a handful of friends have babies this past month, and a few other friends who haven't had babies, but who've tried to reach out and reconnect with me. I haven't made time to call them back, and I haven't made time to visit or see if any of the new mommies need anything (except one). 

9) Poor nutrition
I've been eating terribly this week. A lack of preparation meant that my breakfasts have consisted of Jerry's Poptarts, lunches have been fast-food, and dinner is whatever I can throw together (and this hasn't included vegetables). I know this is an important part of success on Sunday too, but I just don't have the time to cook the broccoli or cauliflower that are sitting in my fridge... 




While it's been nice not to freak out over the fact that I'm running a marathon in five days, I feel like some focus is essential for success, and I hate that I haven't had the time to do it. Really hope this changes in the next couple of days... Maybe once I get through the next two days of work I'll have about twelve hours at home to prepare. Hope I don't need anything that I can't buy in Chicago at that point... 

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 19/20

Weekly Summary

Miles: 32.53 (L2=27.75, L3=29.75) oops, all those 6.34 instead of 6.0 added up...
Days Run: 5
XT: 1 (I'm counting strollin' with baby boy)
Rest: 1
Intermittent Injuries: nothing, but sore throat came back on Saturday :P
Feelings: happy, relieved, fast, proud, excited, optimistic

Monday

Scheduled: 4mi

Did: 5.07 @ 10:05/mi

Oops. We thought we had 5 on the schedule, but it was only 4. Felt slow and sluggish for the first bit of this guy, but finally warmed-up by the start of the fifth mile. It felt sooooo good to finish well before 6am. I'm loving taper time right now. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 6mi

Did: 6.34 @ 9:15/mi avg

This is the run I've been waiting for. Oh, sweet taper, you are invigorating! :D 

With a rest day tomorrow and ONLY a 10K on the schedule after weeks of 8-10mi Tuesdays, I was definitely excited about trying to make this a "something of substance" run. We started out with a 10:15 mile, warming up, and then, without really having to shift gears, wound up solidly around 9 flat pace for the bulk of the run. Hellz teaf. 

Splits: 10:14, 9:26, 9:04, 9:00, 8:58, 8:54

Done and done.

Wednesday

Scheduled: rest

Did: walked to/from client meeting... only about 4,000 steps for the day

So, about halfway through today, I noticed my hamstrings were pretty sore. I haven't been doing any crazy speedwork or ANY weight training, so I wasn't sure what I'd done differently in the past few days to have caused it. It took me all day, but I finally figured it out: it's from playing with my baby. I'll hold him at my waist and then bend down so he "falls" backwards giggling-- it's kind of like a 25# squat. Oops. Guess I won't be doing much more of that until after Chicago. lol. 

Thursday

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

Did: 6.09 @ 8:58/mi

It was just Brandi and me for speedwork this morning. As usual, we parked at the Y, ran to the HS, and headed down the path to the track. And then it happened: I saw a dark shadow run across the path, about 20 yards ahead of us.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"That thing... it just ran across the--" (shines flashlight around)

not actual picture, but
OH. MY. GAWD.

There were eyes a couple feet off the ground, and then whatever it was starting making this weird hissing/huffing noise at us... and we BOLTED. We bolted STRAIGHT UP THE HILL, continually checking behind us to see if it was still there, like some sort of horror movie. I have never been so scared on a run in my life. 

behold: the resulting pace/heartrate spikes

Needless to say, we bailed on our track workout this morning. Instead, we did one of our mile repeats up and down the main road, then, finding it a bit too hilly, opted for loops of the YMCA parking lot. Not ideal, or fun, but it was well-lit and got the job done. 

So, splits... I'm not sure on this one, because my watch is all kinds of funky. I've been having a lot of trouble with my GPS watch lately regarding distance. It seems to always short me. On route that have always been 6.36, I'll get a 6.22 reading, while other people in the group get closer to 6.36. When Brandi and I run the SAME route at the SAME time at the SAME pace, her watch will have more distance than mine. It's been frustrating. 

Averaging our two watches, here's what I think our splits shook out at:

7:40, 7:44, 7:20

Goal was 7:36, but, considering: hellhound scare, terrible route, etc., I'm pleased. 

Also, big news today: I hit 200mi in a month for the first time EVER. I remember the first time I hit 100mi in a month. Wow. 

Previous monthly high: 185
Non-marathon training monthly highs: 146 (8mo pregnant, Oct 2015) and 150 (6mo pregnant, Aug 2015)
Previous marathon training monthly high: 152 (April 2014)

Friday

Scheduled: 4mi

Did: 4.14 @ 9:28/mi avg

Man, I am freaking loving this taper. Four miles done, in the house before 5:45am, had breakfast with baby boy... Life is good.

Saturday

Scheduled: 10mi

Did:10.9mi @ 8:59/mi

Two years ago, I hit my first 1000 miles for the year in Run-tober.
It's been a thing ever since. #itsathingcauseisayitsathing

I know colder weather makes it easier to run faster. I had forgotten exactly how MUCH it affected my running, though. OMG.

gotta wear sleeves for the warm-up

Today's route was supposed to be 9, so I decided to meet up with some other Chi marathoners for a single loop of Armour at 6:30am, pre-group run. We took it slow, easy... and had a 9:30ish pace. 

9:30. I've struggled to hit that pace for the bulk of my runs this training season. I've been able to hit it, but I have to actually try to focus on running that fast. Today, I exerted about as much effort on that first loop as I usually do for a 10:30 pace. 

...and then we had the group run. It was a 9+ mile course, with neither Sherwood Forest's nor the Prado's hills to deal with. I was a Run Leader for the half, since we're in taper mode, and found myself up towards the front most of the time, second only to Brandi. I figured we had enough sweep volunteers, so I'd just find whatever middle group needed me and stick with them, probably around a 9:30. 

Splits
yeah.... about that 9:30/mi thing

I couldn't help it. I think everyone went faster than expected today. Just a testament to what temperatures in the 50s will do for you after you've been running in 80s and 100% humidity. I know it's true. My running buddies have reminded me of that fact. I've reminded others of it. However, it didn't really seem like something I could count on until now.

I am now feeling dangerously optimistic about Chicago. What does that mean? It means that for the first time ever I think I might be able to hit a 5% goal while maintaining the level of effort I want to give on race day... and that scares me so much. Today was an easy run. I was conversational 100% of the time... at an 8:59/mi average. 

I don't want to get my hopes up. I don't want to put pressure on myself. I'm a really good state right now as far as not caring about my time and really seeing the race just as a "victory lap". Let's try to keep it that way, shall we? 

After the run, I felt like I'd barely done anything at all. Man, I remember when a ten mile run seemed impossible. Now, it's "just a warm-up". Crazy how much your perspective and frame of reference change during marathon training... 

(most of) the Chicago crew celebrating at brunch

Oh, and, irritating news: I had a little sore throat before quartet rehearsal this afternoon... and, by this evening, a full-fledged sort throat with pain swallowing. WTF.  I don't even know if I'm sick or if singing is causing this madness. I have no other symptoms, so who knows... At least I can still run. :/ 

Sunday

Scheduled: 30min XT

Did: 5K walk with baby boy in the stroller 

Jerry was meeting up with Jody and Courtney this morning at the river, so I decided to tag along and walk with baby boy instead of sitting around the house. The weather was great, so I made sure I wore an unsuitable bra for running, pants, and non-running shoes so that I wouldn't be tempted to run. Thank goodness for that, because I really, really wanted to. ;)