(not my) Marathon Training: Week 9/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

I JUST WANT TO BE HEALTHY AGAIN...

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: nada

Stuffy nose and balloon-feeling head, but otherwise pretty okay today.

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2mi WU,10x400m/400m hill repeats, 2mi CD

Did: 6.36mi easy @ 9:44/mi avg

Sickness all around = swapping hard workout for easy one today. Just grateful to be able to run with friends again... 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 2.23mi WU @ 10ish, 6x400m up/400m down hill repeats, 2.15mi CD = 7.56mi total @ 9:35/mi avg, Big 5

Hallelujah. I just had my first complete night of sleep in awhile. Woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go. Training partner opted to do her Tuesday workout today. I didn't want to do a full ten miles or go that hard since I'm coming off a rough patch, but wanted to support her and do something. I opted for 6 instead of 10 repeats, and lowered the intensity from 10K pace up/MP down to "comfortable push" up/"easy jog" down. 

400m splits:

1) 2:07/2:29

2) 2:09/2:24

3) 2:05/2:25

4) 2:01/2:26

5) 2:04/2:24

6) 1:57/2:30

Thursday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.01mi @ 9:53/mi avg

So. Moist. Ugh. This humidity is just repulsive... 

Friday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 3mi @ HMP, 3min jog, 2mi @ HMP, 2min jog, 1mi @ 10K pace, 2mi CD=  10.5ishmi

Did: as scheduled

Grateful for today's good run, but sooooo disgustingly humid. 

2mi WU = 10:15/mi avg

3mi = 8:04/7:59/8:03

3min @ 12:11/mi

2mi= 8:12/8:23 (felt hard so I let myself give in a little)

2min @ 11:45

1mi @ 7:55

2mi @ 10:05/mi 

Saturday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 4.04mi with double stroller @ 10:36/mi avg

Littlest had a 102 degree fever and complained of ear pain last night, so all plans went out the door this morning. I was still able to fit in a run with the double stroller between a pediatrician appointment and grocery+med pick-up, though. 

It was mad humid, mad hot, and that stroller was mad heavy... but we got it done. Yay, easy miles. 

 

Sunday

Scheduled: Course Simulation: 8mi easy, 6-8mi @ MP, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled (6mi @ MP) = 16.31mi total @ 9:33/mi avg

OMG, I finally did a full week of marathon training as scheduled... that hasn't happened since... idk... week 5?

Littlest had another rough night, and I was up/down until about 2am when I finally went back to my bed, put earplugs in, and hoped my husband would recognize I was "tagging out" for a few hours. 

It was another repulsively humid morning, where I was dripping before mile 2. I slugged through the warm-up with only two miles under a 10:00, and wondered how I was supposed to go faster for the next segment. 

Mentally, breaking these long runs into segments has helped me SO much. It's obvious, but thinking of an 8mi run, a 10K, and then 2 easy cool-down miles is so much more palatable than a "sixteen mile run". 

Marathon Pace for my training partner has been an 8:30. I didn't want to hit that this morning, and also didn't know if I could. She's in MUCH better shape than I am, not having had illness and such derail her past four weeks of training. So, I did the smart thing: I didn't try to keep up with her.

I set a reasonable goal for myself (9:00 MP miles), and let myself do 6. 

8:56, 8:56, 8:46, 8:52, 8:38, 8:27

And then two more miles at a high-9. 

I felt so proud to be done with that. After a brief stretch, I went home, showered, and then did a hike with my family, brunch, showered again, and then passed out on the couch while my husband took care of the household. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 49.7

Man. If I'd have known I was that close.... 

Week-ending Thoughts:

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY, marathon training.

...even if my watch thinks I'm overtraining. lol

(not my) Marathon Training: Week 8/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

I've gotten to experience life with an inescapable health condition for the past week or so with this skin rash thing. It's been absolutely awful. I can't wear clothes, much less form-fitting or supportive running clothes without incredible discomfort, and, clothed or not, suffered from uncontrollable itchiness, despite having four different providers look, diagnose, and prescribe treatments... 

It's terrible and has made me really reconsider how I view people who truly have chronic conditions that impact their quality of life... Damn. I put a lot of emphasis on gratitude for my health in general, but that's only going to be more a part of my thoughts and life once I'm through this rough patch. 

I've spent so much time worried about if I'm losing fitness and will be able to come back and re-join the marathon training this cycle, but, beyond just the basic "how do I ramp back up?" question, I'm also stressing on "how will running affect this skin rash". What if it makes it worse? :( 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: nada... unless scratching counts

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2mi WU,6x1200m @ 10K pace/2:30s rest, 2mi CD

Did: nada

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: nada

Thursday

Scheduled: 5-7mi solid

Did: 1.59mi @ 10:09/mi avg, 2.5mi walk

One of my training buddies rolled her ankle, cutting our run short this morning. We walked for the rest of the time. It just felt good to be out and about with people again.

Friday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.01mi @ 9:50/mi avg

So glad to finally be able to wear a sports bra and shorts without irritation for a run. Today felt good, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep going. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 3x(3-4mi @ MP/2mi easy) = EEK

Did: 2mi WU, 4mi @ 8:50/mi, 2.26mi @ 9:52/mi, 3.63mi @ 8:44/mi, 2.29mi @ 9:55/mi = 14.19mi @ 9:20/mi avg 

Ooh, this one felt GOOD. I opted to scale the workout down since I haven't run much in the past two weeks, choosing to skip the third repeat (and limit my distance to 15) and reducing the intensity to "sub-9" instead of an 8:30ish MP. That was the right call. I felt good during all of this, and am just so stinking grateful to be out and running again. 

 

Sunday

Scheduled: 10-12mi easy

Did: nada

OMG, I just want my health back already... Woke up this morning with a sore throat and stuffy nose, and knew running was a bad idea. I've already slept an extra four hours since I woke up at 6;30... and it's only 1:30 in the afternoon.

Total Weekly Mileage: 20.8

Week-ending Thoughts:

I hate being sick. I hate having family members who are sick. I just want to be able to live my life again. Saturday was SO wonderful to be able to go places, do things, and wear CLOTHES... Sunday was just an absolute letdown on all fronts. Ugggghhhh. Did I mention that I've used 50.5 hours of PTO for sickness so far this year, and it's only the middle of JULY? 

(not my) Marathon Training: Week 7/18... or not

This week sucked. I ran once on Monday, felt like crap afterwards, ended up getting sick with RSV (which my littlest had last week), and being down for the count all week with that and then a weird recurrence/expansion of the rash I had last week. 

(not my) Marathon Training: Week 6/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Um, yeah, marathon training is just kind of a background part of life right now. Between an ER trip for my older kid yesterday and processing the impact of the Surfside, FL condo collapse on public perception of the structural engineering profession, I've got a lot of distractions. It's Peachtree week, but even that doesn't feel "real". Grateful for my health, and ability to run through it all. 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: nada

Woke up with an itchy rash on my legs... maybe from not showering until 12 hours after my crazy moist run yesterday? Heat rash? IDK, but it's awful... 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 4x1200m/2min, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled = 7.61mi @ 9:33/mi avg, Big 5

Legs were still itchy this morning, so I opted for longer shorts to avoid irritating the chafing. Felt kind of excited to get back on the track-- it's been awhile! I botched the first 1200-- thought it was supposed to be HMP instead of 10K pace, which was "just under 8:00" in my head. 

Then I tried to pick it up and aimed for 5:45s for the rest... but when I had a 5:40 third one, I didn't want to get slower for the fourth... but overdid it and finished in 5:30. 

Soooo, yay for having energy and being able to run that pace and feel relatively easy. Boo for terrible execution on consistency. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.1mi @ 10:02/mi avg, Big 5

Well, I could feel some tightness in my chest due to congestion, but this run happened, and I wasn't any worse for wear afterwards. Success? t 

Thursday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 4.00mi on treadmill @ 9:51/mi, Big 5

Tried to be a good co-parent this morning and ran on the treadmill so I could get any early wake-ups and let my husband sleep. Had a few interruptions, but got the run done. 

Went for a walk at lunch, and came back with instant itchy red bumps on the back of my knees... which sent me to the doctor after work because I wanted to figure out WTH was happening and if it was going to affect my runs/Peachtree. Doc wasn't sure what it was, but suspected some sort of reaction to "something". Got some meds and am hoping for improvement soon... 

Friday

Scheduled: 60min WU, 8x2min @ 10K/ 2min @ MP, 20min CD

Did: as scheduled: 11.65mi @ 9:33/mi avg

Itchy rash has improved... just in time for our family's next health issue of the week. My little one was up pretty much all night with a cough and discomfort, which meant I was up pretty much all night. I was so close to texting my training partner that I wasn't going to make it this morning when the little one finally was able to drift off to a comfortable sleep. 

Warm-up felt good and necessary, and I was ready to go into the 2min intervals when they came. I figured I'd try to keep the 10K pace just under 8:00 (a bit slower than it ought to be, but I'm "racing" tomorrow?) and the MP pace around 8:45 (high end). I was all over the place. I struggled regulating myself up hills, and also felt like the second round just wiped me out. I also wasn't motivated to hit my paces since I knew I had some mitigating factors (i.e. not sleeping overnight, wanting to have some energy to manage a sick baby today, hoping for a decent performance at tomorrow's Ptree), so I let it go. 

10K 7:48

MP 8:49

10K 7:48

MP 8:16

10K 7:30

MP 8:51

10K 7:44

MP 9:08

10K 8:36

MP 8:43

10K 8:05

MP 8:35

10K 7:36

MP 8:56

10K 7:37

MP 8:37

Took my oldest to Ptree Junior in the morning, got a couple miles of walking in, and spent the rest of the day with the little one, at a doc appt, and trying to keep him comfortable and minimize germ spread to me and the rest of the family... sigh. 

Saturday

Scheduled: Peachtree

Did: 2mi WU @ 10:23/mi avg, 6.32mi @ 7:45/mi avg, 1.17mi CD @ 9:46/mi avg = 9.49mi @ 8:33/mi avg, plus 4.37mi stroller walk... and 2.71mi stroller walk

Race Report: Peachtree Road Race

...and then came home and walked baby in the stroller because he's sick and that's the only way he'll sleep comfortably. <3 

Sunday

Scheduled: rest day

Did: a couple ~2mi stroller walks

I don't think I slept more than two hours last night... With my husband racing this morning, I was on sick baby duty last night, which meant from 7:30pm until about 7am, I was cuddled up with my feverish sweatball, calming him down during coughing fits, getting sneezed and hacked on, encouraging him to drink water, and generally being exhausted and uncomfortable... i.e. parenting. 

Then we got up and did the same routine downstairs. 

Today's activity was limited to taking the baby for walks whenever he asked for them, and tagging out with my husband so we could each attempt to nap some... 

Total Weekly Mileage: 37.8

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Can my family please catch a health break? Uggghhhh

Race Report: Peachtree Road Race

 Previous PR: 47:53 (5/6/2017)

90% Goal: 8:30/mi (52:49)
50% Goal: 8:00/mi (49:43)
10% Goal: 7:45/mi (48:09)
Result: 48:58 official (though, by GPS watch distance, it was 7:45/mi)

Oh, look. I got an "A Wave" bib this year! :D 
(thanks, COVID)

Training:

I'm in the middle of training for a marathon I'm not running with my training partner. The plan we're doing is a custom one by Coach Betsy, and is probably the hardest/most intense plan I've done. We have three workouts a week (not new), and there's almost always a workout component to our long runs (this is new to me). Mileage has been in the high 40s, though I've had a few illnesses over the past few weeks that have taken me out a couple days.

I'm not doing any strength training or yoga while in this six-day-a-week plan, and that's been a bit of a change for me. I'd love to, but now that I'm back in the office full-time, and going to chorus rehearsals on Tuesday nights, and have two kids in daycare/school (read: Contagion Land), it's just tough. 

Coming into Peachtree, here's what my last ~10 days looked like:

Takeaway: there was no "taper" for this race. 

Before:

This was a weird Peachtree, namely because it's the first one I've ever done without my husband. Every year we've lived here, we've traveled to/from the race together, with our pre-race pump-you-up jams blasting while we brush our teeth in the morning and make the drive over to the MARTA station. This year, we opted to split our races between the two available days, hoping to take the kids down to cheer on the running parent (didn't end up happening to due to sick kid). 

Fortunately, my training partner and I ended up carpooling together, which made a huge difference for me. I was beyond grateful to not be heading down to the race "alone", and to have her to warm-up with, talk to, etc. until the start. 

Weee, start line!

Race: 

I wasn't sure how my body would do today, but was kind of hoping for around a 50:00 10K (~8:00). I was also hoping it would feel relatively easy. 

Nope. 

I checked my pace a couple times in the first mile, and was disappointed to see that I was just over an 8:00 pace. This was supposed to be the fast part of the race, the downhill part. If I couldn't get under 8:00 here, there was no way I was going to "make it up" on the latter, uphill half. 

The second and third miles were better, but I remember still feeling like I wanted it to be easier than it was. Every time I looked, I was still perilously close to the 8:00 mark. I desperately wished I were either well under (and could make it an "easy run") or well above (and could say, "eh, never mind"... and make it an easy run without the guilt). 

5K Split: 25:00

Daaaaaaangit. 

I was always just close enough that the sub-50 was within my grasp... if I didn't give up. 

Splits:

8:03

7:49

7:37

8:12

7:40

7:33

and then a kick to close in 48:58. 

so grateful for running friends

Post-Mile Reflections:

I remember when a sub-50 10K was a pipe dream. Today, I did it in the middle of marathon training, on a couple rough nights of sleep, without too much effort. For being as fit as I am now, though, it still felt harder than I wanted. Guess I need to give credit to those "extenuating circumstances". 

I'm proud of my run, happy to have had such a great experience, and also grateful that I did actually beat my Virtual Peachtree 2020 time of 49:37 (with a stroller... but also on flats). Weeeeee, running. 

Oh, and if my counting skills work, I think I might've come away with a "Top 1000" mug for the year, too... !!!! 

This picture represents SO much work over the past 10 years :)

So grateful for everything running has given me.

(not my) Marathon Training: Week 5/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Ugh, ugh, ugh. I think I'm still sick... or sick again. Had a great weekend, and now it's Monday morning and I'm blergh-y.

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: nada

Slept in as much as possible with kids. Ate like crap all day. Started period. What a time to be alive... 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 6x400m hill @ 10K pace up/MP pace down, 2mi CD

Did: nada

Slept in. Felt sluggish, congested, and blerghity. This week is not going well.

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.1mi @ 10:09/mi avg, Big 5

Well, I could feel some tightness in my chest due to congestion, but this run happened, and I wasn't any worse for wear afterwards. Success? t 

Thursday

Scheduled: 5-7mi solid

Did: 6.05mi @ 9:10/mi avg

Finally! I woke up feeling well-rested and ready for a good run, though I wasn't planning on trying to keep up with my training partner's solid pace. The 9:47 opening mile felt like it ought to have been a 9:15 for the effort I was putting in, but things opened up a bit after that. I went my pace, ignoring the two faster runners in our group ahead of me, for the rest of the mileage.

9:29, 9:08, 9:05... and then I tried for an 8:45, and wound up with an 8:26.

It felt good to push again.

Slowed to an 8:58 for the cool-down, and obligated myself to a Big 5 stretch session. So grateful to have my health and running again. 

Friday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.20 @ 10:11/mi avg

I was up way too late last night being social... and it made getting up hard this morning. Grateful for an easy run day. I've also been back on the healthy nutrition train this week, and it's made a world of difference in how I've felt. Fancy that, eh? Looking forward to pushing hard this weekend!

Saturday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 3x4mi @ MP with 3min recovery, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled = 16.35mi @ 8:55/mi avg

I was really nervous about this run... not from a pace standpoint, or distance, but more not being able to hold my sh__ together. I had some weird GI stuff at work midday yesterday, and spent the next 12 hours pretty terrified that this run was going to be crap-tastic. To that end, I'm proud to say I prepared for it like the mom I am, bringing a roll of TP (some of which I shoved in my shorts pocket), baby wipes (in my car), and a change of shorts... because this run was happening. lol. 

Fortunately, none of those items were necessary, and my body was completely fine. 

Normally, a sixteen mile run, would be a "gulp-here-we-go" kind of run. Today wasn't. I really like this whole "breaking it up" thing. Instead of thinking about the full distance, I took it "one repeat at a time", and that made a world of difference. 

Coming off a week of illness, I opted not to keep pace with my training partner for the 4mi segments, and just plan for 8:45s, the high side of her goal pace. These felt good-- easy, even. While I had to focus on running, it wasn't a stretch to hit this pace, and that itself feels good (especially since our warm-up was more like 10:12/mi avg and felt hard at times). 

Another friend joined us for the last repeat and cool-down. I felt soooo good for the first two, that I decided to speed up the last one:

1) 8:43/mi avg

2) 8:39/mi avg

3) 8:25/mi avg

(Goal: 8:15-8:45/mi)

Stretched post-run, and then headed off to a Song of Atlanta front row rehearsal for a few hours where we learned the choreography for the first half of one of our International contest songs. Weeeee :D

This was JUST the confidence booster I needed. I remember saying post-run, "I don't think I've ever had such an easy-feeling sixteen mile run ever." Win!!!!

Sunday

Scheduled: 9-11 easy

Did: 10.01mi @ 9:56/mi avg, Big 5

That's right. After yesterday's beast of a workout, today was STILL scheduled as double-digit mileage. As soon as I walked outside, I was hit with a wall of humidity, which had suddenly appeared overnight. Ewwwww. 

The first half of the run was a breeze, and felt super easy. Around mile , though, the humidity and heat were getting to me, and I was very glad to be done at 10.

Total Weekly Mileage: 42.7

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I think I'm finally "back" after whatever illness took me out last week. 
• I need to find a way to get more salt in my diet around the long, hard workout days. While I felt fine during and immediately after Saturday's run, I was a wreck mid-afternoon, and found myself craving all the salt. I felt like I "salted up" well Friday, but it seems like I still need to fine-tune my post-workout eating too if I'm going to avoid those after-effects... 
• Running a marathon over two days in the weekend = fun. I feel really strong- much stronger than I ever did during any of my past marathon trainings. Weeee. 

(not my) Marathon Training: Week 4/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Well, here we are, Week 4. Since I have a trip later in the week, our schedule shifted a bit. 

Monday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 5x1K @ 10K pace/2min, 2mi CD

Did: 2mi WU, 5x1K @ (7-7:30/mi)/2min, 1.5mi CD = 7.45mi @ 9:06/mi av

As I was in my garage at 4:04am, getting ready to head over to the track, my phone rang. My training partner had accidentally locked herself out of her house... without her car keys. So, I drove up to her place, we opted to drive to a different, open-to-the-public asphalt track in lieu of running from her house (since our normal track was too far with this change-of-schedule). 

The asphalt track wasn't as bad as I'd feared it wouldbe, but, man, I've run on the track too much lately, because I was OVER IT before we even hit 1.0 on the warm-up. I'm starting to tire of running in "circles" and having mechanical workouts. 

My legs were tired from not having a rest day, and just life, so I decided I wasn't going to go for any specific pace on the 1K repeats. Instead, I'd try to "make it fun" by relying on my watch's GPS to track distance and run the first one in Lane 1, the second in Lane 2, etc. 

My first repeat, I felt a small soreness in my inner right hip. Ugh. There's that whole "not stretching" thing starting to take its toll. I really need to do more of that, especially since I'm not strength training at all these days while asking a LOT of my running muscles. 

On repeat #3, I missed my watch beep and kept going... until I realized I hadn't missed the watch beep. I'd just neglected to specify the correct number of repeats. Oh, Mondays... 

Stopped/saved workout, then started a new one, and finished up the repeats, slogged through more laps around the track, hating every single one because I was bored to death. I think this is a sign I need a rest day, more stretching, and more strength training... 

Tuesday

Scheduled: easy 10KT

Did: as scheduled = 6.36mi @ 9:46/mi avg, 30min yoga

Weee, easy miles! My legs are TIRED. My body is TIRED. I'm actually on the fence on whether or not I'll run tomorrow... But, today was good. We welcomed back a 10KTuesday runner who'd moved away a few years ago, and just started a new job back in the ATL area. 

Also started feeling right glute tightness and did 30min of stretchy yoga. I think the fact that my legs were shaking in a basic forward fold is a good indication that I need to stretch more if I'm going to ask so much of my body... 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 2 miles WU 2 x 2 miles at HMP with 3 minutes jog in between + 1 mile faster between HMP and 10K pace 1-2 miles CD

Did: as scheduled (with shorter cooldown) = 8.23mi @ 8:56/mi avg, Big 5 Stretching, 30min yoga

It was a struggle of a morning. At 3:30am, I got up, and had to check in with both kiddos before getting out the door. I wasn't really feeling great about this run, and it was definitely more of a "just get through this, and then you can have rest day" sentiment than a "yeah, I'm gonna crush this". 

The way my training partner is doing things, her paces are based on a time trial she did pre-season, rather than her personal goal. This means they're all faster than what we'd need for a more reasonable sub-4:00 goal. This also means that I'm much better at shorter distances than longer ones, and probably have the physical ability to do longer races much faster than I am/want/think. 

I'm sitting at 58mi for the past seven days, and OMG do I feel it, so I've been opting to hit around an 8:00 for whatever the "speed" portion of our workouts is all week (1Ks for Monday and today's 2mi repeats. 

WU: 10:10/mi

2mi: 8:13/7:54

2mi: 8:06/7:53

1mi: 7:45

CD: 9:51

Shortened the CD a bit to get back home for kiddo wake-ups faster, but I'm proud to say I stuck by my car for an extra 5min to go through those Big 5 stretches I haven't done in... erm... maybe a year? 

Thursday

Scheduled: rest

Did: absolutely nothing

OMG, sweet, sweet rest day, I love you so... especially since I got all ready for work this morning, and then was hit by a super hard wave of fatigue that kept me in bed and sleeping for pretty much the entire day. Uggghhh. 

Friday

Scheduled: 5-6 miles WU 6-7 miles at MP 2 miles CD

Did: 0.78mi @ 13:23/mi, ~3mi walk

I really, really wanted to run with my training partner this morning. But it wasn't looking good when I woke up and still felt kind of blergh. I figured I'd try it out and see how I felt after a quarter mile, just to help her get going, if nothing else.

Nope. This is the first run I've aborted in... maybe ever? But I knew better than to push myself through anything when I wasn't feeling like even running an easy 3-4. I came home, and slept another couple hours from 4:30-6, and then more between 7 and 9. 

I finally felt better by the afternoon, though... just in time for our family mountain getaway! 

Weeee, Blue Ridge

Saturday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 1.5mi hike (780ft elev gain), 20min yoga, 40min HIIT/Core

I had low hopes for actually being able to run this weekend. Mountain cabins don't exactly have sidewalks along their access roads and I am NOT a trail runner (much less with a kid or two in tow). Instead, I leaned into the vacation part, and got my exercise through some light hikes and my downloaded Beachbody on Demand core workouts.  

Sunday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: HIIT/Core, 0.78mi hike (430ft elev gain), 6.0mi stroller run @ 9:16/mi avg, Big 5

Did a workout at the cabin before leaving, and a short hike at a great waterfall en route home.

Then got home and decided to head out for an easy riverside run. SO MOIST. Ugggghhh. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 28.8

Week-ending Thoughts:

Such a weak ending to a week with such a strong start... Part of me is already flipping out about a "loss of fitness" for taking three days off with sickness/travel. Part of me is eye-rolling, remembering we always tell training participants that it's absurd to think you can lose so much fitness in such a short time. That's kind of like going on a "diet" for a day, not drinking much water, and "losing" five pounds. It doesn't work that way. 

It felt good to do some strength work this weekend, and I hope I'll be able to find a way of fitting that into my life, even if it's only 30min a week. 

My legs felt a little weird on the Sunday run, but I'm hopeful that the sports massage I got on Friday helped work out the weirdness in my hip/glute, and that re-committing to stretching post-run and doing some yoga throughout the week will keep those issues at bay. 

Here's to a fresh week of marathon training.