Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Eleven

August 18, 20141 Comment

What a week. My body took a long time to recover from my 20 miler, and it took more out of my weekday runs than I expected. I took Monday off from Body Fusion to let my legs recover, they were still a little stiff from Saturday’s run.

Tuesday we were at the track and this time I focused on mile repeats. Instead of going all out like I had been, I tried to keep them as close as I could in pace. I started to loosen up the more I ran, and actually felt pretty good. I was pretty satisfied with my splits, and think that I could definitely bring my 5k time down soon.

Wednesday I headed to the trail and ran some recovery miles. I felt pretty good and thought about running even further than I originally planned, but decided to head back home after mile three after I started to feel a little sick.

Thursday I took off for a much needed girls nights and wine tasting. Stress levels have been above normal lately, so it was exactly what I needed. Sorry running shoes.

Friday was a rest day in prep for Saturday’s race. I’ll have my recap up later this week. I had originally planned on running Sunday as recovery, but after having company all weekend, spending all day Sunday in the sun, and feeling a bit sore from Saturday’s race, I decided to take it off. I felt guilty for a while, but after looking ahead to this week, I know I needed the extra rest.

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 5 Miles, 1 mile w/u, 3×1600(8:06, 8:07, 8:09), 1 mile c/d

Wednesday: 4 Miles

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: Buehler’s Heart & Sole Half Marathon

Sunday: Off

Total Miles: 22 Miles

My weekly mileage was low, and not where I wanted it to be, but my stomach was not on the same page as my legs this week. I’m hoping to work a few things out, and hopefully get back to some really good training runs. Not every week will be great, so I deal with it, and focus on the next.

Looking ahead to this week, I’ll have 2-3 week days runs, a local 5k on Saturday and a hilly 20 miler on Sunday. Sounds like it should be an interesting week!

Akron Marathon Training: Week Three

July 1, 2013Leave a comment

Well, this week was interesting and low on miles. Going in, I knew I wouldn’t have much time to run this week. And getting a long run in over the weekend would be next to impossible. The lack of miles wasn’t for a bad reason, but for a wonderful one. Darren’s little sister got married and so instead of running the rolling hills all weekend, we were running all over to make sure everything was perfect for her big day. I’m pretty sure I got a good workout in from dancing though, so that counts, right?

Such a beautiful bride, and worth skipping a run to celebrate!

Anyway, the two days I did run were great. I ran Monday with Elayna at Mastick. Mastick has always been one of my favorite places to run, and with the heat, it was the perfect place to stay in the shade. Tuesday was an intended day off and Wednesday was supposed to be my tempo day, but with some many things to do before we left for the weekend, it turned into a second day off. This left me with the option of running Thursday morning or Thursday evening before driving 2 hours South. So Thursday evening I decided to challenge myself and run my tempo run on the hills, and what a challenge it was. Hills can be tough in general, but trying to keep the same pace, both uphill and downhill for 5 miles straight is hard. Add in the humidity and it made for one of my hardest workouts yet.

Hills anyone?

Monday: 4 Miles

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Tempo-5, 9:34, 9:51, 9:36, 9:18, 9:29

Friday: Off

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Off

Total Miles: 9 Miles

I’m really looking forward to this week, not only is it a 3 day week followed by a 4 day weekend, but it’s race week and long run week! The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, so naturally I will be rocking the ProCompression 4th of July socks on Thursday at an early morning 5k. I also have 4 days to get my long run in, which leaves me with plenty of time to enjoy the long weekend.

What I learned:

Life happens. Sometimes things get in the way of running. I knew ahead of time this would be a low mileage week, so I planned ahead. You’re not always able to get in every run, but that’s life.
Tempo runs are still hard, I’m doing better at pacing, but I should be hitting my splits closer together. This is something I still need to work out.
Hills aren’t bad. A year ago, I despised hills, now I enjoy running them. Any time I can power up the hill and still feel good at the top I know I’m getting stronger. The more I do now, the easier they’ll be come race day.

Are you running a race on 4th of July? How do you celebrate the holiday?

Columbus Marathon Training: Week 4

July 30, 20122 Comments

This week was supposed to be about the base miles. With no long run for two weeks, I wanted to get in some decent runs, maybe even some speed work. This plan was tossed out on the first day. Monday I was still pretty sore from Sunday’s long run, wasn’t too out of the ordinary, as I’ve been running my long runs Saturday and taking the next day to recover. Tuesday I hoped to get a decent 5-6 mile run in after work. My body had a different idea, I started getting a migraine around 11:30, and knew my day would be down hill from there.

This was my body’s way of telling me that I need a few days off. I went from running 24 miles total in June, to averaging 24 miles each week. This was bound to happen eventually. So I tried to rest. And then I woke up early on Wednesday and went for a short jog before work. I loved it. I was in a little pain, and a little tired, but it felt good to be pounding the pavement before I had the stress of the day on my shoulders. This certainly isn’t something I’ll do everyday, because I was exhausted by 11:00 am, but I think it was a nice change to my normal runs. And I didn’t feel guilty for eating a 12oz steak that night.

I finally caved in and decided to call the doctor about my knee. After searching online and checking all of the symptoms, I think my medial meniscus is the issue. No bruising, no swelling, just pain when I move my knee certain ways. I’ve been putting this off for months, mostly because I didn’t want to hear the words “You’re done running” but I’ve come to the point, where I have to go now, or I’m sure I’ll screw up my knee bad enough I won’t be able to run in October.

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Migraine

Wednesday: 3 Miles

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 2.5 Miles

Sunday: Rest Day

Total Miles: 5.5 Miles

So needless to say, this week was more of a bust than anything. I know I needed the rest, but I felt bad that I wasn’t following my training. I was able to tape my knee before the weekend, and it seemed to help with some of the pain. But the pain is still there and it actually hurts worse not running than when I was running more miles. I’m just hoping this isn’t going to put a huge block in my training.
What I learned this week:

Your body will let you know when it needs a break. Even if you think you feel great, you may need a few days to let yourself recover. Don’t be stubborn, it can make things worse in the end.
Morning runs aren’t that bad during the week. You just need to give yourself enough time to get up and get the miles in before your regular morning schedule.