Tag: marathon training

Columbus Marathon Training: Week 6

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This week was all about taking the doctor’s advice and really laying off on the miles. I’m still far enough away from race day that I can manage taking days off and it shouldn’t effect my race. I’m not going for time after all, just making it to that finish line. I didn’t get as many miles in as I had hoped, and I defintely didn’t cross train like I wanted, but there was no getting around it this week. Saturday I’ll be moving, so I’ve been packing up my apartment, visiting friends before I leave and getting ready for my trip to New Orleans, which is where I’m currently headed. Even my 9 hours of sleep I require is suffering, so you know I’ve been busy and stressed.

I’m also in that post injury scared zone. I had two good runs, they weren’t long, but I had no pain. First time since St. Malachi! I’m nervous that this will be a fluke, and it’s sure to come back once I hit over 5 miles. And if the pain does come back, how bad will it be? Will it be worse? Not as bad? Will I be done for the rest of the year? I can’t live in fear that I’m always going to have painful runs, I just need to run and deal with what happens.

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 2 Miles

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 2.5 Miles

Sunday: Rest Day

Total Miles: 4.5 Miles

I’m down to 2.5 months left until the big day. I experienced my first pain free run in months, followed by a second. I need to embrace it, continue to be careful and make sure I take extra care of my body from now on. I can’t let myself keep getting hurt.

Next week I’ll be in New Orleans for three days. Luckily I’ll have some down time the first day, so I’m hoping to explore the city on a little run. Then over the second half of the week, I’ll be moving, so running will be a luxury. Here’s hoping I can get back into some heavy mileage.

Columbus Marathon Training: Week 5

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A new week, a new opportunity for training. Last week was bad, but that was last week. I needed to get back into normal training mode. This included a 4 mile run to start the week. I felt great, I felt strong, I felt semi back to normal. It was the run I needed to pull  myself back up. Pity party over.

Tuesday was my doctor’s appointment, and after waiting for almost two hours I finally had a chance to see the doctor. After poking and stretching, she’d decided I have hamstring tendinitis. Most likely from overuse and not resting after it started. So how do I cure this? She suggested cross training, physical therapy and limit my running (ie. that 16 miler on Saturday isn’t happening). She also gave me a bunch of stretches to try and suggest that I scrap all junk miles and either my half in Maine or the full.

So I created a revised training plan,consisting of cross training and stretching for a week and see how the pain feels. Which means a full 7 days without running. After one day I became a little cranky. By the time next Tuesday rolls around, I’m sure I’m going to be very pleasant. Even though I ran less miles this week than last week, I know I’m doing the right thing by taking a small amount of time off. I’d rather be hurt now and overcome it, than be doing some hard damage the week  before the marathon.

Monday: 4 Miles

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: Biked 6 Miles

Thursday: Biked 5 Miles

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: Rest Day

Sunday: Rest Day

Total Miles: 4 Miles Run, 11 Miles Biked

What’s my revised plan? I’m taking it day by day. This week I want to bike the amount of miles I was supposed to run, as long as I’m not in pain. Wednesday night I had my first ride on the stationary bike and dominated some Jeopardy as well. Thursday morning I got  up early and got some more miles in. Both rides were pain free and so tempting to go running. I’m hoping that by taking the weekend off and doing absolutely nothing to strain my knee, I should be able to get a few more miles in next week.

What does this do to my races I have scheduled? This was hard. I knew I had some smaller races coming up, like a 10k and a 5k, I hadn’t registered yet.  I decided that I should cross those off the list and focus on the important races, or at least races further into the fall. The hardest decision was MDI. I know the course will be challenging, including a mile of going straight uphill. As much as I love Maine, and love Mount Desert Island, I just don’t think this is the year I should be doing it.

What I learned this week:

  • Taking it easy is ok when you’re injured. Sometimes you need to sit back and let your body take care of itself. Just remember that no one likes a cranky runner, so keep your craziness to yourself.
  • Taking a DNS on a race isn’t always so bad. While I can’t defer my registration, I know in the end, that it’s better for me to sit this one out than hurt my body a month before the marathon.
  • If you have to pick races, pick the one that will mean the most to you. I’ve put in so much time and effort already this year, I don’t want to drop the marathon. If I’m still injured come race day, I can at least say I tried and gave it all I had.

Columbus Marathon Training: Week 4

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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.

Columbus Marathon Training: Week 2

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Now that week one is over, the fear of how hard this training will be has slightly calmed down. My biggest goal for last week was to make it through my long run. If I could do that, I could handle training. I’m quickly learning that doing the same 5 mile course will get old, so I’m trying out new routes and I’ve even added in a track day! I didn’t originally plan for a track workout, but some time during the work day, I started craving 800’s. (Apparently marathon training will make you do crazy things, I actually despise 800’s). I ended up doing 4 800’s and negative split on all of them! Surprisingly it felt great, the track was soft, comforting and instantly brought back memories of high school. I know track workouts will help me in the long run, so the goal is to do one at least every two weeks, maybe even one a week.

Monday: 5 Miles

Tuesday: 4 Miles

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: 3.45 Miles

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 12 Miles, Winking Lizard Relay

Sunday: Rest Day

Total Miles: 24.45 Miles

Thursday and Saturday’s runs were tough. I was still a bit sore from the track workout earlier in the week. Saturday’s long run was 12 miles. I had the Winking Lizard relay in the evening, so I figured I’d do at least 8 in the morning, and finish up the rest that night. The weather was definitely cooler than last week, but I was a little dehydrated when I started. I knew it would be a tough run, and it was. I was cramping by mile 7 and at this point, Sport Beans and water wouldn’t make it stop. I was on an out and back so the only way home was running. I ended up with 10, but my body was beat.

Saturday night was Winking Lizard Relay. This was meant to be a fun run with my non runner friends. Not sure how I tricked them into this one. It was a great event and my legs felt wonderful. Race recap will follow this week!

 
How do you balance a long run and a race in one day?

Columbus Marathon Training: Week 1

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It’s begun. 16 weeks until I attempt 26. 2 miles. I have no idea what to expect in these next few months. Looking into my training plan and seeing 20 miles on the calendar is already making me doubt everything, so I’ve decided what’s best for me is to take it one day at a time. If I focus on one day and put in all I’ve got, I hope to have successful training. My goal is to stick as close as I can to what I’ve got on the calendar. I’m using Runner’s World Smart Coach again, mostly because I think it’s the best training schedule for me.

As I try not to stress, I’m aware that sometimes my week won’t allow for what’s on the schedule. This would include the week I’m in New Orleans, Toronto and when I move. As long as I know ahead of time that these challenges come up, I can work around them and get as much in as time allows. I won’t stress too much if I miss a workout or two here, I’ll just have to work extra hard on the days surrounding these trips.

With the first week complete, I think I did a pretty good job of getting things back on track. And I got some new socks for motivation on my long runs!

Bright orange marathon socks & Point 6 socks!

Monday: 6 Miles

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Bay Days 5 Miler

Thursday: 2 Miles

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 10 Miles

Sunday: Rest

Total Miles: 23

My long run was my biggest challenge of the week. I hadn’t run that far since May and I struggled running 2 miles in the heat on Thursday. I set out around 7am and told myself to do at least 8. It wasn’t too hot yet, but I knew it’d be getting warm quick. I felt ok, a little tight, but kept my pace slow so I could ease into the  miles. There were a ton of runners and cyclists out, so this kept my motivation going. I headed straight for the lake hoping it’d be cooler and there would be a bit of a breeze. Luckily there was plenty of shade and some sprinklers along the way. I felt pretty good, ate some Sport Beans and made sure to keep hydrated. I may have even taken a slight detour…

Beautiful Lake Erie

I got home right around 8 miles, and by this point it was getting real hot, so I took my last two to the treadmill. I’m glad I pushed myself to get every mile in.

What I learned this week:

  • It’s not the pace that matters, it’s the miles. Summer training is completely different than winter training. As long as I put in the time and dedication, I’ll be ready.
  • Stay hydrated. It’s hot and I’m a sweaty runner. Drinking lots of water will help me feel better and stay healthy. If I’m dehydrated, my runs will suffer.

Marathon Promises

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Today is day one. The first of many in what is now becoming my next adventure, training for the Columbus Marathon. I’m still very unsure about the idea of running 26.2 miles, but I’m also excited to see just how far I can push myself and become an even better runner. To start myself on the right foot, I’ve made some promises.

  • Don’t over do it. This will be hard, but I’ll have to ease myself into the first couple of weeks. I can’t just jump into double digit runs before getting some good base miles in. I also don’t want to push myself too far where I’m in constant pain for miles. I’ll need to find a balance.
  • Cross train. I love my bike and I’ve neglected it some, so I need to spend some quality time with it. The only thing holding me back, is the fear of traffic. I’ll just have to ride smart and find the best routes for me.
  • Pay attention to pain. I’ve had knee pain since March, and have yet to see a doctor. Maybe that’s because it goes away, or maybe because I’m afraid to hear the words, “Stop running.” Either way, I need to pay attention to pain and aide it right away.
  • Build some muscle. Remember way back in the winter when I was lifting a small amount. I want to pick that back up. I want to tone my entire body, not just my legs. If my body is stronger, those miles may seem a little easier.
  • Eat healthier. I’m guilty when it comes to eating a poor diet. I’d live off pasta if I could. I’ve made small attempts at eating better, but I fall back into what’s quick and easy. This time I really want to stay on a good path. Goodbye ice cream and snacks.
  • Have fun. Honestly, this is most important. I’m only going to run one marathon, so I might as well enjoy it. It’s going to be an experience, and I may get frustrated, upset, emotional, etc… But the feeling after crossing that finish line in October will be like no other. So I’m going to have fun.

And it begins. 111 days until Columbus Marathon….

The Other Half

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A few weeks from starting the second half of 2012, and I can’t believe how quickly everything has gone by. I still remember getting into my cold gear and heading out the door for long Sunday runs in the snow cold weather. I would give just about anything to have that weather back right about now. But half the fun of summer is adjusting to the heat and figuring out what to do in the second half of the year. And while I’ve been adjusting to the heat these past few weeks, I’ve also been enjoying my summer. I nixed a race due to my legs not feeling 100% and just slacked a bit on some sort of training plan I had for myself. It’s ok though, I decided I should enjoy these last two weeks of no real plan before the mother of all training schedule arrives.

I’ll even admit that maybe I even got a little burnt out, but who doesn’t. Sometimes you need to just step back, relax and get ready for what comes next. I’d love to put 100% into every race I do this fall, but I probably won’t be able to. I  have two races that will be the most important things this fall, MDI and Columbus. Of course the marathon is my main goal, but I don’t want to put all hope into one race and not enjoy some local runs. Here’s my tentative schedule for the next six months. Some are still in question, and I may add a few, but at least I have some idea of how to measure the second half of the year.

June 30, 2012 – Run for Help 5k?

July 4, 2012 – Bay Days 5M

July 14, 2012 – Winking Lizard A Shot in the Dark

August 11, 2012 – NR Lion’s Club 10k

September 8, 2012 – Run for the Record 5k

September 9, 2012 – River Run Half Marathon?

September 15, 2012 – Mount Desert Island Half Marathon

September 23, 2012 – Race with Grace 5k

October 21, 2012 – Columbus Marathon

November 4, 2012 – Inland Trail Half Marathon?

November 22, 2012 – Mesa Turkey Trot 10k

My biggest challenge is creating my marathon training. I’ve played around with Runner’s World’s Smart Coach to come up with a few plans, and I’ll probably end up combing a few, and changing a few. I have no idea what I’m doing, all I know is that those long runs count.

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway, it ends Sunday!

What’s your second half of the year look like? Any suggestions on marathon training?