HOF Half Marathon Training: Week Eleven

April 8, 20151 Comment

We’re now in the home stretch of the training cycle, and I finally got out of the rut I was in, well most of it anyway. This week was fairly uneventful, and luckily I was able to spend some much needed time away from our recovering cat and catching up with friends and family.

Monday- 0

Tuesday-6 Miles, 1 Mile w/u, 3×1600 w/400 recovery, 1.25 Mile c/d

Wednesday- 0

Thursday- 2 Miles

Friday- 0

Saturday- 11 Miles

Sunday- 0 Miles

Total Miles-19 Miles

Not quite the total mileage I wanted, but I felt great after every run. Tuesday I decided to switch things up a bit and ran mile repeats instead of 800’s. I forgot how much I love the mile, and plan on testing my limits with that distance this summer.

Thursday I got home late so I was limited on time before dinner, but I powered through 2 miles and negative split every 800. Even when runs are short, I try to make them hard.

Saturday I picked sleep over a 6:30am group run, and I didn’t regret it. Instead I ran at 11am and despite the brutal wind, I felt pretty good. Between the inlet, the marsh and the trails, I covered all of Buckeye Woods and by mile 9.5 I could tell I was ready to be done.

Another week done, another week closer to race day. I have one more long run before I cut back on mileage. And honestly, I’m ready for this training cycle to be over. It’s been a weird one for sure. Spring training cycles usually suffer because of the the weather and lack of motivation due to the weather. But this cycle, I did great on all my long runs, it was really the weekday runs that suffered. Hopefully now that the weather is warming up, I can change that.

And if you’re keeping track of mileage, that’s 82 miles for March (my highest March mileage ever) and 222 so far for 2015. Idealy I’d like to hit at least 90 for April, if not more. Fingers crossed!

HOF Half Marathon Training: Week Nine and Ten

March 30, 2015Leave a comment

I opted to combine training weeks 9 and 10, because they weren’t anything too spectacular. I had good intentions in the beginning of both weeks, but for one reason or another, workouts were the last thing I had time for.

Week 9

Monday- 0

Tuesday-6 Miles, 6×800 repeats

Wednesday- 0

Thursday- 0

Friday- 0

Saturday- Strongsville Super Saturday 5k

Sunday- 0

Total Miles-9 Miles

I lacked on workouts in week 9, but the ones I did were hard on effort. I had one of my best 800 repeat workouts of the cycle on Tuesday which was definitely uplifting. I had meant to run on Wednesday or Thursday, but things just kept coming up to prevent me from getting out there. Poor scheduling on my part.

Saturday I ran a 5k, recap to come this week, which was again, a solid effort and a hard workout. I’m not sure what happened Sunday, but motivation was no where to be found. I kept putting off my long run until it was too late. I found comfort in the idea that maybe I needed a weekend off of long runs, and to start fresh the following week.

Week 10

Monday- 0

Tuesday- 1 Mile

Wednesday- 4 Miles, 4×800 repeats

Thursday- 0

Friday- 0

Saturday- 0

Sunday- 10 Miles

Total Miles-15 Miles

And then week 10 happened. Our poor cat Pudge decided to eat 6 inches of an earbud cord, which lead to surgery, constant watching, and a very stressful and tiring week. The poor thing had to be kept in a separate room and needed almost constant attention.

Luckily Darren could work from home, and my mom could stop over when neither of us could take off work. Unfortunately, the little guy was having some separation anxiety and would take off his cone while we weren’t home, which means he could pick at his stitches. Cue additional stress.

The little patient

Needless to say, we’re in the home stretch, and he should be allowed out by Saturday. But with all of going on, my runs were scattered, rushed, and not what I wanted.

Tuesday I did a quick progression mile. I wish I had time for more, but didn’t, so I tried to make it count. Wednesday I snuck down to the treadmill and hammered out a speed workout. Not as long as I wanted, but it was better than nothing.

Thankfully Sunday I was able to get out and do a long run with Mallory. We ran 7.25 miles together and I finished up the rest on my own. It was exactly the run I needed. I felt a little out of shape at times, but it was the perfect way to step away from the past two weeks and remind myself that I’ll have bad days or weeks.

10 miles of relaxation

This training cycle has been a weird one. I’ve had my ups and downs, and of course the weather hasn’t helped over the past few months. But comparing myself from previous spring cycles, I know I’m putting in more work, even though I may have moments of struggle.

I’m looking forward to starting a new week and finishing up these last four weeks where I know I should be. And hopefully, warmer weather will follow!

Wineglass Marathon Training: Week Thirteen

September 1, 20141 Comment

Another week complete, and another week closer to race day. The goal of this week was to get out of my funk. It was definitely an interesting week, but ended up better than they have been.

Monday I passed on Body Fusion, I was beyond exhausted from Sunday’s early wake up call, so I used the time to catch up on sleep.

Tuesday I headed to the track. Mallory had already started her workout so we were on different sets, but it was still nice to have someone out there. I knew my time could be limited because of storms rolling in, but halfway through my workout, dark clouds and lightning came rolling in. The skies turned nasty quickly so there was no chance of finishing the workout. My legs and splits felt great, so I was definitely bummed I had to cut it short.

Storm clouds are coming!

Wednesday I switched up my recovery run and tried out the trails of Huffman. I met up with Dan and Marsha who led me through uncharted territory. I felt really great on the single track and learned how to better run the trails. That is, until I clipped a bridge in the last quarter mile and landed straight on my face. I slammed down pretty hard on my right knee and left hand, but everyone has to fall at least once, right?

The perfect Wednesday night

Thursday I took off because my knee was swollen and sore. I’m sure it was still the shock of falling on it, and probably nothing major, but I’d rather take an extra day to recover, rather than run on it and cause unnecessary pain. Friday was a scheduled rest day, so I took it, and enjoyed a much need night out.

Saturday I caught up on sleep and although I only slept in until 6:30, I felt better than I had in a long time. I took a short run around my neighborhood to test the knee and shake out my legs before Sunday’s long run.

Sunday was my long run. I’ve been trying to push them to Sundays if possible to prepare myself for race day. I decided to take new approach to my long run and focus on time on my feet rather than miles. I’ve been putting so much pressure on hitting a certain number or splits, that I stress myself out more than I need to.

I met up with a bunch of MCRR and we took to the trails of Hinckley. I’m still not as familiar with the trails as I’d like, so I bounced around within the group looking for a comfortable pace, but also spent time catching up with everyone.

MCRR takes over Hinckely!

We covered the bridal trails, lake loops, single track and the ledges. I focused on running with comfortable effort and actually felt great for most of the run. My legs, which have felt tired for weeks felt fantastic, and didn’t start to feel fatigued until three hours in.

Love for the ledges

The weather was humid, but it didn’t bother me as much as it usually does. Luckily we found some fountains along the run, so we were able to fill up throughout the day. I went through three fill ups and I probably could have used one more. I also stayed on my normal fueling plan of sport beans every four miles. I probably could have switched it to every forty minutes instead, but I’ll learn for next time I’m on the trails.

Hinckley Lake

I ended up with a little over 16 miles in the time of 3.5 hours. A slower pace than road miles, but again, my focus was time on my feet, and 3.5 hours is a long time. Despite a lot of ups and downs and uneven ground my legs felt good most of the run. It was very reassuring that my legs could handle the time on my feet and not get too worn out. But the best part was that I had zero stomach issues, which is something that keeps holding me back lately. I’ll be back to road miles for my long runs again, but I needed this run to pull me out of my funk and remind me that I am capable of long runs, I just need to trust my legs and not stress so much!

Long run love is back!

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 3 Miles, 1 mile w/u, 4×800(4:11, 4:08, 4:08, 4:10)

Wednesday: 4 Miles

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday: 2 Miles

Sunday: 16.3 Miles

Total Miles: 25 Miles

I started this week with a few let downs, but I finished it feeling great and full of confidence. Training has been tough and really a mental struggle at times. Sometimes you just need a great run to remind you that it’s possible, you just have to take it each run at a time.

This next week I want to make sure I nail every single run, including the River Run Half Marathon on Sunday. I’ve got just a little over a month left and things won’t be slowing down any time soon!

Platte River Training: Week 5

January 29, 2012May 23, 20122 Comments

Frustration. This is the word I would use to describe my running as of late. Traveling every week has really taken a hit on my body. My biggest concern is that my arch starts to hurt after a few miles on the treadmill, but I’m being smart this time and stopping once I feel any pain. I’m not too nervous yet, I know that my body isn’t used to this. Fingers crossed that once traveling is done, my body will get back to normal.

Monday: 3 Miles

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 2 Miles (Stopped short)

Thursday: 0

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 3 Miles

Sunday: Rest Day

I really struggled with getting anywhere close to the miles I was supposed to run this week. I found this shirt, and decided from here on out, I’m going to have positive training.

No Excuses.

Well, it must have worked. Saturday morning I woke up to snow and decided to “brave the run.” I ran my fastest training run yet. There was something peaceful about running snow covered streets in the countryside of Wooster. I had negative splits, and I may have even had a smile on my face. Here on out there will be good training runs. Goodbye negative attitude.