Chicago Marathon Training: Week 10 Recap

Yeah, so this work thing…

It has been pretty crazy having started work and trying to fit in marathon training, kids, and life….can I go back to summer vacation please??

Last week I was still able to squeeze in a few runs despite my new, busy schedule.

I replaced my bike cross training on Monday and picked up a 5 miler with a buddy. It was a scorcher (it was only 100 degrees but felt waaay worse) and my legs were still a little tired from the Humphreys Hike but we gotter done.

Tuesday I met up with a local group for a quick 3 miler that was way tougher than usual. It coulda been the Nikes I tested–it was Nike demo night. They. felt. AWFUL. Despite the throbbing I felt, I still managed to average a sub 9 pace. But yeah, Nikes will def remain fashion footwear only.

Chalking these up as a big, fat NO.

Despite feeling the back to school fatigue, I made it out to track on Wednesday for some more Yasso’s. I wanted to increase my sets as I’d been doing 6x800s and wanted to go 8. I did a mile warm up (which I hadn’t been doing other times) and got started. It was another ridiculously hot day

and it honestly felt worse than on last week’s excessive heat warning days. These were by far the hardest Yassos I’d done to date. They weren’t pretty at all.

4:00, 4:02, 3:56, 4:01, 4:04, 4:06, 4:01

and I missed the 8th. Total TMI but I had to use the restroom.

I was bummed because I really wanted 8 and I also really wanted to do a mile cool down but when you gotta go, you gotta go (and I wanted to go at home.)

The plan was to bike on Thursday since I moved my run to Monday but by the time Thursday came, I was over everything. It was record breaking heat at 117 degrees and there was no way in hell I was going outside.

Since 2013….2 years ago…

Fridays are my typical rest days and I relished it. It was another scorcher.

I had 12 on the schedule Saturday with 3 miles at Marathon Goal Pace (which I still haven’t fully decided what that is). I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. so I can meet up with other crazies at 4.

I ran 5 miles with them and felt pretty good but when we met up with the five o’clock crew, I started going downhill. I don’t know if it was stopping mid-run like that or if the heat was getting to me (it was 88 degrees at 4 in the morning!!), but I was not feeling the run anymore. At all.

Mile 6 was a get-it-together mile before my MGP would start and I didn’t hit the mark with any of them at 9:18, 9:30, 9:18. I had been shooting for a 9:15 so I was technically close with two miles but they were major struggle buses. In fact, after those three miles, it was just a make it back to the car run at that point. I registered two 10:30s and an 11 minuter getting my butt back. It was awful.

So awful that when I was done, I sat down on the curb and shed a few tears. I think I was just tired and overwhelmed from life, work, and training and quite frankly, I think I just needed a good cry. I felt a lot better afterward (and after a good convo with friends).

I had a big day the next day, Sunday morning, with my Moms Run This Town group which I’ll detail later. I didn’t run but it was a very fun, eventful day. Just what I needed after my previous tough long run.

And that was my week– 24.5 miles. Despite the bad long run, I was very pleased I was able to get some good runs in my first week back at work. I knew that it was going to be tougher; I just need to make sure I carry the momentum of a long summer of hard work.

#igotthis

–How was your running week? Ever run in 117 degree weather (not me!)?

–Ever cried after a run/race?

–How do you recover after a less than stellar run?

I hope everyone has a great week!! ❤ , helly

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 5 Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon Training, Running and tagged with Chicago Marathon, Long Run, Marathon Training July 13, 2015

Hi all!! I hope everyone had a good weekend as we enter MID JULY!! Where has the time gone??

I know what I’ve been doing–running!! And this week was a pretty good week in that department.

Last Monday I spent my usual 45 minutes on the bike and did a few core strengthening videos at home. Nothing too exciting.

Tuesday morning I had all the intentions of doing some strength training videos but I had my monthly lady visitor (sorry guys, tmi) and I was not in the mood for anything at all. In fact, I pretty much laid in bed all day until it was time for me to run.

I made it out to my run club at 6 and had 5 miles on the plan. It was super hot–nothing new–and I wasn’t feeling well. I think that’s why I ran so fast, 9:17/mile–I wanted to get it over with lol!

Hot run.

I still wasn’t myself Wednesday and continued to rest until it was time for me to run. Wednesdays are speed work days with my run club so I made it out to the track with the hopes I could muster the energy for a good run.

On the plan were 6x800s. My coach asked me what my goal pace was (4:00-05) and he said he’d pace me. This was both a good and bad thing. Good because it would hold me accountable, bad because it would hold me accountable.

I nailed the first 800 at 4:04 and the second at 4:02. Things were getting speedy with the third one at 3:58 and the fourth one was back at 4:03.

I was loving the consistency; I was on a roll!!

And then my hands started to itch….

here we go again. 😦 I let my coach know I was feeling an allergy attack coming and that I was going to have to cut the workout short.

I was super bummed.

Thursday morning I managed to crawl myself out of bed to run with the 5 at 5 crew. I was still feeling the effects of the previous night’s Benedryl so I took the 5 miles nice and easy, 10:09/average.

Friday was a rest day I took full advantage of.

My long run schedule for Saturday had 14 miles and I knew I would have to have an early start. I woke up before my alarm (at 3:15!!) and in my still half asleep brain, forgot to pack fuel in my water pack! I didn’t realize this until I had already met up with my friend crazy enough to run with me at 4 in the morning. She had extra fuel I could use but I was worried as it was not anything I had tried before.

The plan was to run 6 miles and then meet up with the rest of our run club at 5 a.m. Our friends we were meeting up with had 8 miles on their schedule so it worked out perfectly in that I’d have company for my entire run.

My splits for this run were all over the place. From the start, I just couldn’t get into a good rhythm.

Nowhere near as consistent as my 800s on Wednesday lol!

When we finally met up with my 5 a.m. friends, my 4 a.m. buddy needed a potty break so I hung out with the other gals. While I waited, I took the unfamiliar Gu and knew it was not going to work (Mocha is not my go-to flavor). My other friend had some Honey Stinger chews (which are super yummy) but I think with the combination of that and mocha, my stomach was just not feeling it. I had to stop to use the restroom when I got to mile 8.

And it was just hard to get going. I couldn’t maintain a steady pace and the whole run just felt uncomfortable. When we got to the bridge that signaled one mile left, I did some quick math in my head and saw that I was near to averaging my goal LSD pace of 10:00/mile. I’d have to pull off a pretty fast mile 14 to help pad the average but I’ve been liking finishing strong anyway so I went for it. Mile 14 was 9:06!

Splits still all over the place but yay last mile!

It was a tough run but I was still very pleased that I got it done. Plus, it’s these tough ones that make us mentally stronger, right?

Total mileage for the week: 26

–How do you get yourself into a nice rhythm when you just feel off?
–Do you have a preferred flavor/type of fuel?

I hope everyone has a Happy Monday!! ❤ , helly

Week 13 Phoenix Marathon Training Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon, Running and tagged with Long Run, Marathon Training, Phoenix Marathon, Running, Taper, Yasso 800s February 9, 2015

Yep, it’s that time!!! TAPER TIME!!!

Can’t believe it’s already here–after 13 weeks of training, I am 3 weeks away from the big day and…

and I’m not sure how I feel….excited? Yes. Scared? Yes. More scared than excited? Kinda.

Maybe nervous is better. I’ve worked so hard this training cycle. Harder than the first time I did Phoenix Marathon (I was 7 months post pregnancy so any hard core training was just not feasible with 2 under 2) and way harder than Marine Corps Marathon (my dream race with no real goal goal). This time, I’m no a mission to get a sub 4:30. So I def have a goal. My paces in my training lead me to believe that I can meet that goal but the unknown of race day is what has me nervous. I just won’t know until the day arrives. That’s hard.

Anyway, last week was a good week of running. I was suffering through a nasty head/sinus cold–I don’t know what was going on but my head and nose and throat were not happy–but I still managed to get some decent runs in.

On Monday, I stayed home and rested. I knew I wasn’t well and wanted to give myself some recovery time. But I was back at it on Tuesday meeting up with my run club buddies. One of my friends who I hadn’t seen in months was there. She doesn’t do cold very well so rarely if ever, makes it out during the winter. But with warmer temps in the Valley lately (I’m not even going to tell you about our awesome weather), she was there and ready to run. I love running with her because she. is. fast. But like achievable fast. Like the kind of fast I can do if I push myself but can’t do if I tried to do it every day kind of fast.

I’m hoping for this pace at my next race. Fingers crossed.

I used to run these paces with her last spring but hadn’t really been pushing myself lately like that in a while. I have a 10k next weekend that I’d love to run in that pace–my PR is from that race last year and I love to beat it. We shall see.

Wednesday was Yasso’s at the track. Last week I averaged a 4:10ish 800 for the 7 that I did. I was hoping to keep it more at the 4:06 I’d done two weeks prior. Wednesday night? Success.

Nailed the track workout and rode a pretty awesome runner’s high the rest of the night:

8×800–4:08, 4:06, 4:06, 4:02, 3:58, 4:02, 4:02, 3:58 (with a short recovery in between each set)

running circles under a full moon

By Thursday though, I was exhausted. My head and throat were really bothering me and I felt like the 4 miles I had planned wouldn’t be as helpful as a day’s rest. So I took the day off. Not completely though. Salt tagged me to take on Day 4 of the prAna challenge she’s been doing and attempt the following yoga pose:

flexibility is not in my bag of tricks unfortunately

There’s really not a whole lot of bending going on, but I was a good sport and shared my yoga “pose” with the world anyway lol! I took the rest of Thursday and Friday to stretch and foam roll and try and get myself healthy for the weekend.

Because Saturday I had my second and LAST 20 miler!!!

I wasn’t sure how I’d do considering I wasn’t feeling 100% and I told my husband that if I felt like I couldn’t go on or that I was doing more harm than good, I’d call him to get me. Luckily, I didn’t have to do that as the run went pretty awesomely.

My friend that I’d done the first 20 with agreed to the insane start time of 4:15 a.m. There were 4 others who’d decided to also start in the middle of the night (I swear, I love my running group. We’re all a bunch of crazies) and we all got started right away. 4 of us 6 were running similar paces (me and Jen, and 2 others) so we were in good company. The first 10 miles went by smoothly and without a hitch and before we knew it, we were halfway done! It had seriously felt like it’d flown by. And it kinda had as we’d done this 10 faster than we’d done the first 10 in the previous 20 miler.

Besides mile 10, I’m pretty proud with the consistency.

We took a potty break after mile 10 and then headed right back on. The short break had made my legs a little stiff; I could especially feel it in my left knee, but I kept trucking. I made it to mile 15 still feeling good and took a GU. With 5 miles left, I was pumped I’d been running so well. Miles 15 and 16 chimed away both at 9:17 and Jen and I looked at each other incredulously–whoa there! We regrouped and continued on. I could definitely feel my left knee but the pain wasn’t anything intolerable and I finished the 20 miler feeling really, really good with the run.

The second half was little all over the place as far as splits lol!

I was very pleased with the run and I felt good the entire way. Even running out of water at mile 18, I felt good. (I was running with my hydration pack–I don’t plan to during the race.) My knee hadn’t bothered me throughout but when I was done, oh boy. It was pretty instantaneous. As soon as I stopped, I felt my knee start to bruise and swell. It was super tender to the touch.

Once I was home, I immediately iced and that helped. I had to run (not literally, thank God) to my daughter’s soccer practice so I didn’t have much time to ice but as soon as that was over, I was back with the ice pack on the knee. I’ve been icing twice a day since Saturday and it’s already feeling better. I don’t want to psych myself out at all or let negative thoughts start to creep in. I know I’ll be fine and I know that I’m prepared for this race and I know that regardless of the outcome, I’m already super proud of my training and how far I’ve come as a runner.

Seriously

If someone had told me a couple months ago I’d run 20 miles (for the second time!) at a 9:44 average pace and still feel like I could’ve kept going……no way I’d believe them. No way.

And there you go! Three more weeks until the big day–here’s hoping the knee heals and February 28th arrives with sunshine and perfect weather 😀

Total miles: 29.02
Water intake: B I missed my water goal 3 out of 7 days but did have one super stellar day (Saturday) where I drank a zillion gallons.

–How was your running week? Did you race or have any races coming up?

–What’s your taper strategy? How do you keep from getting the “taper crazies”?