Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

Congrats on the PR!! I also ran a race yesterday (the Bridge Run 10 Miler) and the heat & humidity was awful. We had rain overnight here in Grand Rapids which made the humidity Sunday morning so miserable. I am so ready for cooler temps!
 
So. Recovery week. This felt like the longest week ever. How is possible that I did a half 8 days ago? ONLY 8 DAYS, and it seems like at least a month? *sigh* Yay fall!
On Monday I took DD for a walk to get her to sleep for her nap, instead of spending 30-60min in her room putting her back to bed 1,287,925 times. Worked like a charm, and was probably good for my legs. And then the rest of the week happened.

Monday: (rest) walked 2.25mi with DD in the stroller, 18:14 pace.

Tuesday-Thursday: rest

Friday: 2mi easy, 45/30 intervals, and apparently 13:14 pace, when it's supposed to be more like 14:00. Whoops.

Saturday: (rest) XC meet. DS2 (who earned a varsity top-7 spot last Friday) has had some outer leg tightness that was making him limp and cross trained on the bike at practice all week, got whatever upper respiratory runny nose that's going around, didn't run. DS1 ran in the JV race and ran a season's best 21:01. He was mad because he really wanted to be under 21. His issue for 2 years now has been that he has x goal, but doesn't want to put in the extra (weekend/on his own that the coaches tell the kids to do) work to be able to achieve said goal. Still. Season's best, so I'm not going to be upset with him (much. He could/should be running 19s and 18s, but he won't put in the work or push into the uncomfortable part of racing, so he sits in the mid-20s up to around 22 and is grumpy about it.)

Sunday: 3mi easy. 45/30 intervals. 13:50 avg pace. This run felt awful. And comparing stuff like HR, etc, it was "worse" than the 2mi run on Friday (higher HR at a slower pace, etc.) I had to really think about why I felt so tired and sore (my ankle was mad from the start, but never got any worse aside from it spasming a few times during walk intervals) after I got home because that was 100% not how I had expected things to go. So why did this feel rotten? Well. I haven't slept well for about 2 weeks now (yay toddlers) and on this morning I woke up at 6am, and started cleaning at 730 for DD's birthday party. And I was on my feet for pretty much the entire day, up until 6pm when I finished my run. I have DS2's sinus drainage thing (sharing is caring I guess.) It was bad enough that I had all of the feelings about "what am I doing, why am I marathon training, there's no way you're going to pull this off in January," etc. I know that none of it is true, but it wasn't a great evening.

Onward to a new week! 3mi easy runs on 5 days, with XC meets on the off days (Saturday has us leaving at 5:15am. Gross.) Looks like a decent portion of them will be on the treadmill since we have a lot of low 50s and rain in the forecast. And I'm going to try to add in some weight training this week as well.
 


I’m not getting my run in today. BUT its because when DH gets home (and that should be close the the same time I get home from picking DS3 up from practice) we are going to pick up a new-to-us treadmill.


You guys. It’s a 3 year old Sole F80 that looks super clean for $100. I’m so excited. It’s totally going to be worth 3 hours in the car. 😂😂😂 (I’m guessing someone sold their lake house and is getting rid of stuff. Eta: totally retired people who sold their house and are moving to Florida. And they only used it for walking during the winters 😁)
 
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This week was scheduled to be:
3mi M/3mi W/3mi Th/3mi F/5mi Su. I missed Monday picking up the treadmill (it’s so nice you guys! It has something like 370hrs and around 1100mi on it and I’m thrilled!) so I stretched a couple of the other weekday runs out to compensate for missing the time on feet.

Wednesday: planned 3mi, ran 4mi on the treadmill. 14:22 avg pace. Put it on 4.2 and walked for 30-60sec at the end of each mile.

Thursday: tried to get out the door late and decided it was too dark and I would probably roll and ankle so I ended up doing 3mi on the treadmill again. 14:12 pace. Similar to Wednesday.

Friday: I finally got outside!! Was scheduled 3mi but did 4mi Easy/LR pace and 45/30 intervals. Tried to make sure I didn’t go too fast. 13:47 avg pace. This run didn’t feel terrible, but I decided that I should start taking my iron supplement again.

Saturday (today): no run. 4:45 wake up for a 2hr drive across the state for a XC meet. DS2 PR’ed again with 19:32. DS1 set a SB with 20:53.
 
That’s a fabulous deal on what sounds like a very gently used treadmill. I’m sure you’ll put it to good use.
 


Today isn't a great day. I didn't manage to do my 5mi run yesterday, I'm kind of over it (running) mentally at the moment and I'm not sure what it's going to take to get my mojo back. (Hello run-on sentence!) I don't really need a pep talk or anything, I'm just being honest about mom'ing and training and trying to fit it all in. And being MASSIVELY touched-out by my toddler. I knew this was coming and it sucks. I'm not going to try to make up the missed run. That's would be a recipe for things falling apart next week, so I'm going to just let it go and carry one. One training run at the beginning of a plan, 3 months out, when I've been training all summer, is NOT going to make or break my race weekend.

And now, I'm going to go put my running stuff on, spend an hour (give or take) getting my toddler to sleep for her nap, and then pray that she stays asleep long enough for me to get today's run in on the treadmill.
 
Monday: did my 4mi on the treadmill. This felt like the longest 4mi run in a long time, and I was even watching Call the Midwife, which usually is a great distraction while the miles tick by. 14:07 pace and my first run on the new tread. It feels a lot more solid than the old one....less bounce in it if that makes sense.

Tuesday: project re-discover my muscles. So I've decided to start adding in lifting in on Tuesday (which is a non-running day), and possibly on days where I'm only doing 3 miles; we will see how it all goes for the next few weeks. I VERY much don't want to overdo things since I haven't really done any lifting since February? March? it's been awhile. I decided on 80DO Total Body Core and that I would only do half of it. Let me just say, WOW have I lost a ton of strength. I purposely used very light weights so that I can still run the next 3 days, chase kids around an XC meet on Saturday morning, and do a 9mi run on Sunday. Hopefully I went light enough.

What's really funny (haha....not actually funny, but you know what I mean) is that I was debating between taking a break from running after MW and doing a full round of 80DO or something...maybe sprinkle in some running here and there OR signing up for another marathon in the end of May/early June (Bayshore or Charlevoix.) But right now I don't even want to think about a marathon.
 
Maybe I got back on track and was just having a really terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day? Maybe. We'll see how this next week goes.

Wednesday: 3mi easy. Outside. 13:27 pace. This was a "get it done before dinner is ready" run between DH getting home from work and the oldest boys getting home from XC practice, which is probably why it was a little too fast...my brain was in go-go-go mode. Definitely noticed the beginnings of some soreness from Tuesday.

Thursday: 4mi easy. Treadmill. 13:59 pace. Mostly continuous, with a 1min walk at the beginning of each mile. DH finished a few jobs this day and got home early, which meant I didn't have to work around nap time. The weather was really cruddy, so I was happy to have an indoor running option. Then we went and worked concessions for a JV football game (which was a fundraiser for XC/T&F....all of the sports teams rotate through working concessions for the various home sporting events all year.)

Friday: 4mi easy almost MT. Our XC team had a huge meet downstate on Saturday, which meant picking kids up from school at 1:30 and driving 3+ hours to the course for a workout/walk-through, spending the night in a hotel, and then freezing cheering all day Saturday at the races. So I had to cram this run in between finishing getting house chores done, packing myself, DD, DS3, and checking to make sure DS1&2 hadn't forgotten things like extra socks (which they indeed had forgotten.) We desperately needed to go get groceries so DH and I decided we would go for lunch before picking the kids up, and THAT meant I had to hustle through everything if I wanted to have time to shower. I purposely set my intervals at 60/30 instead of 45/30 because I knew it would help me get an extra 5 minutes to finish getting ready. I might regret that choice today (Sunday) since I'm supposed to do 9 miles.

Saturday: rest. Sort of. I spent the day running around the course getting pics. Our district has a major bus driver shortage, so once again parents were needed to transport kids to the race (we haven't had a bus for a meet all season.) That meant being AT the course at 8am even though our kids didn't race until 930. This meet is huge with 17 races starting at 830am and ending at around 4:00. DS1 and 2 both PR'ed (11 kids on their team did!) Probably the most exciting thing that happened is that one of the runners on our team, who has a full ride scholarship to Wake Forrest and is currently ranked #6 in the nation, broke the course record. Another runner (who was the national champion last year) broke it last year, and before that it was Dathan Ritzenhein's record for 21 years. Our running ran it in 14:38.00. It's pretty fun to watch history in the making on basically a weekly basis. He's hoping to break Ritzenhein's record at state finals, which I think is 14:10.something. We'll see if he can do it in 4 weeks.
 
Wow these kids are so fast! 😲 This was not my XC experience lol
Yeah I was very anti-running with no other purpose when I was younger. I ran hurdles in middle school but softball was my love. My own kids are running in the low 20s and low 19s and I’m optimistic they can break into the 19s and 18s on Tuesday on our very flat and fast home course.

The super-fast boy on our team puts in massive amounts of work…70+ miles per week for a couple of months now, and this is the first race this year that the coaches let him actually race the whole thing instead of making it a workout or having him pace our #2 and 3 runners for the first half of the race. He ran in the D1 race at the meet (we are D3) so he would have a little competition, and the 2 boys closest to him (14:44 and 14:45) both had huge PRs trying to keep up with him. It’s awe-inspiring to watch.
 
Sunday: 9mi easy/LR. Which should be 13:59. And practice nutrition. 45/30 intervals. Last night I specifically ate more because I knew this run was coming and I couldn’t let all of the car hours and lack of appetite ruin my long run (which I knew I wouldn’t want to do.) DH had a fundraiser golf outing today and DS1 also worked at it (it’s for the basketball program at school) so my original plan was to have DS2 “watch” DD during DD’s nap time. Except I fell asleep in the chair with her when I was putting her down for her nap. Oops! So when DH got home I got ready and out the door.

Nutrition plan: Carmel coffee stroopwaffle pre-run (with caffeine) and pink lemonade gummies during, and a birthday cake gu as backup. 16oz water bottle carried and left/picked up at a few points along the route.

This run felt great. Like….I stayed out of my head, I didn’t overrun it too badly, and forced myself to slow down for the last 3 miles because I was going to be sub-13 if I went like I felt like could at that point. I was just floating along like nothing. This is how that long run i had when I previewed the trail for my half felt (I might have to look back and see what I fueled with for that run and if caffeine is a common thread.) Avg HR was 148 and I spent 76% of my run in zone 3.
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First run in my pair of new blue 1080s. I had to stop FIVE TIMES during mile 3 to fix how tightly it was laced on my right foot. It was almost loose and it was still cutting in to the inside edge of my ankle. I think I got it figured out though. I can definitely tell the shoes are new, but they feel better than my new black 1080s. Because of course different colors of the same shoe feel different. 🤦🏻‍♀️
 
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Monday: 3mi Easy. Treadmill run, so continuous with a 1min walk break after completing each mile. HR stayed in zone 3 or lower the whole time. 14:07 avg pace.


Tuesday: off. Last conference meeting for XC, so in addition to the middle and high school races, there was also an elementary race. DS3 set as season best for his mile and ran it in 8:13, which earned him a personal pie (he’s picked pecan) he doesn’t have to share with anyone else. DS3 also made all-conference as a freshman which is a great accomplishment for him! He didn’t run the race he wanted as he was hoping to be under 19:00 and ended up running 20:02, but that goal was iffy since he PR’ed on Saturday, took Sunday off, and then came home from school “sick” and slept for 6 hour on Monday. Our coaches are beyond frustrated though because pretty much none of our runners (minus 2 or 3) have really made any gains this year on their race times. They’re crushing their workouts and getting their miles in, but they are all coming up short of what their workouts are saying they should be running by a LOT on race day over and over and over. DS1 is a great example of that since he still hasn’t been able to race under 20:00, even though he’s running mile repeats at like 6:15 and under pace. It’s frustrating as a parent too, to see/know what your kid is capable of and then watching them come up short and get upset over and over and over.


Wednesday: 4mi Easy. 45/30 intervals. 13:32 avg pace. It’s getting cold outside. It rained most of this day, but as soon as the system was through I got out the door to fit my run in before heading to fall parent-teacher conferences at school. Toward the end of mile 1 I was questioning why this run felt so hard and was about to blame the shoes when I checked my pace and saw I was on track to be below 12:30 pace. 🤦🏻‍♀️😂 I did manage to get things under control after that, but it really skewed my average pace.


Thursday: 4mi Easy. More rain. More cold. Some hail (not during my run fortunately.) 45/30 intervals. 13:42 after age pace. Mile 3 got away from me a little bit with the pace, and then mile 4 reads as slower because I had to stop and deal with a little dog who wanted to chase me (and when dogs try to chase me I try to get them to stop before they get to the road so they don’t learn to run into the road after pedestrians.) I’m going to have to figure out another bottoms layer for running when it’s this cold because my legs and butt we’re cold, headed toward numb, by the end of the run.


Friday: 1mi wu and cd + Half mile repeats at HM pace. After I get done chauffeuring DH around to get his last 2 wisdom teeth out.


We are at peak color here. The outdoor runs are gorgeous right now.
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They’re crushing their workouts and getting their miles in, but they are all coming up short of what their workouts are saying they should be running by a LOT on race day over and over and over. DS1 is a great example of that since he still hasn’t been able to race under 20:00, even though he’s running mile repeats at like 6:15 and under pace. It’s frustrating as a parent too, to see/know what your kid is capable of and then watching them come up short and get upset over and over and over.

Are they over-running their easy days? Too much hard workouts/races making it harder to perform because they're never recovered?
 
Are they over-running their easy days? Too much hard workouts/races making it harder to perform because they're never recovered?
I have no idea. Our coaches are really knowledgeable, USATF leveled/trained or whatever that is, have been nominated for national coach of the year, state coach of the year, etc several times. They're fantastic with the kids, and this year is throwing them for a loop. I do wish they gave the kids more specific targets to hit for pacing in general (because that's how all of the training plans I've used have worked. :rotfl2: ) But not all of the kids have or can afford a running watch too, so that's a consideration. I know that they do give them targets for workouts and that they tell them to run at a "conversational" pace on their long runs. They definitely It's been an interesting year for sure. DS1 is talking about NOT running next year because he equates being successful on the timeclock with how much fun he's having and since he's not meeting his goal (for the 2nd year now) he feels like it's not fun.

I am pretty sure that when they start running in the spring (during baseball, before summer running actually starts) that I'm going to have them do a mile time trial and make pace charts for them to use. And have them work on their cadence a little bit.
 

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