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

[Herding_Cats]

Someone talk me down.
I’m considering the bayshore marathon. Because it’s local. And registration is open. And because I’m an idiot who said “no more marathons for a few years” ONE WEEK AGO. And I’m probably only considering it because the half is closed and nothing else sounds good in that timeframe (late may/early June.) 8 weeks after SS 10k, and will also be the first 7 weeks of baseball season. It’s a terrible idea.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Someone talk me down.
I’m considering the bayshore marathon. Because it’s local. And registration is open. And because I’m an idiot who said “no more marathons for a few years” ONE WEEK AGO. And I’m probably only considering it because the half is closed and nothing else sounds good in that timeframe (late may/early June.) 8 weeks after SS 10k, and will also be the first 7 weeks of baseball season. It’s a terrible idea.

I'm all for enabling. But don't do this. Could you do it, sure. But cut yourself a break from 3 marathons in less than a year.

 

[michigandergirl]

We are definitely a forum of enablers! But yeah, coming from someone who battled an injury for most of last year, I would tend to agree with coach. Three marathons in that short a time period could be a recipe for injury. Maybe target a fall marathon instead?

 

[Herding_Cats]

I'm all for enabling. But don't do this. Could you do it, sure. But cut yourself a break from 3 marathons in less than a year.

sir yes sir! I knew it was a bad idea, and I needed someone to agree with me.

I'll probably have a timing/race/training question for you in a few days when I'm done with the mulling stage of races (since more are finally popping up on runsignup.)

We are definitely a forum of enablers! But yeah, coming from someone who battled an injury for most of last year, I would tend to agree with coach. Three marathons in that short a time period could be a recipe for injury. Maybe target a fall marathon instead?

Fall is a terrible time of year for me to try to do anything time-intensive (sports plus hunting season) until we are so deep into fall that the weird storms start hitting (in November my schedule will open up for like 3 weeks and it could be snowing by then.) And fitting in marathon training is just....other things have been less prioritized since June and my family needs me to be putting less hours per week on running, especially with long runs on the weekends.

I just feel like i need *something* to work toward because right now "just" getting back to weight training and a maintenance/base plan has me feeling directionless. Like I need to pick a goal so that the process has a purpose other than "because it's good for me."


On a different note: my legs were not ready to run today. And it's probably from a lot more from the lifting/hiit stuff than MW, but still. Running felt super weird. Tuesday was leg day and I paid for it on Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. Now, on Thursday, it was a tiny bit better and my workout was arms/shoulders circuit. And what was the cardio part of circuit? A version of burpees and jump squats. Oh the joy. And after, I was supposed to do 2mi EA. I managed a half mile, (to see if it would get better...it didn't) and walked the rest because my legs gave me a firm NOPE. My plan of stacking leg day with long runs could be interesting. I'll probably have to do the run first or my quads won't survive.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I just feel like i need *something* to work toward because right now "just" getting back to weight training and a maintenance/base plan has me feeling directionless. Like I need to pick a goal so that the process has a purpose other than "because it's good for me."

What do you think about swimming and biking? You could try to do a sprint or super sprint triathlon. They are a lot of fun! Or maybe you could think about a 5K time goal.
Or you could think about setting a strength goal (mine right now is to get headstand pose) to work toward.

 

[DopeyBadger]

On a different note: my legs were not ready to run today. And it's probably from a lot more from the lifting/hiit stuff than MW, but still. Running felt super weird. Tuesday was leg day and I paid for it on Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. Now, on Thursday, it was a tiny bit better and my workout was arms/shoulders circuit. And what was the cardio part of circuit? A version of burpees and jump squats. Oh the joy. And after, I was supposed to do 2mi EA. I managed a half mile, (to see if it would get better...it didn't) and walked the rest because my legs gave me a firm NOPE. My plan of stacking leg day with long runs could be interesting. I'll probably have to do the run first or my quads won't survive.

Be patient with yourself. I know that you feel fine post-MW, but you're still only about 12 days out from running 39.3 miles in two days. For me, it typically takes somewhere around 20-28 days before I feel normal while running, and not until close to 42 days post marathon where I start to feel like I've got my fitness back. Cut yourself some slack. And remember whether it's the beginning of training or the end - "Easy is only easy if it feels easy. If it doesn't feel easy, it ain't easy." So be ok with slowing the pace by 30-45-60 sec/mile vs what you were doing at the tail end of training on easy days. Consider run/walking if a slower continuous run pace is uncomfortable.

 

[Herding_Cats]

What do you think about swimming and biking? You could try to do a sprint or super sprint triathlon. They are a lot of fun! Or maybe you could think about a 5K time goal.
Or you could think about setting a strength goal (mine right now is to get headstand pose) to work toward.

I'm a terrible swimmer. I'm not a danger to myself or others in the water and I can get around fine, but to swim "for real" is a skill I do not have. And I'm pretty meh on biking. Tris sound like yet another expensive extension to running an I do not have the time to train for either of those things on top of running.
A 5k time goal is probably going to be what I go with. But then that would potentially impact running a spring half (all things I'm still in the "mulling stage" for right now.)

Be patient with yourself. I know that you feel fine post-MW, but you're still only about 12 days out from running 39.3 miles in two days. For me, it typically takes somewhere around 20-28 days before I feel normal while running, and not until close to 42 days post marathon where I start to feel like I've got my fitness back. Cut yourself some slack. And remember whether it's the beginning of training or the end - "Easy is only easy if it feels easy. If it doesn't feel easy, it ain't easy." So be ok with slowing the pace by 30-45-60 sec/mile vs what you were doing at the tail end of training on easy days. Consider run/walking if a slower continuous run pace is uncomfortable.

I'm definitely cutting myself slack. Hence the switch to walking after only a half mile. I *could* have gutted out the 2 miles but it would have sucked on a grand scale. And by "it felt weird" I mean it was like my quads didn't know what to do. And that was coupled with the whole "my body is moving but it's not moving" weirdness you get *after* you get off a treadmill, but it was when I got *on* the treadmill.

 

[Herding_Cats]

OK. Setting a couple of goals and penciling some races in so I have more of a direction than I do currently:

Goal 1:
Complete my current training plan. Because I can completely see myself falling off the wagon and skipping workouts once I hit about week 3. That's what I usually do.

Goal 2:
Get my 5k into the 30min:some seconds OR sub-30:00. Last year I ran 2 5ks. The 4th of July course had a big hill starting at mile one and I ran it in 33:46 (T+D was 139 and it was also 92% humidity.) The other 5k was a turkey trot that I didn't really race, was quite hilly, wasn't chip timed, and I ran in just under 37:00. I feel like 30:xx is a reachable goal if I put in the work. The question becomes *when* is the timing/training volume going to be right for it to happen.

Goal 3:
Get my half marathon under 2:40:00.

Race on the calendar:
-SS 10k (April 2nd)--not racing it by any means.

Potential races through early summer:
-local 5k on May 7th (this says mix of paved and trail, but I can't even find a course map)
-local 5k/10k/Half May 29th Same half I ran last year--wouldn't run the half again here. Has an up-hill finish at the end, but the T+D is usually low. This was a lot more trail running than I expected.
- Solstice 5k/Half Marathon on June 18th; looks pretty flat with one hill at around mile 8-9. T+D is usually around 130 historically, and it's local. This is probably my best bet for an "A race" attempt, depending on the weather, before late August or September.
-Firecracker 5k July 4th; ran this last year. Because of the course this would be a just for fun run. I would say "I'll just run it with DS3" but he beat me by a few minutes at the turkey trot, so maybe his dad can try to keep up with him.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Weekly wrap up. I'll keep it short and sweet because I covered a lot of it in individual posts last week.
The week of 1/17 I started back on my food plan AND my lifting routine with supplemental running.

Monday: B4L4 chest/back circuit and 30min walk on the treadmill. My muscles are very not used to lifting.

Tuesday: B4L4 legs 50/50 and 30min walk on the treadmill. Used like....10s for squats and still paid for it.

Wednesday: off. very much needed. So sore.

Thursday: B4L4 shoulders/arms and 2mi EA*. Still very sore. Tried to "run" the 2mi but discovered after pushing through half a mile that my legs were not in any condition to run yet, so I walked the last mile and a half.

Friday: B4L4 full body HIIT and 2mi EA on the treadmill. Did the running first because I knew the HIIT would torch my legs further. This seemed to work out pretty well so running first on leg-intensive days will probably be the plan when I can manage it from a timing perspective.

Saturday: off

Sunday: was supposed to do 2mi EA. It didn't happen.

Weight: down 1 pound.

Other Stuff that Went On: DS2 had his birthday. The weekend before his birthday he and a group of friends went and saw the new spiderman movie. And then somehow talked DH into us hosting a sleepover the following weekend. So I had a house full of 8th grade boys on Saturday night (which is part of the reason the Sunday workout didn't happen.)
-DS3 had his first basketball games on Saturday (which is one reason I made sure to designate that day as an off day) and WOW do 4th graders playing their first season of basketball look disorganized. I know from experience (DH and I have coached about 6 years of elementary basketball) that the gains will be fast and big once they start to figure things out, but it was pretty comical to watch them running around out on the floor today. I'm the "back-up" coach if the main coach and his wife have a schedule conflict or if they get sick. I covered practices around MW when they were on a cruise.
-I did manage to mostly stick to my food plan. I'm not breaking out the containers and going super strict at this point, mostly just trying to keep a handle on my carbs, eat more vegetables, etc. Will re-evaluate after a couple of weeks if I'm not losing any weight.

Potential roadblocks this week:
-DS1 came home from open gym and showed my his index finger yesterday. I thought he had slammed it in the car door. DH thought he had broken it. Nope. Infected. Apparently he thought it was "normal" for his finger to swell way up for 2 weeks after he got some kind of hang nail and yeah. I'll spare you all the details. Today he has a Dr appointment to make sure it's not a staph infection or cellulitis at this point and that's going to happen right in the middle of nap/workout time.
-Someone has a basketball game every single day this week. Monday-Saturday. All of the basketball.
-DH decided last week he wants to clear out the basement and build an office/make a hangout area for the kids and redo the workout area, so we have a 30yrd dumpster coming. Which means lots of sorting and posting stuff for free/sale on marketplace. Dealing with people picking stuff up (or flaking out and NOT showing up.) And having my workout area likely get invaded at some point. Hopefully we can leave that corner alone until Saturday/Sunday when I will only need the treadmill to be accessible.

 

[GollyGadget]

Goal 1:
Complete my current training plan. Because I can completely see myself falling off the wagon and skipping workouts once I hit about week 3. That's what I usually do.

Goal 2:
Get my 5k into the 30min:some seconds OR sub-30:00. Last year I ran 2 5ks. The 4th of July course had a big hill starting at mile one and I ran it in 33:46 (T+D was 139 and it was also 92% humidity.) The other 5k was a turkey trot that I didn't really race, was quite hilly, wasn't chip timed, and I ran in just under 37:00. I feel like 30:xx is a reachable goal if I put in the work. The question becomes *when* is the timing/training volume going to be right for it to happen.

Goal 3:
Get my half marathon under 2:40:00.

Are these goals in priority order? If so, my recommendation would be to find a 5k in early summer to train for and postpone the half marathon goal until fall. The 5k training will give your body a bit of a break from the endurance running and give you a chance to work on speed. It could be enough change to spark up some more motivation as well.
I realize you have a busy schedule so maybe a fall half isn't feasible, but if that's the case focus on the half goal first and then find a 5k for the fall. My point is, pick one race distance to go after and then switch. I used to think training for anything less than a half was for new runners but that's a totally wrong assumption that I had. It's actually incredibly beneficial to vary the training focus throughout the year.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Are these goals in priority order? If so, my recommendation would be to find a 5k in early summer to train for and postpone the half marathon goal until fall. The 5k training will give your body a bit of a break from the endurance running and give you a chance to work on speed. It could be enough change to spark up some more motivation as well.
I realize you have a busy schedule so maybe a fall half isn't feasible, but if that's the case focus on the half goal first and then find a 5k for the fall. My point is, pick one race distance to go after and then switch. I used to think training for anything less than a half was for new runners but that's a totally wrong assumption that I had. It's actually incredibly beneficial to vary the training focus throughout the year.

They're not in priority order. I am going to attempt to differentiate my training cycles, so that's a good point you made. But considering the timing of things, it's going to be easier for me to find an early summer half (such as the June 18th one) and a late summer/fall 5k. Fall is such a crazy time of year for us. We had 7 weekend meets we traveled to last year in September and October. It might actually be a little easier this coming year since we won't have 3 separate XC schedules plus weekend soccer (and 2 week-night practices). I'll only have the HS and elem XC schedules, plus soccer. I'm hopeful that they are able to publish our varsity XC schedule by April or May so I can see what weekends I'll need to block off for that and then possibly reassess my plan. And if not, 5ks are pretty easy to find. I could even be the embarrassing mom and run in the open race at one of their XC meets

A fall race will more than likely *have* to be on a Sunday (for a half) and unfortunately that eliminates about 80% of them, and it seems like (but may not actually be factual) more of the Sunday races are trail races. There are so many 5ks that finding one to plug in where possible shouldn't be too much of a chore.

I feel like I'm going to give myself a pretty decent break from a significant amount of running right now...for about 2.5 months where I'm running <15mi/wk, and then slip back into half training for that June race. And after that I'll probably switch to 5k training because it'll be SUMMER and SUN and all things HOT and 5k training doesn't necessarily take as much time as half training.

Plus I'm not a huge fan of speedwork. Because it's hard, and I feel like it highlights how not-fast I am.

AND, if I do a half training cycle, a 5k training cycle, and THEN if I can talk DH into going back for MW in January I will be able to fit in an 18wk training cycle for that.

 

[SheHulk]

I could even be the embarrassing mom and run in the open race at one of their XC meets

DO IT

 

[Herding_Cats]

Aaaaand I'm pricing out W&D weekend now. Because why not. Oh. Here's why not. It's the same weekend as cross country state finals.

 

[HangWithMerida]

I could even be the embarrassing mom and run in the open race at one of their XC meets

...

Plus I'm not a huge fan of speedwork. Because it's hard, and I feel like it highlights how not-fast I am.

Another resounding YES to the open race at XC. I am all about a 2 birds one stone situation and what's life without embarrassing our kids a little?

Re: speed work. I have grown to love it. It's something different from the usual runs. And, while my "fast" is other people's warm-up, it's still fast for me and I can see the difference it makes in my overall paces. For example, I only did 8 weeks of speed work between W&D HM and Houston HM and still got a 3 min 9 sec HM PR over my A race from last year where I felt like I went in really well prepared. Even a little goes a long way.

 

[jmasgat]

Aaaaand I'm pricing out W&D weekend now. Because why not. Oh. Here's why not. It's the same weekend as cross country state finals.

Ah the joys of MI Speedway. My daughter ran MI D1 and went 4 years as an individual. I'm a bad mom--i went to one. But hey, it was the one she made all-state so I picked the right year!

 

[Herding_Cats]

@jmasgat that's amazing! Being all-state is a huge accomplishmen! My oldest elected to not travel with the team to finals this past season (he was #9, so not even the alternate) so we haven't had the full MIS experience, but I have a feeling we will be there this year or over the next several years.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Apparently I'm bored, because I'm posting WAY TOO MUCH in here this week.

Yesterday I made a rough budget for W&D (for DH to run all 3 races with me.) But that idea is out.

Today I made a budget for if I did MW, Dopey, next year, solo. And I feel like it's probably a little light, but I also know that if I go alone there will be way less sit-down $$ meals, less adult beverages, and probably less impulse buys. And I have approximately half of that amount right now.

BUT. And this is a big but.

I really really really want to replace my treadmill. If the kids start doing some actual winter run training they are going to need something that doesn't top out at 10mph. Because they are too fast for their own good, and I fear for what running it at absolute max speed will do to the motor long-term. And I can buy a new treadmill with that money, instead of saving it for maybe doing MW again in 11 months.

Also, training this week is turning into a cluster because kids. And I'm annoyed and frustrated and already playing catch-up on things.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Hmmm, races vs treadmill. Tough call for sure.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Hmmm, races vs treadmill. Tough call for sure.

i'm keeping a very close eye on marketplace and craigslist because once in awhile a sole will pop up for sale. Kind of hoping that people start off-loading their lock-down purchases soon, although where we live there aren't that many tele-commute jobs really available, so people mostly either got laid off from work or still had to go in-person. DH will insist (probably) that I sell the old one, even though the only thing it will cost us is space. *sigh*

I really need to find some sort of job where I can still be at home to take care of the toddler and 100% set my own schedule. And then have my own disposable income above and beyond what DH brings in. That's not asking too much, is it? (In reality, that job looks like substitute teaching once DD start kindergarten or pre-school IF pre-school has any openings. But the pay is garbage for subbing. It's only benefit is that I decide when I work and who I will sub for.)

 

[HangWithMerida]

I really need to find some sort of job where I can still be at home to take care of the toddler and 100% set my own schedule.

I knew someone who got divorced and was looking for something like this. She called it the "princess package". She was an attorney turned SAHM so she had a bit of a different situation than most. She did find her princess package though, so maybe something will materialize for you!