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

[Herding_Cats]

Now you've got me thinking about my plan to focus on the half distance. I do really enjoy the 10K and it's much more accessible. And the training would be a nice change from Dopey..hmmmmm

I do want to get faster, and I know if I keep focusing on half and full marathons I'm not really going to make much in the way to speed gains. Plus, my spring schedule is going to be ridiculous and the "lower" mileage of a 10k plan (which isn't really much lower than my dopey plan) is going to be more doable.

The thing that's giving my pause over this higdon intermediate plan is the fact that it's 6 days a week if you include the cross training day But it's like a DopeyBadger plan in that none of the runs are particularly long, and I feel like it would be a really good jumping off point to a half/full/50k once I finished it. It peaks at around 26 miles + 60min of cross training, and my peak week of Dopey training was 30 miles. And of course, realizing that, I feel like I could chop out the weekly 3mi run (Mondays) on the Higdon plan to give myself another rest day if needed. I'm very good at justifying taking runs out of programs that I find on the internet.


And I have 9 weeks to figure out lifting+running now.

 

[The Expert]

I do want to get faster, and I know if I keep focusing on half and full marathons I'm not really going to make much in the way to speed gains.

Yeah, this is exactly where I am, too. Plus I'm super impatient, and I feel like I could maybe make quicker progress with a shorter distance.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Well I have......something. I'm not sure where/how to cut other things and still get what I'm looking for out of either side of the plans (the lifting and the running.) I haven't checked anything as far as schedule conflicts with baseball or track. And there are only 3 days off in April. And things get kind of crazy from mid-March through mid-April. I didn't factor in intensity since it looks like I only have 1 speedwork day/wk with the higdon plan. And I attempted to keep most of the weekday workouts to around 1hr...a few might get longer toward the end.

 

[Herding_Cats]

A nice gentle re-entry to lifting and running



More lifting focused, but rebuilding some running base and slow start to those 400m repeats


Oh shoot. Here we go! And, apparently not fully color-code the plan.


Oh no, what have I done? Finish up 80day, and just run during peak weeks.


2 more weeks. Just run. Little taper.

 

[Herding_Cats]

@DopeyBadger I feel like we've discussed this before, but 8wks isn't really enough time for me to make any substantial gains for speed, correct? It's like....half the time I would need for adaptation to occur? I'm really trying to not get ahead of myself with stuff, because I'm still not 100% convinced I'm going to be able to fully pull off the schedule I've made for myself (not coaching baseball is going to be really weird this spring with how much time it'll give me) but I'm thinking about trying for a PR half in the fall. Still in the "i dunno....maybe this? maybe that?" phase of things and I kind of want to crush a time on something.

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger I feel like we've discussed this before, but 8wks isn't really enough time for me to make any substantial gains for speed, correct? It's like....half the time I would need for adaptation to occur? I'm really trying to not get ahead of myself with stuff, because I'm still not 100% convinced I'm going to be able to fully pull off the schedule I've made for myself (not coaching baseball is going to be really weird this spring with how much time it'll give me) but I'm thinking about trying for a PR half in the fall. Still in the "i dunno....maybe this? maybe that?" phase of things and I kind of want to crush a time on something.

That depends. Let's say your 10k PR was 1:10 from the Fall. You trained all winter for Dopey and now your fitness has improved. You haven't tested yourself in a 10k since the gains. You then come out of Dopey and train for 8 weeks prior to a 10k. Could you run faster than the 1:10 you ran in the Fall? Yes, but the basis of the gains made on that 1:10 Fall 10k is likely to more so come from the gains you made during the Dopey training than it is from the Spring training immediately proceeding the race. If the Spring race were 14 weeks away, then you would be making gains on top of the fitness increases you've already seen.

That's a long way to say, sometimes the gains we make in PRs aren't directly due to the most recent training, and simply because of the cumulative training we've done since the last time we raced. From personal experience, my HM PR was 1:49:24 (April 2015) entering my Summer/Fall Hansons 2015 training cycle. I ran a 1:51 in July, a 1:45 in August, and then the marathon in 3:38. I then took 2 weeks off, and trained 7 weeks for a winter HM in December. I ran a 1:38. Did the improvement from August to December come from the 7 weeks of training I did after the M? Not as likely. More likely is the gains made from August to October were what allowed me to PR by 7 min in December given the short training timeframe.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Tuesday: DD was in desperate need of a nap, so I "forced" her to take one (meaning we cuddled in a recliner until she fell asleep and I snuck out of her room) after lunch and then headed to the basement to see just how out of shape my muscles are. Since my plan is to start a modified/chopped version of 80 Day Obsession in conjunction with running I figured doing a few of the "pre" program workouts might be a good idea, and give me an idea of just how light I need to go with my weights. The workouts are very similar to the full program, they're just crunched down to 30min with very quick transitions.

And the verdict is that I have no muscles any more. Yeah, lets row 8s instead of 20s. I haven't lifted in about 10 months, and it really showed. I can already feel the very tired core muscles making their presence known, and I'm sure tomorrow will be an absolute joy. The good news is that I remember that after about 4 weeks I could really bump up in my dumbbells, and fingers crossed that this gives my body the jump start it needs to lose ~20 pounds.

 

[HangWithMerida]

I haven't lifted in about 10 months, and it really showed. I can already feel the very tired core muscles making their presence known,

Yeah, I'm here too. I'm headed back to rock climbing today after none for 3ish months. I have no calluses and I can tell my upper body strength has plummeted. Fully expecting to be pretty sore tomorrow.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I am more sore today than I was post-Dopey. 30min legs workout yesterday had me like a baby giraffe, and moving today is….well it’s interesting. Fingers crossed I’m just getting the shock to my muscles out of the way before the “real” workouts start.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I am more sore today than I was post-Dopey. 30min legs workout yesterday had me like a baby giraffe, and moving today is….well it’s interesting. Fingers crossed I’m just getting the shock to my muscles out of the way before the “real” workouts start.

I started doing strength again this past week too and can relate. Although 3 workouts in and I’m already feeling better.

 

[Herding_Cats]

so catching up here (I'm planning on cutting back to probably 1 post/training week because I find myself spending a lot more time on my computer than I should lately)

Thursday: A Little Obsessed Legs. I knew this was going to make me hurt. I even cut out some of the reps once we got to the last set of exercises (doing 10 or 12 of the 15 they do in the video) and did some of the moves with no weights. My core was tired from my workout earlier in the week, but it wasn't terrible. I was surprised at how high my HR got during the leg workout. This was also a snow/ice day from school. DS3 ended up with some sort of stomach bug which made for an eventful night.

Friday: as discussed above, I was hobbling around. Transitioning from sitting to standing, and anything that engaged my glutes was painful, and difficult. Spent ~3.5hrs in the bleachers at basketball.

Saturday: my last rest day before my new plan is supposed to start. Another ~3hrs at basketball. Also realizing that I'm a terrible spectator after having coached so many things for so many years. I had to get my knitting out at the end so I didn't stress myself out more than I already had. Still sore.

Sunday: Total Body Core (Day 1) Remember that stomach bug from Thursday? Guess who has it now. Even more fun, it was coupled with a headache that was borderline migraine.

Monday: A Little Obsessed Booty + 30min EA I'm a mostly functional human today, but 3 other people in the house are now sick. And the mom of one of the boys I transport for basketball practices messaged me to let me know they are sick today, and he won't need a ride. So it looks like we are not the only ones getting hit with this. I'm not sure how to juggle/rearrange days for my training plan at this point. I may just cut out a few of the days and probably the running in favor of the strength training this week and hopefully be able to resume next week as planned. I didn't leave myself a lot of wiggle room with only 1 day a week scheduled off.


Other random happenings: I finally gave in and sent in my letter of resignation for my middle school baseball coaching gig. There's just no way to make it work this year with DD's activity (and attitude/sass) level. We are working up the chain of superiors with our issues around the basketball program. We have a meeting with the principal this week, and will likely have a meeting with the superintendent after that. And it's possible we will get all the way to the school board. It's been super stressful all season, and talking with other parents, we are definitely not the only ones feeling that way.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Uh oh...hope everyone feels better soon!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Well. Massive fail on week 1. Everyone got sick, and I've felt "off" for the whole week, so I didn't do any workouts (not that I had time for them anyway!) I'm exhausted just about every day, and it's been a long enough gap since MW that my motivation to run or workout is bottoming out. Yay winter.

My body's internal "what time of year is it?" is so messed up right now too.

Right before Christmas, we got 2ft of snow. And then it all melted as we had 50 degree days and so much sunshine. For those who don't understand, my area sometimes has like....single digits of sunny days from like December-mid March. A week of sunshine doesn't happen. Temperatures went back to normal (upper 20s) during MW, and stayed that way for the week after we got back, and then it was nice outside again. Mid-40s. Sunshine. No snow anywhere. MUD. I was half way through asking DH what seeds he thinks we might want to buy to start this year instead of buying plants for the garden when it hit me: it's still the middle of January.

Winter has since returned in full force with snow, ice, wind, etc. But my brain is still stuck in this "it's basically spring" mode. And it's trying to convince me that there's no possible way I'll be ready for that race coming up because I haven't run in forever (which is, apparently, 3 weeks.) That race isn't until the middle of May.

 

[GollyGadget]

I know you know, but I just want to reiterate that you still have plenty of time! AND you don't just magically lose all your fitness! It degrades a bit, but it'll come back to you once you get back to it.

I'm really good at running consistently until I'm not. Once I start missing a day or two, it can quickly snowball. Obviously take the time to recover if you feel unwell, but otherwise just try to do something. Run a shorter distance than planned, walk it all if you need to, just try to create that time and space for exercise. Anything is better than nothing.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I know you know, but I just want to reiterate that you still have plenty of time! AND you don't just magically lose all your fitness! It degrades a bit, but it'll come back to you once you get back to it.

I'm really good at running consistently until I'm not. Once I start missing a day or two, it can quickly snowball. Obviously take the time to recover if you feel unwell, but otherwise just try to do something. Run a shorter distance than planned, walk it all if you need to, just try to create that time and space for exercise. Anything is better than nothing.

Oh yeah. I know. Part of the reason I sat down and made a huge schedule out through May is because once I don't have anything "on the books" and don't have a training plan to be accountable to, I generally just stop. Everything. And coupling that with what is literally the worst time of year for me with post-Dopey letdown and then getting sick and 2 weeks off turning into 3, getting started again is going to be a chore. I "joke" that I pull all the curtains shut and just go workout in my basement in January and February so I can make it through to March, but it's not really a joke. I wouldn't say I get full-blown SAD, but it's probably pretty close. So that's fun.

I'm going to sit down and re-arrange my workouts (essentially pushing everything down a week until I actually start my 10k plan, probably register for it, and maybe add our local St. Patrick's 5k.

In other news, DH insists he still hasn't earned any of his W&D medals, and that we can't take them out/hang them up until he does this spring, so maybe there's a chance I can talk him into doing Dopey with me.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Shuffled some things around on the wall and figured out a way to display my marathon ear hats without covering up my medal rack…

Things kept shifting in the shadow box, and the marathon and goofy medals are a little wonky, but it wasn’t worth fighting any longer with that AND the spinners, even with all of the tape I applied.

 

[Herding_Cats]

DH and I were talking yesterday and it seems like he definitely wants to go back for MW next year. It's no longer in the "I think I might want to do the 5/10/half" and solidly in the going to do zone, so now I have to figure out what I want to do. Personally I think he should just do Dopey, because if you're going to be there and do the first 3 races, what's one more? But also, if I run those 3 races with him, there's no way I'm not also running the full and getting another ear hat and all of the medals. So they better be pretty. This also necessitated a tread title change. IYKYK.

I'm not going to try to psych myself up for another dopey training cycle right now, because it's 7 months away. Plus, a dopey training cycle sounds pretty awful at the moment. Especially since I'll probably be working next year.

In other news, yesterday I (finally!) did my first run since the marathon. It was only 30min on the treadmill, but it wasn't awful.


Last week I went to sign up for my local 10k race in May, and they already want $58 for it. Given that the course is about 2/3 trail conditions, and it has an uphill finish, I'm not very excited about that price. The Amway Riverbank Run is the same day, and even with the February price increase, that one is still "only" $42. Which, the price difference won't even cover the cost of gas, and we'd probably have to do an overnight in a hotel for that one, but I'm annoyed enough by the local 10k price that we might just make the trip down to Grand Rapids anyway. Plus, bigger race/field, and actual crowd support sounds nice.

 

[The Expert]

Honestly, I think he should do Dopey unless he's going to go through the stress of registering himself for those three races! One registration >>> three separate race registrations when it comes to Disney IT.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Honestly, I think he should do Dopey unless he's going to go through the stress of registering himself for those three races! One registration >>> three separate race registrations when it comes to Disney IT.

Oooooh. That's a good point too. I honestly think that the whole "marathon" aspect and the fact that it's a long freaking race is what he doesn't like. He doesn't understand why I sign up for marathons (I kind of don't know why I do it either, but that's a different discussion) and has no real interest in running one. BUT. Just having to do 2 registrations would be a HUGE timesaver on registration day.

 

[GollyGadget]

I can't imagine trying to register for that many races! You'll definitely need a plan and prioritize them. I also have no idea what race(s) I'll run MW. I'm perfectly okay with just one but last year I regretted not doing the 5 or 10K a bit because I was literally running around the Epcot parking lot cheering for my mom. I could have at least earned a medal!

I had a very similar dilemma regarding my local fall options. The local half costs more than I expected so I was also considering traveling but then I quickly realized the cost of hotel would negate any savings. Running is way more expensive than people think!