Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

[lhermiston]

Congrats!

Congrats on another great marathon- sounds like a fun race!
Hope your foot feels better soon!

Thanks, everyone!

 

[lhermiston]

Congrats on another sub-4!!!

Congrats!

Thank you!

 

[lhermiston]

So, a quick Sunday update:

I did not run this week. My legs felt pretty good by Tuesday or Wednesday. I can't say the same for my feet. Having a lawn care business and several yards to catch up on when I got back from Milwaukee did not help my cause. I was on my feet, in beat up shoes, for several hours this week. Fortunately, the weather is turning colder and mowing should be winding down considerably. The way things are going, I doubt I'll be mowing past Halloween.

My left foot, where I've had the stress fracture and felt *something* during the marathon, bugged me most of the week. Saturday was the first day I didn't feel anything in that foot that was concerning. No pain, no pressure, nothing. I even mowed for about an hour yesterday and didn't feel anything.

My right foot is a different story. I have a pain right in the dead center of the sole of my foot. Before the race, I felt a little lump or nub, a bit bigger than a pea, and it was tender to the touch. As I write this, I don't feel any lump, but the sole is still a little tender in that spot. I truly don't know the reason.

It's 48 degrees and sunny right now - ideal conditions for a run. I feel like I could go out for a nice and easy run. The fact that I'm less than 90 days out from Marathon Weekend has me a little antsy, as well. But, I'm going to force myself to give it another week. My hope is that I don't push it, take more time to heal and have 80+ days to train, as opposed to pushing it, potentially hurting myself and ending up with significantly fewer days to train and come into Marathon Weekend considerably under-trained or still injured.

So, that's where I am right now. I hope everyone else's training is going well. Regardless of my foot health, I am so freaking excited for Marathon Weekend...

 

[michigandergirl]

Catching up on journals...
Congrats on another sub-4!!! Sounds like you had a good race despite the nagging pains.

 

[lhermiston]

Catching up on journals...
Congrats on another sub-4!!! Sounds like you had a good race despite the nagging pains.

And the pains are still nagging a bit, unfortunately. But it was a GORGEOUS weekend for a race, so I can't complain. Any damage is self-inflicted. Thank you for the kind words!

 

[lhermiston]

No rest for the wicked.

Last Sunday I finally decided to test the feet out and see how they'd hold up with four easy miles. I remember being a little tight after two weeks off, but my feet were more or less fine.

On Monday, I did feel just a little bit of aching in my feet, but nothing significant. I felt confident that my shoes would offer enough cushion to not exacerbate any foot issues and maybe even take enough pressure off to let them heal a little.

With that in mind, on Tuesday I jumped into the middle of my DopeyBadger Dopey training plan that I used for Dopey 2019. There will be a couple of significant departures from the plan. One, I'm eliminating speed work and just replacing it with another easy run. I just don't want to risk any damage to my feet. With that in mind, I'm pretty much throwing paces out the window for this training cycle. The Goofy + Oswald Challenge is going to be all about fun, camaraderie and getting the full runDisney experience, so I don't need to worry about speed.

So, here's what my week look like:

Tuesday: 5 miles @ 9:27/mile
Thursday: 6 miles @ 9:15/mile
Friday: 5 miles @ 9:05/mile
Saturday: 8 miles @ 9:21/mile
Sunday: 13.1 miles @ 9:18/mile

It definitely cooled off this week, but I have the layers to handle that. More importantly, but Saturday my feet were feeling pretty good during my runs. Interestingly, I was getting dressed for a Halloween bar crawl and decided to try to wear some tennis shoes I don't wear that often, but they hurt my foot too much. I thought they'd offer enough cushion, but just walking around the house gave me pain where my stress fracture had been, so that was out.

On Sunday, the weather was absolutely perfect when I went for my 13 mile run in the afternoon. 50s, sunny, just gorgeous. I had a nice 13 mile run that I stretched out to 13.1 miles since today was also Run for the Schools and I've typically done the half for that the past few years, but decided to take the girls and go visit my grandma this morning instead. As I'm writing this 5+ hours later, my feet are feeling pretty good. So, knock on wood, I think the rest of the training cycle should go pretty well.

Some other cool running news from the past couple weeks unrelated to training. For the past two years, I have ran the RUN CRANDIC marathon between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. It started in 2018 and this was the second year. For the third year, the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids visitors bureaus are handing off running the race to a local running organization, Corridor Running. Last week, the president of Corridor Running reached out to me and asked me to join the executive board for RUN CRANDIC. So, in the coming months, I plan to both figuratively and literally run RUN CRANDIC. I've had some thoughts on improving the race after running it two years and I'm excited to see what we can do to make this an even better race experience.

Miles This Week: 37.1
Year To Date: 1,098

 

[DopeyBadger]

Glad to hear the pain is stable/improving.

Last week, the president of Corridor Running reached out to me and asked me to join the executive board for RUN CRANDIC. So, in the coming months, I plan to both figuratively and literally run RUN CRANDIC. I've had some thoughts on improving the race after running it two years and I'm excited to see what we can do to make this an even better race experience.

That's awesome! Excited to see how it plays out!

 

[lhermiston]

That's awesome! Excited to see how it plays out!

Thanks! Me too. I plan on using Lakefront Marathon as an example of how a smaller, largely rural point-to-point marathon can be really well done and successful. There's a lot with that race I'd like to replicate here.

 

[lhermiston]

After a low mileage (20 miles) week, I put in twice as many miles this week. The temperatures dropped off quite a bit and we even got snow twice the week of Halloween, so that's kind of a drag.

Anywhere, here's what I was up to:

Tuesday: 5.01 miles @ 8:40/mile - little faster than normal. I don't know where that came from.
Wednesday: 6.01 miles @ 8:57/mile - normal run
Friday: 6 miles @ ??? - Despite going out with plenty of battery life, my phone battery crashed and rebooted mid-run, so I lost about .3 miles. Not sure what my actual pace was, but Strava is showing 9:09/mile. It was a pretty nice afternoon.
Saturday: 9.01 @ 9:03/mile - nice and easy Saturday morning run.
Sunday: 14 miles @ 9:18 mile -

I got up around 6:20 to make my FP+ reservations. I had planned to go for my run around 8 or 9, but about 7:15 my buddy Brian texted me to see if I was running today. I said I'd go for a run with him. I knew he'd be going for a shorter run, but figured it'd be nice to have someone to run with for a little bit.

It was exactly a mile to get to Brian's house and then we ran another 4 together. It was a nice, easy run. After we got to his place, I did another nine miles to get to 14. Everything felt really, really good. Knock on wood, but my feet have been feeling pretty good the last couple of weeks. I'm hopeful I've avoided or gotten past any issues I might have had.

Hard to believe the marathon will be over with nine weeks from today!

Miles This Week: 40
Year To Date: 1,158

 

[lhermiston]

*Deep sigh*

Okay, so, training has taken a slight step back and updating this training log has taken an even bigger step back. But, I am running and now I'm updating this log, so all is well in the world, right?

I don't know how much I want to share on this log, but it's been a hard year. Really hard. And there have been days that I have struggled. And those days sometimes turn into weeks. I know there are benefits to running as it comes to emotional and mental health, but there are just days that I just freaking don't want to run. So, I don't. And I'm trying to let go of that guilt because it's not serving any purpose. But I still feel guilty.

Also guys, I've been training for about three straight years at this point. I freaking love running marathons, but it is hard work (as you are all well aware). I need a break, but I can't give myself one. So, the compromise is to just ease up a little bit, I guess.

I'm largely maintaining my long runs and I'm still doing about four runs a week, so it's not like I'm just sitting at home downing can after can of Pringles (thought that doesn't sound like the worse thing in the world). And largely, my paces and my endurance are fine.

Okay, enough self-pity. Here's what last week looked like:

11/19: 6.01 miles
11/22: 6 miles
11/23: 9.01 miles (at a 9.01/mile pace, no less)
11/24: 15 miles

I could run a marathon tomorrow if I had to and honestly, it'd be fine. PR? Nah. But I'd finish and I'd be fine. So, right now, that's good enough.

This is a garbage post. The next one will be better. I promise. Have a good week, everyone.

Miles This Year: 1,214

 

[garneska]

Hang in there Lee. I am pretty sure we have all been there. I know I have.

 

[michigandergirl]

Also guys, I've been training for about three straight years at this point. I freaking love running marathons, but it is hard work (as you are all well aware). I need a break, but I can't give myself one. So, the compromise is to just ease up a little bit, I guess.

Oh man, can I ever relate to this. No advice, just wanted to say I totally get it.

 

[lhermiston]

Hang in there Lee. I am pretty sure we have all been there. I know I have.

Oh man, can I ever relate to this. No advice, just wanted to say I totally get it.

Thank you both.

 

[jennamfeo]

I don't know how much I want to share on this log, but it's been a hard year. Really hard. And there have been days that I have struggled. And those days sometimes turn into weeks. I know there are benefits to running as it comes to emotional and mental health, but there are just days that I just freaking don't want to run. So, I don't. And I'm trying to let go of that guilt because it's not serving any purpose. But I still feel guilty.

I could have written this. Word for word.
Hang in there. We are all here for you. Rooting you on.

 

[lhermiston]

I could have written this. Word for word.
Hang in there. We are all here for you. Rooting you on.

Thanks pal. It’s a two way street.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Been there, done that, over and over again. (Possibly doing it now).

Don't be too hard (but be hard enough) on yourself.

Do what you can and mix it up a little: cross train, new routes, new distance, different pace, different time of day, just something to break the sameness.

Pringles, mmm... Maybe create a Pringle earned to mile ratio. Unfortunately, I think the Thanksgiving flavors are sold out.

 

[garneska]

I will say after hiking (and we did a lot from oct 27 to nov 8) our favorite thing to eat is pringles. Love it. Can’t wait for it. By mile 10 start talking about Pringle’s at the finis.

 

[lhermiston]

Pretty good couple of weeks since my last (admittedly downtrodden) post. Life is chaotic, but manageable for now and my running has been going fairly well. I can't wait for Disney.

Here's what I've been up to:

11/27 - 6 miles
11/28 - 8 miles
11/30 - 7 miles
12/1 - 10 miles

The week of Thanksgiving was a little crazy and I missed a run, but I added miles on three of four days, I believe, to offset it a bit and also try to keep the Thanksgiving pounds off.

12/3 - 6 miles (won't post the time, but I hauled @$$ on this one)
12/4 - 5 miles
12/6 - 4 miles
12/7 - 9 miles
12/8 - 16 miles

So, obviously the 16-miler stands out here. We've had some really good fall weather the last couple of weeks and this weekend was no exception. Sunday's 16 mile run started a little on the cool side, but I was dripping sweat in no time. The run felt good and consistent, no pain, just a little wear and tear toward the end.

This coming week should be an easy week, then I believe I have 17 miles in two weeks. Then it's time to check back in to Taper Town. I am ready to go.

Miles This Week: 40
Year To Date: 1,285

 

[lhermiston]

Less than 10 days until Marathon Weekend!

I have not been great about updating this log, but I've been getting out to run. So, that's good.

Last week marked the end of the bulk of my training. I finished with a 17 mile run last Sunday that largely felt pretty good. Weather was good, sun was out. I got chased by a dog at one point and yelled at by some woman who may or may not have been high/drunk/schizophrenic, but it was fine (for me, at least). There was a little bit of walking the last two miles, but I'm not super concerned.

The other memorable run was Christmas Day. It was darn near 60 degrees here in Iowa when I went out for 9 miles. That's crazy. I was sweating buckets the whole time (the beer I drank during Christmas Eve might have had something to do with that). So, the run was good, but it has me even more worried that Marathon Weekend is going to be super chilly.

Regardless of the weather, I'm ready to get out of Iowa for a few days next month. The last few weeks have been hard personally and I could use a break.

Miles This Year: 1,372

 

[FFigawi]

So, the run was good, but it has me even more worried that Marathon Weekend is going to be super chilly.

It won’t be because I lugged all my cold weather running gear over here from Dubai. If I hadn’t, marathon weekend would be a repeat of 2010 and I’d have to go buy more stuff.