My Journey to 50 miles (2nd attempt)... (comments welcome)

[disneygpa]

@DopeyBadger ... thanks for the laugh Coach. Obviously I'm not the first to feel the stress of all the effort and training!

Before I get to Wednesday's run, I have a confession to make. I am starting to feel burned out a little. I'm assuming this is normal for the most part. Last night I went home and sat down on the couch and really didn't want to go run. Thank God for my supportive and loving wife. She let me rest for a few and then reminded me that I wouldn't be happy with myself if I didn't go run. She's right. (she knows me so well) I wouldn't have been happy and I would have beaten myself up about it. I'm committed to finishing what I started and completing all the training and stretching is something I gotta do. Having said that, I'm looking forward to tapering, and some time off after Dopey to reevaluate my future goals.

Wednesday run was nice once I got going. They almost always are. It's just getting out the door I'm struggling with. Paces were decent, strides felt good, and once I was finished I was happy I hadn't just sat on the sofa all night.

 

[disneygpa]

I made the cut for corral D!! Super excited about it!!

 

[disneygpa]

Thursday run. Well this one turned out weird. I put everything into my Garmin correctly. But for some reason after my second .3 RI the Garmin decided to run another .3. But did I panic?! Maybe a little.... I just tapped out of the training plan and restarted a run. Finished the last run interval and the cool down that way. Got the whole 8.1 done it was just broken into two runs.



Paces were pretty good! Definitely feeling it today. Didn't rest very well last night. EA run tonight and then Friday night with the grandsons. Looking forward to hanging with them!

 

[disneygpa]

@DopeyBadger Ok Coach. I'm nearly done with the training plan and it looks like I may survive injury free. Is it too early to discuss race pace?

Since survival is the main goal for this weekend this is what I'm thinking, but I would really appreciate your input.

For the 5k I'll be hanging with my DW, DD and friend. So pretty much a slow jog or maybe a walk.
10k I'm thinking of doing this as an EA run, something around 12 min pace
1/2 and Full I was thinking something close to my LR pace around 11 min?

Thoughts?

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger Ok Coach. I'm nearly done with the training plan and it looks like I may survive injury free. Is it too early to discuss race pace?

Since survival is the main goal for this weekend this is what I'm thinking, but I would really appreciate your input.

For the 5k I'll be hanging with my DW, DD and friend. So pretty much a slow jog or maybe a walk.
10k I'm thinking of doing this as an EA run, something around 12 min pace
1/2 and Full I was thinking something close to my LR pace around 11 min?

Thoughts?

Yep, too early. It's good to have ideas, but we really have to wait until we're about a week out. Even closer would be better based on the unpredictability of FL weather. But in general, the slower you run relative to your own fitness, the "easier" it will be. It won't be "easy" per se, but easier.

 

[disneygpa]

Yep, too early. It's good to have ideas, but we really have to wait until we're about a week out. Even closer would be better based on the unpredictability of FL weather. But in general, the slower you run relative to your own fitness, the "easier" it will be. It won't be "easy" per se, but easier.

Thanks Coach, I'll stow my excitement for a couple more weeks.

 

[disneygpa]

@DopeyBadger easy question for today. Saturday, Jan 4th is a 3 mile EA. It is also my travel day. I'm not sure if/when I'll have time to get in 3 miles. I should have time on Friday the 3rd to do it. Would it be ok to move the 3 miles to Friday?

Weekend update

Got all my miles in this weekend. Feeling a little sore this morning. Especially in my lower abdomen. Weird spot for sore muscles, never had it there before. Legs are tired but not completely exhausted. Glad today is a rest day though.



Pretty happy with these results. Paces were pretty good overall.
Last week was my first 40+ miles week. I'm still upright so I guess it was successful!

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger easy question for today. Saturday, Jan 4th is a 3 mile EA. It is also my travel day. I'm not sure if/when I'll have time to get in 3 miles. I should have time on Friday the 3rd to do it. Would it be ok to move the 3 miles to Friday?

Weekend update

Got all my miles in this weekend. Feeling a little sore this morning. Especially in my lower abdomen. Weird spot for sore muscles, never had it there before. Legs are tired but not completely exhausted. Glad today is a rest day though.

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Pretty happy with these results. Paces were pretty good overall.
Last week was my first 40+ miles week. I'm still upright so I guess it was successful!

Should be fine to move it.

 

[disneygpa]

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas Eve and Day runs.


Christmas Eve was decent felt pretty good. Started adding layers to adjust for the hopeful non existent heat in FL. Things went pretty well Tuesday. But, when I tried on Wednesday I ended up getting over heated. I added a light jacket that I hadn't worn on Tuesday. Ended up cutting the run short. I'll try again tonight with the same outfit except at EA pace. Hopefully it won't be quite as warm!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas Eve and Day runs.
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Christmas Eve was decent felt pretty good. Started adding layers to adjust for the hopeful non existent heat in FL. Things went pretty well Tuesday. But, when I tried on Wednesday I ended up getting over heated. I added a light jacket that I hadn't worn on Tuesday. Ended up cutting the run short. I'll try again tonight with the same outfit except at EA pace. Hopefully it won't be quite as warm!!

Just remember that if you choose to heat acclimate in these last training runs, that pace is roughly irrelevant. Worry about the effort. You will undoubtedly be slower if you're doing the HAT right because you'll be so hot/sweaty.

 

[disneygpa]

Just remember that if you choose to heat acclimate in these last training runs, that pace is roughly irrelevant. Worry about the effort. You will undoubtedly be slower if you're doing the HAT right because you'll be so hot/sweaty.

Thanks Billy. I was probably pushing too hard and over did it. I was trying to stay just a little above my normal pace. And even though the air was pretty cold the sun was shining and it really warmed me on the sunny side of the run. I'll be back to running in the dark tonight. I'll remember to try and run by effort and see how it goes tonight.

 

[disneygpa]

Thursday run.

This was a much better run. I had a pretty physically demanding day at work. 11k steps and a lot of up and down replacing 800/1600A circuit breakers and installing new neutral CTs. I know that probably doesn't make much sense to folks. But, it's fairly physical. A ton more labor than I've been doing since I took over the lead electrical job. So be that as it may, I was really just focusing on getting out and getting the run done.

I overdressed for the occasion again. This time without the negative results. Paces were fairly good and comfortable. I avoided the 1/2 mile hill tonight just because I was being lazy.

Is it normal to start having doubts about Dopey? The closer it gets the more I wonder what I've gotten myself into and whether I can actually complete the objective. I keep telling myself to focus on and trust the training. But there still seems to be the little voice at the back of my mind telling me I've bitten off more than I can chew. Gonna find out in a couple weeks if the little voice is right or if the training was right. Really looking forward to seeing how this goes!!

 

[disneygpa]

Saturday run.

Layered up again for this run. It wasn't too bad but I was a sweaty ball of yuk at the end. Weird how leaving the house with just a extra sweatshirt and long sweat pants on can really effect the whole run. One lesson I've learned during this training is that it would probably be best to not train for a marathon during the month of December. Work has been crazy. I've only had 3.5 days off since Nov 18th. Throw in a handful of 10 hour days and family time it's made getting everything in a challenge. I am still definitely excited about Dopey but I'm not sure I'd do it again being in the position I'm in at this point.

Run itself was good. Paces were decent and I didn't struggle with the extra clothing like I did on Christmas Day.

 

[disneygpa]

Sunday run!

Yesterday's run didn't start off so well. We were going to a friends house after I got off work. I had all my running stuff so I could get my 8 miles in with one exception. I forgot my fuel. I had eaten a couple hours before the run, but I had forgotten my Muarten and anything for fuel during. So, of course I ran without fuel. Good news is that I survived and felt fine afterward.

Run itself was actually quite fun. I had run a portion of this route when we went to visit them a couple months ago. But some of this route was new. AND FREAKING HILLY! at least hilly for me. Normally the route I run has about 200ft of elevation gain. Last night was closer to 500 so that was a bit of a challenge. While I was running I was really focusing on how I was feeling. It was the first time in a long time that I actually felt like I might be able to complete this Dopey thing. I'm still not overconfident, just felt good during this run!

Paces were decent, a little on the fast side on some splits but not completely horrible. Wore an extra layer again last night and whew!! That was sweaty!! But looking at the very long range forecast it looks like it could be as hot as 60 with high humidity at the start of the races. I think trying to adapt to the heat is probably a good decision. Especially since I've been running in 40 ish degree weather in shorts so far this year.

One accomplishment was made last night. I cracked 1,000 miles of training runs. I honestly didn't even realize I was close to this until Strava sent me an email last week with my yearly stats up to that point. When I looked at it I realized that I was very close to and would break 1,000 miles. I'm chalking this up to an achievement considering at the first of the year I was barely doing 3 miles a couple times a week.

Four more runs until I hop on my flight to FL!! Holy cow! How did it get to be that close! Seems like yesterday @DopeyBadger was helping me with this training plan!! Couldn't have gotten this far without you!!

 

[disneygpa]

Run update.

Tuesday. As good as I felt on Sunday I was looking forward to a nice run on Tuesday. I felt like crap during this run. After the first mile I was feeling bad, thought if I just kept going things would get better. I had put on the extra layers and started working up a good sweat. But at the same time it was POURING rain. I found out that if its raining and cold and you are sweating. You just end up getting cold. Long story short. This run sucked and I called it after 3 miles. Went home, took a long hot Epsom salt bath, tried to catch a nap but couldn't and got ready to go out for NYE.

NYE was a great time. Dinner with friends and then dancing at one of the local casinos. The band was great and we danced the night away. Crawled in bed at 2am slept like poo, got up at 8 and got ready to go into work for a couple hours.

After a couple of hours of work I went home and really didn't feel like running. Laid down for a few minutes. Talked to the wife and decided I wouldn't be happy with myself if I didn't get up and run. My view is that if I don't put in the work, why would I expect the reward? We had plans to go have dinner with the DD and grandkids so I grabbed my running stuff, went over and got my old furry running buddy and off we went. This felt great! It had been pouring as we drove to the DD house. But by the time we got there it was just a sprinkle. Got the run done, had a yummy dinner, laughed with the grandkids ate our Yum box from Turkey (interesting snacks from there) and then finally home. Great way to finish a long day.

That's it for the hard running.... only a few more easy runs left before Dopey.

 

[disneygpa]

Thursday run

Still trying to get used to running hotter. It's a weird feeling to have my face freezing and the rest of my body wet from sweating!

Overall good run. Really tried focusing on how the run felt. Only looked at the Garmin a few times to see how I was doing. Paces were good, HR was good, run was comfortable and easy.

Really starting to get excited now! Only one run left in WA state. Then the fun begins in FL!! Leaving tonight on a red eye from seatac.... be in Orlando in the morning!!



Can we talk pacing strategy now Coach? @DopeyBadger I'm still planning on hanging with DW, DD and Dfriend for the 5k. Which means no real paces. But with the heat and humidity being an issue for the other races, I'm looking for advice. The goal is still survival, so whatever pace(s) you think give me the best shot of actually finishing and preferably not crawling across the finish line! Though I'm not above crawling!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Can we talk pacing strategy now Coach? @DopeyBadger I'm still planning on hanging with DW, DD and Dfriend for the 5k. Which means no real paces. But with the heat and humidity being an issue for the other races, I'm looking for advice. The goal is still survival, so whatever pace(s) you think give me the best shot of actually finishing and preferably not crawling across the finish line! Though I'm not above crawling!!

Honestly, it's still probably too early. But since the goal is survival/finish, then I think we just go with as slow as you can run comfortably. EA pace was 12:04. If the conditions hold up and it's a T+D of 140 on race day, then that would be an adjusted pace of a 12:26 min/mile. So running the 10k, HM, and M should feel the "easiest" around that pace. I'd probably include some very brief moments of surging just to keep the legs from getting stale at one set pace, but other than that, something that feels ridiculously easy all the time. Thoughts?

 

[disneygpa]

Honestly, it's still probably too early. But since the goal is survival/finish, then I think we just go with as slow as you can run comfortably. EA pace was 12:04. If the conditions hold up and it's a T+D of 140 on race day, then that would be an adjusted pace of a 12:26 min/mile. So running the 10k, HM, and M should feel the "easiest" around that pace. I'd probably include some very brief moments of surging just to keep the legs from getting stale at one set pace, but other than that, something that feels ridiculously easy all the time. Thoughts?

This is kinda what I was thinking too. I was going to ask about maybe throwing in some strides every few miles. It really helps to loosen things up! Maybe not all out strides, but definitely a change in pace.

Also, fuel will be Muarten pre race, and then fuel at roughly 45min and every 30 min after that. Water at every water stop.

I'm really trying not to stress too much about this. I'm trying to have fun! But at the same time it's kind of intimidating for me. Any other advice/council?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Any other advice/council?

Smile.

 

[disneygpa]

Arrived in FL yesterday. Long overnight flight from Seattle. Didn't sleep much on the flights. Met up with DD and family!! So good to see them! Haven't seen them since they moved here last June. Grandson seems to have grown a foot since they left. Got supplies with them. Checked into our condo, freshened up and headed to Disney springs. Good dinner at T-Rex. It was crazy busy down there! Came back to the condo, had a drink and a soak in the hot tub. Might make that an evening ritual while we are here.

Fridays run was great. No problems. Today I was up at 4:15 to stretch and get in my 2 miles + strides. Nothing negative to report. Weird running in a different neighborhood at 5am. Run itself was good maybe even a little chilly even though I had extra layers on. It's only 50 here this morning.

Heading to MK this morning. First time DW's friend has ever been. So this should be exciting for her!