No One Knows How Far I’ll Go - Comments Welcome

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 5/23-6/14

Wow! So much has happened since the last time that I posted. My apologies for the cliffhanger, but it has been a busy few weeks.

My physical therapy appointment was everything that I wanted it to be and I met both of my objectives. I was a little worried when I first walked in because it was an absolute zoo in the office. Apparently everyone has decided that now is the time to address every problem that they’ve been putting off all winter. But Steve took his time looking over the generic Galloway plan and methodology and discussing what he saw. For the most part, he didn’t see any serious red flags and I got his permission to go for it. The one thing that he did reiterate (strongly) is that I need to continue doing the strength exercises that I’ve been given or I am at serious risk of winding up back in his office with an injury. Message received! Steve did want to schedule one last check-in next Monday (the week before Dopey training officially starts), but I left his office without a training plan and free of all restrictions, which was both weird and exciting.

One amusing thing from my appointment was when Steve got to the last Dopey simulation, he remarked that that was a lot of mileage. To which I replied “That’s Dopey minus a couple of miles.” In return, I got the “that’s crazy” look that you don’t often get from another runner.



Now a bit of an aside:

I had been struggling - a lot - with the decision of which training plan to use for about six weeks at this point. I knew that this can be a make or break decision for my race experience as well as something that will impact about seven months of my life so I wanted to get it right. And since I am who I am, of course I’ve been overthinking the heck out of the decision.



The obsession started when Jay at physical therapy (who BTW is not a runner) asked for information about when the Dopey training started and what it looked like so that Steve (who is the running guru) could work out the appropriate build-up/bridge plan for me. That led me down the rabbit hole into plans and confusion ensued. For my first Disney race, I followed the runDisney Galloway plan. Then for the next two, @DopeyBadger graciously attempted to craft plans that worked with my PT restricted time frames. But recently, through the Rise and Run podcast crew, I’d been hearing great things about Jeff Galloway’s customized training plan (CTP) and I was interested in exploring it further.

My concern all along was finding something that I could do (I am a very slow runner plus I am starting from a fairly low mileage base due to my PT restrictions) and one that wouldn’t set me up for another overuse injury. I also knew from past experience that I struggle with figuring out how to adjust plans when life happens as I don’t have enough knowledge about how everything fits together to do it myself. So the idea of having access to a coach - particularly one who is so experienced in run/walk/run and Disney races - was appealing. That being said, I was spooked by the Galloway long runs, particularly three of them that are 20+ miles (see comment about overuse injury above). Yep, 100% confusion! I knew that Chris Twiggs (Jeff Galloway’s CTP coach) was going to be on the Rise and Run podcast at the beginning of May and I hoped that listening to that would help me.

The podcast was split into two weeks and I had an absolutely epic meltdown after listening to the first week because it just confused me even more. K really earned her best friend title that day in talking me off the proverbial ledge. She reminded me that I had a knowledgeable support system and to lean into them to help with this decision. So I emailed Steve for advice and waited a very long week for the second half of the podcast to drop. During the second hour, there was a moment of clarity for me when Chris said that there are a lot of plans out there that will get you over the finish line, but that CTP is designed to get you to the start line healthy. That was exactly what I needed him to say! At that point, assuming that the Galloway process didn’t set off any alarm bells for Steve (the most important part of my support system since he knows my body and my history), I had finally found my plan.

Tangent over, now back to my training recap:

With the green light to start Dopey training, it was time to hit the go button on CTP. I signed up as soon as I got home from PT and by Thursday, I had my training plan for the next six months, which was both thrilling and terrifying.

One of the first tasks was to do my first Magic Mile and that was a big-old hot mess at 14:45. I wasn’t quite sure how to integrate the interval method into the MM (my bad because I didn’t ask to clarify in advance), I went out way too fast, and my maximum distance in any one run to date was around 2.5 miles. When I got my run/walk ratio back based on the MM, it was bad and very, very different from what I had been doing. Chris was recommending a 5 second run/30 second walk and I had been doing 30/30. Neither ratio seemed the right amount of effort so I settled for 15/45 for my long runs, aiming for a 17:30 long run pace. I’ve done three “long runs” so far of 2, 3, and 4 miles. They all went well and I’ve been able to hit this pace or pretty close to it.

I also did another Magic Mile this past Saturday and dropped 47 seconds off my time to around 13:57 (there was some discrepancy between the track and my Garmin so I went with the longest time). It helped a lot that I knew what I was supposed to be doing. I suspect that as I get more miles on my legs I can drop that again fairly easily. My schedule doesn’t have another MM on it until the end of July, but I would like to do another one in a couple of weeks to see where I am.

In summary, I’ve been easing into the CTP method well. The run/walk ratio has been a bit of a learning curve as has the two shorter weekly runs, each which is designed to work a different skill. Apparently, counting steps is something that I need to work on. But all in all, my body has been responding and recovering well from each workout and I’ve gotten into a predictable weekly rhythm.

The best news is that I have had almost NO pain in my feet even with the increased workload. That has been absolutely amazing. Every so often I am reminded how fabulous it feels to be able to walk pain-free. I was at an event last weekend where I was walking between 6-8 miles per day and I kept bracing for the pain when I would stand up - and the pain never came. I was at a similar event at the same facility last October and I remember throwing everything in the book - painkillers, ice, TENS, Oofos - at it and still having trouble getting around. All of the hard work and patience was worth it. And to anyone out there reading this who is also struggling with an injury, my heartfelt recommendations are to 1) find the most knowledgeable person that you can to help you and 2) do exactly what they say and have patience in the process. It might not be quick or easy, but it will be worth it.

 

[sandam1]

I found this on the sidewalk once and have adapted it myself:

View attachment 675275

Thanks for sharing this! I keep coming back to this mantra every time I start to freak out about something on my training plan. I adapt this idea and grab some chalk and put this on the sidewalk in front of my house when I start doing some of my longer runs. It's something that I always need to remember.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Congrats on the great progress!

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 6/13-17

• Monday - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), race tempo run (10 reps, 30 second run/30 second walk), 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk)
• Tuesday - Rest day
• Wednesday - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 30 second run/30 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk); personal training with Tristan
• Thursday - Cross-training - 45 minutes on bike
• Friday - Cross-training - 45 minute walk

At the start of this week, I did something “ill-advised.” I went to my chiropractor as my back and shoulder were sore. I knew that the back just needed to be crunched and the shoulder needed the knots worked out. While I was there, we were talking about my running and the issues that I’ve had with my feet (side note: my chiro is an old family friend who knew my parents when they were runners) so he took a look. He told me that my ankles were tight - absolutely no surprise there - and then he proceeded to work on them. This didn’t seem to be a problem until about 12 hours later when my right heel flared up with a level of pain that I haven’t felt in about 6 weeks.



The next morning was rough and I spent the day trying very, very hard not to freak out. The only good thing was that it was already supposed to be a complete rest day and I did exactly that. I spent the evening with my feet up and read a good book.

By Wednesday morning, things were better and the pain was pretty much gone in my daily activities. I was a little leery before my run, but I told myself to not prejudge how I was going to feel and that I could always stop if I had a problem. The heel was sore ( or as I say slightly “cranky”), but the pain didn't escalate and I was able to do the drills without any issue. And the best part was that it did not tighten up post run! I stuck to the bike yesterday just to be on the safe side and it’s still not 100%, but I think I really dodged the bullet. I went back for another adjustment this morning, but did not let him work on my feet.

This week's short runs felt to be the appropriate level of difficulty/effort and I was able to complete them without issue. The acceleration/gliders are tough, but I really enjoy the feeling of accomplishment afterward.

Tonight was an optional cross-training workout so I went for a walk. It was a really bad day (or more precisely a couple of days) and I needed to unwind. Tomorrow is a 5-mile long run. Thankfully, it is supposed to be great running weather! I have to work at my second job both Saturday and Sunday so I need to get going early to get my workouts in. Did I mention that I am not a morning person?

 

[sandam1]

Congrats on the great progress!

Thanks!

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 6/18-6/26

I’m going to break these catch-up posts into pieces, but they are still going to be stupid long since so much time has passed since I posted. Over the past 2.5 weeks, I’ve managed to get far enough behind to not be able to get caught up and get anything posted, but not far enough behind to forget what happened. So I finally made myself buckle down and get these updates done.

The week described here was not great as far as running, but I have had a chance to implement some lessons that I think will serve me well during the rest of my Dopey training.

Saturday, 6/18 - 5 mile long run - 1.3 mile walk
I wound up bailing on this long run after a little more than half of a mile. My feet didn’t feel great when I got up, but the run needed to happen early since I had to work later. As soon as I started running, the sharp pain started in both feet. I spent several intervals trying to ignore it and hoping that it would work itself out as I warmed up. No such luck! Then I started doing the “should I continue doing this?” evaluation. Once I was honest about the pain level, I knew that I was firmly in the Level 3 “hurts, but I can run through it” category and headed for the Level 4 “hurts, I shouldn’t be doing this.” The rule is that anything over a Level 2 is doing damage and it’s time to shut it down. And so I did - and it was soooooo hard to do. I wound up walking in a large loop to get home (at least I didn’t have to turn around to walk home) and that just confirmed that I made the right decision.

Sunday, 6/19 - 45 min aqua jogging - Rest day
This didn’t happen. I knew that I would need to get up pretty early to get it in before heading to work. I did get up, but I had bought a waterproof mp3 player/headphones to use in the pool and I wanted to get them set up before leaving. That sounded like a good idea, but it took longer than I expected and I wound up running out of time. Objectively, that’s what happened. However, to be honest, I wasn’t in a good headspace after Saturday’s issues to do this workout so I let myself be ill-prepared (I could have taken the time to set up the headphones the night before or just gone without them) and gave myself the excuse to skip it.

Monday, 6/20 - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), race tempo run (10 reps, 30 second run/30 second walk), 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk) - Bike 45 minutes
I had a previously scheduled physical therapy check in appointment for Monday. After two days of rest, the feet were feeling reasonably good and Jay seemed fairly happy with where I was. I was frustrated because I wanted so badly to be able to go to this appointment and say that I had had a great four weeks and was on my way. Apparently, things aren’t going to go that smoothly. At least I did get some sympathy from Jay and a begrudging acknowledgement that this setback wasn’t entirely my fault. We tried a few new things and he managed to completely fatigue my legs with just a few tweaks of the normal exercises (he’s talented that way). I thoroughly expected my legs to be sore from this, but surprisingly they weren't. Knowing what we had done in PT that morning and that I had a rest day on Tuesday, I skipped my planned run for that evening and headed to the bike instead.

Tuesday, 6/21 - Rest day
Tuesday was a complete rest day and I just hoped that it would be enough to get things reset.

Wednesday, 6/22 - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 30 second run/30 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk); personal training with Tristan
Wednesday was a drill run and the feet didn’t feel too bad, all things considered, but they definitely weren’t 100%. While I was able to do the run, I was still in a lot of pain later in the evening post-run and the next morning. My session with Tristan was tough, but do-able and thankfully didn’t aggravate anything.

Thursday, 6/23 - Cross-training - Bike 30 min
This was a cross-training day so I wound up doing the bike. I don’t know if I’m growing to like the bike or I am just becoming resigned to it, but it wasn’t too bad. I’ve also saved watching the newest episode of American Ninja Warrior as a reward to pass the time.

Friday, 6/24 - Cross-training - Rest day
This wound up being the worst day that I’ve had in months. I was at an agility trial (running outside on grass) and had that too familiar sharp burning pain while running and I was limping while walking afterward. I will admit that this was the point where I almost started to panic. I was days away from the official start of Dopey training and I was back where I was in February and March. But I decided to take a deep breath and trust the process and the work that I’ve been doing. And at this point, I need to call out another runner who is also struggling with a chronic injury and who took the time on the night before to ask how I was feeling and listen to my struggles. Just being able to release everything to someone who understood where I was coming from helped me maintain my perspective when things went south on Friday.

Saturday, 6/25 - 4 mile long run - walk 1st and last mile; 2 miles at long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk
I will admit that I was nervous about this run. I knew that it should be easy - 2 miles walking, 2 miles running - and do-able (my last completed long run was 4 miles), but I had no idea how my feet were going to respond. The first mile wasn’t pretty as my legs just didn’t want to start moving, but I got the run done.

Sunday, 6/26 - 45 minute aqua jogging - Rest day
I was back at the agility trial and, due to the limited hours of the pool, I didn’t get my scheduled aqua jogging in. I was also still struggling with my agility runs. I don’t know precisely what was irritating the feet in agility, but it is a different type of running - fast, short runs with multiple changes of directions - than my training runs. But the good news was that it wasn’t quite as bad as Friday. When I got home, however, I decided to switch from icing the feet which is what I had been doing, figuring that it was the correct response to acute inflammation, to heat. My PT had had me move to heat in the spring, once things were under control, but I didn’t think that it was appropriate in this situation. However, at this point, what did I have to lose since the ice didn’t seem to be making a difference? And to my surprise, it worked! It loosened up the tightness in both feet almost immediately. There was still some lingering soreness, but I found some relief and had finally turned the corner on this flare up.

In the end, the lessons learned were:

1. Nobody touches my feet other than my PTs. Period!
2. It’s okay to bail on a run - even a long run. The world will not end.
3. There are going to be ups and downs while training. If I have more good days than bad days, I’m doing well.
4. I have a community of other runners that I can and should lean into to get me through the bad days.
5. I need to work the process and use what I’ve learned about my body to give it what it needs to recover.
6. Things will get better.
7. I can do hard things! And sometimes they won’t be as hard as I think they will be.

I’m not sure that I would go so far as to say that this little episode was a good thing, but it both reminded me of how good it feels to run pain-free and helped me articulate these important lessons so it was all bad either.

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 6/27-7/4

Monday, 6/27 - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), race tempo run (15 reps, 30 second run/30 second walk), 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk)
There was a little bit of pain on Monday’s run and a brief moment of “uh,oh!” when my right foot started to act up, but it didn’t get any worse. I decided to call that progress.

Tuesday, 6/28 - Rest day
Tuesday is my scheduled rest day. I felt so good that I was tempted to throw something in, but I know better.

Wednesday, 6/29 - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 30 second run/30 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 5 minutes 30 second run/30 second walk @ race tempo, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk); personal training with Tristan
Today was a drill day and I had a personal training session with Tristan. Usually I run first and then workout, but wound up flipping them, which was challenging. I managed to get through it - and even added an optional 5 minute tempo run to my drills - but I was a sweaty exhausted mess afterward, but the feet held up. Yeah!

This was sadly my last session with Tristan, at least for a while. He is starting to work a full-time job as a physical therapist and is giving up his part-time gig at the Y. Hopefully, once his schedule calms down a little bit, we will be able to start working together again.

Thursday, 6/30 - Cross-training - 35 minute aqua jogging
This was a “how bad do you want this” day. Since I didn’t get my scheduled aqua jogging in on Sunday, I had moved it to today. But when it came time to actually go to the gym, my brain started throwing up all sorts of (crummy) excuses to skip it. But I made myself get out the door and do it anyway. I realized afterward that the reason that I’ve been putting off the pool workouts is that going to the pool is outside my comfort zone - simply because it's different. But I can do hard things!

Friday, 7/1 - 5.5 mile long run - 15 second run/45 second walk
Friday wound up being my long run day since I was going to be driving about five hours to K’s house in the Adirondacks on Saturday. Since it was warm outside, I headed to the indoor track. All in all, the run went very well. It felt very comfortable and relatively easy. One issue that I did run into was that the short recovery time between Thursday’s aqua jogging and this long run contributed to my legs (and to a lesser extent my feet) being a little tight and tired when I started. As I warmed up and settled in, things got significantly better, but in the future I need to remember to space these types of workouts out more. My pace was right on target (I finished only 3 seconds off my total run time) and I had no soreness afterward so I was thrilled by that.

I also added some nutrition to this run. The reality is that due to my slow long pace, everything 4+ miles is taking me over an hour, which is apparently my threshold for needing something. On my last long run, I had some issues with low blood sugar - partially due to not having eaten much for breakfast and partially due to needing to eat something on these long runs. On this run, I brought some mini Poptarts (suggested by a friend) and they worked very well. They were easy to eat and my stomach tolerated them well. In the past, I’ve used Sports Beans, but usually around mile 8-9 of those, my body wants REAL FOOD. Knowing this, I want to try out some different foods to give myself options for the longer Disney races.

Saturday, 7/2 and Sunday, 7/3
These were rest and relaxation days. K and I did a little bit of walking her dog (who is very, very slow) and some swimming, but no serious training.

This was my beautiful environment.



Monday, 7/4 - Firecracker 5K
K and I were registered for her small town’s Firecracker 5K. K wanted to get some more “real” race experience (i.e. not an untimed Disney 5K) as she works towards doing the MW 10K. I have to give her credit - she has been working on walking more and even doing a little bit of run/walk - but neither of us had any idea what she was going to be able to do at this race. I consulted Chris Twiggs and he recommended walking the first mile, doing 10 second run/50 second walk for the second, and then see what happened for the third mile. It sounded like a reasonable plan to me. I was extremely confident that I would have no problem with that pace or the distance - at least until the night before. Then all sorts of doubts started, but I tried to remind myself to trust the work that I’ve been doing. I also wanted to use the race morning to work on my pre-race rituals (laying my clothes and gear out the night before, eating pre-race, what my pre-race stretch and warm-up routine looks like) with an eye to Marathon Weekend. I had a hard time getting and staying asleep.

The race was less than five minutes from K’s house, but we got there super early as K was anxious about giving herself enough time pre-race. My warm-up started off rough as my right heel decided to tighten up as I started to stretch (I was like “Seriously? You’re going to act up NOW?”), but I went through a second round of my stretches and it worked itself out. All of the standing around could have been a bad idea with my feet, but it was okay.

The race was hilly, which I kind of expected considering we were in the Adirondack mountains after all, but I didn’t know for certain until we were actually doing the race. It was a really, really small race and there was no course map available beforehand. K had more issues with the hills than I did, but it could have been an issue if I was running the whole thing on my own and putting more effort into it. The first mile went well (19:05) and we transitioned into intervals fairly well for the second mile (18:19). K was thrilled with the time since it was significantly faster than what she’d been doing so far - and she had plenty of energy left. We maintained the intervals for the third mile, just walking through a couple of runs, primarily on the uphills, and finished strong for a final time of 57:41. All things considered, it was a good race. K was thrilled with her time, felt strong during and after the race, and is already looking for some more races near her through the fall. Run/walk for the win!



After the race, I drove home and was happy not to feel any after-effects of running and then driving for 5 hours.

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/5-7/8

Tuesday, 7/5 - 45 minute aqua jogging - Rest day
When my weekly schedule got shuffled to accommodate Monday’s race, my Sunday aqua jogging got moved to today. But Tuesday is usually my rest day and I didn’t want to upset the good weekly rhythm that I’ve gotten into. Plus I needed to do some “adulting” after being gone for the weekend.

Wednesday, 7/6 - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 15 second run/14 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 1 mile @ race tempo - .5 mile @ 30 second run/30 second walk and .5 mile @15 second run/30 second walk, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk)
This was a wow workout for me! I’ve always been an interval runner, but I’ve also always thought that to get faster, I needed to run longer. Tonight, after doing my drills, I went into my 1 mile race tempo portion at 30/30 and I was struggling - a lot - and wondered if I had enough to finish the mile. I’ve done this ratio before, but tonight it just wasn’t working for me. At a half a mile, I decided to “give in” and adjust to a 15/30 interval and see what happened. Instantly, it got easier and I was able to finish easily. Then I did the math and realized that the second half mile was a startling 29 seconds faster than the first. Plus it was easier/more sustainable! That was just crazy. If ever there was proof that the Galloway method works, this was it for me! I’m 100% sold on this method.

Thursday, 7/7 - Cross-training - 20 minute aqua jogging
Since I didn’t get this done on Tuesday, I wanted to slot it in here. Unfortunately, I didn’t have everything lined up properly so I didn’t leave for the pool until 7 p.m. and I needed/wanted to be home for a Zoom call at 8 p.m. Therefore I only wound up doing half of the workout, but I reminded myself that 20 minutes was better than nothing. It felt good and I enjoyed it in spite of the fact that I forgot to charge my headphones. Oops!

Friday, 7/8 - Rest day
Today was an optional cross-training day, but I decided to turn it into a rest day. I want to feel fresh for tomorrow’s long run. Have you ever noticed that the day before a long run every little ache and pain decides to act up? Nothing terrible, but just to mess with your mind? I hope that this is not just me…

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/9-7/12

Saturday - 7 mile long run (15 second run/45 walk)
Sunday - Aqua jogging - 45 minutes
Monday - Tempo run - 10 minute long run (10 second run/30 second walk), 20 minute race tempo (15 second run/30 second walk), 10 minute long run (15 second run/45 second walk)

The weather looked great for Saturday’s long run so I decided to head outside. Spoiler alert - it got a lot warmer a lot faster than what was expected. Also, for simplicity’s sake, I headed to a nearby track where there was no shade. Both decisions made for a hot run, which in turn made the run slower than planned. But I got it done and that was my victory for the day.

I was a little worried about how I would feel later after the run. My muscles protested a bit and my feet weren’t happy with me, but all in all, it wasn’t too bad. I did learn that compression socks/sleeves work wonders for me in reducing the soreness in my feet after long runs although they aren’t the best fashion statement.

**On Saturday night, J and I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabhan in concert and it really made me miss Universal - i.e. my happy place. It has me excited for Wine and Dine as it will have been almost seven months since my visit. I need some butterbeer!**



I went to the pool on Sunday morning and it felt very good. And it was nice to not be rushing to get the workout in before the pool closes.

Yesterday was a rough run for a whole bunch of reasons. I tried modifying my intervals and they didn’t work out. I think that that affected the tempo section which was both slower than I wanted to go and seemed harder than it should be. Then I messed up the cool down intervals when my timer was set at the wrong ratio. And in the middle of this whole thing, my mental gremlins made an appearance and I started stressing about my slow paces. But I caught them pretty quickly and decided that stressing wasn’t going to do me any good. I trust the program that I’m using. I’m making progress. I’ve been successful with the scheduled runs and paces. I’ve been staying healthy (well, other than the blimp caused by the chiropractor). I’m going to stay the course (no pun intended), continue doing the work, and see where it takes me.

Later in the evening, I came across this quote and it really resonated with me:



Today was a total rest day and honestly I was a little bored to not have anything on my schedule. The plan is to take advantage and try to get some extra sleep tonight. I also have tomorrow off from work (nothing exciting - just babysitting the plumber who is working on our new bathroom) so I might try to get my run in earlier in the day so that I have tomorrow night free as well. We’ll see if that works out.

 

[sandam1]

Race Trips - Update

I was able to fill in a few more of the pieces for my Wine and Dine and Marathon weekends recently and that makes my planning heart happy.

Southwest opened the flights for my return trip from W&D and my trip down for MW a few weeks ago. I was a little worried about flight selections and prices, but I wound up being pleasantly surprised on both. And since they have done nothing but go up in price since I bought them, I’m glad that I jumped on them right away.

For Wine and Dine, we are flying to Orlando on Wednesday night, with a nonstop flight leaving at 4:30 p.m. and getting in around 7 p.m. It’s not our usual “leaving at o’dark thirty in the morning” flight, but it does allow J and I to work most of the day (J needs to and I will probably want to as well) and it was both the least expensive flight and only nonstop flight option that was available. It also allows me to hit the Expo first thing on Thursday if I want. I was able to get a nonstop return flight on Monday afternoon. Again, not our usual “last flight out of Dodge” return flight, but it will be nice to not be getting home at midnight and then trying to get up for work the next morning.

For Marathon Weekend, I was able to get a similar flight as Wine and Dine. I have to work on Monday and Tuesday of that week (those days are 100% non-negotiable at my job) and the original plan was to fly down first thing on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, there were no nonstop flights on Wednesday morning and what was available wouldn’t get us in until noontime at best. But when I looked, there was a 6 p.m. nonstop flight on Tuesday night. It required getting the okay from my boss, but in reality I’m probably only going to need to leave work about an hour early. Being 100% packed before I leave for work on Tuesday is going to be stressful for me, but I like the idea of being in Florida by that evening. K is also going to drive to Buffalo so at least we’re going to be on the same flight this time. Our return flights get booked next Thursday when Southwest opens its next booking window. The plan is to come home on Tuesday night, but I’ll have to see what they offer.

I also booked a deal with the Sheraton Vistana Villages for four nights that I plan on using during Marathon Weekend. It was a great deal for a one-bedroom condo and a good deal if we decide to get a two-bedroom, which we probably will. It will also give us a full kitchen AND washer and dryer in the room. For this type of trip (a long one where we will likely be spending a lot of time at the hotel), having the extra space and amenities will be nice, but it will be a little weird to be staying offsite. I’m not sure what we’re going to do for the other nights. I’d like to stay onsite at Universal, but their passholder rates aren’t out yet and their regular rates are insane.

Still left to do:
For Wine and Dine

1. Figure out transportation to/from airport and to/from races
2. Book Cabana Bay hotel room (and hopefully find a passholder discount)

For Marathon Weekend

1. Book return flights next Thursday morning
2. Book hotel(s) for additional 3 nights (hopefully getting a passholder rate at Universal)
3. Confirm dates/room configuration for Sheraton Vistana Villages
4. Rebook rental car for Tuesday evening pickup

Oh, and do the remaining 27 weeks of training for Marathon Weekend! Yeah, there's that too!

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/13-14

Wednesday - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 15 second run/15 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 1 mile @ race tempo - 15 second run/30 second walk, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk)
Thursday - Cross-training - 45 minute walk

I had a HUGE victory tonight! This is the first time since last fall that I’ve chosen walking as an optional workout. In the past, I’ve really enjoyed walking and would do it regularly in addition to other workouts. But with my plantar fasciitis, I’ve either been limited by my PT or limited myself to non-weight bearing activities to save my feet for running. Tonight I decided to take a chance and see how I felt after walking for 45 minutes after last night’s drill run. And it felt absolutely amazing with no pain during or after. To say that I’m thrilled in an understatement.

Not only was walking a success, but I decided to go really crazy and also use tonight’s walk to start breaking in a second pair of sneakers. This could have been an absolute train wreck - and I did hedge my bets by bringing my current pair of sneakers to the gym with me - but it went better than I could have expected. About 30 minutes in, my right foot started to get a little cranky, but I decided to give it two laps (about ¼ of a mile) to work itself out before I switched shoes - and before I hit that point, the soreness went away. The shoes actually felt pretty comfy by the end. I’m probably going to err on the side of caution and do one more walking session before trying them out on a short run, but I think (hope) that I’m going to be okay.

Getting through tonight PAIN-FREE was absolutely amazing!

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/15-7/18

Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 8 mile long run (15 second run/45 walk)
Sunday - Aqua jogging - 45 minutes; PT exercises
Monday - Tempo run - 10 minute long run (10 second run/30 second walk), 20 minute race tempo (15 second run/30 second walk), 10 minute long run (15 second run/45 second walk); physical therapy
Tuesday - Rest day

With the long run scheduled for Saturday, I decided to make Friday another rest day. In my mind there was no sense in taking chances!

I did Saturday’s run at the track at the gym. I had no interest in getting up at the crack of dawn (I’m not a morning person) to beat the heat. It might be boring to run around in an endless circle, but the air conditioning won out. The run itself went very well. My final pace was 30 seconds per mile faster than what I should have done, but I’m not the slightest bit sorry about it. My pace felt very, very comfortable, I could have easily done several more miles, and I was hitting the same paces at the end as the beginning. Based on this long run (and some of my other recent runs), I suspect my next Magic Mile scheduled for this coming weekend is going to drop my paces again.

I worked through my PT exercises on Sunday and then hit the pool. Doing my exercises felt a little bit like cramming the day before the test since I had a check-up with my physical therapist the next day, but I am trying to establish the habit of doing these exercises on Sunday and Wednesday. I’ve been half-heartedly fitting them in here and there, which wasn’t working. But all in all, nothing about today was too remarkable.

Monday I had a check-up appointment with my physical therapist, which went well. I got the seal of approval to keep going with my training plan. I also got a crazy good strength workout and was dripping with sweat afterward. Steve kept checking if I was okay or needed a break, which was unusual, but usually I work directly with Jay and Steve just supervises so I didn’t think much about it. What I didn’t realize until I got home was that I had also gotten seriously red in the face. I wasn’t overheated - it is just a family trait - but I can see why Steve was concerned. Oops!

I wasn’t sure what to do about Monday night’s run. My legs were tired and slightly sore, but there was no pain, so I really didn’t have any legitimate excuse to skip it. However, my mental gremlin started chirping that I’d already done enough work during PT and that I was asking for trouble to run on tired legs. Both of those things were true, but I did what my plan called for anyway. And it really wasn’t that bad. I’m still having trouble dialing in the appropriate tempos, but I went hard and did what I could. Sometimes done is better than perfect!

And then we were back around to today as a rest day. Part of me resists taking this day completely off - even my daily step total plummets on Tuesdays - but I know that is 100% necessary and that skimping will show in the rest of the week’s workout. So my two goals for my rest day are to do nothing strenuous and to get to bed early. Tonight there was some drama at home when our air conditioning stopped working, but thankfully we were able to get someone to come out to look at it and the fix was super simple.

 

[azrivest]

20 minute race tempo (15 second run/30 second walk),

How do you handle this in practice? Do you aim for the tempo pace for the overall 45s? Or is it only the 15s run that is at tempo pace?

 

[sandam1]

How do you handle this in practice? Do you aim for the tempo pace for the overall 45s? Or is it only the 15s run that is at tempo pace?

I am looking for the entire 45 seconds to average out to my tempo pace. So if I'm running a little faster than I should, I need to slow down my run or my walk or change my intervals. If I am slow, I need to either pick up my running pace, pick up my walking pace or change my intervals. Usually changing the interval is my last resort because, for me, it tends to cause all sorts of things to go wrong and the run usually becomes a hot mess.

For my training plan so far, I can dial in my long run pace and be spot on almost every time. On the other hand, my tempo paces have been inconsistent at best. After I run my next Magic Mile on Saturday (and hopefully get a new set of paces), my goal for the next four weeks is to learn what the different tempo paces feel like so I'm relying less on my watch. Of course, then I'll run another Magic Mile at the end of August and have to do it all over again, but anyway...

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/20-7/23

Wednesday - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 15 second run/15 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 1 mile @ race tempo - 15 second run/30 second walk, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk)
Thursday - Cross-training - Walk 45 minutes
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 1 mile @ long run pace (15 second run/45 second walk), Magic Mile (15 second run/30 second walk intervals), 3 miles @ long run pace (15 second run/45 second walk)

Wednesday’s workout is always a hard one for me. Mentally the cadence count is hard for me (somehow counting my steps is challenging) and I’m always maxed out by the end of the acceleration drills. That being said, I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I’m finished. I meant to do my PT exercises afterward, but it just didn’t happen. (Oh, the shame!)

I walked again for my cross-training on Thursday. I actually got some walking drills to do, but I wound up just talking to K on the phone for the entire walk.

I turned Friday into a rest day. I was at an agility trial until mid-afternoon and I don’t know why, but agility competitions seem to be causing me issues with my feet recently. It wasn’t nearly as bad as last month - not by a long shot - but it was enough to make me cautious.

Today was my Magic Mile and it wasn’t a great day. I was both excited and nervous because I wanted this to go well. I knew from the time that I got up that it was going to be a struggle. My legs felt tired and had absolutely no pop to them. My original plan was to get going relatively early, but I decided to do some things around the house first, hoping that my legs would loosen up if I started moving. Spoiler alert - they didn’t. The next decision was whether to go to the gym (it was way too hot for me to run outside) and see how I felt after the one mile warm-up. Looking back, as soon as I committed to walking out the door, I was going to attempt the Magic Mile for better or worse and I just crossed my fingers that it was the right thing to do.

The warm up went well. I was faster than I should have been, but it didn’t feel too bad. Then I started the Magic Mile. The first half mile was right where I should be (half the time of my previous Magic Mile), but I just didn’t have much to add for the second half. And then there was a weird discrepancy with my Garmin. The track is supposed to be 9.2 laps to a mile, but I hit a mile a little short of where I started. I wasn’t counting laps (I was more interested in breathing), but I have a suspicion that my time included an extra half of a lap or so. Also, I stopped my watch at a mile at 13:47, but on Garmin Connect it says that I had a 14:03 minute mile. To put out the effort to do the Magic Mile and not get a time that I can trust was frustrating.

And I still had three more miles to go! I did one more mile with run/walk and after a mile my legs were D-O-N-E! Shuffling was the best that I could do and I realized that there was no point in stressing my legs further and risking an injury by continuing to run. I took the often-heard advice of Chris Twiggs and just started walking. Walking was actually comfortable so I worked on picking up the pace for Mile 4 and then really concentrated on seeing how fast I could walk in Mile 5. I actually got just under a 17 minute mile walking for the last mile. Now if I can pair something close to that speed with my run/walk intervals, I think I have a winning combination.

I’m sure that what I did today wasn’t ideal - and I probably should have asked for help/advice before I attempted the run - but I salvaged what I could from it. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those “learning experience” days that I will look back on later and be glad that it happened, but I’m not there yet.

Today’s results have me 100% confused and I’m hoping that Chris can help me figure out the takeaways. Looking at the upcoming weather forecast, it looks like we might catch a break and get some nice and cool weather on Tuesday. I would love to attempt another Magic Mile on the outdoor track (i.e. one where I know the start and finish) - unless, of course, Chris thinks that it isn’t a good idea. I figure that I have a 50/50 shot of getting the okay.

I have another agility day tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes. Fingers crossed that my legs are feeling better since running agility without any punch in my legs is not fun.

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/24-7/26

Sunday - Rest day
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 1 mile warm-up @ long run pace (15 second run/45 second walk), Magic Mile - 13:08, .9 mile cool-down walk

I felt better at the agility event on Sunday, but not good enough to consider adding anything afterwards. Then I got the okay from Chris to do another Magic Mile this morning so obviously last night’s run wasn’t going to happen either. The upside of that was that I got some rest. The bad news was that it came at the cost of missing workouts, which is understandable, but not something that I like to do.

Let’s start today acknowledging the fact that I am NOT a morning person. Therefore running - or any exercise - in the morning almost never happens. For me to get up early enough to do this run demonstrates precisely how badly I wanted this to go well.

[Sidenote: I had a rough time mentally dealing after Saturday’s run. I have been working so hard, doing everything that I should be, and I was frustrated/disappointed with just a slightly better Magic Mile time. I wasn’t spiraling on this, but I have to admit that I was tempted to have hissy-fit meltdown over it.]

My goal was to be out the door by 8 a.m. and I got close. I didn’t want to run on an empty stomach so I had eaten an applesauce packet and some crackers about 45 minutes beforehand and I wanted to give them as much time as possible to settle. The sun was brighter and it was a little warmer than I expected, but nothing too bad. I did a mile warm-up at long run pace, timing my arrival at the track perfectly. I didn’t think that I started off the mile too fast, but I was out of breath almost from the first interval, which is unusual and freaked me out a little bit. But I managed to push through and hit the first half mile about 30 second faster than I should have. However, at that point, I knew that Saturday was just a bad day and that I had indeed gotten faster since my last Magic Mile. I just needed to not completely fall apart - physically or mentally - so I could see precisely how much faster. I threw in two extra walk breaks during the mile, but I think they were well timed and the last one allowed me to finish strong. My final time was 13:08 - getting a total of 49 seconds faster in four weeks! I was exhausted, but thrilled. Afterward, I did almost a mile home at a cooldown walk.

I was reminded during my workday why I don’t run in the morning. All I wanted to do was take a nap and moving was “interesting.” Nothing bad, but my legs were definitely reminding me that I had done something this morning and they were not happy with me. Thankfully, I was able to rest tonight and I feel a lot better.

Tonight I talked to Chris about Saturday and got my “if this happens in the future” guidance. I knew what to do if this happened on a long run - just walk it. But if I wasn’t physically able to do something that requires speed - i.e. a Magic Mile - was it worth the injury risk to even attempt it? And the answer was no. I should still try to do the mileage, even if it is just walking, and just skip the Magic Mile. I was so focused on the “this is scheduled for this day and I need to do it no matter what” and that is why I need someone to tell me “don’t do it.” Thankfully, everything worked out this time, but looking back I can see how it could have gotten badly quickly.

The next big thing on my calendar is a 10 mile long run on Saturday. Based on today’s run, I got a whole new set of paces so I expect some “growing pains” in settling in to them. Also, since all of my goal races in the fall are 5-6 miles (Niagara Falls 10K in October, Wine and Dine 10K, and Turkey Trot 8K), that is going to be my target tempo pace. While I would love to see another huge drop for my next Magic Mile at the end of August, I suspect that they are going to get smaller - and require more work - going forward. But I'm going to savor this one for quite a while!

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 7/27-7/31

Wednesday - Cross-training - Walk 2 miles
Thursday - 10 minute warm-up (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk), 5 minutes cadence count @ 15 second run/15 second walk, 5 minutes acceleration/gliders, 1 mile @ race tempo - 15 second run/30 second walk, 10 minute cool-down (long run pace, 15 second run/45 second walk)
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Long run - 10 miles
Sunday - Aqua jogging - Rest day + physical therapy exercises

Since I ran on Tuesday, Wednesday became a cross-training day. I decided to use my walk as a chance to check the distance that my Garmin was tracking compared to the actual track at the gym. The track is supposed to be 9.4 laps to a mile, but this is what I got using the run and indoor run settings.



Quite a difference! All of this time I had been blindly relying on the distance on my Garmin so this was surprising. First, I talked to my gym and found out how they measured the track distance to start with. It turns out that it was the middle lane, which was where I was running so that wasn’t the issue. Then I called Garmin and they walked me through changing some settings (after trying to upsell me to a new watch which wasn’t happening). I used Thursday’s one mile run to double check things and it was almost spot on. It was also quite a bit easier to hit my tempo pace when I wasn’t going an extra .2 of a mile. Imagine that!

I took Friday as a rest day in preparation for my long run on Saturday.

Saturday turned into a “get it done” run/walk. I got up early to take advantage of the cool(er) weather. (Remember, NOT a morning person!) I started out with a short walk as a warm-up and then got into my intervals. I was hitting my new run pace, but within 2 miles it was already hard - way harder than it should have been. I decided to walk for a while and see how that felt and I stuck with the walking. I had to keep reminding myself that this was all about the distance and time on feet and I was able to finish relatively strong. That being said, my feet were incredibly sore/painful for the rest of the day. I tried getting horizontal (the nap felt good, but didn’t help) and heat helped for a while, but it was hard to keep getting up to reheat the packs. The good news was that by this morning, the pain was gone, but I can’t keep losing an entire day because I can’t walk comfortably after these long runs. My next physical therapy appointment is the Monday after my next long run in two weeks so I’m hoping that we can figure out a solution then.

I had great plans for today. I got up early (for me) and headed to the gym. I went through all of my PT exercises, went to the pool to do my aqua jogging - and they were just closing the pool due to the chemicals being out of balance. Grrr! I was looking forward to this workout and it is hard to fit in any other day during the week.

This week is a low mileage week and I’m looking forward to some additional rest. I’m also going to finally do an online run form program that I signed up for two years ago (thankful for lifetime access) so I know that that is going to take some additional time to incorporate.

 

[sandam1]

A Few Random Thoughts

Excuse this break from my normal programming, but I had a few random things floating around in my brain that I wanted to get out.

First off, I am just about two months into my customized training plan (CTP) and I can’t say enough good things about it. I know that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is really working for me. I am doing enough to see gains without causing any substantial lasting physical issues. As I get more experience with CTP, I can see how everything works together to get results. The program is subtle, but effective. And I believe more and more that it will get me where I want to go. As a result, my stress level over training has gone way down. I’m not guessing what is the “right thing” to do. I just follow the plan and if something happens or doesn’t feel right, I have someone who has the big picture - and a ton of experience working with all different kinds of runners - who will answer my call for help. And Chris’s calm, encouraging, “you’ve got this” support is invaluable when my mind does start working overtime. This isn’t to say that things have been perfect. Any training cycle is going to be a rollercoaster with a bunch of ups and downs, but I feel like overall I know where I’m going and how I’m going to get there.

I also think that the number of days/amount of miles that I’m running is just right. I’m not only seeing gains in my fitness and speed, but I’m also excited to do each run. There hasn’t really been an “I don’t want to run today” day (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by writing that) and I think I’ve missed one or two runs total in two months. I’ve never had that level of consistency before. My foot pain is still an issue, but it isn’t impacting the runs, it is usually gone the next morning, and nothing else has popped up (knock wood). That tells me that it could be sustainable.

The other thing that I’ve found is the value of the rest day. Mine happens to be on Tuesdays and it fits perfectly in my schedule. After a long run on Saturday, aqua jogging on Sunday (a 45-minute, no-joke workout), and a long day capped by a tempo run on Monday night, my body is always ready for that break. And while I originally planned this to be my “adulting” day - i.e. the day that I run errands, go shopping, etc. - it has morphed into a “sit with my feet up, read a book/watch TV/work on my laptop” day. I also use it as a chance to get to sleep early which is a big thing for me and sets me up for success for the rest of the week. In the past, I would have fought against a rest day, thinking that “I should be doing something today,” but I followed what my training plan told me to do and realized that it actually works. (Shocking, I know!)



All in all, I’m happy with my running. I know that this is going to be a really long training cycle with five months still to go until Marathon Weekend, but for the first time, I’m not intimidated by it. My outlook is a complete 180 from where I was at this time last year, which I hope translates to a significantly better race experience.

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 8/1-8/18

Ugh, it’s been so long since I updated this. I kept meaning to, but I tend to write later in the evening and recently sleep has been more appealing. Sorry!

I’m not going to do a blow by blow of my runs - primarily because I don’t remember some of them at this point - and just do an overall update and focus on some highlights/lowlights.

Overall things have been going relatively well. My two weekday runs have become very routine. Not necessarily easy since I am trying to push the pace on these, but I have no trouble getting out there and doing them. I’ve been getting in the pool and doing my PT exercises on Sundays and cross-training (primarily walking) on Thursdays.

My long runs consisted of:

8/6 - 1 Hour Prediction run

The concept is that you start your watch and run for 30 minutes. Then you turn around and run back the way you came. The goal is to maintain equal pace for the first half as the second half so if you get it right, you will get home as your watch goes off to end the run. The catch is that you aren’t supposed to look at your watch and just run by feel. The theory is simple. The execution? Well, not so much.

Looking back I made a couple of mistakes on this run. First, while I did a warm-up on the bike and stretched, I tried to jump into running at tempo right off the bat. This was a mistake and my calves started tightening up so I wound up taking a few extra walk intervals and had a hard time settling into a steady pace. The second mistake was aiming for a pace (16 minute miles) that I had no recent experience running. My long runs are slower and my tempo runs are faster. I realized this as I was driving to the gym. Oops! So I decided to try changing my interval times from 15 second run/45 second walk to 20 second run/40 second walk and seeing what happened. Lesson learned - Saturday runs are never the right time to mess around with my intervals. The last complication was that I have a really, really, really hard time running without looking at my watch. In the end, I wound up finishing within 1/10 of a mile from where I started, which I didn’t think was bad all things considered. I have a couple more on my calendar and I look forward to doing it better the next time.

8/13 - Long run - 11 miles

I felt very good going into this run. I knew that I had done 10 miles two weeks before and I figured “what’s one more mile?” The weather had also cooled down so I figured that running outside was totally do-able if I got going early. I laid out all of my gear the night before and was ready to go around 8 a.m. I thought that I would be okay with a short-sleeve shirt, but it got warmer way faster than I planned. I wound up doing three miles before stopping back at home to get changed into a tank top. Lesson #1 - always dress for warmer weather than you think you’ll have.

I also tried out a new running route. I have a cemetery about a half of a mile from my house, which always struck me as a perfect running course. I had no idea if it would offend anyone so I called the office and they had no issue as long as I was respectful. Not a problem! It turned out to be fabulous. It was a beautiful setting with little traffic and even had water spickets every so often. The water isn’t drinkable, but it was great to cool down with. There were a number of staff out mowing and a bunch of people tending graves and everyone gave a friendly wave and smile. The path is a little long for a weekday run, but I will definitely go back for my long runs. I’m also optimistic that it will be a great place to run when winter hits as I think they keep it well plowed and salted. Time will tell on that one.





This run was long enough that I tested out some of my gear and found a few things that I would like to change/upgrade going forward. I didn’t try any new nutrition - I stuck with what I knew would work - but I did make a mistake and waited way too long to start eating. I just got on a roll and didn’t realize it until I started feeling my blood sugar/energy start to drop. Then I was trying to play catch up and that didn’t go well. For future runs, I’m investigating if there is some sort of app (either for my Garmin or my phone) that pings on a schedule to remind me to eat something. If one doesn’t exist, it totally should.

The last thing that I learned/experienced was a slowing of my walking pace as the miles went on. I know that Chris has talked about this phenomena and that that is why they try to keep the walk breaks to 30 seconds. All in all, my running was pretty consistent (and completely comfortable), but I found myself getting unconsciously and unnecessarily slower on the walks. Looking back, I think that my conditioning is sufficient to do 30 second walks, but I probably would have had an issue going slow enough with that interval. Hopefully with my next Magic Mile (next Saturday), my new paces will mesh better with the shorter walk interval.

I had a check-in appointment with Steve and Jay the Monday after this run and I was anxious to talk to them as I was having a problem with my tightening up and getting incredibly painful after my long runs. It happened after my 8 and 10 mile runs, which had me a little freaked out because it was exactly what happened after the half marathon in January. This also made me question whether my feet were ever going to heal completely. I’d been thinking about this for a while now, but honestly, I didn’t want to ask because I was afraid of the answer. However at this point, I needed to know. Not because it was going to change anything that I was doing, but it probably would change my perspective on the future.

It wound up being a very good appointment. I went a little later in the morning so the office wasn’t nearly as busy so I got quite a bit of one-on-one time with both Steve and Jay, addressing all of my questions and issues. Steve told me that I was going to heal 100% - eventually - and that all of the running that I’m doing right now was not delaying anything and that the pain would be there whether I was running or just living my life. And I knew that he was being completely honest with me and not telling me what I wanted to hear. Jay also assured me that my recovery post-Dopey this year will not look anything like last year’s (i.e. I’m not going to have to take months to completely rebuild). This was important since I’m looking at registering for Springtime Surprise and need to know that the training is possible.

We also came up with a few practical solutions to a few problems that I’ve been having.

• For the post long run pain, I had tried putting on the night splints after my run, hoping that it would keep things stretched out. After this last long run, I wore them for a couple hours and, while it wasn’t 100% effective and they certainly aren’t comfortable, it did help. Steve gave me the okay to continue down this path.
• I got some additional exercises to try to help with the pain that I was having while doing agility. Steve let me know that it was going to be hard to balance road running with agility running, but I’m definitely willing to put in the work and try.
• Right now there is no “right answer” for cross-training. I need to listen to my body, trust my instincts and everything will be okay. If the feet are feeling good, walk and get “time on feet” If they are sore, hit the bike or pool.

I really needed to hear all of these things and it makes me feel a lot better as the runs get longer and I start back to back runs in September. And it helps to be reminded that I have a strong group of people behind me to lean on during the ups and downs of training.

 

[sandam1]

Training Recap - 8/19-8/23

Friday, 8/19 - Rest day
Saturday, 8/20 - “Easy” 5 mile run
Sunday, 8/21 - Aqua jogging - 45 minutes + 1 mile walk & PT exercises
Monday, 8/22 - Tempo run - 10 minute long run (10 second run/30 second walk), 20 minute race tempo (15 second run/30 second walk), 10 minute long run (15 second run/45 second walk)
Tuesday, 8/23 - Rest day

You know that you are training for a marathon when a) your training plan pairs the words “easy” and “5 mile run” together and b) those words excite you. That's what I felt with this weekend’s run. Originally, I was supposed to do a 5K race, but the race wound up never happening so this was the plan adjustment. I had a lot of fun with this run. It’s the first time in a long time that there were no paces to meet and I could go to the gym (it was too humid for me to run outside comfortably) and just run. It was refreshing and a nice break to the usual training.

This week’s run is the first of a few light weeks for me. Next Saturday is another 5 miler with a Magic Mile. Then I am going to be on vacation in the Outer Banks, North Carolina for a week. I wasn’t sure of the availability of running opportunities while we were there so I asked not to have any long runs. I found a 5K race while we are there and I figure that I can add a mile before and after, but that’s about it. Everything else is going to be walking on the beach or jogging in the pool as cross training. The downside of this break is that when I get back, things start to get serious. My first back to back walk/runs the two days that we get back, including a 15 miler and then two weeks later, I have a 5 mile walk/17 mile run. Yikes!

In other news, I got registered for all three races for Springtime Surprise yesterday morning without too many problems. Two of my four browser windows opened up at the same time - and then immediately Stitched - which freaked me out a little bit. But a quick refresh and I was on my way. I have no idea what the weekend is going to look like because K decided to back out on me at the last minute so it might be a solo trip - or potentially an extended family trip - or something else that I haven’t thought of yet. Thankfully, I have some time to figure that out.

Still moving right along, footloose and fancy-free, getting there is half the fun, come share it with me! [Apologies for the earworm]