Running Renaissance: WDW Marathon 2025

[GollyGadget]

June 26-July 2 Recap (185 Days until WDW Marathon)
I was in a major funk last week. I had a hard time doing anything but taking a nap/lying on the couch after work this week.

It’s been nearly two months since my last race and my next race is still a month away. There’s just something about that race day atmosphere that keeps me coming back for more and without it, my training seems susceptible to ruts. It’s got me a little nervous for when I start my marathon training this fall. I’ve already registered for a half in November but now I’m wondering how to incorporate some smaller races into the training plan as well. Any ideas, advice, or experience with this are welcome!

I also found out that I might be traveling for work during the 10 mi race this training cycle was dedicated to so that really dampens the motivation factor. Right now, my POT should put me solidly in Corral D(ale) for the WDW Marathon. I was hoping to use this race to make my way into Corral C(hip) (see what I did there? ) but that doesn’t seem likely now and I’m not sure when I’ll find out. I would have another shot at a local half at the end of September but I’m only tentatively looking at that as a backup and wouldn’t run it if the 10 miler comes through. So, right now, I’m training for a 10-13 mi race sometime in September. How’s that for having a specific goal? I’m hoping to get my travel schedule worked out in the next few weeks so once that’s settled, I’ll be able to focus on one or the other instead of remaining in limbo.

Overall, June was a great month for running though. I covered more miles in a single month than I ever have before. I also left the month feeling like a stronger runner. As I said, I haven’t run any races so there’s really no proof and it could all be in my head, but I’ll take it. After all, running is said to be 90% mental.


Monday - 2 mi @ WU + (4x200m @ R w/ 200m RI) + (4x400m @ R w/400m RI) + (4x200m @ R w/ 200m RI) + 2 mi @ CD
Another Monday, another speed workout. I headed for the track right after work. We’ve had some really weird weather here this summer. A few weeks ago it was 90s and on Monday it was mid 70s. Whatever is going on, I was grateful for a temperature that made it bearable to run in the afternoon.

My first two 200s were a smidge fast but I nailed the second two. I was happy to find the right pace and hoping to be able to stick to it for the 400s. Unfortunately, that isn’t what happened. I did finally have the realization that while the 200s are relatively easy to crank out at the 6:56/mi pace, it’s a bit more difficult to keep it going for 400. I believe I can do the 400 at the prescribed pace, I just need to put a little more effort behind it. My closest was the 3rd interval at 1:47.

My second set of 200s were a tad slow but I did get exactly 52 seconds on the last one. Nothing like a good finish! At first I worried I was pushing myself a bit too hard and this last set was the repercussions. Then I realized that while my first sets were with the wind, I had turned around and was now running against the wind. I debated turning around again to gain the wind advantage but decided what doesn’t kill you makes you strong so I kept going into the wind. After all, I don’t think any race directors are going to let me run a course in reverse just because of the wind.

It’s been very difficult to break my habits of running based on effort to pace. I’ve been running the 400s at the same effort as the 200s but since they’re twice as far means it’s a bit slower. I’ve also struggled a bit to stay focused for the full 400 meters to remember to keep going instead of easing into a more natural (i.e. slower) pace. I’m feeling good about this week. I think I’ll finally nail it. After all, I’ll have twice as many chances

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA
Remember that funk? Yeah….it convinced me to “postpone” my run until Wednesday.

Wednesday – REST
Remember that “postponed” run? Didn’t happen. My husband wanted to go on a walk and I didn’t even want to do that. I didn’t want to do anything that involved getting off my lazy butt. Ultimately, he pretty much drug me out the door. the walk wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but I still wasn’t particularly thrilled about it.

Thursday - 2 mi @ WU + 7 x 2 min @ I w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Finally, my guilt of not running overcame my laziness. It was storming right after work so I opted for the treadmill which was probably for the best since I still haven’t quite figured out pacing. The workout went well so I decided to tack on a bit longer of a cooldown to make up for some of those easy miles I missed earlier in the week (3.75 instead of 2). I have no idea if this was actually a good idea, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Plus, I needed to get some of those steps in if I was going to have any chance at winning the Workweek Hustle.

My treadmill thinks it’s smart and displays things like pulse and calories burned. I never pay much attention to it but imagine my surprise when I’m 8 miles in and it’s displaying 3 calories burned! It must reset once it hits 1000 but I found it pretty amusing to think I could run over 8 miles and only burn 3 measly calories. At least it doesn’t shut down after 60 minutes like a lot of the ones I find myself using when travelling. Nothing catches me more by surprise when I’m in my groove running along and the treadmill just decides my workout is over. I still don’t get why that’s a thing.

Friday - 5.5 @ EA
On Friday I hit the neighborhood for all the miles I could find. This included running one particular stretch 3 times just to get the mileage. Once again, I decided I needed to recoup a few of those lost miles so I went 7 instead of 5.5. I don’t plan to make a habit of this, but it did make me feel tremendously less guilty about skipping my other easy work out.

During my easy and long runs I enjoy listening to podcasts. For this run that meant the Success episode of the Ted Radio Hour which was incredibly motivational. I highly suggest giving it a listen. The two big reminders I took out of it is that failure isn’t final and it’s important to fight inertia. Failure is often a stepping stone on the way to success so you just need to keep getting up and learning. Similarly, don’t keep doing the same things if they aren’t getting you results and you aren’t happy. Sure, it’s easy, but more often than not you need to get out of your comfort zone to achieve your goals.

Saturday – 9 miles @ Long Run
Saturday morning I headed to the trail for my long run. I must not have been the only person with this idea because the parking lot was full. The run itself wasn’t too exciting. My first mile was really slow but after that things improved. I still only hit my pace window 3/9 miles (miles 3, 6, and 7) but I had 6 miles within 15 seconds so it went considerably better than last time. Overall, I think my main issue is just not knowing the pace. I’m overly worried about going too fast and then I over-correct and go too slow. I guess I’ll have to do something different this week to get a better understanding of my mile paces during the run instead of waiting until the end.

One other thing happened on Saturday…I changed age groups. Honestly, I never give much thought to getting older (I’m still pretty young) but jumping age groups is one of the biggest impacts my age has. It seems like at a certain age people start to take running a bit more seriously and there’s a vast improvement in finishing times. I’m sure at some point the age factor makes up for this and the times get slower but until then, I’m going to have to work a bit harder if I want to continue placing at some of the small local races.

Sunday - REST

Total miles: 33.0
Total time: 5:35:23

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + (4x400m @ R w/ 400m RI) + 1 mile @ WU + (4x400m @ R w/ 400m RI) + 2 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - REST
Th - 2 mi @ WU + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 3 miles @ T + 3 min REST + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Fr - 5.5 @ EA
Sa – 9 miles @ Long Run
Su - REST

 

[Dopeyintraining]

Failure is often a stepping stone on the way to success so you just need to keep getting up and learning.

Too true and if you focus on the positives you did get a decent amount of mileage done this week.

I’m wondering how to incorporate some smaller races into the training plan as well.

I don't know if you have this in the US or if it is of interest to you GollyGadget, but I have some virtual races scattered throughout the rest of this year's training. It has the advantage of being fairly flexible on the dates, and you can run it anywhere as slow as you like. On the otherhand you have to get the challenge done or you don't get your bling and I like to pick ones with charity donations for causes I care about.

 

[GollyGadget]

I don't know if you have this in the US or if it is of interest to you GollyGadget, but I have some virtual races scattered throughout the rest of this year's training. It has the advantage of being fairly flexible on the dates, and you can run it anywhere as slow as you like. On the otherhand you have to get the challenge done or you don't get your bling and I like to pick ones with charity donations for causes I care about.

Excellent idea on the virtual race! I see them advertised all the time but have never done one. I'll have to see what local races work with my schedule but if all else fails, maybe I can find a charitable virtual race.
Confession time...I don't really care about the bling. I do at the moment when I cross the finish line, but after that my medals just end up in a pile somewhere around my house. I have a nice display for them by my treadmill but I haven't actually got around to add any of my medals to it in over a year.
What I like most about races is just the energetic atmosphere and the people watching. That's probably the biggest reason I've never done a virtual race.

 

[GollyGadget]

July 3-July 9 Recap (180 Days until WDW Marathon)
I’ve mentioned my struggle with pacing several times throughout this training journal and that struggle continues this week. However, I’ve re-started reading the Hanson Marathon Method and I’m so glad to be struggling with pacing now in hopes that I figure some of it out before my official marathon training starts. I was reading about the importance of pacing last week, both for slow and faster runs because each workout is trying to accomplish something different. While I’d obviously like to be getting the most out of my training this cycle, since my goal race is really the WDW marathon, I’ll be happy no matter how this cycle ends as long as I’m preparing mentally and physically for the training yet to come.

Monday - 2 mi @ WU + (4x400m @ R w/ 400m RI) + 1 mile @ WU + (4x400m @ R w/ 400m RI) + 2 mi @ CD
On Monday I woke up around 6 and had every intention to get outside and run before it got too hot. Unfortunately, there were a few things to get done around the house beforehand and I didn’t make it to the track until just after 8. Luckily, it wasn’t too warm at this point but by the time I finished the temperature had gone up at least 10 degrees and it was definitely impacting my performance.

I have really been struggling to find this 400 pace so I was bound and determined to nail it this week. That determination lead me to a really quick first lap (1:40) but did give me a confidence boost that I could do this. I ended up only hitting the pace twice but that’s two more times than last week! Like I said, the heat was definitely getting to me at the end. I think with a bit more practice, I’ll definitely get the hang of it. Of course, by then it might be time for a new training plan but I figure as long as I’m pushing myself (and not getting injured), I’m going to see some improvements.

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA
Despite my best efforts to not let history repeat itself, I once again postponed my run on Tuesday. By the time I had the energy to run, it was the heat of the afternoon and I didn’t quite have the motivation to get on the treadmill. I enjoy certain things about summer and don’t necessarily want to wish it away, but I really wish it wasn’t impeding my running so much.

I also happened to step on some thistle on Monday which means every time I put pressure on the ball of my left foot it’s met with a sharp pain. It’s not unbearable but it’s definitely not enjoyable.

Wednesday – REST
Determined to not miss a run two weeks in a row, I headed for the treadmill Wednesday evening. I was nervous how the thistle still stuck in my foot would react but it actually wasn’t that noticeable. I think the combination of socks, shoes, and softer treadmill surface lessened the impact. The extreme pain from Tuesday was gone and the only time I really felt it was when walking barefoot on the tile around my house. I actually forgot it was there a few times until I stepped into the kitchen.

The run itself was pretty uneventful as treadmill runs typically are but that’s probably a good thing. Until I decide to remake the Here It Goes Again video, it’s probably for the best that my treadmill runs are on the boring side.

Thursday - 2 mi @ WU + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 3 miles @ T + 3 min REST + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
With temperatures in the 90s and my disdain for waking up early, I headed for the indoor track after work on Thursday. Since I was going to be inside, I set my running app for “indoor” mode. Turns out, this wasn’t really a good decision. More on that below.

My first set of 200s went fairly well. I remember my first one was waaaaaayyy too fast (like 6 seconds too fast) and it made me wonder if the track wasn’t accurate. It’s a YMCA track and not used for any competition so it’s possible they just said “meh, it’s pretty close to 1/8 mile.” I’ve also found the 200s to be getting a lot easier so maybe my perceived effort was taking over. Whatever the case, I decided to slow it down and try to hit the prescribed 52 seconds. Unfortunately, because I was using indoor mode I no longer have access to my splits so I don’t really know. My average pace was 6:42 vs 6:56 so something tells me they were all on the fast side.

After the 200s it was time for a quick 3 miles. This is where the indoor setting really became a terrible idea. Because the phone uses an accelerometer on indoor mode, it must just guess at what my range of pace should be. I first noticed it was off at the half mile mark when it waited until about 2/3 mi. From then on, I had to do my best to count my laps and try to math out my pace from the total time running. Generally, I like doing running math because it keeps my mind busy but one of the reasons it keeps my mind busy is because it takes so long for me to figure out basic math problems while running. Basically, I was running the entire 3 miles blind to my pace which probably isn’t a bad idea sometimes but not really ideal when I’m still learning to find my paces. Also, counting is hard. I have no idea if I ran 32 or 33 laps. Heck, it could even be 34 with the amount of times I forgot what lap I was completing. Anyway, the whole point of this is to say, I have no idea how far or how fast I ran. My best guess tells me it was an 8:34 pace but it’s entirely possible it was 8:14 which would put my right on target. But who really knows? Not this girl.

After the frustrating approximate 3 miles, I decided to switch my phone off of indoor mode. I was hoping since I was running a track and not on a treadmill the gps would at least be better than the ~25% error I was seeing earlier. This went much better and actually seemed somewhat accurate. Plus, I also have historic data for each interval! I’m happy to report I hit 51, 51, 51, 52. Wooooo! All four in the 52 +/- 1!!!

During the 3 miles, I was listening to the Runner’s World podcast from a few weeks ago and they were talking about Decision Fatigue. It was really interesting and mentioned how some CEOs have workplace uniforms just to eliminate that decision from their day. The basic idea is that the more decisions you have to make in a day, no matter how basic, the more stress there is on your brain and it drains your mental energy. I’m so glad to know this phenomenon has a name because it is definitely something I regularly experience. One thing I wanted for my birthday was to not make any decisions. My brain needed a break. How does this relate to running? Well, one of the benefits of having a coach is that someone else can make the running decisions for you. You aren’t always going to be able to follow the plan precisely so it’s beneficial to have someone else make any needed adjustments. Plus, the coach likely has more experience and knowledge. Thanks @DopeyBadger for your help! My brain really appreciates it.

Friday - 5.5 @ EA
For some reason 91 is too hot to run outside but 88 seemed reasonable. Partially, my decision was based on an easy run vs a speed workout and I figured my body could use some time outside to gain some more adaptations to the warmer temperatures. Due to the heat and my schedule actually calling for 3-5.5 miles, I decided that 4 miles would be my goal. I ended up making it 4.86; well beyond my goal and nearly to the 5.5 but there was a happy hour waiting for me on the other side of my workout and I was eager to get there.

And remember that thistle? Yeah, still there. It was a pretty sharp pain when I first started that slowly went away. I tried to be conscience about my form and not alter it due to the pain. The last thing I want is to actually become injured over this silly weed.

Saturday – 9 miles @ Long Run
Yeah….didn’t run on Saturday. I have lots of good excuses like that I didn’t sleep well and my dog woke me up early so by the time I had any energy it was too hot but really I’m just a procrastinator.

Sunday – REST
I set my alarm to wake up early on Sunday so that I would get out the door before it got too warm. I actually made it to the trail by 7 which was great except I was still half asleep. My first mile was incredibly slow but I did finally have a revelation on how to easily calculate if I’m on pace. After each half mile, my app tells me my average pace and cumulative time. As long as I can remember the cumulative time at the last half mile, I can just add half my mile pace and check the next cumulative time. For example, if I’m at 9:30 after the first mile, the next time my app talks to me I should be at 14:15. So easy. I have no idea how it took me so long to figure this out.

Now that I had a good way to check my pace rather than trying to guess what my average pace should be, the pacing was much better. Like I said, I had a slow start but 5 of the last 6 miles were right in target. The one that wasn’t was actually waaaay too fast. Like 8:43 mile instead of 9:32. I am not sure how that happened except that it was all downhill unlike the other miles which also included some uphill. My half mile split from 4 to 4.5 was within 1 second of target and I was so excited I couldn’t contain my fist bump. The oncoming runners had a good chuckle at this. I also managed to run my last mile exactly on pace. Woo! I finally feel like I’m making some progress when running in real conditions instead of on the track or treadmill.

Total miles: 37.9
Total time: 6:23:45

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + 5 sets of (200m R + 200m WU + 200m R + 400m WU + 400m R + 200m WU) + 3 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - REST
Th - 2 mi @ WU + 4 x 1 mile @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Fr - 5.5 @ EA
Sa – 1 mi WU + 9 miles @ M Tempo
Su - REST

 

[DopeyBadger]

Happy to help! Looks like this past week went much better. Congrats on doing well!

As for the 7 mile race, it looks like it is 7/29. So you've got a couple more weeks of data collecting. I think at this point a sub-60 is reasonable and probably around 56 min for the final time. It depends on how the next few weeks go and what the weather ends up like on race day.

 

[ZellyB]

Interesting to read about decision fatigue. I think I have that too!!

Nice week of training and I've never seen that Here is Goes Again video, but it's awesome. They should totally develop some kind of workout classes like that!

 

[GollyGadget]

Interesting to read about decision fatigue. I think I have that too!!

Nice week of training and I've never seen that Here is Goes Again video, but it's awesome. They should totally develop some kind of workout classes like that!

Thanks! I would totally get on board with some sort of dancing on treadmill class. I have started to see some alternative treadmill workouts lately so maybe it's coming in the near future. Or maybe we could beat the competition figure out how to make millions off this idea
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/treadmill-exercises

 

[GollyGadget]

July 10-July 16 Recap (173 Days until WDW Marathon)
After a ridiculously warm start to the week, the second half of the week was really quite nice (for mid-July anyway). It was also a week of questionable decisions and a lot of improvisation, (a.k.a. I didn’t hit my mileage) but more on that in the training details below.

Some of the best news of the week is that I finally got some answers regarding my late summer/fall travel. No concrete answers as exact dates are still in flux. However, I do know that the last week of August is off the table due to some scheduling conflicts which means I won’t be traveling or recovering from jet lag on September 2nd. Charger 10 Miler, here I come! It does likely mean that I’ll be traveling later in the fall which will make my marathon training interesting, but I’ll just have to figure that out when the time comes.

Monday - 2 mi @ WU + 5 sets of (200m R + 200m WU + 200m R + 400m WU + 400m R + 200m WU) + 3 mi @ CD
Monday morning it was storming in the morning which eliminated the opportunity to head to the track before work. For most of the day, my plan was to go use the indoor track after work but come quitting time I had a new idea. I decided I would just push back my Monday and Tuesday workouts and head to the track Tuesday morning. I briefly debated doing an evening track session but when it was still 85 feels like 99, I decided to stay indoors.

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA
Tuesday morning my alarm went off early and I DID NOT want to get out of bed. It was pretty much the last thing I wanted to do. Despite getting into bed at 9pm the night before, I still felt exhausted. However, I knew it was now or never. I stumbled through the house gathering my things and headed for the track.

The dew covering my windows should have been some indication for the humidity I was about to endure but I really wasn’t expecting it. Who knew it could be so hot and humid at 6am? It was 74 degrees with a Dew Point of 73 degrees. Had I been smart, I would have consulted the nice T+D chart @DopeyBadger provided, but I didn’t.

I had 3 of my 10 200s in the right range for normal conditions and 6/10 when adjusting for T+D (one overlap). Of those falling outside acceptable, my first interval was too fast and my 3rd also too fast but not by as much. Overall I’m feeling really confident about these 200s. The 400s on the other hand are still another story. My first 400 was too fast by a measly 2 secs, putting it just outside the acceptable window and the others were 1:50, 1:48, 1:49, and 1:49…at least I’m consistent . When adjusting for T+D three of these are actually right where they need to be so overall, I’m chalking this up as a victory.

Unfortunately, I was running a bit behind and I cut both my warm up and my cool down to 1.5 miles each with the intention to get some of that mileage back in my easy workouts later in the week. While, I know it isn’t ideal, even with the extra 20 minutes I was still 5 minutes late to my morning meeting. No matter how hard I try and how much I despise the heat, I can’t seem to turn myself into a morning runner. Is anyone else ready for the cooler temperatures of fall?

Wednesday – REST
On Wednesday morning, I woke up in Fargo, ND. I am someone who really likes to have at least 8 hours of sleep a night so after arriving close to midnight, I was not too pleased when my alarm went off just before 6 am. But, I knew we were meeting at 7:30 so I had to get up and get going if I was going to get my run in.

The run itself was quite nice. The temperature was in the 60s and a bit breezy but it was a great reprieve from the weather the morning before. I’d never been to Fargo and really had no idea where to go so I just headed out my hotel for 3 miles and then turned around. I looked for trails in the area but unfortunately the only trails nearby were actually just sidewalks.

My route ended up taking me just past a Costco and which was about 3 McDonald’s away from the hotel. It got me thinking how if I wasn’t specifically training for a race it would be interesting to just set out in new towns or routes with the destination being the 3rd McDonalds, Starbucks, Walgreens or some other prolific establishment.

Thursday - 2 mi @ WU + 4 x 1 mile @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
My schedule on Thursday included a lot of travel. First a 3.5 hour drive to Minneapolis then an hour flight back home. I debated running before or after but since the weather was only going to be in the low 80s I decided to run afterward and participate in the local training runs for my upcoming race. Despite asking @DopeyBadger the best way to adjust my plan to allow for these training runs on the race course, I had to improvise a bit since I had taken my rest day on Monday instead of Wednesday. The course itself is 7 miles, so I decided I’d shorten my warmup and cooldown to 1.5 miles to fit closer to the 7 miles of road closures I had available.

I’ve talked about it before so I’m sure I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but this is a hilly course. During the first ¾ mi I climbed 150 feet, with the majority of that in the last half. I knew pacing would be difficult so I decided to run each T segment at “race effort” for the upcoming 7 miler which is pretty close to the 8:12 pace prescribed. The first mile was real fast due to it being entirely downhill. Likewise, since the course is out and back, the last mile was a bit slow being entirely uphill. The middle miles were right where I expected so overall I’m feeling well prepared for this race. This is quite a difference than years past where my training suffers significantly once it gets warm. Now I’ll just have to decide if I ride the slip ‘n slide no matter what or only if I’m way behind/ahead of pace.

I planned to complete the 200m repeats based on time, aiming to nail the effort in 52 seconds. Unfortunately, I ran into some major chafing and was ready to be done after my 3rd mile repeat. Because of this, I finished out the mile repeats and went straight into the cooldown. When I started the run, I knew that chafing might be a problem but was hoping for the best. I had changed in the airport bathroom to make it to the training run and didn’t have anything to help prevent it on hand.

Friday - 5.5 @ EA
The combination of chafing and exhaustion from traveling gave me enough excuses to call this workout off. In hindsight (and in the future), I should have just went out and got some miles in even if it wasn’t the 5.5 in the plan. Something is better than nothing. I debated shifting the rest of the week back or just switching my rest day and decided to switch my rest day and keep the tempo run on Saturday.

Saturday – 1 mi WU + 9 miles @ M Tempo
Tempo runs are so intimidating. I like to focus only on today and tomorrow’s training so they always catch me by surprise. On Friday I was wondering how on earth I could run 9 miles with sub 9 min miles. I was still wondering this on Saturday morning when I headed out.

Despite my best efforts, I don’t think I’ll ever be a morning runner. I was still fighting through some yawns after my warm up. This lead to a couple of slow miles while my body woke up. It’s strange that I don’t have this problem for races but I think the adrenaline of race day takes over. I decided to take the run a half mile at a time and again could be found fist pumping anytime I nailed the pacing. Despite the slow early miles and intimidation, this run left me feeling like a real runner. I know, I know, everyone who runs is a runner. But sometimes I still feel like an imposter. A lot of my non-running friends think that I’m some sort of running nut, but I’m really just an average runner at best. I’m not particularly fast nor do I run particularly far and I often struggle with motivation. However, this run made me feel like all my work this summer is going to pay off. I know I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I can’t wait to say that I’m a marathoner (again).

Sunday - REST
Instead of resting on Sunday, I decided to head out for an easy 4 miles to compensate for the mileage I missed on Friday. It was pretty uneventful but at least I got it done. I finished the weekend feeling totally exhausted and despite not hitting the mileage I should have, I was happy with what I was able to accomplish and optimistic about achieving next week’s training.

Total miles: 35.5
Total time: 5:51:34

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + 10 x 400 @ R w/ 400 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - REST
Th - 2 mi @ WU + 3 x 3 min @ I w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 4 x 2 min @ I w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Fr - 5.5 @ EA
Sa – 9 miles @ Long Run
Su - REST

 

[DopeyBadger]

When adjusting for T+D three of these are actually right where they need to be so overall, I’m chalking this up as a victory.

Most definitely a victory. Job well done!

Is anyone else ready for the cooler temperatures of fall?

again could be found fist pumping anytime I nailed the pacing.

I do this all the time! Glad to know I'm not the only one!

Despite the slow early miles and intimidation, this run left me feeling like a real runner. I know, I know, everyone who runs is a runner. But sometimes I still feel like an imposter. A lot of my non-running friends think that I’m some sort of running nut, but I’m really just an average runner at best. I’m not particularly fast nor do I run particularly far and I often struggle with motivation. However, this run made me feel like all my work this summer is going to pay off. I know I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I can’t wait to say that I’m a marathoner (again).

Congrats!



I'd say the plan you're following right now (Daniels 10k) is just about as tough as it gets. So, while you may not think of yourself as a real runner all the time. I can guarantee you, you are working harder than nearly every other runner out there. Keep up the great work!

 

[GollyGadget]

I'd say the plan you're following right now (Daniels 10k) is just about as tough as it gets. So, while you may not think of yourself as a real runner all the time. I can guarantee you, you are working harder than nearly every other runner out there. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement!

 

[GollyGadget]

July 17-July 23 Recap (166 Days until WDW Marathon)
Summer came back with a vengeance this week. I think the Heat Miser was angry I was looking forward to his brother Snow Miser. The heat index was over 100 several afternoons which is about twice what I like the heat index to be. This meant a lot of running indoors which isn’t my favorite, but I’m happy to say that it didn’t stop me.

In other news, we booked our flights! Woo hoo! We found a great deal coming down but getting back was much more difficult. In the end, we decided to extend our stay by another night since the airfare savings offset the price of a hotel night. No complaints here! This also means that I don’t have to worry about finishing the marathon in time to make it to the airport .

I’m looking forward to running the Bix this weekend. It’s been about 3 months since I’ve ran a race and I’m eager to see any improvements due to my training thus far. The race is serving as the U.S. Championship this year and I’m excited to see some of the elite runners as they make their way toward the finish on the out and back course. Unfortunately, Meb, who is a Bix regular, isn’t running this year but Joan Benoit Samuelson and Sara Hall will be there.

Monday - 2 mi @ WU + 10 x 400 @ R w/ 400 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD REST
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m really bad at sticking to schedules. I know this plan is meant for cumulative fatigue but I was more than exhausted on Monday and I think running was only one of the contributing factors. Waking up early enough for 1.5 hours of running before my training class was out of the question. It was actually a really nice day so I had every intention to head to the track after training. Unfortunately, my exhaustion seemed to just compound throughout the day.

When I got home, I headed straight for a nap. For most people a nap is about 20 minutes. Not for me. I’ll nap all day if allowed. I meant to just take a “quick” hour nap and then head to the track. For some reason, I didn’t think to set an alarm so I slept for a good two hours until my husband woke me up to tell me that dinner was almost ready. So much for my run…

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA 2 mi @ WU + 10 x 400 @ R w/ 400 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Tuesday I woke up with an email from the running team I joined a few weeks ago. I’ve always been a solo runner and I’m still a bit hesitant on joining, but I figure it’s good to do something scary every once in a while. They’ve scheduled a long run for Sunday which works out perfectly with my procrastination.

Due to the heat, the workout was moved to the treadmill.
Pros: Pacing was spot on.
Cons: Didn’t get to practice pacing. Not a big deal since I’m not going to run a sub 7 min mile at a race any time soon.

Wednesday – REST 5.5 @ EA
Uneventful as expected. I am making significant gains on my DVR though. I’m going to need to find something new to watch soon…

Thursday - 2 mi @ WU + 3 x 3 min @ I w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 4 x 2 min @ I w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
There was an amusing and educational discussion about non-violent running fears over on the running thread this week. Of course, my main fear is birds. They just can’t be trusted.

However lots of people mentioned not being near a bathroom when they needed one. I’ve never been so unfortunate but during my treadmill run today it was a close call. I don’t know what it is about the treadmill but I typically have to stop halfway through to make a quick pit stop. I think because I know there’s indoor plumbing just a few feet away, I just keep pushing until I can’t. When I run outdoors, I take a few more precautions.

Friday - 5.5 @ EA REST
My husband was scheduled to work overnight on Friday which meant if I wanted to spend any time with him it would have to be right after work. Since I was already planning my long run for Sunday, I decided to hold on my easy run and wait until Saturday.

Saturday – 9 miles @ Long Run 4.5 @ EA
Saturday I was more pressed for time than I thought I would be so I shortened my run by a mile. I avoided a couple of the big hills in my neighborhood and still managed an elevation gain of 300 feet over the 4.5 miles. The interesting part of this is that during what I would consider a hilly long run the next day, my elevation gain was only 50 feet more for twice the distance (350 ft). The race on Saturday has an elevation gain of 410 feet so I’m hoping my hilly neighborhood runs will pay off.

Sunday – REST 9 miles @ Long Run
The group long run ended up getting cancelled so I went at it alone. I tried out a new route which included a bit more hills than normal; it wasn’t really my favorite route but it’s nice to switch things up every once in a while. The weather was a lot warmer and more humid than I would have liked and when I finished the run around 8:30 it was already pushing 80 with a dew point near 70.

I managed to nail my pacing on 4/9 miles and the others were all within 20 seconds. This week I switched from excited fist pumps to a weird dance move that was somewhere between the Carlton and the Cabbage Patch. I'm sure the other runners along the route will be adopting this move soon.

+

Total miles: 35.7
Total time: 5:55:11

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + 6 x 800 m @ I w/ 400m RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - 2 mi @ WU + 4 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Th - REST
Fr -3 @ EA
Sa – Race Day!!!
Su - REST

 

[GollyGadget]

July 24-July 30ish Recap (162 Days until WDW Marathon)
Going a bit off schedule posting this today, but the truth is, unfortunately, there isn’t much to write about this week. I hit a small training speed bump this week and didn’t complete most of my runs. I was dealing with some illness and just didn’t feel comfortable going out for my runs. The funny thing is, there are a lot of times when I don’t feel like running but the second I can’t go running, I get stir crazy and it’s all I want to do. With each passing day, all I wanted was to be able to go out and stretch my legs a bit.

It’s also super frustrating because I don’t usually get sick very often, but last time I was sick was also right before a big race. The good news is, I’m feeling better and excited for the race tomorrow! It is easily my favorite race of the year. I’ll have a full report of how the race went in a few days.

Monday - 2 mi @ WU + 6 x 800 m @ I w/ 400m RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Sometime after lunch on Monday, I got extremely lightheaded and dizzy. Last time this happened, the doctor’s best guess was that it was allergies so I attempted to take some Benadryl to feel better. Because of the dizziness, there was no way I was going outside in the heat to run or to chance it on the treadmill. Either of those could have ended in disaster.

Since I had a race on Saturday, I figured it wasn’t a big deal to miss one speed workout this week and I planned to pick back up on Tuesday.

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA
I woke up on Tuesday feeling much better and was very optimistic that I’d be able to run after work. Unfortunately, my symptoms returned shortly after I got to work. I actually ended up leaving work early and heading home for the day. No run for me.

Wednesday - 2 mi @ WU + 4 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Still sick. I managed to make it through most of the work day but still wasn’t feel well enough or energized enough to get my run in.

Thursday - REST
By Thursday, I was incredibly nervous that I was never going to get better. How could I be sick again so close to a race?

Friday - 3 @ EA 4 @ EA
Friday morning I was determined to get some sort of run accomplished. After a few days of not running, it always feels like I have a bit of rust I need to work out of my system to get back into it and I really didn’t want my few days off to impact my race. I even decided to wake up and run before work. I’m still not a morning runner, but it is nice to run when the weather is nice and have it done first thing in my day. If only morning runs didn’t interfere with sleeping so much.

Saturday – Race Day!!!
Sunday - REST

Total miles: 4.05 (+ 7ish)
Total time: 0:41:15

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1000 @ I w/ 0.25 mi RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - 2 mi @ WU + 3 mi @ T + 2 min REST + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Th - REST
Fr -5.5 @ EA
Sa – 9 miles @ Long Run
Su - REST

 

[GollyGadget]

Bix 7 Race Review
Weather:
AMAZING. I couldn't have asked for better weather, especially at the end of July. It was just under 70 at race start with low humidity. This was my 8th time running the race and it was the best weather I've experienced. We were all extremely lucky. The temperature was at least 10 degrees warmer with much more humidity just the weekend before.

The one thing I should have planned for better was the sun. Somehow the sun was in my eyes pretty much the entire race; I don't even know how that's possible on an out and back course. I've never ran in sunglasses or a visor and usually don't have much of a problem but I've already ordered a visor so that I won't have this issue again.

Course:
I've mentioned it several times, but for anyone who just started following along, this course is known for it's hills. According to the race website: "The course includes two severe hills, one right at the beginning." The first hill gets all the glory but it's the hills yet to come that really test the runners. During Aliphine Tuliamuk's (the female champ) post race interview she actually made a remark asking if the other hills were added new to the course this year.

The course goes from downtown into a residential area that is packed with spectators. The spectators bring such an energy to the course. Unlike a lot of races that have pockets of spectators and stretches without anyone in sight, the crowd support along this course is nonstop. They are really the reason that the race is so amazing. Before the first mile, I was offered water, jello shots, beer and popsicles...and those are just the things that I remember. There's also live music throughout and a few other quirkier things like sprinklers, slip n slide, and a bench press.

Results:
I had two big goals for this race. 1. Finish in under an hour. 2. Go down the slip 'n slide. I had my doubts if it would be possible to do both and in the end I nailed one and the other had a valiant attempt but I didn't quite achieve my goal.

I decided I wanted to really soak in the race atmosphere this year and wouldn't run with my phone. The difficult thing is that without my phone, I had no way to track my pace. I would have to rely on the on course pacers shouting out times.

Due to the crowds and the big hill right at the beginning, I made a conscious effort to start slow. I reached the first mile and heard someone yelling out times, 9:44, 9:45, 9:46. At this point, I wasn't really sure how long it took me to get to the starting line, but my best guess was around a minute so I figured my pace was about 8:45. After some quick race math, I knew I wanted to be at mile 2 around 17:45. I honestly don't remember what time I got to mile 2 but I think it was just about 16:45 and I was worried it might have been too fast so I decided to dial it back just a tad. I should mention that mile 2 is entirely downhill so it is expected to be faster. A bit more race math, and I had a goal to be at mile 3 by 25:00.

What seemed like a mile later, I could hear someone shouting out times again and they started with 22! I knew I was in trouble if I was running any sort of pace with a 6:xx involved. I made it a bit farther and realized that times were actually for those already heading back and I hadn't yet hit 3 miles. Whew. I hit 3 miles right around the pace I was aiming for and now came for the decision....to slip 'n slide or not.

I had decided somewhere in the first few miles that if I got to the slip 'n slide before 9:30am, I would go down it no matter what. Otherwise I'd have to evaluate if my time goal was still achievable and what the impact would be of stepping off the course for a joy ride. I reached the slip 'n slide at 9:31 and was a bit disappointed at first. Then I realized there wasn't a line! Later on in the race, the line reaches the bottom of the hill and can really impact your time. All I had to do was climb the stairs to the top and the slide was mine! I decided to go for it even though it might mean missing my time goal and definitely meant running in wet shoes the rest of the way.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154981875664426

Just after the slip n slide is the halfway point. According to the results, I was halfway there at 28:48 with an average pace of 8:14. Accounting in the time it took for the slip n slide, I knew my time goal was within reach. Unfortunately, the halfway point is also historically where I start to fall apart. I kept pushing but I don't remember the mile splits for the rest of the race. The entire time I knew my goal was possible but I had to keep going. With about a mile to go, I could feel the fatigue in my legs but I just kept pushing. All I had to do was make it down that hill.

After the hill, there's still a quarter mile to the finish and I was ready to be done. About 100m from the finish I had a cramp in my side. At that point though, I knew I was going to make it. It didn't matter if I had to army crawl to the finish, I was going to finish in under an hour. I crossed the finish line and the clock read 58:2x. Officially, my time was 57:26 and if not for my detour to the slide, I think @DopeyBadger's prediction of 56 would have been dead on. I beat my PR from last year by over 5 minutes!

I want to take a pause here to thank @DopeyBadger for getting me this far. His willingness to create a training plan for a complete stranger, answer my questions, and keep me somewhat accountable played a huge role in my race performance.

But wait, I said that I only achieved one of my goals. That's because I didn't quite make it all the way down the slip n slide. I apparently need a bit more practice. My aim was a bit off and I only made it down about 70% of the slide before I ended up in the grass. The video above actually cuts out just before my failed attempt, thank goodness.

Time: 57:26
Age Group Rank: 46/529 (Wooo! Top 10%!)
Overall Rank: 1483/8146

Random Ramblings:
Crowds - This is easily the most crowded race I run. Over the years I've just learned a few tricks to avoid some of the bottlenecks but mostly, I've just learned to go with the flow and not stress about it. While the crowds can be annoying, they are definitely one of the race's biggest assets. The race day atmosphere is just amazing. From elite runners chasing down a U.S. Championship to families who walk the whole course together, everyone has a great time.

Announcers - The announcers at this race always have a good time. One of my favorite parts is that just after the race starts they'll make an announcement: "If you haven't crossed the starting line yet, you have no chance of winning." This year for the first time, I was actually already on the course and for a brief moment thought "hey, I could win this thing!"

Overall Impression:
I just love this race. The crowd support is unbelievable for a "small" local race. The course is a great challenge and 7 miles is just about the perfect distance for this time of year when the weather heats up and makes it difficult to log many long runs. I highly recommend the race to anyone who finds him or herself in the Midwest in late July.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Bravo! A well earned performance today! This is one of my favorite race recaps I've ever read. Really had me on the hook with the two goals. Congrats! Just the beginning in my opinion...

 

[ZellyB]

Congrats on a great race and for managing a huge PR AND a ride down the slip 'n slide! What a fun recap!!

 

[GollyGadget]

Bravo! A well earned performance today! This is one of my favorite race recaps I've ever read. Really had me on the hook with the two goals. Congrats! Just the beginning in my opinion...

Congrats on a great race and for managing a huge PR AND a ride down the slip 'n slide! What a fun recap!!

Thanks guys! I was stoked to finally break an hour in that race! I always knew I could do it, but historically I always had a hard time sticking to my training in the summer. When I first ran it in 2010, I ran a 1:07:48 and it's been my goal to break an hour since then. Great to finally achieve a goal 7 years in the making!

 

[GollyGadget]

July 31-Aug 6 Recap (152 Days until WDW Marathon)
I had a very busy week last week. It started on Tuesday when we went to the local fair for a concert. On Wednesday, we drove about an hour north to see another concert, this time in a barn. The show was amazing but I was a little zombie like in the morning on Thursday. Two nights out in a row is a little much for me. However, that didn’t stop me from getting on a plane and heading to Vegas for Thursday through Sunday.

I’m a bit sleep deprived this morning since I only totaled about 25 hours of sleep for those 5 nights. I’m someone who typically gets a full 8 hours which means I was running about two nights behind. I finally managed almost 8 last night. The most disappointing thing is that I tried to take a nap yesterday and only managed an hour. I have a feeling once I make it through work today I’ll be heading straight for another nap. Enough complaining about sleep though, now on with the training recap…

Monday - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1000 @ I w/ 0.25 mi RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
I mentioned in my race recap that I didn’t quite make it down the slip ‘n slide. Unfortunately, I bruised my outer quad pretty bad and it was painful to stand for very long on Sunday and still again on Monday. I knew that I wasn’t going to have time for the speed workout on Wednesday but figured I could squeeze in the easy run, so I decided to shift the schedule by a day and get an extra day’s rest.

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1000 @ I w/ 0.25 mi RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
After work on Tuesday, I headed for the treadmill. Whenever I run on the treadmill, I always adjust the incline to at least 1%. I think I started doing this because of something I had read that to be an equivalent pace, you needed to adjust the incline. Since then, I’ve read conflicting information about whether or not the incline matters so now I adjust it out of habit more than anything. It does make running outside feel a lot easier though.

I’ve been using the pacing chart from this site (http://www.hillrunner.com/training/tmillchart.php) to decide on the speed for my intervals. Anyone else out there use a treadmill for speed workouts? How do you determine the speed? My preference is to run outside and this is really the first training cycle I’ve done a significant amount of speed work on the treadmill. Most of my treadmill workouts before were haphazardly put together on the fly and started out easy with getting a touch faster every quarter or half mile to break up the monotony.

Wednesday - 2 mi @ WU + 3 mi @ T + 2 min REST + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD 5.5 @ EA
Since we were heading to the barn right after work on Wednesday, I had to wake up early. This was a little rough since we had gone out the night before. Unfortunately, I only had time for 4.75 miles before I had to head to work so my mileage was a bit short but overall the run was really nice. I ran down almost every street in my neighborhood. I used to run outside my immediate neighborhood a lot and that was nice for switching things up, but I haven’t left in a few months since the evil birds showed up.


Speaking of evil birds, did you see this? http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/hawk-attacks-man-on-run I’ve never been attacked this bad, but it only reinforces my fear of birds.

Thursday - REST
My plan on Thursday was to wake up early and complete the speed workout before leaving for the airport. However, when we didn’t get home until 1 am, I decided to turn off my alarm. If I woke up in time for my run, I would go but otherwise I needed some extra rest. I can’t even imagine the state I’d be in today had I not got that extra rest, I’m still on the struggle bus now. Guess I’m not as young as I used to be.

Friday -5.5 @ EA
Friday morning I woke up and went for a run from our hotel to the Las Vegas sign. Running on vacation is one of my favorite parts of vacation. Seriously. It allows me to explore a new area, it makes me feel a little bit better about my poor vacation eating habits, and it gives me something to do while my husband sleeps.

I only saw a few other runners along my route but there were plenty of others still making their way home. That’s one of the best things of running in Vegas, the people watching. It’s also a great time to actually take in the exteriors of the casinos and resorts without the crushing amount of people that take over the strip later in the day and well into the night.

I tried to take a selfie with the sign, but it didn’t turn out so well and I didn’t want to stop for too long. I’m going to need to work on perfecting this before the marathon.



Saturday – 9 miles @ Long Run
On Saturday, I decided to head the opposite direction and ran to downtown. Surprisingly, I think I enjoyed the run downtown more. There were less stairs I had to use to cross the streets and it was a lot less dusty. My bum is still a bit sore from all the stairs I had to run during these “easy” runs. Before this trip, I would never run very far past the strip because I was a little concerned about safety, but I never felt unsafe at all. I did have to give some guy directions to the casino mid run, but that was more amusing than anything.


Sunday - REST
By Sunday, I was a mess. Five days of drinking and eating garbage had caught up to me. So had the lack of sleep. While I had a blast this past week celebrating my birthday a month late, I’m glad to be back home and some sense of normalcy.

Total miles: 27.4
Total time: 4:58:50

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 4 min @ I w/ 3 min RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Th - REST
Fr -5.5 @ EA
Sa – 1 mi WU + 5 miles @ M Tempo + 1 mi @ WU + 5 mi @ M Tempo
Su - REST

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

I hope you get to fully catch up on your sleep. Sounds like a fun week! I agree that vacation running is awesome!

 

[GollyGadget]

Aug 7-13 Recap (143 Days until WDW Marathon)
This post is a few days late and a few training runs short. After a rough start to the week, things didn’t really get much better. I’m looking forward to turning the page on this past week and moving forward.

A funny thing happened in the last year. At some point, I went from an average runner to a slightly above average runner. This means, I’m all of a sudden winning age group awards in some of the smaller local races. I was debating with my husband about running a local race the Monday after my 10 mile race. It’s a 5 mi race that I’ve ran the last few years and all of the proceeds go to a local scholarship fund. I really hate to miss out this year so I asked my non-running husband his opinion. He asked if I was going to win any awards. Not likely, this particular race attracts a lot of current and former high school cross country runners. It always amuses me how competitive he is about my running. In his mind, if I’m not going to be competitive, what’s the point? While it is nice to be competitive, the competition is really more with myself than others. I have a good idea of what I’m capable of and as long as I do my best, I’ll be happy with the race. That said, I do still like to win

Monday - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 4 min @ I w/ 3 min RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD
During my last update, I mentioned how sleep deprived last week left me. When I got home from work I didn’t have any energy and promptly took a 2 hour nap. This is one of the reasons I prefer to run at least 5 days a week. If I can see a rest day in the near future, I’m likely to postpone my runs and take the rest day earlier. This can be a huge problem with the 3 days per week plans as I’ll just postpone all of the runs until the end of the week.

I don’t regret letting my body catch up on some much needed rest but my goal for this coming week is to actually run according to schedule. I feel it’s important to get back on track. Only 3 weeks to go before my goal race!

Tuesday - 5.5 @ EA 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 4 min @ I w/ 3 min RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD
Tuesday’s run was rough. When I started out on the warm up, I felt like molasses. It took me most of the warm up to determine why this was happening. First I thought that maybe my body was still severely under-rested. Then I thought maybe it’s because I’d been doing so many speed workouts on the treadmill, I didn’t know how to pace myself. Finally, I remembered all the junk I had eaten over the weekend and I’m fairly certain that was the cause.

Something I haven’t talked about much here is nutrition and diet. That’s because it’s a very personal thing. Also, I follow a somewhat controversial diet for a distance runner. I’m not here to say it’s the right decision for you, but for me it’s been great. I started the diet just over 10 months ago and in that time I’ve dropped 4% body fat, 20 lbs, and I’ve been able to stick with it. Now for the controversial part, I limit my carbs…by a lot. I aim for about 50 carbs per day instead of the 300 recommended. This is modeled after the ketogenic diet but I’ve upped my carbs to account for some of the carbs I burn off while running. Not only has this lead me to my weight loss goals, but it also teaches my body how to use fat for fuel which I’m hoping will help me as I step on the starting line for the marathon in January. Like I said, this diet isn’t for everyone. If you have questions, I’m more than happy to answer them but I’m not in any way trying to convince you this is the right decision for you.

How does this diet affect my training? Well, usually it doesn’t. However, while your body is adjusting to burning fat instead of carbs, sluggishness is a common side effect. I noticed this when I first switched in October and my first few runs were much more difficult than I remembered. My body quickly adapted and I hadn’t looked back since. Until Tuesday anyway.

My first interval was about a minute/mile slower pace than intended. I thought, no big deal, better luck next time. Second interval, same thing. I had it in my head that by some miracle I would hit my third interval but I just didn’t have it in me. At this point, I thought about just calling off the workout and stopping there. Problem was, I was still 3ish miles from my car. I decided to keep slugging it out but not worry so much about pace and just run with consistent effort.

While the run was horrible and I didn’t even come close to any of my pacing goals, I still feel good that I got out there.

Wednesday - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
By Wednesday, I was looking forward to putting the terrible run from Tuesday behind me. Unfortunately, due to my procrastination I had to head to the mall to find a jacket. My department had scheduled professional photos for Thursday and I wanted a better fitting jacket than the one I had been wearing for the past 5+ years. I expected this trip to take maybe an hour and still be able to get my run in later. It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a real scavenger hunt. I’m just slightly below average height and all of the jackets at the first store had sleeves to my fingers. I looked like a little kid playing dress up. My first thought was to head to the petite section and surely those would fit…they didn’t. Still too long in the sleeves. It took over 3 hours for me to try on nearly every jacket in the mall and find one that didn’t make me look silly.

It was nearly 9 by the time I made it home which is only 30 minutes before my bedtime. Needless to say, I didn’t go for the run. I had worked out a sort of compromise to make me feel better about missing this speed session. The rest of my week schedule was going to be completely reworked. I’d run the 5.5 easy miles on Thursday, followed by my tempo run on Friday, then I’d throw in a local 5k Saturday morning (hey, it’s only $20!), and round out the week with another easy run.

Thursday – REST 5.5 @ EA
Finally, on Thursday I was able to officially put the bad run on Tuesday behind me. It was originally supposed to storm at 4:15 and I was disappointed I might have to run on the treadmill. When I got home, it wasn’t raining yet and the forecast has been updated to 6pm. By the time I got changed into my running gear, I had 75 minutes to get it done. Luckily, this was plenty of time and I made it home at 5:45 with only a few sprinkles during my run.

Most importantly, I felt like my old self. My neighborhood hills seemed like no big deal and I felt like I could run for miles.

Friday -5.5 @ EA
Ughhhh, Friday. I’ve never had such a long run after work and by the time I got off work, I just didn’t have it in me. I should have gone for a run, even if it was only half but my motivation was not there. I really have no excuses other than I just didn’t want to. This is something I’ll have to figure out how to get past as my marathon training kicks in and I’ll regularly have some longer runs in the week. Lately, I’ve been a little more cautious as I’m worried I’m nearing a running burn out and I don’t want to go up in flames before the marathon. Anybody got an tips for how to stay motivated?

Saturday – 1 mi WU + 5 miles @ M Tempo + 1 mi @ WU + 5 mi @ M Tempo 5k Race
To say this 5k was a last minute decision is an understatement. I registered on Thursday less than 3 hours before online registration closed. Unfortunately, the race itself also seemed to be put together at the last minute. I know that wasn’t the case and it wasn’t the inaugural year but it was a new course this year. I do question whether the race director has ever run a 5K because it seemed to me that the whole thing was a little haphazard. To kick things off, the race started 5 minutes ahead of schedule. For me, this was no big deal because I was in the area but there were a few runners still out on their warmup runs when the gun went off.

There was no race course map available online, but I knew it was an out and back that weaved through a residential neighborhood. As typical in all my races, I just followed the runners in front of me.

When I got to the turnaround point in 9 minutes, I knew we must have missed part of the course. I certainly don’t run an 18 min 5k. The back part featured a few more turns but I still rounded the corner and could see the finish line waaaay earlier than I should. I managed to get a shiny new 5K “PR” of 20:58. Problem is I also know I don’t run a sub 21 min 5K, at least not yet. I didn’t run with a GPS so I had to ask around how far we ran. I asked some people in the lead pack and apparently they were asked to do an extra loop and ran about 3.3 miles. The guy that finished a few people ahead of me said we ran about 2.75 miles. To make matters even more confusing, at some point they corrected the course so some people further back ran 3.1.

I’m really not sure what the best thing to do here was, but I do feel whatever it should have everyone running the same course. Personally, I’d rather run a short course than know that everyone ran different distances. Having the race course change mid race just makes no sense to me. I could get behind adding distance at the end but it shouldn’t be more than a 5K and should somehow be enforced so that everyone runs it. I had no idea about this extra loop until one of the race volunteers asked me if I ran it several minutes after I finished.

I finished 4th overall female which I’m sure was good enough for an AG award, but I didn’t have much interest in sticking around while they figured out how they were going to handle awards with everyone running different distances.

Sunday – REST
By Sunday, I was ready to put this week behind me. I spent most of the day napping on the couch. The training week had been extremely frustrating and I just wanted it to be over and to start fresh on Monday.

Total miles: 14.9
Total time: 2:29:44

This week’s schedule:
M - 2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1000 @ I w/ 0.25 mi RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Tu - 5.5 @ EA
W - 2 mi @ WU + 1 mile @ T + 2 min REST + 2 miles @ T + 1 min REST + 1 mile @ T + 4 x 200 @ R w/ 200 RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD
Th - REST
Fr -5.5 @ EA
Sa – 9 miles @ Long Run
Su - REST

 

[GollyGadget]

I hope you get to fully catch up on your sleep. Sounds like a fun week! I agree that vacation running is awesome!

I did finally get caught up. I always leave vacations feeling like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.