That was utterly terrifying and I regret having joined you (comments welcome)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with an ad 😂: just used Intervals Pro for the first time this morning and it's so great. Normally runs are just tracked with Runkeeper on the phone (then ported to Strava) so all I get are mile splits. With planned workouts, usually just look at the time and estimate distance based on how long it's been (and I know general mileage of my usual routes), then do some back of the envelope calculations when home to get actual paces. [Though I did use Runcoach when training for the Cherry Blossom 10M and that was also great at tracking intervals, but you can't actually input workouts yourself.]
This morning, I plugged in my planned workout, and at the end, each interval pace was right there on the phone. This is not novel to anyone, I know, but oh so nice! One caveat, the current pace is misleading. Checked phone around when the tempo section was ending and the pace displayed was so far off from the goal (and what the effort was at) that I almost cried (actually felt my heart seize up) and ended the section early (only by 3 min but still), then spent the cooldown home despondent and revising goals for the marathon. Well, when I checked at the end, interval paces were right on target and all is right with the world again. Moral of the story: don't check my phone midrun (not really, but maybe).
 
Week 12: chugging along. Swinging between high of hitting tempo pace on Wednesday to barely holding on to not goal pace on Saturday (and feeling like there was nothing left in the tank at the end). Gonna keep to prescribed plan for now, but starting to think about B and C goals for the marathon. We'll see how this next month goes.

More fun was finally booking flights and hotels for Princess weekend. We'll spend 1 night at Universal Surfside, 2 at ASMo, 1 at CBR, and 1 at an airport hotel. Whew, that's a lot of moving around. But it's my friend's first time in Orlando, so want to maximize the experience. Although she was very not happy with me she found out races start at 5am... 🙄oops, guess I should have told her before she signed up for the challenge.

Related question: have people used Memory Maker to span Marathon and Princess weekends? It seems if I purchase MM at the beginning of Jan but make sure to not download (and thus activate) it until the end of Jan, we should still be able to get pictures at the end of Feb?
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Today was the first time in a long while where I was excited to go out for a run. Paces may not have been hit, but will take an enjoyed run over a fast-ish one.
Now to figure out how to bottle up that mysterious magic for future needs.

Disclaimer: not discouraged about training and never regretted a run after it's done, just that looking forward to going out is so rare that it's worth reminding myself that sometimes I like this 😅
 


Yup, bit rough sometimes being a Cal fan (will never forget the year we went 0-10 til the last game of the season), but Saturday was indeed a nice win.
Nice win for you all as well, despite the delay. Good luck next week!
 
We're a Mississippi State household. Guess which rapidly aging CFB fanatic did NOT stay up late to wait out their lightning delay.
I used to think you were cool but I’m not sure we can be friends now.

(My DH is a HUGE Memphis Tigers fan. We did wait out the lightning delay. And it was bad bad bad lol.)

As a Buckeye myself we fared well.
 


1 month to Chicago! 💀😱

Moved speed workout to Monday since there would be more time. Hit the paces, but couldn't sustain for long enough (also confusing because the workout said 2.5 miles but the video explaining tempo interval workouts says not to go above 15min at tempo). RI also much too slow.

Saturday was a blowout and I really don't know what happened (could speculate but it would just turn into a long whiny diatribe so nope). Some pep talks from friends helped, so just picking myself up and chugging along.

Did get to try a friend's theragun on Saturday: fun but will probably just stick to my low-tech foam roller.
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Week 15, pretty uneventful. Long run redemption of sorts. Just went out without pace in mind, only goal was to get in the full 20 miles. Ended up walking the ridiculously steep hill and whenever taking in a gel. Still painful at the end, but definitely felt like I could keep going for longer, which hasn't happened in a while, so counting it as a win.
Pre-fuel: half a slice of pepperoni pizza + glass of water; During-fuel: 5 honey stinger chews + 24oz of water.

This Saturday's long run is supposed to be a 16mile goal pace. Will be doing the Newport Liberty half out in NJ (which would make races in 7 states + DC). The plan is to do a ~1.5mi warmup, run the race at goal marathon pace, then tack on another ~1.5mi. Should be a fun one.
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Week 16: happy with a week pretty on track with training. Plus Newport Liberty Half Marathon race report.
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Newport Liberty Half Marathon:
Originally signed up because it was going to fit perfectly for L's NYC training, her first marathon (she'll also be doing the Fairy Tale Challenge with me in February, which will be her first time at WDW and Universal). Then we got the rest of the usual crew to sign up as well (two of whom will also be running NYC as their first marathons). Fast forward to a week before the race and L catches the virus 😢. The rest of us would still run but she'd be stuck at home cheering us on in spirit. J stayed over Friday night so we could trek the hour-long walk+subway+walk+bus+walk to the race together.

Never been to Jersey City before and it was pretty. Riding the bus through Hoboken was peaceful and quiet at 6:45am, and we caught this gorgeous view while walking to race HQ (J said it looks like NJ is shushing NY 🤣)
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Got there early to get J's bib and our race shirts and do bag check. Had a honey stinger waffle and ~10oz of water ~45min before race start then went for a warmup jog while J went to find the boys. The 5 of us met up and walked to the self-selected corrals together ~15 min before race start then all separated again as everybody was at different paces. It was perfect running weather! The goal was to run at marathon pace (10:08min/mi) and practice 1) not starting out too fast and 2) going with the flow and trying not to weave around people. The race was advertised as flat and fast, which would also be good practice for Chicago.

It was a group start and I forgot to check the clock when crossing the mat, but everything felt good and I was keeping it light and easy. Passed the 2:15 pace group at some point, then overheard two people I was trying to stay with say they were on track with a 9:35min/mi pace. Felt like I could keep staying with them but it would have been an effort, and since the point was to practice GMP, made the decision to slow up and stay steady. It was so beautiful as we ran through Liberty State Park and the only semi-tough part of the route was the very uneven ground while running through the marina.
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Continued to keep an eye on the clocks at each mile marker and seemed to stay steady at a 10min pace. Multiple body parts took turns saying they were unhappy with me, but mostly was able to ignore them and keep going, and felt good enough at the 13mi marker to sprint to the finish. Took chews at 5, 8, and 11 miles and sipped at a 10oz water bottle throughout the course. Poured a couple cups of Nuun in the bottle at the finish and diluted down with more water (the lemon lime flavor is not as nice as strawberry lemonade). Grabbed a finish line bagel and cream cheese and found my friends (one managed a sub2 with minimal training 😒) before trying to do a cooldown jog. Legs and hips definitely protested so cut it shorter than planned and just walked/stretched. We hung around until about noon before heading home to shower/become human again then meeting up for a late lunch/early dinner of AYCE Korean BBQ (a very yummy recovery meal).

Ended up with a time of 2:08:20 (just 20 seconds off from a MW POT! but thankfully have an earlier race from 2019 that should suffice); 9:48min/mi. If I'd known that beforehand, probably would have run a little faster, but since the goal was to keep GMP and the mile splits look fairly even, I'm more than happy. Plus, the race pictures look like I'm happy/relaxed and not like I want to die, which is definitely how I want to be in two weeks. All in all, a great weekend!
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Rain started coming down around mile 7 of Saturday long run. Alternating pouring and steady rain with at least one thunder/lightning combo so made the decision to pull the plug early. Felt great though, and it shows with the pacing. Drank ~5oz of water before heading out, ~4oz of water along the way (and who knows how much rain); brought chews but didn't take any.
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Commence taper week! 🎉😬
 
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18 weeks of training comes down to this. Am I ready? 🤷‍♀️We'll see.

A goal: 4:30--what I've been training towards [A' goal: PR-- <4:28:30]
B goal: 4:45--what the long runs have been trending towards
C goal: finish upright and happy

Now off to pack and get minimal sleep before a way too early flight to the windy city.
 

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