Category: Weekly Recap

Hey friends!

It’s RACE WEEK! Like whoa. Also, I just realized that I forgot to actually post my training log here last week. Today will be a two-for-one and I must admit, it might be the two most boring weeks of running that I’ve done in quite some time.

In an attempt to make a long story short, I came down with the flu, bronchitis and laryngitis the week of Christmas. I missed my last three key workouts over the course of about 10 days. Really, if I look at the bigger picture, my training really hasn’t gone *as I expected it to* since the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon in early December. At this point, we’re just gonna go with the idea that I got a head start on my taper.

Since getting sick clearly wasn’t planned (it was just an unexpected thing that popped up that I couldn’t control), it disrupted my typical routine and shook my confidence a bit. Deep down, I know that it didn’t actually negatively impact my fitness as much as I am inclined think it did. Even though the last month hasn’t gone as planned, I still put in a lot of work over the course of the training cycle and I know that I am still strong and fit.

I went back and forth and back and forth some more as to whether or not I wanted to even do the marathon. If I still felt sick that would’ve been one thing, but at this point I feel confident that I am healthy. My reason for not wanting to run was that I don’t feel confident that I will hit my A goal (of < 3:00). What I really don’t want to do is give up and not go for something due to fear of “failure,” and let’s be real, not meeting my A goal does not mean automatic failure. I can’t predict how I will do on Sunday, but one thing is for sure, I will do my very best that day and that alone will be a success.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 12.25.17 – 12.31.17:

Monday – Easy: 6.25 miles (8:54 pace)
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Easy: 8 miles (9:03 pace)
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles (8:45 pace)
Friday – Easy: 7.5 miles (8:15 pace)
Saturday – Off
Sunday – Off

Here is what my training looked like the week of 01.01.18 – 01.07.18:

Monday – Easy: 6 miles (9:14 pace)
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:01 pace)
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – 10 miles (8:27 pace)
Friday – Tempo: 11 miles (7:16 pace)
Saturday – Easy: 6 miles (8:07 pace)
Sunday – Easy: 5 miles (8:38 pace)

Basically the last two weeks were filled with lots of treadmill miles (except for two runs) and purely easy miles (except for one tempo). I haven’t done a workout on the treadmill in ages and I actually really enjoyed it. I busted out my trusty old iPod and had a good ‘lil time. I did a 2 mile warm up, 8 tempo miles (6:56, 6:49, 6:43, 6:43, 6:43, 6:42, 6:42, 6:34) and a 1 mile cool down. I was thrilled with how that went, although my legs have been incredibly sore ever since. I registered for the marathon before I did my workout Friday morning and nailing that run was a HUGE boost for my confidence going into the race.

All that is left to do now is take it easy and relax! I am embracing the taper MUCH more this time around than I typically have in the past.

Last week was the seventh week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. Three weeks to go! I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

After a strange start to the week, a few pep talks from some of my Salty friends, my actual (IRL) friends and my coach, I finished the week off feeling stronger and more confident. After not completing any of my workouts as prescribed last week, I was basically questioning my fitness and doubting my training. I was dwelling on the workouts that didn’t go well, instead of realizing that *most* of my workouts over the course of the entire cycle have actually been really decent (good in fact). My coach pointed this out to me and suggested that I stop focusing on the missed workouts and focus on the positive ones. Fair enough. Onward and upward.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 12.18.17 – 12.24.17:

Monday – Off

I decided to take an unplanned rest day. I had an on campus training session to attend and my introduction to the world of academia left me feeling a tad overwhelmed. Asynchronous students. Grading rubrics. Oh my. I quickly learned that I have A LOT to learn (about teaching in general … I’m comfortable with the subject matter, so I guess that’s at least one positive). So yeah, at the end of the day, I was very stressed. Stress does weird things to my stomach. This will be a recurring theme this week.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 10 miles (8:48 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:23 pace)

I ran a few miles with Rebecca Tuesday morning and then we came back to the house and ran some more miles with Daniel. About half way through our miles with Daniel, I started to have severe stomach pain. I slowed way down and eventually couldn’t even run. The pain was so intense that I even felt kind of dizzy. Rebecca was a saint and ran back to our house to get the car while Daniel stayed with me as I alternated between being doubled over in pain and trying to stagger my way back home.

At the time, we had no clue what was going on. I laid down in the middle of the floor for a while. Laying flat seemed to be the only position that felt okay. Eventually the pain subsided and I felt pretty much normal. So strange. I was hopeful that it was just a fluke. By the end of the day, I felt totally fine and was even able to do an easy loop with Daniel and Cody.

Wednesday AM – Tempo: 8 miles (7:17 pace) + PM – Easy: 5.1 miles (8:17 pace)

My schedule called for a 1 mile warm up, a 10 mile wave tempo (alternating between 6:50-6:55 pace and 6:30-6:35 pace every half mile) and a 1 mile cool down. I met Rebecca at the track Wednesday morning. She was doing some 1200 repeats and we were both just happy to have some company at the track. My stomach felt totally fine … until it didn’t. My stomach started hurting again about halfway through the tempo miles. I made it to mile 6 of 10 and had to call it a day. For whatever it’s worth, I averaged 6:53 for those 6 miles, even though I felt pretty crappy (no pun intended).

I came home and laid down in the middle of the floor again. Rebecca asked if I had eaten anything different from normal the last few days. Ahh! Yes. Perhaps the ice cream I was eating before bed was NOT agreeing with me. Oops. To be fair, I still think it was likely a combination of ice cream and stress. I don’t eat a ton of dairy in general and I guess it might need to stay that way. Ha.

By the end of the day, again, I felt totally fine and was able to do an easy loop with Rebecca.

Thursday – Easy: 8 miles (8:45 pace)

I decided to skip the morning run Thursday (just in case). I ran later in the day and felt good. My legs felt a little heavy, but my stomach felt great and that was all I really cared about.

Friday – Easy: 12.5 miles (8:41 pace)

Friday morning I met Jessica and Rebecca (it was just like old times!). My schedule called for 12 miles with ten 30 second pickups. I did the pickups during the last 2 miles of the run. I didn’t time them or anything and apparently I didn’t count them either, because I actually did twelve 30 second pickups instead of ten. I got an entire extra minute of work in! Such an overachiever. I know.

It was nice to feel some pop and turnover back in my stride. This was the first run since the marathon where I actually felt fresh.

Saturday – Long Run: 18 miles (7:37 pace)

My schedule originally called for a 24 mile long run this weekend, but after talking with my coach about it, we rearranged and modified some things. I will do my last easy-paced long run next weekend and instead of an easy-paced long run this weekend, I did 18 miles with the last 8 miles at close to goal marathon pace. Since I had to cut my wave tempo workout short earlier in the week, it made sense to add some more quality miles in during the long run.

Ideally this run should’ve taken place on Sunday (since I did 12 miles the day before). Not only would my legs have been a little fresher, but the weather would’ve been MUCH better as well. The temperature was in the seventies with 99% humidity on Saturday. Yuck. But seeing as how Sunday was Christmas Eve and most everyone had family plans, it just made more sense to go ahead and get the workout done Saturday. I had company for the entire run, which was amazing! Several of us met early to do 8 miles and then others joined an hour later for the last 10.

The weather definitely made those last 8 miles a bit more of a challenge, but I knew that if I could come relatively close to my goal range in those conditions, I would be happy. My splits for last eight were 6:51, 6:47, 6:49, 6:49, 6:58, 6:52, 7:46 (big hill) and 6:58, for an average of 6:58. The hill at mile 17 crushed me a little bit, but I was pleased that I was able to at least get it back down under 7 minute pace for the last mile after that. It just so happens that there is a rather large hill at mile 17 of the First Light course as well and so if nothing else, this was excellent race-day simulation.

Sunday – Easy: 6.5 miles (8:26 pace)

I ended the week with a fun little Christmas Eve group run.

Total – 73.1 miles

Merry Christmas everyone! Talk to you soon!

Hey friends!

Last week was the sixth week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. Less than a month to go! Holy Moses.

After running the marathon last Sunday, I was a little fatigued (not injured, just tired). I guess that is to be expected. Since the marathon was approached more as a long training run, there was technically no break in workouts and everything was supposed to be training as usual. However, I think the marathon took a little bit more out of me than expected, both physically and mentally. My motivation to run First Light seems to be dwindling at this point. Hopefully things will turn around a bit this week.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 12.11.17 – 12.17.17:

Monday – Easy: 5 miles (8:59 pace)

Tuesday – Easy: 5 miles (8:52 pace) 

Wednesday AM – Easy: 9 miles (8:18 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:38 pace)

Thursday – Groove Repeats: 12 miles (7:25 pace)

My schedule called for a 2 mile warm up, 6 X 1 mile groove repeats (between LT & VO2 max pace) with a quarter mile recovery and a 2 mile cool down. My goal range for the groove repeats was between 6:05 and 6:10 pace. I knew going into this workout that my legs weren’t going to cooperate. While they were feeling better, they weren’t fully recovered from the marathon.

My coach pointed out that the point of the marathon specific phase is to train the legs (and mind) to run even when tired. With this in mind, I kind of approached the workout as if it were the last 6 miles of the marathon. My legs will be tired. My pace (likely) won’t be exactly what it is *supposed to* be. This workout proved to me that even when I don’t think it is possible, I can still work hard and have a decent run.

Mile splits were 6:28, 6:28, 6:36, 6:31, 6:38 and 6:26. Sometimes showing up and putting in the effort is more important that nailing specific pace goals.

Friday AM – Easy: 6 miles (9:04 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:39 pace)

Saturday – Easy: 9 miles (8:30 pace)

Sunday – Long Run: 20 miles (8:12 pace)

Several of us met in Mobile Sunday morning and ran the hilly section of the First Light course (miles 10 through 20 essentially) twice. I was technically supposed to do a steady state long run at 7:10 to 7:20 pace. I think running the course with friends was more beneficial at this point. 20 miles at 7:10 would’ve been a bit stretch after the marathon last week and would’ve set me back a decent amount as far as recovering this week.

Total – 76.0 miles

That’s it for now! See you soon!

Hey friends!

Last week was the fifth week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. Five weeks down and five weeks to go! Woo!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 12.04.17 – 12.10.17:

Monday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:40 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:20 pace)

A morning run with the Daniels and an evening run with Jessica. I love it.

Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:31 pace) 

Another morning run with the Daniels.

Wednesday – Tempo: 12 miles (6:55 pace) 

My workout Wednesday morning called for a 1 mile warm up, a 10 mile aerobic threshold progression and a 1 mile cool down. I was not looking forward to this workout in the slightest. It was rainy most of the week and for some strange reason, I couldn’t convince anyone to run a 10 mile tempo with me (shocking, I know). I had to get this done before work and I was torn between the treadmill or the track. I don’t run by myself in the dark if I can help it. I decided to meet Young Daniel at the track. He had a three mile tempo workout to do, so at least I had some company for a little bit. It rained on us, but just a light drizzle, nothing too bad. Another runner that I know showed up to do a workout not too long after Young Daniel left, so I was only by myself for a couple of miles.

So basically I just ran lap after lap after lap around the track for 12 miles. It was a lot of laps (<– so profound). I had low expectations for this workout (since I was mentally not feeling it and usually physical performance is correlated to my pre-workout (or race) mental state). I was SHOCKED that once I started running, I felt AMAZING. It was one of those workouts where something clicks and everything just feels easy and effortless. I don’t know where it came from (actually, I do … it came from lots of hard work … ha), but I sure hope that it stays around for a while. I averaged 6:42 for the 10 mile workout portion! 6:46 for the first half and 6:39 for the second half.

My coach shared this on IG this week and I thought it was really good and on point with what I felt during this workout.

He says, “The State Of Flow is the sweet spot where the challenge before you is roughly equal to your fitness and readiness. Learn to find this zone naturally by feel for each workout and race. This zone is where the magic happens. It is where you stay engaged but not anxious, challenged but not overly stressed. Use your watch only as a sanity check and feedback tool. Any pace guidance I give as a coach is designed to help the runner find this zone.” Yes! I love it.

Thursday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:30 pace) + PM – Easy: 7.6 miles (8:28 pace)

Yes another morning run with the Daniels and an evening run with the group.

Friday – Easy: 7 miles (8:57 pace)

I went to the YMCA for the first time in months (/years). I like to think of my membership fee more like a monthly charitable donation (not that I count it as such on my tax return … don’t worry). It was cold and raining (/snowing) Friday and I wasn’t ready to brave the elements. Our treadmill was also randomly stuck at a 15% incline and I wasn’t ready to tackle that either, so the YMCA seemed like my best option. Our treadmill is fine now (thanks to Daniel).

Saturday – Easy: 7 miles (7:57 pace)

We woke up to a light dusting of snow! I think the last recorded snowfall in our area was in 2010 and before that it was 1993, so not something that happens often, that’s for sure!

I ran a few miles with Kenny before the Holiday Half Marathon. It was a CHILLY (33* & windy), but beautiful morning to run! Daniel made a last minute decision to run the half and got second place overall with a 1:28. Yes! Way to go, DG!

Sunday – [ALMOST] MARATHON: 25.7 miles (7:47 pace)

Race recap is here. I had lots to say. Ha.

Total – 82.3 miles

That’s it for now! Have a wonderful week guys!

Hey friends!

Last week was the fourth week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. I am pacing the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon this weekend!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 11.27.17 – 12.03.17:

Monday – Easy: 5 miles (8:27 pace)

I majorly procrastinated my run on Monday and didn’t end up running until almost 6 p.m. At that point, I decided to just hit the treadmill and get it knocked out.

Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:33 pace) 

I had to be dressed, ready and out the door by 6 a.m. Tuesday. I knew that if I waited until the evening, it wasn’t gonna happen. This meant that I was up and on the treadmill again by 3:45 a.m. I don’t necessarily recommend that, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Brooks was sweet enough to come lay with me while I ran. He practiced his down dog on my yoga mat (that hasn’t been used for yoga in years).

Wednesday AM – Tempo Repeats: 12 miles (7:19 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:40 pace)

My workout Wednesday called for a mile and a half warm up, followed by 4 X 2 mile repeats and a mile and a half cool down. This was the first time I have ever done 4 sets of 2 mile repeats, as the workout is typically 3 X 2 mile. I was a bit intimidated by the idea of doing an extra repeat, but I was also strangely excited to try it out and see how I felt.

Thankfully, I had company for the first 3 repeats. If I hadn’t, this would’ve been a long, lonely workout. One notable thing that sticks out from this workout was that Young Daniel got The Ballad of Davy Crockett stuck in our heads. You know the “born on a mountain top in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free?” Yep, that one. Problem was, at the time, I couldn’t recall the actual lyrics of the song, but only the lyrics that my dad made up when I was a kid which involved something about Davy Crockett being born on a toilet seat in Tennessee. Of course this also led my thoughts down a rabbit hole of other songs that my dad had “modified” the words to, such as Little Bunny Foo Foo, who in our version “went to take a crap” and “got her tail stuck in a trap.” So lovely. Thanks for that, dad! Haha.

I don’t recall exactly when my thoughts came back to running and away from toilets, but eventually they did. At some point during the workout (I think it was when Sasser and Young Daniel finished up their workout (so after the third repeat)), I changed my watch screen from current pace to average pace. I keep an eye on the current pace during my workouts usually, especially on long repeats, to make sure that I am within my prescribed pace range. In this case, I was right where I was supposed to be for the majority of the workout, but when I looked down to check my pace on the last set, I forgot that I had changed the view to average pace (which included my slog (slow jog) recoveries and was thus, a decent amount slower than my current pace). I had a momentary freak out where I was like, I really feel like I am running close to 6:30 pace, how can this possibly be 7:00 pace?! I was aggravated for almost an entire mile until I realized that I was looking at average pace. Silly rabbit.

My splits for the miles and 2 mile repeats were 6:48/6:32, 6:31/6:29, 6:27/6:35, 6:31/6:20. My goal range was 6:20 to 6:30, so I am very pleased with how this one went down.

After my workout, it was time for my weekly visit to Dr. Ryan. This week I got the extra special torture of having my hamstring wrapped in ice as it was hooked up to the e-stim machine. Fun times!

Thursday – Easy: 8 miles (8:56 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:02 pace)

My legs felt better than I expected them to on Thursday morning. Daniel got up and rode his bike with me while I ran, which was much appreciated. We did 7.25 miles and came back to the house so that I could grab Brookser for the last little bit.

We had an impromptu group run at our house Thursday evening, as our town got “lit” for Christmas and our usual running spot was in the middle of all that. I got to chat with Jessica for five miles and that was lovely.

Friday – Easy: 5 miles (7:40 pace)

Since I am pacing a marathon next weekend at 7:45 – 7:50 pace, I decided to practice that pace during my run on Friday. It took me 3 miles to settle into it (the first mile was a tad slow and the next two were a tad fast), but once I did, I nailed it for two miles. I’m glad I tested it out a little bit and I’ll likely do that again this week just to make sure my body is used to what it feels like.

Saturday – Easy: 10 miles (9:46 pace)

I met Jessica and Joy in Mobile early Saturday morning to knock out a few miles before the Girls on the Run Fall Celebratory 5K. We ran several miles on part of the First Light course, so that worked out quite nicely. The girls ran great and had so much fun! Hopefully we’ll get some of the official pics soon.

Sunday – Long Run w/ AT Tempo: 18 miles (7:54 pace)

My long run Sunday included 8 aerobic threshold tempo miles in the middle of the run I did a 5 mile warm up, 8 mile tempo and 5 mile cool down. My goal range for the tempo portion was 6:40 to 6:50. Most of my usual training buddies ran long on Saturday, but thankfully Bowie volunteered to run my workout with me on Sunday. My AT pace is not a tough pace for him to run anyway, so that worked out. He kept me on track and I definitely needed the extra encouragement. At one point, a dog named Sam decided to come out and chase us for a little bit. I know this because the owner was frantically calling him (or her perhaps) back with “Come here Sam!” and “SAM! Get back here.” It was pretty funny.

Our mile splits for the tempo miles were 7:05, 6:44, 6:44, 6:43, 6:47, 6:42, 6:41 and 6:39 for a 6:45 average, which was exactly within the prescribed range. I would describe it as a comfortably hard effort (if that makes any sense). The idea of having to 18 more miles at just a slightly slower pace is still quite intimidating though.

Total – 76 miles

Hey friends!

I’m a little late with this one, but better late than never I suppose. Last week was the third week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. I am also pacing a marathon in less than 2 weeks!

Here is what my training looked like the week of 11.20.17 – 11.26.17:

Monday – Easy: 7 miles (8:28 pace)

I ran on the treadmill Monday mid-afternoon. I listened to an episode of the Man Bun Run podcast and had an enjoyable run.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 7 miles (8:41 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:26 pace)

Tuesday morning I did 6 miles outside by myself, which is fairly rare. I came back, grabbed Brooks and we ran one mile together. Daniel and I did an easy loop after work on Tuesday.

Wednesday AM – Easy: 9 miles (8:22 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:07 pace)

I got to run with Rebecca Wednesday morning! Woo! Her schedule has been crazy lately and we haven’t gotten to run in the mornings very much. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving break.

I got to run with Jessica Wednesday evening! Woo (again)! I love running friends and running with friends.

Thursday – Race: Turkey Trot 

Race recap is here!

Friday – Easy: 8 miles (8:19 pace)

I ran with Rebecca again Friday morning. We both had long weekend runs planned and so we tried to take it easy on Friday.

Saturday – Long Run: 22 miles (8:16 pace)

This was my longest run so far and was supposed to be done a little quicker and actually was supposed to be done on Sunday, which would’ve given me another day to recover from trotting with turkeys. Several of us are training for First Light and we are planning to do a few of our key long runs on the marathon course. Saturday worked best for the majority and so that’s what we went with.

I’ve run this marathon two times before and so, I kind of know what to expect from the course. However, this run was definitely eye-opening. The middle section of this race is tough!

I drank my UCAN and did my typical pre-race routine for this run to try to simulate race day conditions. My stomach felt off for the majority of the run and I was never able to get into a good grove. Honestly, I had lots of doubts in my head as to why I am running this race and whether or not I will be able to run as fast as I hope to. Basically I finished the run questioning whether or not I even want to run the marathon. I guess we’ll just chalk it up to an off day and keep on keeping on at this point.

Sunday – Easy: 10 miles (8:56 pace)

My legs weren’t sore Sunday, which I guess is a good sign. We still took it easy, but I was happy to get a decent run in. The run was good and the company always makes it even better!

Total – 82.3 miles

Hey friends!

Last week was the second week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. I am also pacing a marathon in 3 weeks! I didn’t make many notes about the easy runs last week, so this will be fairly brief.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 11.13.17 – 11.19.17:

Monday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:40 pace) + PM – Easy: 5.1 miles (8:41 pace)

Tuesday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:43 pace) 

Wednesday AM – Brisk: 10 miles (7:38 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:10 pace)

Wednesday morning my training plan called for a 10 mile run with 5 miles easy and 5 at a brisk pace, which is very similar to goal marathon pace. The goal range for the brisk portion was 6:45 to 7:00 pace. It felt great out Wednesday morning (once we got warmed up :)). It was a brisk 50 degrees with a slight wind … perfect weather for a brisk run!

I had company for this workout! Workouts are a million billion trillion times easier with friends. We averaged 8:28 for the first 5 miles of the run and then it was time to pick it up a little bit! We averaged 6:45 exactly for the second 5 miles, so right at the low end of the goal range! Woo! Our splits for the brisk miles were 6:57, 6:53, 6:45, 6:32 and 6:39. We got a little overly ambitious on those last two miles, but it felt good, so I just went with it.

Thursday – Easy: 8 miles (8:32 pace) 

Friday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:39 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:56 pace)

Saturday – RACE: Turkey 10! Fast Finish Long Run (aka Turkey 20!): 20 miles (7:29 pace) 

Race recap is here!

Sunday – Easy: 6.8 miles (8:28 pace)

Total – 75.0 miles (so even!)

That’s all I’ve got for today. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Talk to you guys soon.

Hey friends! Two posts in one day. I’m on a roll! Ha.

Last week was the first week of the marathon specific phase of my training for the First Light Marathon. I did a 9 week fundamental phase and I have a 10 week specific phase (including the taper weeks). Also, I am pacing a marathon in just 4 short weeks (gulp … cue minor freak out).

Here is what my training looked like the week of 11.06.17 – 11.12.17:

Monday AM – Easy: 8 miles (8:11 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:12 pace)

Daniel and I got in a solid 8 miles Monday morning. The temperature was nice and it was SO MUCH brighter out! We both felt good and our easy pace was a little quicker than what it has been here recently, which was nice to see. I hope that means that my fitness is actually improving. I never want to force an “easy” pace, but it’s really nice when it happens naturally.

We did our first “dark” evening run after work Monday evening and boy was I decked out in reflective gear. For whatever reason, I don’t wear reflective gear in the mornings when we run, but when we run in the evenings, I want all the lights. I’m usually not a fan of the time change, but I gotta admit, I’m kind of digging it this year. I used to feel guilty for wanting to go to bed before it was dark, but now … I got nothing to feel bad about! It’s 7 p.m.? Yes. It’s dark? Yes. It’s perfectly acceptable to go to bed? In my opinion … Yes!

Tuesday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:50 pace) + PM – Easy: GOTR Practice 5K 

We did an easy, uneventful loop with Young Daniel Tuesday morning.

The Girls on the Run practice 5K was Tuesday afternoon. The girls did great and I really think they had fun. We tried to make it a big deal for them with signs, music, medals, treats, etc. Several of them didn’t think they would be able to complete the distance, but they did … that was so cool to see!

Wednesday AM – Tempo: 12.75 miles (7:12 pace) + PM – Easy: 3 miles (8:56 pace)

Wednesday morning my training plan called for 3 X 3 mile repeats at aerobic threshold pace with a 3:00 jog recovery in between sets. You know things are getting real when you see a 3 X 3 mile workout appear on the schedule. Holy Moses. That’s a long workout! I’ve done this workout at least once before, but this was actually my first time doing it outside, as opposed to on the treadmill. I actually used to do 75% or more of my workouts on the treadmill. While it is certainly a great tool to use, I think that doing my workouts on the roads (or track in this case) has been much better.

I hit the track fairly early (definitely earlier than normal since this was such a long workout). I did a mile and a half warm up and then it was time to get going. My goal pace range for the repeats was 6:35 to 6:45 with a slight negative split. My actual paces were 6:45, 6:45, 6:50 (6:46 avg), 6:49, 6:41, 6:44 (6:44 avg), and 6:35, 6:39, 6:31 (6:35 avg). I was very happy with how this one went. It was a confidence building workout for sure! I had to stay engaged mentally and really focus on the mile I was in and I think this was great mental practice for the marathon. It’s really easy to let your mind wander and think about how many miles or laps you have left, which can be totally overwhelming at times. It’s always best to stay focused and take things one mile (or one lap) at a time.

Daniel wanted to run Wednesday evening and I thought it might be nice to shake my legs out with an easy run, but no. Definitely not. My legs were having no part of it. I let him finish the loop on his own and I called it a day at 3 miles.

Thursday – Easy: 8 miles (8:53 pace) 

I ran a loop with Daniel and headed back out for 3 more miles after the loop. Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying the extra light in the mornings?! Yep. Just wanted to make sure.

Non-running related side note: We went to see Elf the Musical at the Saenger Theater in Pensacola Thursday evening and it was fabulous! The story line follows the movie, but it is not the same as watching the movie (which we will definitely still be doing). The songs were all different and the scenes varied a good bit. It was hilarious and very entertaining.

Friday – Easy: 9 miles (8:35 pace)

We didn’t get home until way past my normal bedtime, so I slept in a bit Friday and headed out to run around 8:30 or 9 a.m., which was lovely! I got to listen to Lindsey Hein’s interview with Allie Kieffer (5th place finisher at NYC) on my run Friday morning. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I love her outlook on life and training … very inspiring.

Saturday – Easy: 6 miles (8:57 pace)

Saturday morning I ran a few miles with the Daniels and Cody and finished up the run with Jessica (and Olivia!). We kept the pace pretty chill and enjoyed a beautiful fall morning.

I had a gift certificate for a pair of shoes from Running Wild from a race I did a few months ago and I finally cashed that bad boy in Saturday! I wanted to try something new and fun, so I went with the Altra Torin. I wore them around the house Saturday and made the executive decision to wear them for my race Sunday, violating one of the main rules of racing … nothing new on race day. I’m quite the rebel.

Sunday – RACE: Battleship 12K

Race recap is here!

Total – 72.8 miles

That’s all I’ve got for today. Talk to you guys soon!

Hey guys!

Another week of training is in the books! The fundamental phase is complete. Time to move on to the specific phase! Woo!

Here is what the last week of the fundamental phase looked like:

Monday AM – Easy: 7 miles (8:28 pace) + PM – Easy: 5.25 miles (8:27 pace)

I ran easy Monday morning … two miles with Brooks and then five miles on the treadmill. I saw Ryan Monday afternoon and thankfully my hamstring was healing nicely. Of course I asked him if I could run “hard,” as I was really missing workouts. He suggested that I ease back into things a little bit and not try to do some sort of crazy speed work just yet, which definitely made sense.

Several of the usual suspects met Monday evening and so I decided to tag along for an easy double.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:40 pace) + PM – Steady State: 8 miles (7:09 pace)

Due to time constraints Tuesday morning, I wasn’t able to squeeze a workout in. Even though I wanted to “test” it, at the same time I really didn’t want to “test” it (that probably doesn’t even make sense). I mulled it over a little bit more and by Tuesday evening I decided that it was, in fact, time to do a test run and see how the hammy held up.

My only real plan for the test run was to try to run a few miles in the 7:00 to 7:15 pace range, which is what I would consider to be a steady state effort (10 – 20 seconds slower than goal marathon pace). I did this workout solo, which is definitely not normal. Daniel did a workout on the bike while I ran. We both did an out and back route. I went out 4 miles and he went out 12 or 13 miles. My splits were 7:47, 6:58, 6:56, 7:11, 6:56, 7:03, 7:03 and 7:22. I felt decent and was THRILLED that my hamstring felt fine! Whew.

Wednesday – Easy: 10 miles (8:22 pace)

Wednesday’s run was an easy 10 miler w/ 10 X 1:00 pickups w/ 1:00 recovery. Typically the 1:00 pickups are done at a fast pace (VO2 max or faster), but I still didn’t want to take a chance with the hamstring. I didn’t time the intervals at all and I definitely didn’t push like I normally would on this workout.

Thursday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:57 pace) + PM – Easy: 5.25 miles (9:00 pace)

Apparently easy five mile runs were my jam this week.

Friday – Easy: 5.75 miles (9:10 pace)

Daniel and I did the standard five mile easy run again Friday morning and I took Brooks for a short trot once we got home.

Saturday – Race: Senior Bowl 10K

Race recap in separate post!

Sunday – Easy: 10 miles (8:01 pace)

I met the group for our Sunday “long run.” Most of us raced the day before, so we didn’t go as far as we would have otherwise. My legs felt surprisingly fresh. I think we were all pleasantly surprised as far as that goes. Of course it was also 10 degrees cooler Sunday morning. At this point, we will take it whenever we can get it!

Total – 71.5 miles

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Monday friends! I hope your week is off to a great start!

Thanks to a cranky hamstring, my week of training didn’t go exactly as planned last week. I’m thankful that I was able to get in what I was though. I am hoping to resume training as normal next week and planning to continue rolling, icing and stretching like a champ.

Monday – Easy: 5 miles (8:56 pace)

My legs were a tad fatigued Monday morning after the half marathon long run combo that I did on Sunday. Daniel and I got up and got a loop in before work and it felt good to stretch out my legs some. I had an appointment with Dr. Ryan at Coastal Chiropractic Monday morning. I got a little bit off schedule with my weekly appointments (as in I went 3 weeks in between appointments instead of 1 week) and I could definitely tell a difference. My left glute, hamstring and IT band were screaming at me. This was foreshadowing of the rest of the week.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:56 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (9:12 pace)

Tuesday morning I ran easy on the treadmill … nothing fancy, just getting some easy miles in before work. At Girls on the Run Tuesday afternoon, we played a game that resembled freeze tag. The coaches had to chase the girls and if we caught them, they were frozen. While they were frozen, they had to think about how they would resolve a conflict with a friend, using scenarios that we gave them. Some of those little chickadees are FAST and I had to sprint to catch them. I don’t think I was properly warmed up (we do a warm up with the girls, but I think that maw-maw here likely needs a bit more of warm up than the girls do) and I tweaked my [already sensitive] hammy. I didn’t really realize this at the time, but looking back I’m fairly certain this is what happened.

Daniel and I ran a loop with Jessica Tuesday evening. I definitely knew that something was “off” with my hamstring at that point, but I figured it would loosen up as we went along. It wasn’t specifically bothering me to run easy, but I noticed that if I tried to pick the pace up at all (which meant lengthening out my stride), I was feeling a pull all the way down the back of my leg. No bueno.

Wednesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:50 pace) + AlterG: 7 miles (8:34 pace)

Being the stubborn runner that I am, I got up and ran Wednesday morning. I was supposed to do a wave tempo workout and I was actually really looking forward to it. You alternate between two paces (i.e., half marathon pace and 10K pace) every half mile during the tempo, which was scheduled to be 5 miles. As soon as we started running, I realized that I was NOT going to be able to do the workout. I had to admit that something was actually wrong with my hamstring at this point.

I went back to see Ryan again Wednesday after work and he diagnosed a mild hamstring strain, which is definitely better than … well, anything worse. He recommended taking a day or two off from regular running, but gave me the option of running on the Anti-Gravity treadmill in the meantime. I decided to go ahead and test that out to see how it felt Wednesday evening. I did 7 miles alternating between 50 – 75% body weight. I also ran on an incline, as your stride naturally shortens when running uphill and shorter strides felt fine on my leg.

Thursday – OFF

I let my legs rest completely on Thursday. My hamstring felt fine, but of course, that didn’t necessarily mean anything. I had Girls on the Run Thursday afternoon, but didn’t run with the girls. Hashtag self restraint. Hashtag sarcasm.

Friday – AlterG: 5 miles (8:34 pace)

I ran on the anti-gravity treadmill Friday afternoon. I ran at 75% body weight the whole run and played around with the incline again (alternating between 3 – 6%).

Saturday – Easy: 3.5 miles (8:30 pace)

I was originally planning to race a local Turkey Trot (you thought it was still October … yes … earliest Turkey Trot ever) that takes place less than a mile from the house. Oddly enough, this is the same race where I injured myself last year. In case you are new or don’t remember, I fell during the warm up and busted my face and knee up. It wasn’t fun. Here we are one year later and I wasn’t exactly able to *race* this year either (apparently the week of Halloween is meant to be a down week in the life of Sam).

The silver lining this year, however, was that I still got to run the race! As a pacer! My favorite thing! I ran with two of the Girls on the Run girls. I had a blast and they both came away with PRs, which was great. I was just happy to be able to participate in the race, after missing it unexpectedly last year.

Sunday – Easy: 9 miles (8:42 pace)

My hammy felt fine after Saturday’s run, so I got in a little bit longer run on Sunday, but nothing too crazy. I got to run with Jessica and Rebecca, which is always lovely. Rebecca even taught me how to use Instagram stories, which obviously makes me super cool and hip now. It was 41 degrees (feels like 38!) and windy for our run. We skipped right on over fall and got some winter temps!

Total – 35 miles + 12 miles (AlterG)