T Minus 1 Month!

Well hello!

I’m sure you didn’t expect to hear from me on a Monday of all days and yet, here we are. I fell a bit behind in life blogging last week and I contemplated not posting my weekly training summary, but the race is getting so close! Might as well finish what I started, right? Right. Let’s get to it.

Monday

Oh, Monday. Monday was very Monday-ish.

I woke up to rain and wasn’t able to drag myself out of bed to hit the treadmill before work. I had to drive across the bay for a continuing education class and I knew that the Bayway would be a disaster with the rain, so I needed to get a bit of an earlier than normal start. My class started at 8:30. I left the house before 7:30 and arrived at my class around 9:30. A bus wrecked in the tunnel so that was basically a traffic nightmare. Thankfully I wasn’t the only person that got stuck in that mess and they even delayed the class for us to arrive. Thank goodness! Did I mention that I had to get my continuing education in by September 30th and this was the 28th? Basically I needed every hour of credit possible that day or else I wouldn’t be able to renew my license. Cutting it a little bit close this year.

That had absolutely nothing to do with running. I get sidetracked sometimes (you probably know this by now). I made it home in time to get an easy six miles in on the treadmill before heading to yoga. I had missed a few weeks of yoga, so it was great to get back. We did a lot of core and upper back stretches and I really felt it through my ribs. It was a little uncomfortable, but hopefully helpful for the healing process. I’ve still been seeing Dr. Justin on a pretty regular basis and I think we are making progress, but it’s not quite as fast as I was hoping.

Tuesday

Daniel and I ran before work Tuesday. I don’t know what was up with this run, but it was absolutely miserable (not due to the company of course). I’m pretty sure that the humidity was 1000% and we were both struggling. The loop we run 8.25 miles, but when my watch beeped for 8 miles, I was done. I was not running another step. I was feeling pretty discouraged about this run and even made some semi-dramatic notes to my coach in my training log about the worst. run. ever.

Tuesday is usually my double run day. I was a bit skeptical and almost skipped the second run altogether, especially because I wasn’t able to make it to Running Wild in time for the group run. I told myself I would just run a mile or two and see how I felt. Reluctantly, I headed out, but I ended up feeling amazing. I did five miles and it was a great run! I still can’t really figure this one out, but I was so glad to be feeling better. I went back and deleted the semi-dramatic notes from my training log. Ha.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling good and ready to tackle #workoutwednesday. I had 3 X 3 mile repeats on the schedule with a goal range of 6:30 to 6:40. I headed to the treadmill and got going early, because yes … that is a really long workout! Holy moly. Here’s what I did …

2 mile warm up: starting at 6.0 mph for 2 minutes and increase the speed by .2 every 2 minutes

1st 3 miles: averaged 6:40 (9.0 mph)

2nd 3 miles: averaged 6:36 (9.1 mph)

3rd 3 miles: averaged 6:31 (9.2 mph)

2 mile cool down: at 7.0 to 7.5 mph

I was pleasantly surprised to get this one done without *too* much difficulty. Don’t get me wrong, it was tough, but I didn’t feel completely spent at the end. The purpose of the workout was to be a stamina builder. I think it served its purpose.

Hydrating like it’s my job (at my job). I’ve been trying to drink 2 – 3 of the big 30 oz. Yeti tumblers of water at work everyday. I add Nuun to at least two of the cups. I am definitely trying to be more intentional about my hydration (and nutrition) as I get closer to the marathon.

Wednesday is my second double run day of the week and Rebecca and I got in an easy five miles after work. We had both run long-ish that morning so we went nice and easy that evening and just enjoyed catching up.

Thursday

Thursday morning Shelly, Daniel and I did 8 miles. Shelly is one of our friends from small group and she is running her first marathon this weekend in Chicago! She’s going to rock it. Good luck Shelly!

Friday

Friday morning I did a few easy miles on the treadmill before work. It’s gotten so dark in the morning now, I am sticking to the treadmill more and more.

Saturday

Saturday was my training group’s first 20 mile run of the training cycle! I headed to RW bright and early with the bike in tow. Our weather took a turn for the best this weekend and we actually had some fall temperatures and lower humidity. Perfect timing for their long run! I ran the first 9 miles with them and then hopped on the bike for the remainder of their run. Everyone did so well! I can’t wait to see them race. They are one month out!

I was about to turn into a human popsicle after riding the bike in the cooler, windy weather (being sweaty wasn’t helping me either). I stopped at Coffee Loft on my way home to get some hot coffee to warm me up. By the time I got home, it was close to noon and I was so tired. I had to decide whether to drink my coffee or take a nap. The struggle is real. The nap won.

I woke up and worked on my blog post about the Integrity Worldwide #runforkenya (please go back and check it out if you missed it) while Daniel watched lots of football. Our grocery situation was pretty dire and so we ended up heading to the grocery store after the Alabama game domination. Daniel decided that he wanted to make a crock pot meal and so we quickly googled some recipes while we were shopping and he decided to make a “slow” country boil. More to come on that.

Sunday

Sunday morning was supposed to be my longest run of the training cycle. I had 24 miles on the schedule. Key wording there with “was supposed to be.” I only ran 12 miles. My body was tired, my legs were heavy and my heart was not in it. I was very disappointed with how I felt during this run, but ultimately I think I made the right decision to cut the run short. I’ve done several 22 milers, so one failed long run attempt isn’t going break me. It did take a little bit lots of reassuring and encouragement from both Daniel and my coach to help me to realize this though. Why is it so easy to focus on one failed run instead of all the successful ones?

Sunday afternoon we rested. Even Brookser was worn out (he is sleeping under the shower curtain while Daniel showered).

Daniel cooked up our slow country boil Sunday afternoon. He didn’t follow a set recipe, but there were potatoes (blue, red and fingerling), onions, celery, sausage and shrimp involved (plus some yummy seasonings). It turned out really, really well! A nice warm meal really hit the spot on a chilly, fall evening.

I think that catches us up on the training front. This has been one of the longest and definitely the most intense training cycles I have ever done. I am just ready for this race to get here! I am taking a rest day today (hence the out-of-the-ordinary Monday post) and I have a little bit of a down week this week so that I can get ready for my half marathon this weekend. Then it is taper time. I have never been one to look forward to the taper (a cut back in training before a big race), but this time I am ready! It may seem counter-intuitive, but it is those last few weeks of rest that make you stronger. Someone please remind me of this in about two weeks when I am busting to run all. the. miles. the week before my race.

Runners out there … love the taper or hate the taper?