Week 12
75 Miles
8 Runs
2 Quality Workouts

Coming off the Chicago Half Marathon disaster, I was ready to move on and get back to work.

Monday: 7 recovery miles.

Tuesday: Feeling better now but still keeping it easy. 8 miles.

Wednesday: Back to work. The workout was a 9 mile run with 7 at a descending  tempo pace. It was warm and sticky. I was happy with the run. Tempo mile 1 – 6:15. Tempo mile 7 – 5:55. Descending the entire time. Good effort.
Second run – Easy 5 in the afternoon.
Total miles 14

Thursday: Easy 9.

Friday: Man Date/Run Date with Sean. 10 miles. Easy.

Saturday: Big run. I had to start super early  because we had a full day of activity planned, including Lindsey running a half with some friends, brunch and a birthday party.
The Run: 21 miles with the last 7 @ MRP or faster.
Ran the first 14 around 6:40-6:42 pace or so. Then on the last 7 is where the fun started. Here is the breakdown.
15 – 6:11
16 – 6:09
17 – 6:09
18 – 5:57
19 – 6:05
20 – 6:05
21 – 6:09
Over the last 7 miles I sipped on my flask of Hammer Gel. Nothing prior though during the 14. It is crazy how much difference the weather makes. Crazy. Happy with the run and where I think the fitness is at for Chicago.

Sunday: Recovery 6 with the family.

Overall, Week 12 was a good week.

Week 13
78 miles
6 runs
2 Quality Workouts 
1 Vacation

The last big week. Time to work. Here is the recap.

Monday: Originally I had a tempo run scheduled but following Saturday’s long run I was not ready for it mentally or physically. I mean I could have struggled through the workout but that would have set my week back. I had two other workouts that I wanted to nail. I am a firm believer in accumulated fatigue and not waiting till you feel good for every workout but even that is a judgement call and a balancing act. The right play, for me, was to not do the workout and just run easy.
Ran 11 Easy.

Tuesday: 12 easy

Wednesday:  3x3miles Descending pace through out each set and overall. Goal was to feel in control. Happy with the results coming off the hard long run and no rest days.
1 mile warm up 
3 x 3 miles – 
1: 18:18 time: 6:06 pace 
2: 18:02 time: 6:01 pace 
3: 17:47 time: 5:56 pace 
1 mile cool down

Saturday:  9 mile easy run with Lindsey in Tiburon, CA. We had wanted to drive to Stinson Beach and do a trail run but we got short on time as we had a bunch of things going on, like eating and drinking on vacation. So we randomly found this park that had a nice 6.5 mile loop to run. We got absolutely poured on for about an hour of the run. The locals said it had not rained in 6 months. Awesome! Once you get wet though, you can’t get more wet. It was a fun run and it was going to be the sight of my long run tomorrow. 

This is us before we got soaked. Lindsey wanted to take a selfie. Whatevs. Sunday: This is it. The last real long hard effort before the race. The run called for 22 miles Steady State. Who wants to see my all splits? Ok, good. Here they are below. Overall, really happy with the run. The loop had a decent amount of small elevation changes to keep things fresh throughout. Oh and apparently, it had incredible view of the Bay, downtown San Fran, and the Golden Gate Bridge. None of this was apparent to Lindsey or I on Saturday as it poured. It was probably one of the mos scenic runs I had ever been on. Here are the splits  1 – 6:36  2 – 6:33  3 – 6:32  4 – 6:35  5 – 6:42  6 – 6:37  7 – 6:35  8 – 6:29  9 – 6:33  10 – 6:44  11 – 6:41  12 – 6:35  13 – 6:41  14 – 6:39  15 – 6:40  16 – 6:38  17 – 6:30  18 – 6:43  19 – 6:40  20 – 6:38  21 – 6:37  22 – 6:43  Total – 2:25:42  Average – 6:37  Min – 6:29  Max – 6:44 The Bay at the sunrise. You can see foggy San Fran in the distance. Incredible views. Wave Sayonara photo shoot post run. Obviously.  Overall, another solid week in the books. We’ll find out in three Sunday’s if the work was right.  I think it was….I feel good about things. I have entered taper mode now. Tapering is always weird…but it is needed. Doing my best to reduce the volume and intensity a bit and resting up. Two taper weeks and then its race week! Questions: Lots of big races coming up…what do you have planned? Running Chicago? How long do you taper for? Two weeks? Three Weeks?

Week 9

70 Miles
9 Runs
3 Quality Workouts including 1 race

After a couple of weeks of playing it safe with my hamstring I felt like I was ready to take it up a bit in week 9.

Monday – Wave Tempo. I love this workout. It is a newer workout for me. I had heard of them before but had never used them myself. You start off thinking it is going to be no big deal then those AT pace miles start to hit and you start to work. A great workout. Workout was 10 mile totals with 7 wave alternating between 6:22 & 5:52.

Tuesday – Easy 11

Wednesday – Easy 12

Thursday – Carmel Road Racing Group 5K. I was happy with how this race went. I was able to take 10 seconds off my time. You can read about it here. Total miles for the day was 10. I would say the highight was hanging with everybody after the race. The people you meet through running are great!

The Crew.

Friday – Easy 10

Saturday – 16 miles descending pace fast finish. Great workout with Sean and Collin. Sean about killed me. He was on…I was not. It was a great run. If you want to excel at the marathon you need to learn to get comfortable with running hard while fatigued.  We covered the last 6 in 6:24, 6:08, 6:06, 5:46, 6:00, and 5:50.
Sunday – Rest Day

Week 10

79 Miles
9 Runs
2 Quality Workouts
1 Pair of New Shoes

Can you tell that I am excited about my new shoes? I ordered these shoes during Week 9 but had some drama with the delivery so they would not arrive until the middle of week 10. The Mizuno Wave Sayonara was worth the wait. I am a big fan. It was definetly the running highlight of the week.

Monday – 13 Easy

Tuesday – 10 Easy

Wednesday – Morning speed work with the group. The workout was 6×1 mile repeats with 60-90 second jog in between. The combined temp and dew point of 147 which made for a great workout. Happy with the workout given the conditions. Normally I’d like to run 5:30 – 5:35…but adjustments need to be made sometimes.

1 – 5:35 2 – 5:37 3 – 5:42 4 – 5:42 5 – 5:45 6 – 5:50

Easy run in the afternoon for 4. Total miles around 12

Thursday – 8 Easy. First run in the Sayonaras. Toe box felt kind of big.

Friday – 8 Easy – 2nd run in Sayonaras. Don’t notice the toe box as much…if at all.

Saturday – Block Progression Run. It was hot out. Started later in the day so I could see some of Lindsey’s race. The dew point temp was about 144 @ the start and 148/149 at the end. Fun. Fun. I keep telling myself it makes me stronger….if I keep saying it maybe I will believe it.

Average Block – 6:49 
Average Block – 6:40 
Average Block – 6:31 
Average Block – 6:28

My new running shoe. I will race Chicago in them.

Really, the weekend home was not all bad. I got to spend some quality time with my family…which was awesome. My parents gave Lindsey and I our anniversery present and I scored some sweet beer. Overall, a pretty good weekend.

BeerHaul. DogFish. Firestone Walker. Revolution. Firestone Walker. Half Acre

Blanket made from our t-shirts- races, jobs Marshall stuff, etc.

Two weeks to go of hard training and then it is taper time. I am feeling good about where I am at. Here’s to hoping for good weather and fast feet.

Questions: How is your training going? What races are you getting ready for? We love to hear about others chasing goals!

Mile 1- 7:47 (warm up)

Mile 2- 6:57 
Mile 3- 7:02 
Mile 4- 7:03 
Mile 5- 7:02 
Mile 6- 6:59 

Mile 7- 7:36 (Recovery Mile) 

Mile 8- 7:00 
Mile 9- 7:03 
Mile 10- 7:05 
Mile 11- 7:07 
Mile 12- 7:18 

Mile 13- 7:48 (recovery mile) 

Mile 14-7:37 
Mile 15- 7:58 
Mile 16- 8:33

…..

I try really hard to overcome it. But, when I have a 15 + mile run on tap, I let it sit in the back of my mind constantly… until it’s complete.

This weekend for instance, I plan to run 20 miles. Glenn is running long at 7am on Saturday, so the plan is to go right when he gets home. That will put me at a 9:30ish start time. In my brain though, I’m thinking- maybe I could get someone to watch Marshall Friday morning and just get it over with. OR maybe I’ll do is Sunday. If I don’t go right at 7:30 or 8:00 when I like, maybe it’s not a good idea to do it that day. Read: Excuse. Want to either 1. Get it over with on Friday or 2. Push it off till Sunday.

We are going out to dinner for our anniversary tomorrow night and I’m already thinking about how I’ll be thinking about the damn 20 miles that await me on Saturday morning and won’t fully enjoy the night out. Glenn thinks I”m a head case, because when he has a hard or long workout, he doesn’t think about it much, he just does his thing and when it’s time- he goes. Tell me I’m not alone though?!

What I need to remember is, last week when I ran 17- I enjoyed a lot of the run and yesterday when I did some intense speedwork, although it hurt A LOT at times, I really enjoyed a lot of it. Seriously I was smiling at the effort I was putting out. I was loving running. It’s not always like that, but I need to remember that.

The mind problems happen in the morning…. when I wake up and my body feels tired and I wonder how I can possibly run as far or as fast as my intentions are for the day, it’s as though I don’t think I enjoy running as much as I do. But then I get started and I get the first few miles in and remember how much I like and kick myself for “dreading” or letting a long run “hang over my head”.

When the dread affect starts happening, I need to think about this beautiful alone time I have to just be me and not worry about what anyone else is doing for just 2.5 hours. Just BE in the moment. Sure my legs get tired, but that’s not so tragic is it? What am I really worried about? Worried that I won’t hit the paces I want to hit? And would that really be the end of the world?

All I really need to remember is how amazingly strong and powerful I feel when the long run is done. How it makes me feel like I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. Every long run isn’t some amazing, incredible experience where I feel like I can conquer the world, but nine times out of ten, I finish feeling a lot more like I can than if I didn’t run long.

So my mission right now is to ENJOY what’s happening right now and not dread something I know will actually make me happy. What’s up with this love/hate thing and why are we so addicted to it?

I’ve thought a lot about the training that went into this race. Once I got toward the end of my plan, I knew, given I had a good day at the race, I had a PR in the bag.

I had in my head that I was going sub 3:20 even if I had a not so good day, sub 3:15 if I was on my game and sub 3:10 if all of the stars aligned and I was on my game.

Glenn put together a really great training plan for me. He served as my coach for the most part. (at the very least, he listened to me babble nonstop about all the details of almost every workout… every day… while he was injured and frustrated that he couldn’t run.) He did a phenomenal job.He’s a good listener, a better listener than me.

Beyond listening to me, he made be believe I am strong. If I needed an unscheduled day off, he supported it and reminded me that missing a run would never make or break my goal. His favorite phrase is: work, works. And it does. 

Below are a few factors that helped me get some speed and take my marathon from a 3:24 to a 3:13. 

• More Miles
• The plan called for more miles than I’ve ever ran. I see a lot of women out there running 80-90 mile weeks, I’d like to do that for a training session at some point, but didn’t want to jump in that deep this time. I ran between 45-60 miles a week this training. I had never run a 60 mile week before this cycle. Heck, I don’t even know if I’d ever run much more than a 50 mile week. 

• Purpose to the Long Run
• We added big purpose to my long runs. In the past I participated in the whole long slow run most of the time. I would speed up at the end of them if I felt good, but no actual workout inside that run. This time around, unless it was a recovery week, there was always progression or marathon pace miles in the run. I wrote about this a little in a post before one of my long runs- “When a long run was just a long run“. The marathon pace miles taught me what it would feel like on race day. Why should I go into it blindly?

• Faster and Longer Tempo Runs:
• I used to be scared of tempo runs. They are hard and there’s no break. The first tempo run of this training session was horrible. The pace wasn’t even very fast and I felt out of control the whole time. Seriously, this run had me completely doubting myself and the goal I wanted to accomplish for this race. BUT, it slowly got better every week. When I realized that my prescribed tempo pace wasn’t challenging enough, I made myself commit to a faster pace. Every time. I wrote about a few of my tempo runs- here’s a post about putting the work in.

• Better Easy/Recovery Runs:
• In the past, my easy and recovery runs were shorter and slower. It’s important to run easy and recover, but they don’t have to be 2 minutes per mile slower than my tempo pace.This session, my recovery runs were anywhere from 6-10 miles at 7:30-8:30 pace. If I felt good, I would keep it closer to 7:30, if I felt extra tired, I would keep it closer to 8:30. The majority of these runs were around 7:50-8:10 pace.

• Confidence:
• I am married to a man with confidence. He is strong, he is ambitious and when he puts his mind to something he gets it done. Last year at the Mercedes Marathon when he broke 3 hrs for the first time, he went into the race knowing he trained properly and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he couldn’t and wouldn’t break 3 hrs. Confidence in my abilities is something I’ve struggled with since I started running years ago. Glenn has helped me realize my potential and pushes me to believe in myself.

• I got Tough:
• This goes hand in hand with the confidence. I had to be confident to get tough. When the tempo runs felt hard at mile 4, I dug deep and worked hard mentally and physically. When my long runs with marathon pace miles hurt, I embraced it and pushed harder. And on race day when I was at mile 14 and it seemed hopeless that I could keep pace for 12 more miles, I remembered those days when I pushed harder when it hurt. And I got tough. If you want to get faster, you have to get tough. 

I have thoughts of racing another marathon sooner than later, but then I remind myself that I need and really want a break. I’ve decided I’ll race one again in the fall. Sure, you can PR twice in one season, but in all reality, racing a marathon does take a lot out of you and if I want to race it to my full potential I should rest for a bit.

What now, what now. I took last week really easy and am left feeling like I need a plan. I’m not good at just winging it, I like to have some sort of schedule to follow. I think most people do. I’m ready for my sprint triathlon training plan. Ironman husband… get that together for me please?! And, although the long run makes me nervous week after week, and I’ve looked forward to not having to do one, I kind of think I don’t know how to not run long on the weekends.

Ever since I was cleared to run in early August, after having Marshall, I started training. At first it was just training (9 weeks post baby, 3 weeks of training) to build the distance for the Indy Women’s half and then (4 months post baby) the Monumental Marathon. I wanted to run those races to complete them in a time I felt was challenging but not real racing. I bounced right off Monumental to Rehoboth Beach in December, the goal was a negative split to get mentally strong for Shamrock.

The real race was Shamrock and right after Rehoboth was when the hard training began. There’s been no real break from the long run. My long run gets me excited about life and although sometimes leading up to it and while enduring it I want to be done, it fuels me to be a better person.

Beyond that, I want to keep in long run shape. I assume, for now, I’ll cap then around 15 miles, but will keep them closer to 10-12 consistently. Long, but not stressful. It’s much easier to start training for a marathon, when your base is already set. I like to keep a base year round really.

I started adding to this post all of my afterthoughts of Shamrock, but it was getting crazy long and I think it’s better to break it up. Tomorrow I’ll post a bit about my thoughts on the training plan I used and why I think it worked so well.

I’m super excited to virtually cheer for everyone at Boston this year and am hoping it’s great weather!

What course is your PR on?

Also…. Go Hoosiers!

Old School IU Windbreaker. Marshall has swagger.

Then I looked at the temperature…..  6 degrees, feels like -10. It was cold. The temperature on Saturday would be much more desirable to run in (around 21), but I didn’t think I’d be feeling it as much.

My mom agreed to be on Marshall duty for 20 miles worth of time. She thought I was crazy for running outside, said she’d suffer through it on the old treadmill if she were me. Then I called Glenn and he also thought I was crazy.You don’t hear that from him much, so I was a little concerned.

His text right before I left: “Be smart out there. It is really cold. Do you have something for your face? Your water bottles are going to freeze.” My response- “I’ll be fine.” (I wasn’t taking water… it was cold enough and I could stop somewhere and grab a drink if I needed) I think he might have just been acting concerned, because I always tell him I don’t think he gets worried about when I could be in danger. Like one time I said I was going to get my run in at 3am and he had no arguments with me out running in the dark, basically in the middle of the night in some so so neighborhoods. He also always tells me I’m silly for thinking it’s dangerous to run on the shadiest parts of the monon by myself.

ANYWAY- since I do most of my weekday runs on the treadmill, I try to always do my weekend long runs outside no matter what. Glenn says putting the work in is putting the work in… and he has a point. While he was bouncing off Ironman WI, he did nearly all of his training for the Monumental Half on the treadmill. And he majorly PRed.

There are a few reasons I like to keep the long ones outside though, one being the wind- Shamrock could possibly have a strong headwind. I need to be used to that as much as I can. I’ve definitely done some serious stroller runs into a headwind, which is great practice. (that was more last fall though) I also think the mind battle is totally different on a treadmill than it is outside. In my mind, the miles seem to go by faster outside but the distance seems more daunting.

Heading out the door. Scared my fingers might fall off.

What I wore:

• The only two pairs of long running tights I own. Both are too thin by themselves for weather under 15ish. I should probably invest in a thicker pair. I don’t like to spend money on running clothes though. Babies are like really expensive.
• Black wife beater tank (always start my layers with one, don’t ask me why)
• Super thick Under Armour long sleeved shirt
• Puma Rain Jacket thing
• Monumental Marathon toboggan hat (should have worn a hat that was tighter and didn’t let air come in the bottom… or a skimask)
• Super thick socks
• Two pairs of gloves (and kept my hands balled up in a loose fist inside the outer pair. Was too cold to have them out in the fingers)

He was cracking me up in this little seat at the store. His little nose is roughed up from his cold.

Turns out I was smart to get the 20 in Friday, because Saturday night I slept probably 4 hours total. I finished off the weekend though with an easy 8 on Saturday and 13 today. 41 miles in 3 days…  that’s a lot of running. I’m ready for my rest day tomorrow!

The fog was thick and kind of cold. The roads were pretty busy, but thankfully in Carmel- there are sidewalks and paths everywhere, so we didn’t have to run on the road much. I understand the advantage of running on the marathon course but I don’t think I’ll do it again more than once or twice. It was inconvenient to drive up and added time to the whole process, which is already long. These days I’m in the game of making the most of my time more than ever and this process won’t cut it.
  
Glenn had a bad run, I had a whatever run. We both needed a bathroom break 1.5 miles in and creeped around in an elementary school that was having a little kids basketball tournament to find one. I guess we didn’t look too shady in our running gear and sweat. For some reason I thought the parents would be more cautious about randos walking into the school, but they welcomed these runners with open arms.

We ended up averaging 7:45 pace, (splits here on daily mile) running pretty consistently the whole time. By mile 11, we were both over it though and  looking at our watches every 2 minutes. We were both thankful to be done. My legs started feeling tired around mile 8… which is kind of discouraging. It always freaks me out when I feel tired early on in a long run at a pace much slower than my projected race pace. I know we aren’t tapered and there will be days like this, it is what it is.

Post 16

About running in Carmel- drivers weren’t very nice about sharing the road… maybe the just didn’t see us?.  lot’s of round-a-bouts, I still hate round-a-bouts, lot’s of nice parks and pathways, lot’s of active people out and about (although I think that was mostly the weather), and lot’s of fancy SUV’s.

Regardless of how much I want to or how much I don’t want to do my Saturday long run when I wake up- it’s a guarantee that the rest of the day/weekend will feel more productive and in general BETTER once it’s done.

The rest of the day was filled with babysitting our niece Giovanna, watching Hoosier basketball with my dad, a walk on the monon, drinks on the patio at Mo & Johnny’s, (in January, 50 degrees… what?!) some reading, a couple of gossip girl episodes and a little Miss America before bed. (well Miss America for me, Football for Glenn)

Heading to the monon

First ride in the new wagon. She loved it.

Cadence being a good girl on the patio.

Don’t be fooled, entertaining himself didn’t last long…

Marshall’s first time in the big boy bath. Probably could have done this sooner.  This video is even cuter than the picture.