ATL Publix Marathon Training (3 Weeks til Race Week)

Week beginning thoughts: 

This is not okay.

Monday
Did: 5.91 mi @ 8:48/mi avg
It was beautiful and sunny and warm today, so even though I was too warm within the first mile, I tried to enjoy it because I know the rest of the week will be AWFUL. The sun was great and I felt good taking it easy, just trucking along and mentally checking out for a bit.

Tuesday
Did: 8.0 mi @ 7:47/mi
Yet another morning of "zomg tired" to "heck YES" on the treadmill.

 

Evolution of a morning run.

Did a treadmill ladder workout this morning since the downtown group AND my new track Tuesday buddy were unavailable (it's for the best - it was raining more than the forecast had predicted last night!). All speed intervals were sub-7 pace, recovery 400s in the 9-9:30 range. 

400, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 800, 800, 400, 400 for the ladder... I couldn't muster another 1200 after the mile, but I managed to do the mile under 6:30 (my current PR) so I told myself I "earned" the right to skip the 1200 and just do two 800s. #runnerlogic

Also pushed the 400s sub-6 which felt good.

Wednesday
Did: rest
Yesterday went downhill quickly... from feeling like a rockstar in the morning to congested/sniffly/sneezing by lunchtime. So I went home and slept for hours. Then slept for 10+ hours last night.

Thursday
Did: rest
Feeling MUCH better but not wanting to compromise the progress... decided on a second rest day. Since I'm not planning my long run until Sunday, I'll do 5-ish tomorrow and still be on track for the week, only missing my strength day.

Friday
Did: 5.0 mi @ 8:16/mi avg, 3x1mi repeats
Did some treadmill mile repeats today, each one progressively faster from about 7:30/mi for the first one ending closer to 7 on the last. Felt quite easy, actually. Hooray... looking forward to the weekend 20-miler!

Saturday
Did: nada
This was planned... rain all day and resting up for the long run tomorrow.

Sunday
Did: 20.07 mi @ 9:17/mi avg
Well then... this was faster than I expected, especially given the ridiculous winds that were picking up through the course of the run. It also got WARM (like, 70 degrees) towards the end. Man, what a drastic change from earlier this week where it rained all day and didn't get out of the low 40s.

Forecast. UGH.

We started from the zoo because I did NOT want to end on an uphill with a headwind today.

D wanted to hide in the stroller.

It was a little chilly at the beginning - I wore long sleeves and gloves. I think the dampness in the air was a major contributing factor in that, but it didn't take long to get warm and remove the first layer and the gloves. We trucked along through falls park - impressive water on the Reedy today given all the rain!

Continued north and got to Furman without much incident, just in time for a potty stop (for both of us). "Mommy, you better hurry before I poop on myself!" Thanks for the motivation, kid. We looped through Furman and enjoyed the sun which had decided to show itself in full force. Man, that sure warmed things up even more!

Cheeeese

D entertained himself quite well with his collection of cars, had quite the dialog and plot happening throughout our run.

Finally we made it to Swamp Rabbit Grocery aka "The Biscuit Place" and procured our favorite scones. D wanted to play on the playground, so I let him run around a bit while I devoured my scone. After about 10 minutes we were back on our way with less than 5 miles to go!

Couldn't hang.

We made it back to the car feeling good, I woke D up, and he enjoyed some playtime at the playground (along with what seems like the rest of Greenville county... man it was crowded!). Guess that's what you get when you see the sun for the first time in a week.

Uhhh... headband in the sun. Oops. 

Week-ending thoughts:
38.98 miles run
Despite a few days of illness, I'm pretty happy that I didn't have to cut any mileage from my week. In fact, all the runs felt pretty stellar! I'm not dead tired and desperate for tapering like I usually am... probably helps that I kept my weekly mileage relatively low and stuck with 4x/wk running. But still... TAPER TIMEEEEEE. 🙌

ATL Publix Marathon Training (4 Weeks til Race Week)

Week beginning thoughts: Determined to get in my miles and do some hard work this week despite a rainy start to the week and Scott being in Europe til Friday... means no early morning runs 😞 but gonna do what I can.

Monday
Did: 5.41 miles easy
For some reason I have been COLD all day, but it wasn't actually raining yet when I went down to run, so I warmed up (literally) with 2 miles inside on the treadmill and then went out to finish with another 3.4 miles outside. Averaged below an 8:30 pace for all of them, but felt easy peasy. I love how easy mid-8s feel! Tomorrow is likely going to be an indoor treadmill SLOG so... ugh. Gotta mentally prepare for that, but glad I at least got outside today.

Tuesday
Did: 8.0 mi @ 7:42/mi avg 
Oh. Heck. YES.
I woke up and was NOT in the mood for this run... I was tired, I was annoyed at having to run on the treadmill, I had the pressure of a meeting that would start immediately after my run... everything making me approach this run mentally thinking, "if I just get my 10k done, it'll be good enough." I thought about just doing mile repeats, but then decided to break things up and alternate miles @ sub-7:00/mi with 800m @ sub-6:30/mi, and then finished with a couple of 400s at 6:15/mi. I had some great tunes pushing me along and by the time I reached 4+ miles as the time ticked past 30 minutes, I realized I could actually get 8 miles before I needed to be done for my meeting. Yahoo! I really only felt the strain cardio-wise in the last few repeats where my pace was sub-6:30. Guess that means I need to be upping my top speeds? I definitely felt the work in my quads as I was walking up the stairs to my desk after showering... oof!

SHWEDDY

Wednesday
Did: 45 mins strength
Man, my quads are SORE from yesterday's hard 8-mile effort. Been a while since that has happened! I took time to stretch them today, plus did core and the usual lifting. Nothing exciting but glad to get it done.

Thursday
Did: rest
Just couldn't muster the energy today, plus everything is sore. Gonna rest and then get in a run tomorrow. 😴

Friday
Did: 5.28 mi @ 8:18/mi avg
Uh, "easy" 5-miler today? Felt pretty easy... I didn't hold back but I didn't push the pace either, just ran what was comfortable but not lazy-feeling. Hmm. At least the rain held off today!

Saturday
Did: 22.05 mi @ 9:41/mi avg
This run was HARD. Lots of things that could have been planned better (perhaps) but ultimately just had to struggle through it. Started off with staying out later than planned on Friday night for neighborhood girls' night, so was feeling a little groggy Saturday morning. I slept in, but that didn't help much... got up, had breakfast & got D and myself ready for a neighbor's birthday party where they served mimosas (oops again), lots of queso and tacos for lunch, then back home to immediately change and get ready to go run. Ughhh.

D was tired... passed out mid-granola bar.

The first hour or so was "ughhh" followed by the next hour of "meh", with miles 15-20 being full of "omggggg" and ending with "UGH". Yeah, it was not a joyous run.

At least the clouds were pretty

We had just a couple of miles left and D made sure to encourage me saying, "You can do it Mommy, I know you can!" That pretty much was the highlight of the run. My last few miles were full of walk breaks and all were above 10:00/mi pace. Struggle bus! But we did it... and D agreed to take a "silly face" picture with me at the end to celebrate.

So. Tired.

Sunday
Did: yoga
This was very much needed! Mountain Goat / Kimmie hosted another Sunday afternoon yoga and it was exactly what my legs and everything needed to help recover from yesterday. Stretchy goodness!


Total miles: 40.74 mi
Finally crossed that 40 mpw threshold! And boy am I feeling it. Thankful to have completed the longest training run and now I guess it's taper time (sort of)? Still have another 20-miler to do next weekend but after that things will REALLY taper off. Hooray. This was the first long run where I really did NOT want to do it, and felt that way from start to finish. Guess it's just "that time" during this marathon training cycle! Pretty happy it took this long to get there.

ATL Publix Marathon Training (5 Weeks til Race Week)

Week beginning thoughts: Uh, yeah? Running? Yep, that's what I'm doing.

Monday
Did: 5.17 mi easy
I've decided on weeks where I bike Sunday, then I'll do some easy miles on Monday... this has been the pattern the last couple of weeks. If I end up running Sunday at some point, I'll plan to lift Monday and run easy Wednesday. Hooray built-in flexibility and adaptability. :)
This was a nice run - it's supposed to be gorgeous all week, so hooray, will get some sunshine miles in. I will say it got WARM really fast... I was in shorts + t-shirt and was definitely toasty. Not super uncomfortable but it was enough to notice. I took it easy (or told myself to) and went out on the cross-country trails to force myself to go slower. Kept it around a 9:00/mi pace which is nice and steady. Stretched after.

Tuesday
Did: track ladder workout, 7.16mi @ 7:45/mi avg
Met up with Matt and his friend for an early track workout this morning. I'd decided on a ladder workout, so after we trotted down the swamp rabbit trail for our warm-up (1.6 mi at a sub-8 pace... some "warm-up"), I set off to do 400/400/800/1200/800/400/400 with 400 rest in between. I didn't have target paces in mind for each split, just wanted to feel like I was working hard.
400s: 1:38, 1:41
800: 3:34
1200: 5:32
800: 3:33
400: 1:39
Only had time for one 400 to finish, but felt good that my pace hadn't deteriorated any through the workout. Hooray! I can tell I'm cardio-limited at this point on the high speeds - those long slow miles don't really push the heart rate much. Cool-down was 1.6 mi back to the car at 8:17/mi pace.

Wednesday
Did: strength  nada
Work. Blergh.

Thursday
Did: 5.1 mi @ 8:39/mi
Ran solo downtown early this morning and my GOODNESS it was humid! What in the world, it's FEBRUARY. Also seems there's something wrong with my heart rate monitor since it says I only burned 200 calories.... I certainly can feel when my avg heartrate is above 125 bpm... ??? Regardless, happy to get this done early and actually felt good to be solo. Also ran in a new pair of shoes today because it's tiiiiime to get some new ones in rotation...

Friday
Did: strength
I did the smart thing today and knocked this workout first thing upon arriving at work this morning. Did a combination of core, weights, bodyweight exercises, and other random things. Felt good! The gym was a little crowded with the morning bootcamp class, which meant I didn't use the machines, but thankfully most of what I do is easily adaptable to free weights, or at least there's enough I can do to substitute exercises. Went easy on the legs since tomorrow is long run day buuuuut I'll still probably be sore anyway.

Saturday
Did: 20.03 miles @ 9:23/mi avg. WITH. A. STROLLER.

Granola bar in hand, ready to roll.

I had no idea how well this would go... D did great with last week's 18-miler, but every day is different. It was a chilly and breezy day, too, so I was concerned about keeping him warm through the entire journey. I packed tons of snacks and blankets, bundled him up, and off we went from the zoo parking lot. The section of the trail is still closed, so we had to loop around and back to access downtown and other parts north. It's fine, though, because that meant our turnaround point seemed closer.

D was upset when we didn't stop at "the biscuit place" (aka Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery) when we passed it around mile 5... my plan was to make it a stop on the way back. I quieted him with PB&J sandwich. We continued to Furman and arrived at mile 9 just entering the campus, which is perfect because the loop around the lake and back through campus is right at 2 miles. Plus I needed to pee, so we stopped at the amphitheater bathrooms, and then continued on our way. It wasn't long after we started our return trip southward that I realized D was asleep - huzzah! He continued to sleep as we arrived at the Grocery, I stopped and got scones as promised, and marched onward.

Zonked.

Still out.

I was definitely fatiguing as we closed in on downtown and made our way back through the park, but knowing the end was close (Less than a 5k! Less than 2 Miles! Just one mile to go!) gave me enough fuel to keep moving. I know I didn't eat enough during this run, but it's been challenging to really space things out, especially since I eat a FULL breakfast beforehand. Anyway, super happy to have this milestone run out of the way... and already eye-balling the 22-miler next weekend. WHEWWWWW.

Sunday
Did: nada

Week-ending thoughts:
37.46 miles run - still not hitting my 40 mpw goal, but ya know what, it is what it is. I don't like that I had 2 total rest days this week... oh well, tomorrow is a new day. 

I signed up for a thing...

March 1-3, 2019

Sooooo yeah... about a week ago, I got a message from my runner bestie from Atlanta asking if I wanted to compete on the Atlanta Track Club team for the USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships. Obviously (after checking with all affected familial parties) I said yes! 😁

There was a bit of a complicated period of joining the ATC, joining USATF in South Carolina, transferring my association from SC to GA, and then listing my affiliation with the ATC team for competition... not to mention registering for events before the deadline of TODAY (2/8) and faxing (yes FAXING) a copy of my passport to the USATF National Office as proof of age. But it's all done and I am totally signed up!

I registered (or plan to run - relays are only on-site sign-up) for a total of  9 different events:

Friday
Pentathlon (60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800m run)
400m
3000m

Saturday
60m
1 Mile
4x800m relay
4x200m relay

Sunday
800m
4x400m relay

Have I ever done most of these events ever in my life? Nope, not once! But I spoke to the ATC coach (oh yeah, she's an Olympian!) and she assured me that there's really no pressure to know what you're doing and several others will be first-timers with no experience. Whew!

I'm excited, a little nervous, but mostly just looking forward to doing something new and definitely something outside my comfort zone.

ATL Publix Marathon Training (6 Weeks til Race)

Week beginning thoughts: Yep, I'm definitely marathon training.

Monday
Did: 4.23 mi @ 8:16/mi avg
It's my birthday, and I'll run if I want to! Today was supposed to be a lifting day, but it was so beautifully sunny outside I said forget the gym, I'm going OUT. Plus, I need extra miles in my weeks these days, so I went for it. GREAT decision. I wanted 4 easy miles and apparently sub-8:30 is "easy" these days. Woohoo! Did some stretching, push-ups, and a little core strength when I got back inside.

Tuesday
Did: 10x alternating 800s and 400s, 7.25 mi @ 8:02/mi avg
Tentatively agreed to a track workout this morning, but the threat of a cold drizzle made a treadmill workout the ultimate decision. I headed into work early (eaaarrrrrlllyyyyyy) to get it done, and of course am quite happy I did. Alternated 800m @ 7:00/mi and 400m @ 6:30/mi for 10 total repeats, with a warm-up and short cool-down. Love getting in over 7 miles before work! Had a distant fleeting thought of getting in 8 mi total, but needed to get started on work so cut it a little short. Still, super happy with this run.

Definitely finished happier than I started. 😏 

Wednesday
Did: strength
Benefits of my computer crapping out mid-afternoon at work? Getting to actually work out while IT fixes it when I didn't think I'd have time! I was a little distracted, not knowing how long they would actually take, but I ended up getting a solid 50 minute workout done. There were other people in the gym, so I felt weird and went into the aerobics room to do free weights (why am I weird about that? idk). Didn't get to do my pull-ups or heavy weights on the squats, but still felt like I got in a good workout.

Thursday
Did: 5.08 mi @ 7:57/mi avg
Ummmmm since when did 8-min miles become my "just going out for a run" pace? Part of the answer is definitely "since the weather turned mid-40s and gorrrrgeous!" but still... wow. Nothing much else to say about this run other than yesssssssss.

Friday
Did: rest
It's time for a 100% rest day and I'm totally okay with this.

Saturday
Did: 18.35 mi @ 9:20/mi avg
Lonnnggggg stroller run! I really couldn't have asked for more perfect weather for this run. D and I got out to Furman just after 9am and started off heading south to "the biscuit place" aka Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery.

Yum, scones!

"Mommy, I'm stretching."

Got D a blueberry scone then turned and headed back north all the way through TR past Gateway Park before turning around and stopping at the park's playground (and bathroom) so D could use the potty and run around a bit.

Ahhh sunshine!

Running

"I'm driving the fire truck! It's a emergency!"

After that it was less than 3 miles to get back to Furman! Breaking up these long runs and having to focus more on keeping D happy rather than how tired my legs are really helps make them seem more fun and manageable. It does turn it into pretty much an all-day adventure, but I'm okay with that.

Once we got back to Furman, we packed up the stroller and got out D's balance bike so he could ride around while I walked (and sometimes ran) behind him. He chose the dirt trails through the woods for his ride, and as tired as I was, I think it really helped to walk another 2+ miles after my run. My legs really didn't feel all that fatigued the rest of the day!

Post-run treat for me: also a scone. 

Best training buddy.

Sunday
Did: 6.9 mi mountain bike ride
Well this ride did not go as planned, but still ended up being fun! It was the monthly Upstate SORBA Ladies' Ride, and we met at Payne's Creek in Hartwell, GA for some fun on the trails. Unfortunately we arrived during a rain storm, so we retreated to a nearby restaurant to wait out the showers. This was definitely a good call because by the time we got back and started riding it was gorgeous and sunny! The trails were pretty wet and muddy, but we had a nice casual ride and enjoyed the time outdoors.

The ladies!

On the trail

Mud butt.

Week ending thoughts:
This was a good week. Feeling good, feeling strong. Total of 34.91 miles running and feeling awesome.