Category: Sushi

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #15

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornWhew.  I was hoping for the weeks to feel a little less daunting and less of a grind, since I hit that last 20+ miler last weekend.  But, apparently, my coach had other plans for this week.  I warned you…he’s very nontraditional when it comes to the taper.  That being said, I was expecting some room to breathe, so when I woke up Monday morning to my schedule (I go to bed before children go to bed…and sometimes I don’t have my schedule Sunday night before I go to bed…and this week, it came through 2 hours after I had already gone to bed), I was a little bit surprised.  I wasn’t thrilled with it…but I know there are methods to what my coach prescribes me in these weeks leading into my goal race…so I put my trust in him.

Take a deep breath…we’re diving right in.

Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES  + 4-6 STRIDES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

I knew with every run this week having some sort of speed component in them, I really needed to pay attention to those that instructed me to run a base pace, or easy, and do exactly that.  My Monday morning run is generally the same every week.  So the fact that I didn’t have my schedule prior to going to bed wasn’t stressing me out at all.  The only addition to this week’s Monday run was the inclusion of the strides at the end.  This run went well.  I kept things controlled and easy for 7 miles.  I had been struggling in Florida with any sort of speed, and despite the heat and humidity, I managed to turn out some decent strides without feeling bad about my effort.  I did my additional hip strengtheners during my stretches that morning.  And I met with Corey, who did a full-body workout with me outside…which was insane and challenging.  Let me tell you, I was still feeling it two days later.  I did put in extra time that evening (after some further meal prep) to stretch and foam roll.

Tuesday:  INSTRUCTIONS: SPEED WORK – MONA FARTLEKS W/ 1 MILE HARD EFFORT

Welcome to Day 2 of some sort of speed element in my running this week.  Let me tell you, I run 6 days a week, and 5 of them included something that involved speed.  This is my nightmare.  BUT…at least he gave me my favorite of the speed workouts he throws at me – Mona Fartleks.  If you’re an avid reader, you’re very familiar with these by now.  If you’re just joining me on this journey…here’s how these work: 2 mile warm up, 2×90 sec, 4 x 60 sec, 4×30 sec, 4×15 sec (with equal recovery after each at a pace faster than base pace), 1 mile hard effort, 2 mile cool down.  I felt really good during the actual workout…but I had a few bumps in the road.  Not literally.  First of all, there was a woman riding around on her electric scooter with a mean, yappy dog VERY early in the morning.  And it was barking and coming at me, and at one point within my first mile, decided to chase me (there was no avoiding her), and it ripped the leash from the lady’s hand (and the handle cover off her scooter) and made for a very awkward situation and way to start.  I actually paused for a few minutes to let them scoot on away so I could, possible, stop encountering them along the way.  I don’t have a track (and it is currently WAY too warm to wait until the evening to do the track workouts with the local running store), so I do these on the road.  And for a bunch of these intervals, I need to cross a main road.  And this week…there happened to be a LOT of traffic at the time I chose to run.  This rarely happens, but it does make me mad when it does.  That being said, I did power through the intervals.  The fast mile was a struggle because my legs were getting really tired and the humidity was wearing me out…but I finished it up, did my cool down, and happily went inside.  I did my second day (I do 2 days a week usually) of additional hip strengthener moves with my stretches.  And, progressively got a little more sore throughout the remainder of the day.  That night I did attend Ladies Night at our local running store, which kept me out later than usual, but I got to hang with some amazing friends, which made it worth it.

Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

Welcome to the one and only day this week that DID NOT include some element of speed.  Thank goodness I had one.  I woke up, still sore from personal training and very glad I didn’t have to push any sort of pace because of that.  I got to bed late, but as this was a run for me to choose the distance, I know I wouldn’t go too far, and if the soreness got worse, I would keep it really short.  I woke up later than my usual alarm (Thursday would be earlier, so it balances), got dressed, fueled, put on my gear and headed out.  It took about 2 miles for my legs to find a rhythm and to not ache as much in the muscles.  But they did feel better.  I was very mindful of any sort of pain, but as things got easier…the run also progressed.  Not with speed.  I still kept that down and under control.  I have enough speed happening this week…I wasn’t going to put any unnecessary energy into this run.  A recovery run did me good though, because I did feel the muscles loosen up and I felt a lot better afterwards.  I put in 5 easy miles…which I was thankful I was able to do and that my body allowed me to do that morning.  I did my stretches I got from physical therapy YEARS ago (the ones I do every morning and night) twice this morning, as I had a sports massage scheduled for that evening.  Corey texted to say he was sick, and very kindly didn’t want to give what he had to me.  I was thankful for that.  And I think my muscles appreciated an extra bit of time off.  The sports massage…was glorious.  I went to bed as soon as I got home though…because Thursday was the start of what I considered to be my hell.  HA!

Thursday: INSTRUCTIONS: 11-13 MILES WITH 3 MILES FAST FINISH – GOAL 12 MILES – EASY DOES IT UNTIL FAST FINISH AT THE END.

I barely slept the night prior.  I had set an early alarm…for 2:30 am, with the hope of fueling (which isn’t easy on a weekday), getting ready, and heading out the door by 3 am.  I did manage all of that, but damn…I was tired.  With having spent most of the night tossing and turning, I was not looking forward to doing this run.  But, I told myself to just take it easy, gradually ease into it, and just prepare for those final three miles.  My legs felt SO much better after the sports massage.  Seriously!  But I was just fatigued.  I had fueled with the Maurten 160 Drink Mix before heading out and had one of their new Maurten 100 Gels with Caffeine on me to take around Mile 9.5 (which I did).  It was a hot, humid morning.  Every now and again, a bit of a breeze would blow, but I was not enjoying having to squeeze in a half marathon distance on a Thursday.  It’s hard for me to do double digits on a work day.  It’s hard enough to fit in single digit runs, and since I never sleep well before these double digit ones (they don’t happen often…but when they do…), I know the logistics just stress me out to that point.  I made a good effort of keeping those first 10 miles easy.  Then, I threw down, the best I could, for those final three miles.  They weren’t impressively fast…but they were good enough for the day.  The second one had a few more turns than the other two, so it was totally slower than the ones that sandwiched it.  But…I got it done.  And 13.1 miles later, I was happy to BE done.  I showered and stretched and ate a protein-filled breakfast.  And I really hoped I would sleep better leading into my rest day.

Friday: REST/RECOVERY DAY!

I did sleep better leading into Friday.  That was good.  I slept in.  I showered.  I stretched. I finished packing.  I headed out to work.  I put in about 6 hours, leaving the office around 2:30 pm.  I went and picked up my order of “magic sushi,” loaded it into a cooler and headed up to Indianapolis for the Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben.  I have never done this race before.  But I stopped by the hotel, dropped off bags (and put my sushi into the fridge), went to the expo to pick up packets (I was grabbing my friend’s , went to Fresh Thyme (I left my pre-race breakfast at the office in my rush to leave, so I found a good replacement with Brekki Blueberry Overnight Oats, Julie’s Real Cashew Butter (coconut vanilla bean flavor), and some waters for the room and pre/during/post race things.  Then we hit up Noodles & Co. so Cathy could grab herself dinner before we returned to the hotel, turned on Food Network to watch Diners, Drive-ins & Dives, and eat dinner.  I stretched and foam rolled, then…stayed up until about 9 before calling it a night.

Saturday: INDY HALF MARATHON AT FORT BEN AT MARATHON PACE

Okay…let me be the first to admit that I ran this WAY faster than marathon pace.  But, it was 47° outside.  And while I had another restless night…I was feeling good.  I connected with Kelly first thing in the morning when we got to the giant parking lot they parked us in.  So we hung out before the race, which was fun.  I don’t get to hang with friends ahead of a race very often.  With the fall air here, the bon fires at the start were nice and we hung there until we had to get into our corrals.  I will do a full race report on this, but let’s just say this…I felt strong for the entire run, even on the giant hills.  I knew I was running well because the 1:40 pacer was behind me the entire time.  And in my head, I kept reminding myself that my goal isn’t to PR…it’s to run a race at marathon pace.  The pacers in that group were phenomenal and while I didn’t run with them, I went and thanked them after the race itself.  I would go back and run this one again in a heartbeat.  Great race.  And I am only 21 seconds off of a new PR in this distance.  Knocking on the door of a breakthrough.  After the race, I showered, packed up, went to Woody’s Library Restaurant for lunch, grabbed some goodies at the gluten-free bakery up the way, went to the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the Half Price Books Clearance Sale (books were $2 and under), before heading home.  It was a lot of time in the car post-race and I did stiffen up some.  Got back and swung by the office to grab the breakfast I was supposed to have from the office so I could have it on Sunday, ran into Melissa, Paul, and Carrick.  Talked for a bit.  then went to get wheat we came for, returned home, didn’t unpack, just changed into pajamas, stretched, foam rolled, made popcorn, watched Top Chef…and went to bed.

Sunday: 11-13 MILES WITH 3-5 MILES FAST FINISH – EASY DOES IT UNTIL THE FAST FINISH AT THE END

UGH.  I didn’t sleep well leading into Sunday morning either.  UGH!  What’s up with these restless nights?  Is it the change in the weather?  I need it to stop now, please.  I actually got up a few times, but nothing seemed to really work.  I eventually through my comforter over me, and that helped for a bit.  Maybe I need a weighted blanket.  But what this did leave me with was very little motivation to do this workout today.  I wasn’t feeling it at all.  I really just wanted to curl up on the couch and not move.  But, I eventually got up, stretched, fueled, got my stuff together, put on sunscreen, got dressed and got out the door.  I kept those early miles easy.  I wasn’t loving the return of the 70°  weather this morning.  Or the humidity.  But I think it’s going away after today.  The first 8 miles felt harder than they were.  My legs were tired from the race the morning before.  The last 5 miles that I pushed pace were trash.  Honestly, they were the hardest in a long time.  And, because I’m dumb, I used my hilly Thanksgiving course for the last 5 miles, which made it even harder to push that fast pace.  I was dying.  It was a HUGE struggle bus.  But I just took it for what it was.  I ran too fast yesterday and that was reflected in my performance today.  I wrapped it up, hoping for a bit of a break in the workouts next week.  I don’t want speed every day again. I really don’t.  I’m also going to be out late because I’m seeing Dear Evan Hansen tonight.  So, tomorrow should be interesting.

And that’s how I taper, I guess.  I run really fast for 5 out of 6 days of training.  And I’m sure the workouts aren’t done yet.  That’s just how my coach does “taper.”  And I trust him.  With my performance at the Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben, his methods are working.  But, dammit, I want to sleep, and feel rested, and maybe have a week to breathe.

We shall see.

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #14

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornWhew.

Guys, coming back from vacation is hard.  I mean, you have a routine, you get off your routine (like…by a lot), and then you try to fall back into your routine…yeah…it’s not easy.  Not at all.

That being said, we had some cooler mornings this week.  I enjoyed two runs in the low 50s this week, which felt glorious.  I mean…I was still comfortable in a tank top and shorts and I didn’t feel like I was being weighed down by heat and humidity.  What a difference from the Caribbean and Florida, eh?

But the weather had some fluctuations in it.  And the other mornings I ran, we were up 20 degrees in the 70s.  No rhyme or reason to when these occurred…but of course it heated up just in time for my 4th and FINAL 20+ miler this weekend.

Now that I’m back on schedule…how about we dive into this week?  I had an extra rest day, which made for 5 days of running…and I could actually tell a difference.  Interesting.

Monday: REST/RECOVERY DAY! TRAVEL DAY!

What can I say?  I had an early-ish flight out of Orlando to get back to Louisville.  And while I could have squeezed in a run around the resort, I didn’t have to get up early to do so.  My coach gave me the day off.  So, I also didn’t have to try to fit it in when I got back, allowing me to be relaxed on the flight, enjoy lunch out with my friend Melissa (who was kind enough to pick us up at the airport) and get home, unpacked, and get some groceries, because…we literally had NO food in the house.  After running some laundry and doing the stretches I couldn’t do while on vacation (French Quarter had a hard wood floor) due to the way the rooms (on the ship and on the resort were) and also the amount of time I had to squeeze in runs every day…that just didn’t happen.  My body thanked me…especially when I got to foam rolling.  I went to bed around my normal time.  Trying to get back on my routine.

Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES  + 4-6 STRIDES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

This was basically the same run I had on the last day in Orlando.  The one where I felt like I was flying, but really I wasn’t.  HA!  Well, it went so much better.  This was one of my 50 degree mornings.  Seriously…even with it being my first run back from my 8 day trip, my legs and body responded well.  Even the strides went better than they had in Florida.  LOVE!  I was happy with the end result…definitely felt like I was getting my legs back under me.  In addition, I did my extra hip strengtheners that I hadn’t been able to do while on vacation.  They felt good to get back to, for sure! 8 miles total for the day.

Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: TRACK WORKOUT – 1-2 MILE WU; 7 X 800M W/ EQUAL RECOVERY; 1-2 MILE CD – AFTER 1-2 MILE WU, DO SOME DYNAMIC DRILLS TO LOOSEN UP FURTHER. THIS IS A REPEAT OF A PIOR WORKOUT. WE ARE SHOOTING FOR AROUND 3:30 FOR THE *ON* TIME (~7 MIN PACE) AND THEN RECOVERY CAN BE LIGHT BUT NEEDS TO BE JOGGING, NOT WALKING.

Aside from some stomach issues that morning, this workout didn’t go too bad.  I only missed the interval speed on one of them (the 5th) but it was close and I rallied to hit the last 2 with some time to spare.  So, I mean, I wasn’t mad at it at all.  This morning was in the 50s again.  So, that made the 800s feel good.  I used the rest time to lightly jog, because that recovery is important to being ready for that next push.  And with 7 of them on tap, I wanted to be ready.  I ended with 11 miles for the day, with almost perfect 800s right in the middle.  I’ll take it.  Made sure I was properly fueled ahead of this, using the Maurten 160 Drink Mix.  It just works for me.

Thursday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

Ahhh…recovery run.  The temperature was back up into the 70s this morning.  So, basically 20 degrees warmer than the previous day.  Glad it happened on a recovery run day instead of speed work.  Dodged that bullet.  I just let my legs go however they wanted, while making sure I kept it in recovery mode.  With my long run still looming over the weekend, I didn’t want to overdo anything.  I relaxed, kept my heart rate down, and rounded out the weekday runs with just over 5 miles.  I also did my second day of my additional hip strengtheners because it was the last day I had to work them in.  I try to do them twice a week.  Was surprised I managed this week.

Friday: REST/RECOVERY DAY!

Second (which is weird for me) rest day of the week.  What did I do?  Slept in.  Seriously.  I even went to bed early the night before.  YAY!!  Took a shower.  Stretched.  Ate breakfast.  Had coffee.  Went to work.  Went out for (MAGIC) sushi for dinner.  Stretched more.  Foam rolled.  Went to bed at 8 pm.  I had an early morning ahead of me and I wanted a full 8 hours of sleep.

Saturday: LONG RUN: 18-22 MILE LONG RUN – EASY PACE – DON’T PUSH IT!! AND PRACTICE RADE DAY FUELING STRATEGY.

I was really happy to hear from my friend, Ron, on Friday asking what my run schedule was.  I have two weekend runs, but Saturday was my beast.  22 miles.  My last 20 miler in this series (and my 4th one…the most I have ever done in a training cycle).  Ron was good for 10 miles with me (possibly more), so I made arrangements to meet with him at 7:30 at the Greenway to run.  I got out at 6:15 am to hit the streets and get in 8 miles ahead of those miles with Ron.  It was warm (71 degrees) and humid that morning, but while the sun was down, it wasn’t too bad.  But the moment that sun rose above the clouds, it got hot.  Fast.  Ron and I stuck it out, with the last couple of miles being hard.  But, while he was done, I still had about 4 to go.  And, the route home didn’t have much in the line of shade.  I did practice my race day fueling, knowing exactly how I am going to space out my Maurten 320 Drink Mix and my Maurten 100 Gels.  I have it down and I feel like, as long as it isn’t hot (and it might be) in November…I finally got fueling and hydrating down.  I actually finished off the water in my hydration pack today (which had 2 Nuun tablets in it).  It was a hard run due to heat, but I remain confident and feel strong…and feel that Monumental is shaping up in a good way.

Sunday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

Being back on a schedule was a glorious thing.  Because, despite having a soccer match on Saturday night (that kept me out later than normal)…I was up and ready to chase my sunrise.  I love having recovery runs on Sunday because I can wake up and head out just as it’s getting light out and the sky is turning gorgeous colors.  I make it up to the park just as the sun is climbing over the lake and it’s…my favorite thing to take in on Sunday.  It was nice not to have a distance run or a run where paces needed to be hit because I really enjoy these runs.  I ran comfortably.  Didn’t push it on the hills.  And got in 5 easy, recovery miles.  Perfect way to wrap up the week.

I do believe that my unofficial, official, untraditional taper now goes into effect.  My coach doesn’t taper the usual way…in fact, while mileage might be down a little, usually it’s the intensity that he takes down a notch.  So…we shall see where we go from here.  Race day keeps creeping closer.  But this week was much easier with an extra day off and sliding back into my usual schedule.

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #12

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornWell, originally, this week was going to be a down week.  Extra recovery.  Because I raced pretty hard last Sunday.  BUT…I reminded my coach that I was leaving the following week for a cruise and a Disney World venture…so, he shifted weeks and had this one be a bit of recovery, but keeping one day of speed work and shifting my third (and maybe last? Maybe not?) 20 miler to this weekend.  Whew.

I won’t lie, my legs felt pretty flat for most of this week.  And the heat and humidity returned…which also sucked.  I know hot training days equal cool, fast, amazing fall marathons.  But it’s still tough and I’m not always the best at adjusting expectations.

This week…I adjusted expectations because speed work morning was close to 80 degrees long before the sun came up.  So, it was a challenging, and it really didn’t go to plan at all (save for the first mile, but more on that later)…but for the first time, I didn’t beat myself up over it.  I let it be what it was that day.  And I moved on.

So…let’s hit up this week, shall we?

Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

It was the morning after the Downtown Doubler and I was relieved he set this as an easy, recovery run.  Short and sweet too.  Whew.  I hardly slept Sunday night leading into Monday morning.  My left hamstring was still tight from the race, despite having stretched and foam rolled.  Mostly, I was tired.  So my heart rate stayed VERY low and my pace was just where I felt it needed to be.  I had my watch covered and never once even looked at what I was running.  In the end, I managed 4 miles, my usual recovery run right now, and called it a day.  I did go ahead and do my additional hip strengthening exercises with my morning stretches.  Because I had a hard race, my personal training session was cancelled for the additional time to recover.  And I did do that extra foam rolling to help with that hamstring.  Guess what?  It worked.

Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES  + 4-6 STRIDES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

I had gone to bed early and managed some better sleep.  Oh, and the hamstring definitely felt better.  Much better.  But my legs still felt flat on this run.  I took it easy, but it felt harder than it should have been.  And I actually checked my pace at the end of the run, and it was a pace that shouldn’t have felt that hard.  I wasn’t running great at the moment.  It happens, right?  Heavy legs don’t last forever, right?  I pushed the strides, but they didn’t feel as fast as I could usually run either.  I let it be what it was for the day.  Did my morning stretches and tossed in the extra hip strengtheners as well.

Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: TEMPO RUN – 1 MILE WU; 3X2 MILES AT TEMPO (7:20-7:50) W/ 0.5 MILES RECOVERY; 1 MILE CD

Like I said…it was 80 degrees before the sun came up.  The humidity was not fun either.  In fact, it made the real feel close to 85 degrees.  Isn’t it September?  I don’t want winter, by any means, but some cooler mornings (not cold, cool) would be nice. I went through my warmup and it felt…hard.  UGH.  Not a good start.  But I told myself that I was going to just push hard and use the recovery to…well…recover.  I managed to hit the actual tempo pace ONCE in the entire workout.  The FIRST mile.  That was a 7:32…from there…it went off the rails.  7:52, 7:52, 7:58, 8:02, 7:57.  Recovery got slower each time too with one of them in the 9s.  It wasn’t a good morning for speed work…but I did put in the effort and that meant I was actually okay with it.  I met with Corey that afternoon for a killer core workout.  I say that because my abs were actually sore through Saturday.  How’s that for some personal training growth?

Thursday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES  + 4-6 STRIDES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

I kept the going to bed early thing going because I had some early wakeup calls.  When the runs get longer, the bedtimes get earlier because the wakeup times get earlier.  The air was thick and humid again, but the legs were actually starting to get some pep in their step.  So, while it still wasn’t where I wanted the easy run to be, feeling-wise, it felt better.  And my strides, still slower than I know I can push them, didn’t feel as daunting today.  I fit in my stretches and foam rolling right after work, because I was cooking up a special dinner to have with friends before we left on vacation.  They were bringing their adorable baby over and I was making Tomato & Goat Cheese Tarts for everyone.  It was a fun night and…a late one for me…but worth every moment.

Friday: REST DAY!

Because of the later night, I slept in as long as I could before needing to get up, shower, and do my stretching.  It was a crazy-busy day at work, but it was also Favorite T-Shirt Day.  My co-worker, Kayla, gifted me with a Murderino t-shirt and I had to wear it ASAP!  It’s my new favorite.  For those of you who listen to the My Favorite Murder podcast…you know.  I had a hair appointment that night, and Lauren not only cut my hair back up…and then French braided it.  From there, a late night dinner of my “magic sushi” at Dragon King’s Daughter.  It had to happen.  I had that 20 miler staring me down on Saturday morning.  I went home, stretched, foam rolled, and immediately called it a night.  I had an early morning, because I was starting before the sun came up.

Saturday: LONG RUN: 17-20 MILES – GOAL 19 MILES – EASY PACE – DON’T PUSH IT!  AND PRACTICE RACE-DAY FUELING STRATEGY

I got up 2 hours and 15 minutes before I’d have to leave for my long run.  I took my vitamins, drank 20 ounces of water, ate my overnight oats, stretched, did 50 pushups (I do this daily), fueled again with my Maurten 320, put on sunscreen, filled my hydration pack with 40 ounces of water with my Nuun tablets in them, and prepared to hit the road.  I left at 6:40 am and ran the first 5 miles of my 20 miler on my own.  I met up with Ron to run the Greenway (if you haven’t run it…DO IT).  He did just over 11 miles with me.  And they were great.  We talked the entire time, had some shade in spots, and then…were blocked by a train.  Just like after the Downtown Doubler.  REALLY!?  We did manage to run the flood wall and get across the tracks before the train started up again and we ran back to his car.  Here we parted ways and I did the final four miles back to the apartment.  From there, I showered, ate breakfast, went to run some errands, picked up some pho and spring rolls for my friend Natalie, visited with her while she gave me (my favorite) homemade birthday present.  Who else LOVES homemade gifts?  Then we finished up our errands, came home to eat dinner, PACK…because we hadn’t packed yet…and then watched Inside Out.  I was a lot for just one day…but I think we are mostly ready for our trip.

Sunday: INSTRUCTIONS: 3-4 MILES EASY/RECOVERY RUN.  SLOW!!

No real time for an early bedtime.  Not with everything that needed to happen.  But I got up with enough time to fit in my 4 miles, a shower, and breakfast.  Stretching and foam rolling would have to wait for the time being.  We had an early flight to catch.

And now…vacation mode.  This was supposed to be a trip where training didn’t have to happen (because I’d be in recovery from the Erie Marathon).  I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason.  So, while I do have to train on this trip…and have two back-to-back mid-distance runs…at least I’ll relax and enjoy my time away.  Deep breaths.

Should be an interesting week…

Also…8 weeks out!

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Downtown Doubler 15K/30K – New Albany, IN (September 8, 2019)

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Me finishing the Downtown Double 30K – New Albany, IN

Race: Downtown Doubler 15K/30K

Place: New Albany, Indiana

Date: September 8, 2019

Time: 2:26:39

I can’t miss a race when it happens on my training grounds, right?  RIGHT?!  Also, it totally coincided with my marathon training and worked as my weekend long run.  Also, as I have never ran a 30K, it would be an automatic PR for me too. Can’t argue with any of that!

Welcome to my past Sunday morning!

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My “magic sushi” from Dragon King’s Daughter.  Fueling my long runs this training season.

Treating this as I have all my long runs leading into my marathon thus far, I went to get my “magic sushi,” at Dragon King’s Daughter the night before, because it’s been working as night-before-a-long-run fuel.  And why mess with something when it’s working, right?  Also, I got up as if it were a usual long run morning, giving myself plenty of time to hydrate, eat a small bowl of overnight oats, get dressed, slather on sunscreen, fuel with my Maurten 320 Drink Mix, and get to the start of the actual run.  I had 40 oz of water (and 2 Nuun tablets) in my Nathan Hydration vest, and was carrying a Maurten 100 Gel for when I felt I might need it.  Other than that, I was wearing the new Newton Distance 8 and all the pink I could find in honor of my mom!  I had actually slept really well after going to bed early the night before, so I felt good.  Not even nervous.  Not even with the change from “using this as a training run” to having to throw down about 7/9 of the race at Marathon Pace.  THAT…I was NOT excited about.

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MRTT/SRTT group photo! Love these ladies!

But I had a plan.  Use the first 2 miles as a warm-up.  Then hit it at my marathon pace for the next 10-14 miles (whatever my legs were feeling that day).  Use the last 2.6 as a cool down, perhaps kicking it back in for that 0.6 at the end (although I usually don’t have a kick).

Did that happen?  Ehhhhhh…

As I stated previously, I arrived to the start of the race about 30 minutes prior to the actual start.  I met up with my friends Laura and Michael, and we decided to make use of the flushing toilets while there weren’t any lines.  They went to warm up, and I met up with Christine and the rest of the MRTT/SRTT group that was in attendance at the race.  A group pictures was taken and we all started to make our way to the start line to line up.

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Ron, Christine, and I starting the Downtown Doubler together

I was originally going to run this with Christine, but with my marathon paces now having to be a thing, it wasn’t happening.  Dang it.  We did meander to the start line together though, her laying out her plan to execute in the race.  Our other running partner, Ron, was doing the 15K and was going to start with us.

We were given the basics on the course.  Turn around at the cone.  And 15K come in to the finish on the right side…30K, stay to the left and make the turn to head back out.  It was a 2 loop course for those of us doing the 30K.  And in my head, I was thinking how smart the 15K people were.  HA!  After that…the horn sounded and we were off!

I took off and ended up running with Ron down the stretch leading into the first mile.  I could tell we were going fast.  Faster than a warm up would have been.  And when we hit the first mile he shouted that we were at 7:28.  He said he was going to race, I told him to go on, but opted to just run the first 10-14 miles fast and back off and cruise in at the end instead of my initial plan.  I mean…I just did a 7:28…might as well keep with the momentum.  I remained about what I figured was about 1/10 of a mile behind him on pace through the first 4 miles.  At the turn around point, he grabbed water and I skimmed past him.  He caught up with me and as we were coming into the 7th mile, he said, “At this pace…slow it down at Mile 10.”  I promised I would.  We headed up the hill, and after crossing the flood wall, I went down the hill and remained just slightly ahead of him at this point.  I took the rest of my Maurten at Mile 8 and headed to the turn-around point to make the loop and head back out.

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Heading out for the second loop! Halfway there!

At Mile 10, I still felt good, but I did ease off the accelerator.  Slightly.  Ron was right…I didn’t want to work up a recipe for injury, but my miles were still really fast.  Apparently he said told Cathy that I was going too fast.  But, as promised, I did ease back a little.  With the looped route, I did get to see my friends at different points on the course, and cheer in the leaders as they passed me as I was heading into the turnaround point.  It was fun.  And, as I said, I’ve run the Greenway so much, my legs knew when the hills hit and when the wooden bridges would slow me down…all the things.  When I did turn around at Mile 14, I did ease it back even more.  I knew that Daniel didn’t want me racing the whole thing, because that would mean a lot more recovery time.  So, I went to my base pace speed and started to make my way back to the finish line.

Here is where I want to give a HUGE shout-out…

…to the Urban Bourbon people at the water stop were AWESOME.  They called everyone out by name and cheered them on.  And that was AMAZING.  I loved it.  And since we 30K peeps saw them 4 times, it was nice to always have someone cheering you on on what would have been a lonely course otherwise.

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Me with my medal after finishing the Downtown Doubler 30K

At Mile 16, I went ahead and took my Maurten 100 Gel to give me a little push to the finish line.  I had to run up the last of the hills heading over the flood wall again, and my legs fought it a little bit here.  But I just eased up it and rode the downhill on the other end.  I knew I was heading into my last 1.6 miles…and technically, my watch was a bit behind where the mile markers were placed.  I was running with my watch covered, so I wasn’t sure how much it was off…I just knew it was.  Whatever.  It happens.

I knew the finish line was close though, so for that last half mile, I found myself picking the pace back up. I felt amazing, mind you.  I fueled properly…I hydrated every mile…I felt like I could have kept going.  And as I headed into the finish line, I had friends there holding out hands for some high fives.  I gladly gave them.  And I was shouted out at the finish line, and they even said I looked like I could have kept going.  It was a good morning for me and I was thankful to have the strength, endurance, and speed to carry me through the miles.

The course was 18.52 miles according to my watch…so I did a cool down, easy jog, to get me to the 18.6 miles total.  I received my medal and then had to wait around for official results to post to see if I placed at all in my age division.  It took a little bit of time, but that was okay…because I got to cheer in quite a few of my friends while we waited.

IMG_4748Turns out that I came in 2nd in my Age Group.  I was surprised (my age division is pretty competitive).  That was a nice bonus for sure.  After cheering in more people, Cathy, Ron, Shawn and I decided we would head up to Heine Bros. for coffee.  So, up the stairs (that sucked, BTW) we went to head over the tracks.  And I heard the train.  And then the train stopped.  And then the train didn’t move for 30 minutes.  I sat on the stairs and just waited it out, but some people climbed up onto the cars (and some ducked under the train) to get to their cars.  It wasn’t worth the risk of death, honestly.  I called it the “Darwin” test and really got pissed when a guy with a toddler did it.

The train did clear out and we all met up for coffee and some chatting.  Then I went home to shower, grocery shop, shop for last minute trip stuff, and await my schedule from my coach for the following week.  I had a good race.

My official results of the Downtown Doubler 30K are that I finished in 2:26:39…which is now my standing 30K PR.  This world needs more 30K races, for real.  I did look at my 15K split and I was only 3 seconds behind my 15K PR (set at The Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY back in 2013)…so that’s a win, right?  I was 28/108 finishers overall. I was 9/51 female finishers. And I was 2/11 in my age division.  I had a great time at this race.  There was so much support from the other runners, the water stops, the finish line, and the turn-around point.  This was definitely a confidence boost I needed in my training.  I will take those because they have been few and far between.

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #11

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornSometimes in training, you have to learn how to adapt.  And sometimes that means that the runs might be harder.  Sometimes it means that your hard pace looks slower on paper, but the effort is there.  Sometimes it means that you have to do two days of speed work back-to-back in order to have a bit of a life outside of marathon training.

Guys, I don’t know how I ever fit in gym mornings and time with friends and all that prior to this training cycle.  Because, honestly, I don’t feel like I have much casual, free, leisure time anymore.  I train in the morning, I do personal training sessions two times a week, I go to work, I come home, I stretch and foam roll, and in between all of that…I survive by prepping and eating and just making sure I get plenty of rest so that this body can continue to power through the workouts, training, and eventually, another marathon.

I am tired.  I have been living in a constant state of exhaustion for the past 2 years.  And with this past year, a lot of focus being on prioritizing rest/sleep…I just run out of time.  I knew heading into this week that things were going to get crazy.  Why?

Because I had concert tickets to see Rob Thomas…on Wednesday night.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT!  So, after a bit of debate, I decided the only thing I could do was rearrange my workouts.  I thought all the concerts/shows I had tickets for came AFTER my cruise, but I was wrong.  Rob Thomas slotted in ahead of it.  In the middle of the week.  Not going wasn’t an option.  Fun fact: I met Rob Thomas back in 1998 when I lived in Birmingham, Alabama.  And, it had been FOREVER since I’d made time to go to a concert on a “school night.”  HA!

So, let’s dive in to the insanity of this week.

Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

The best part about this past Monday was that it was Labor Day!  HOLIDAY!  Do you know what this meant?  I slept in.  I ran in the daylight.  I had been out at my friend’s house on Sunday night for a Labor Day cookout.  I indulged in more than a few Gluten Free Vegan S’Mores.  I had a good amount of food, and enjoyed my time hanging out with some of my favorite people.  We left late and I crawled into bed without setting an alarm. I woke up at my usual time and made myself NOT get up at that point.  I did get up to stretch and head out for a run in the early morning.  It was sunny, and a little humid, and the easy, recovery run felt a bit harder than it should have.  I think it was the extra sugar that night, but it was worth it.  Campfire S’mores are the best.  The run was nothing to write home about.  I just sort of let myself cruise, but it was a struggle at times, especially near the end.  After over 16 miles of pounding on concrete at marathon pace in the Parklands the day before, my legs were not loving the movement or miles at all.  They felt tired.  And that happens.  I made sure to give them some good foam rolling time.  I was planning on planting  my booty on the couch and binge watching Mindhunter on Netflix all Monday, but one of my best friends was in the hospital for surgery and I went and bought her a gift and delivered it to her.  I did manage some meal prep, 2 episodes of Mindhunter, and finished off the day watching Free Solo with dinner.  It was a long, productive, and very condensed day.  But, that’s holidays for you. The run was a total of 7 miles…nice and easy on very tired legs.

Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: TEMPO RUN – 1 MILE WU; 3X2 MILES AT TEMPO (7:20-7:50) W/ 0.5 MILES RECOVERY; 1 MILE CD

UGH!  Speed work.  Not just speed work, but a tempo workout.  I don’t know why tempos stress me out, but they do.  At least this one was with some recovery time and not hard pushes for consecutive miles.  My legs still felt a bit flat, but I decided to just give it my best effort.  I never once stopped.  Even in the humidity and the warmer temps….I came close to nailing this workout. The first mile of the last tempo push was a 7:57 so, but I got back to 7:50 for the second mile.  It was the end of the workout, so I’m not too mad at it.  I’m a little mad at it, because I like to have a bit more perfection with the workouts, but it was what my legs had that day.  I came close and I did it without burning out.  That’s a win.  I did my additional hip strengtheners with my stretches that morning as well.  As for the run, that gave me 9.5 miles for a Tuesday morning.

Wednesday: SPEED WORK – MONA FARTLEKS W/ 1 MILE HARD EFFORT

Yes…you read that right.  Two speed work days in a row.  It was my only option with the Rob Thomas concert starting at 8 pm Wednesday night.  I wasn’t going to have the time or energy to wake up at 3:30 am to fit them in per usual on Thursday morning.  I figured I wouldn’t get home until after midnight (I was right), so adjustments had to be made.  I moved my short, recovery run to Thursday and Thursday’s speed session to Wednesday.  At least it was my favorite – Mona Fartleks.  They work like this: 2 mile warm up, 2×90 sec, 4 x 60 sec, 4×30 sec, 4×15 sec (with equal recovery after each at a pace faster than base pace), 1 mile hard effort, 2 mile cool down.  I ran these SO much better last week.  I was 3 minutes slower overall.  But my legs still felt flat and my hard efforts were all I could manage that morning.  That one mile push was unsuccessful.  I did it, but it had at least 5 (if not a few more) stops just to pound on my legs and try to get them to loosen up, find some flow, and just go.  I was so happy to just have this done and behind me.  It wasn’t easy at all to run this much two days in a row.  Hard runs usually get some recovery time…and there wasn’t enough here.  I did my second day of hip strengthening exercises this morning, foam rolled while drinking my coffee, and even managed my evening stretches before heading out to the concert that night.  It was a messy day.  But sometimes training, and life, gets messy. It was just over 8 miles on the run!

Thursday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

So…it was after midnight when I got out of the Rob Thomas concert and made it home.  Trying to figure out when I would fit in my recovery run…I opted, since I was up and awake at that point, to just suit up, gear up, and go out and do it before heading to bed.  The midnight temperature was in the low 70s, but there was no humidity and a nice breeze.  And, for the first time all week, my legs decided that they felt good.  I felt very light on my feet, free, and able to open up.  I didn’t push pace or anything.  I didn’t even have to stop, slowing down every time I needed to cross the busy road because there was ALWAYS a car.  Seriously, why are there so many cars on the road at midnight.  But I felt amazing.  I did 4 miles.  And they felt glorious…despite being completely exhausted and worn out from the early morning, speed work, real work, concert…all the things.  It was a nice surprise and was the lift I finally needed to feel a bit better about my runs this week.  Let’s hear it for small miracles.

Friday: Rest Day.  It’s always a rest day.  I have a big weekend ahead of me, so this was really needed.  I really made a point to get to bed at a decent time the night before.  And to SLEEP!  Really sleep.  Except I couldn’t.  And I ended up waking up at normal time.  I made myself stay in bed for a bit longer and got up about 30 minutes before my alarm.  I tried.  I really did.  I took a shower, stretched, drank water, ate breakfast, got ready for work and went into the office. With so much going on, I kept track of my nutrition, rested my legs, stretched, foam rolled, and started to prepare for the weekend.  God, I always look forward to Friday.  Respect and learn to love those rest days.  They are more important than the days you are running. These are the days that help your body get stronger, faster, better.  I might be the only runner in the history of ever who looks forward to and loves rest days!

Saturday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

I was going running with my friend, Dennis this Saturday morning.  Woke up early to fit in my stretching and give me time to lather up the sunscreen and fuel before heading over the river to meet up with him at the Big Four Bridge.  I had told him that because I had to throw some race paces into my Sunday run now (making it more of a race than a training run), I really needed to take this run easy.  Dennis has one gear…and it’s GO.  But he was doing a 25 mile bike ride that morning after the run so we were going to keep it easy.  And that…didn’t happen.  He blames me.  He claims that he’d shout out our pace and I’d say we needed to slow it down and then wouldn’t.  Maybe he’s right.  Maybe it was him.  Who is to say.  We turned around halfway and when we headed back up the bridge into the last mile, he took off and I let him go. After all,  I was racing the following day and he was not.  I met up with him at the finish, texted my roommate to come and get me before heading home to shower, eat, and head out to grocery shop and get some more vacation shopping done.  I did manage to get my costume locked down for my cruise.  It did mean that I didn’t get much time off my feet.  I went out for “magic sushi,” the vegan sushi that has been my go-to pre-long run meal.  Then, I foam rolled and stretched that evening and then went to bed early.

Sunday: DOWNTOWN DOUBLER 30K – INSTRUCTIONS: PLAN ON SHOOTING FOR 10-14 MILES AT RP FOR THIS ONE

I woke up just before my alarm again this morning, probably the nerves of having to race a race.  Let’s face it…I have been using most, if not all, as training runs in the past.  But, while still feeling wiped from a messed up week of sleep, I wasn’t feeling bad at all in the morning.  I decided to treat this like marathon morning (let’s face it…I was supposed to be running a marathon in Erie, PA today had I been able to register before it sold out), and fueled as I intend to the actual marathon morning.  So, my first breakfast happened.  Then I stretched, got dressed, put on sunscreen.  Prepared my fuel, which has been Maurten and it has been a GAME CHANGER for me.  I packed a small bottle of it to take during the race along with a gel pack to take near the end.  I never want to crash on a race, and my system of fueling hasn’t let me down yet.  My roommate and I left the apartment and headed down to downtown New Albany, where the race was starting on the beautiful Greenway.  For the 30K, runners would make 2 loops of the course.  I was starting to second guess my enthusiasm for doing the 30K over the 15K…but too late to turn back now.  My initial plan was to run 2 miles as a warm up, hit it for the middle 14 (if I felt good), and then use the final miles as a cool down.  In my enthusiasm, I just took off at the start, so when I hit the first mile at a race pace (faster, really), I decided I would race the first 10 to 14 and then cool down in the last part of the race.  I will do an actual post on this race, but it went REALLY well for me.  I executed my fueling perfectly, even at the faster pace, and I managed a time good enough for 2nd in my age division.  Stay tuned for a post.  After the race, and after getting delayed by a train stopping on the tracks and blocking the parking lot, my roommate, myself, and our friends (who did the 15K) Ron & Shawn met with us for coffee at Heine Bros.  Afterwards, I came home to shower, clean, meal prep, and get some laundry done.  Also stretched and foam rolled.  Ready for a breather!

My coach did forget that I was heading on my cruise at the end of the week and had a down/recovery week planned, but he switched it up to the following week so I won’t have to run as much or as hard on a cruise ship.  That was nice of him.  But that does mean I have a pretty stacked week again after a hard effort.  Just going to do what I can and hope my recovery really comes along.

Stay tuned!

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #10

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornHoly crap, you guys!!  Can you believe that it’s been 10 weeks of training?  It feels like I’ve been doing this for 2 straight years.  Oh…wait…I haven’t stopped marathon training since I started training for Dopey 2018…which means…September 2017.

That’s two years of, dare I say it, injury-free training.  I mean, yeah…I fell down 3 times, but those were bruises, scrapes and just some minor inflammation.  My training has become smarter, more challenging, a bit more demanding at times…but for 2 years, I have been chasing a time goal and I’m finally ready to hit the mark.

We inch closer.  In fact, next week would have been the marathon I was going to run to attempt a 2020 BQ before changing it over to 2021.  And while its still early, the current temps for Erie look PERFECT.  I will NOT be bitter.

So, let’s jump into this week of training, shall we?

Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

That’s right.  My usual Monday run.  I had heard rumors that we were supposed to have some cooler mornings.  This was not one of them.  It was around 73 degrees.  I wasn’t loving that.  But…it was just an easy, recovery run.  But, it was also supposed to start raining.  With no thunder or lightning on, and the rain light…I just went for it.  Easy pace.  My left hip flexor was still niggling at me from my Thursday treadmill run.  MEH. It didn’t bother me while running though.  I actually, because I run with my watch covered, lost track of my mileage and went one extra mile.  That was not intentional.  But, hey, the easy pace and the misty rain actually felt good so I wasn’t mad at it.  8 miles to start off the week.  I did my extra hip strengthening exercises with my stretches.  And then I met with Corey for a TON of fresh hell training moves that included box jumps.  Box. Jumps.  This girl isn’t much of a jumper.  But, he got me through it all.

Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN – 6-8 MILES – 6-8 MILES + 4-6 STRIDES – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

Another morning in the low 70s.  MEH.  And I felt like the humidity was back in full swing too.  Oh, and a chance for rain was back as well.  I hate wearing a hat, and here I am starting off my week with a hat on my head to attempt to keep that rain off my face.  I don’t think it even rained at during the time I was out there.  This was the same distance as Monday, but I fell into stride easier.  I felt better rested.  My hip flexor felt a little better.   I ended up with 7.5 easy miles…then got to blast out 0.6 miles of strides.  My first one felt a little stiff, but my legs got moving after that and I managed some 5:00 paces.  LOVE THAT!!  I love it when my legs cooperate with me.   And I felt good afterwards.  But whenever my coach throws strides at me, that means speed work is coming.  And you know…with only one day during the week, that means the weekend holds some paced runs.  OY!  But Tuesday went well, and I fit in the second day of additional hip strengtheners with my morning stretches.

Wednesday: SPEED WORK – MONA FARTLEKS W/ 1 MILE HARD EFFORT

 If you are new to my blog, you might not be familiar with Mona Fartleks.  Don’t worry, I wasn’t either until I started working with Daniel, my coach.  They work like this: 2 mile warm up, 2×90 sec, 4 x 60 sec, 4×30 sec, 4×15 sec (with equal recovery after each at a pace faster than base pace), 1 mile hard effort, 2 mile cool down.  Of all the speed work that I can get assigned during the week, this one is my absolute favorite to do.  I don’t know why.  The intervals work out to be just over 3 miles.  In the end, I end up with 7 miles total.  That being said, my first push felt a little off.  But I soon found my stride, and while it did feel a bit harder this week, I ended up having one of my better attempts at this workout.  The humidity in the air that early in the morning did make that 1 mile push a bit of a struggle.  I finished it up and was thankful to have those cool down miles to reign it in and just polish up the workout.  I was happy with this.  I met with Corey again for my personal training session and he had me working those “fast twitch” muscles.  It was pure hell.  But I made him laugh a few times.  WINNING!

Thursday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

You are correct, my fellow readers…this is usually my Wednesday run.  But, as I told you…my weekend is pretty stacked as far as long run and workouts go.  So I had an early session and my usual do whatever you want however you feel run…moved to Thursday.  I slept in an extra 30 minutes.  It was glorious.  It was also 57 beautiful degrees this morning.  That, too, was glorious. I loved it.  I loved how good it felt.  My easy pace was actually faster than I thought I was moving.  I loved finding that out at the end too.  I was just going with the flow.  Breathing.  Letting my legs do what they felt while not working too hard.  After all, recovery was still the most important part of this run.  I honestly could have run further.  Longer.  And I would have still felt great.  But I knew I needed to really just get this body recovered for the weekend.  So, I did my usual 4 miles.  My quads were feeling that training with Corey from the day before…so I figured not to press my luck.  But, damn…it felt amazing out there.

Friday:  You know the drill by now.  Friday’s are made for rest.  Friday’s are made for sleeping in.  Friday’s are made for reading.  Stretching.  Eating well.  Getting to bed early.  Except that early bedtime wasn’t happening this time.  After a relaxing morning, and getting through the day at the office…it was the last of the weirdly timed Louisville City FC soccer matches.  Friday night.  MEH.  But, I will show up and cheer and hopefully get enough sleep before attempting my first of 2 paced long runs this weekend.  And for the record…we tied in the soccer match.  It was scrappy.

Saturday: INSTRUCTIONS: 11 – 13 MILES WITH 3 MILE FAST FINISH – EASY DOES IT UNTIL FAST FINISH AT THE END

I thought I had this one planned out perfectly.  Mindless and a bit challenging throughout, even with the fast finish at the end.  There is a race that does a 5 mile loop near where I live, so I set out to run that twice, and then run fast down the street to the halfway point (this involves some rollers) and then back up (same rollers) to finish it out.  But, what I didn’t count on was that the community park I’d run through would be having some paving done.  Thus, it cut my first loop short at 3.3 miles into the run.  Adjust.  I turned around and ran back the way I came, then set out to run the parking lots at the university before heading back toward my home with the fast finish.  This actually was a perfect morning for running.  It was 71 degrees to start, but there was a lot of cloud cover and a nice breeze.  The fast finish was miscalculated and I needed some extra, so I turned down a nearby road, and into lines of cars from a yard sale going on.  Extra level of difficulty.  I got out of there, made a loop and finished up in the parking lot at my apartments.  I successfully got it done.  My fast finish got a bit faster with each mile, so that’s a win.  Even with the rollers, the hill, and the cars.  Pretty happy with how this one turned out.  It was a perfect morning for a run.  Then, I got to go hang with my friend, Laura, and grab (magic) sushi for dinner.  Setting up for my next challenge the following morning.

Sunday: INSTRUCTIONS: 1 MILE WU; 3X4 MILES MP; 1 MILE FAST FINISH; 1 MILE CD – TAKE 2-4 MINUTES BASE PACE/RECOVERY BETWEEN SETS AT MARATHON PACE

Seriously, my coach must be trying to kill me.  This is the 5th time he has thrown this workout at me…and this time he added some fresh hell.  The one mile fast finish before the cool down.  OY!!  Thankfully, my friend Ron was feeling the need to be tortured for a little while and said he’d give this workout a try this morning.  We met up at The Parklands and got started after I had a Facetime with a friend of mine who is in the hospital.  I hope to go see her tomorrow and bring her some good vibes and love.  This run was definitely for her.  We started off with an easy warmup and then hit the first set of marathon paces.  He was really good at reining me back when I picked up too fast and after the first interval, he said he felt good enough to go to the turnaround point with me.  So, we started the next interval and made it to the turnaround and was able to hit it once more.  With the sun creeping higher, he warned me that he might fall back on these last intervals.  We started them up, and on a hill, I went and he didn’t.  But he did VERY well running those paces with me and I was so happy to have the distraction.  I turned around at the parking lot to head back out for the last interval, recovery, and fast finish before my cool down.  I turned around at the halfway point. Overall, this run got me a total of 16.75 for the day.  Whew.  It was a hard weekend but I came through it, and definitely NAILED this workout this time.  I am thankful to have the assist from Ron.  It was a HUGE help!

With the labor day weekend upon us, I am totally looking forward to Sunday evening with my friends, Melissa & Paul (and Carrick by default).  We have a tradition of cookouts and just enjoying these long weekends together.  A year ago we were in Hawaii together getting ready to run the Kauai Half Marathon.  And then, tomorrow, off to go visit my friend in the hospital.  Busy weekend.  But I love my friends and love having time with them…under very different circumstances.

Happy Labor Day Weekend, loves!

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #9

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornEver feel like a week was out to get you?  I felt that way the moment my coach sent through this week’s plan.  It was stacked.  It was asking a lot on my speed work days.  It was challenging me.  I knew it would require earlier bedtimes and early wakeup alarms.  And I was prepared for it.  But…it seemed the universe had other plans for me…

Let’s dive in…

Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN – 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

After spending so much time last weekend in the heat and humidity, the last thing I wanted to do on Monday morning was get up and head out into the heat and humidity.  I was happy to have the easy, recovery run.  I got up and got dressed to head out on my run and…thunder and lightning started.  I was NOT happy with that.  I was prepared to head to the gym if needed, but it seemed to pass as I started my stretches.  Without the sound of thunder or lightning flashes, I headed back out and just took it easy.  My watch was covered…and I started to concern myself a little more with a strange white truck that would just pull around and park and sit…and it kept doing this.  I ended up looping my mace over my hand just in case, but it ended up driving off and didn’t return as I finished up.  Despite the late start, I got in an easy 7 miles.  I was soaked because it was SUPER humid outside, so I went inside to shower and finish up my stretches with the additional hip strengtheners.  I also met with Corey that afternoon for my personal training session.  He had some fresh hell in store for me.  Plyometrics.  Box jumps.  Push ups.  LOTS.  My knees and, strangely, my ribs felt those box jumps the rest of the week.

Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: MARATHON PACE – 1-2 MILES WU; 6-8 MILES MP; 1-2 MILES CD

What can I say?  I really, really wanted to push myself on this and test my endurance.  It was HUMID and close to 80 degrees at the start of this run…which happened to start prior to 3 am.  No joke.  I did go inside to get extra water and electrolytes and stopped just a few times to utilize them.  But this run went better than I anticipated.  Considering my legs were really feeling my personal training session, I was a bit nervous about how this would go.  That being said, the longer warmup did help and once I got loosened up, I started to feel better and better.  I did use my Aftershokz headphones again…and loved that when it started to get hard, John Parr’s “Man in Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire)” came on, followed immediately by this year’s theme song, Panic At The Disco’s “High Hopes.”  It was enough to keep me going and pushing a little more.  My iPod keeps dying though on some of these hotter runs, and at first I thought it was the headphones, but now I’m pretty certain it’s the iPod.  Probably from the amount of sweat my body is producing.  Can’t help that.  But I got in just over 12 miles on a Tuesday morning.  Went inside to shower and stretch.

Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

Same run as last week.  Same instructions.  One month of it now.  This time, however, I didn’t opt to go to spin class.  I really wanted to go, but I needed to fit in a second round of my hip strengtheners AND…I had a major speed workout on Thursday, so I needed refreshed legs.  My personal training session was cancelled because Corey comes over from Kentucky and…Trump was in town and shutting down roads.  This is also why I didn’t get a soft pretzel.  MEH!  So, I put in 4 miles, just like the weeks before, and then showered, did my PT exercises and stretches with the additional hip strengthening stuff and called it a day.  I was still sore in my knees (weird for me…my knees never bother me).  I hope to get back to spin this coming week.

Thursday: TEMPO RUN – 1 MILE WU; 3X2 MILES AT TEMPO (7:20-7:50); 0.5 MILES RECOVERY; 1 MILE CD

If there was any doubt that this wasn’t my week…try waking up for the second time to thunder, lightning, strong winds, and heavy rain.  It was insane.  It was loud and violent enough that my friend, Melissa, texted me to make sure I wasn’t outside in the storm and if I was if she needed to come get me and take me home.  Do I have amazing friends, or what?  I kept hoping that the storms would pass, but they hung around all morning.  So, I did my morning stretches and then got my stuff together and…drove through light rain, but the lightning and thunder, to the gym.  Where I did my speed work…on the treadmill.  This was a huge step for me.  Running fast on a treadmill gives me A LOT of anxiety.  But, my friend, Jim wasn’t able to swim due to the storms, so he came up and ran on the treadmill next to me and kept me company.  I started off with an easy run and when that first mile was done, I pushed the speed up to 7:47.  It was all I dared to do on the treadmill.  In hindsight, I could have pushed it more, because I did get comfortable with this pace in the 2 mile pushes.  When I started the first one, I really, really wanted to stop…but Jim was there…and that would be really stupid to stop so soon into the push.  So, thanks to Jim…I actually did the workout as I should have.  YAY!  I was happy to have it done, and started to get some confidence back about working some speed and distance on the treadmill.

Friday: Per the usual…complete rest day.  Sleep in.  Shower.  Stretch.  Read.  Drink coffee.  Head into work.  Get magical sushi.  Prepare for Saturday long run.  This is how I rest day.  I take it super seriously.  I used to think I could ignore actual rest.  Do that “active recovery.”  Let’s face it, friends…active recovery is basically not resting.  IT. IS. OKAY. TO. TAKE. A. DAY. OR. TWO. OFF.  I promise, you’ll actually be fitter for it.  So, I kept it lowkey.  I got my sushi.  I stretched.  I did it all…and I went to bed early so that I could get up early and head out for my long run.  Alone.  Again.

Saturday: INSTRUCTIONS: 17-20 MILE LONG RUN – EASY PACE – DON’T PUSH IT! AND PRACTIVE RACE-DAY FUELING STRATEGY.

Okay, first of all…this run was pretty much done at or under my marathon pace for MOST of the miles.  But I honestly wasn’t pushing the pace at all.  Not one bit.  I wanted to be super careful because my left hip flexor is acting up after pushing some speed work for 9.5 miles on a treadmill during Thursday’s thunderstorms.  The important takeaway from today was that I felt good.  The temperature was perfect.  The sun was out and the sky was clear, and yet it didn’t really wear me out or kill me on the run.  I hit hills, because they make you stronger, right…with the hardest hills coming in the final three miles of this particular route.  I felt good.  I did practice my fueling and really think I have it nailed down.  I am really thankful for finding Maurten and having something work SO WELL for me.  I seriously have endless energy…even at the end of a run.  I never crash.  I never feel like I’m dragging.  I can’t say enough good things about it.  So, my pace might not look like I didn’t push it, but I honestly didn’t.  I feel good about this.  I am starting to have a phenomenal feeling about Monumental.  Then I went and sat out in the sun to watch Louisville City FC win against North Carolina at Slugger Field.  WOOT!

Sunday: INSTRUCTIONS: 3-4 MILES EASY, RECOVERY RUN. SLOW!!

I, surprisingly, felt pretty good on Sunday morning.  I woke up, did my stretches and got ready to head out to chase my Sunday morning sunrise.  I didn’t push any pace.  I just took in the beautiful sky and headed up to the park to watch the sun come up over the lake.  It’s my favorite Sunday summer tradition.  It keeps happening later and later as the summer draws to a close.  It makes me sad, because I used to be able to get it in before there was much traffic or people milling about.  But not these days.  I did get to wave and say good morning to three very attractive firefighters on my way into the park, so I count that as a win!  I focused on the purpose of this run: recovery.  The hip flexor was still slightly sore…but it felt way better today than yesterday.  Will definitely do a couple rounds of rolling again today.

And with that…this week of training draws to a close. I’m proud of the effort I put in this week, and the miles that I managed to log.  This was a stacked and really tough week.  Again, I think that my coach is getting this out of the way now…so that when I’m on vacation, on a cruise, at Disney World…I can be a bit more relaxed with the training.  Crossing my fingers anyway.  Because a long run around a cruise ship is doable…but not my idea of a relaxing vacation.

Now I sit here and wait for what fresh hell this week brings.  I hope you all are having a good training  cycle this time around!

 

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #5

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornThis week.  *SIGH*  This week…was one big roller coaster.  It started…going downhill…fast.  Forget the climb.  There was no climb.  There was just this screaming, falling, helpless feeling that just sort of paralyzes you.  But by the end of the week, save for having no one to long run with to pass the time, things were starting to turn around.

The highlight of the week…the cooler temperatures and lower humidity.

It was amazing.

And I think that’s why when Monday went off the rails…I couldn’t figure out a good reason for it.  So, my coach and I are blazing a new path this coming week…so stay tuned for something completely different.

Until then…let’s take the plunge and then slowly climb out of the pit that was…this past week.

Monday: My Monday run is always a recovery run. Usually between 5-7 miles.  And I always run it really well.  Relaxed.  Easy.  Legs feeling good after a weekend of mileage demands.  This run started off feeling harder than the pace reflected.  I chalked it up to not being fully recovered from two long runs (both with a bit of a workout element to them…the harder one being the 3×4 miles in the middle of 15 miles on Sunday) that were done in Extreme Heat.  It was one of the worst and hardest runs I have had in a very long time.  Every mile got considerably slower.  And, when all was said and done, I cut the run short by a mile and called it a day.  I had a hard time accepting it.  And it ate at me the rest of that day.  I did my additional hip strengtheners with my stretches that morning and had personal training.  And still…I couldn’t let it go.  It wasn’t that my overall pace was slower than I prefer.  Not at all.  It was how hard the whole run felt when it was supposed to be easy.  I felt like I was pushing pace and the pace wasn’t coming, but instead slowing down…mile after mile.  It’s hard for me to let go of bad runs…and this was one of my worst.

Tuesday: Speed Work.  The fresh hell that hits every week.  I dread it.  But I know it’s beneficial and will make me faster in the end.  This week was the Flat Pyramid.  I was to do a 1 mile warm up, then 400m-800m-1600m-1600m-800m-400m with 400m-800m recovery in between each one.  This wasn’t too bad.  The temperature that morning was once again…perfect.  My left calf felt tight, but I figured it would loosen up.  I felt like I was rolling on this one.  But when my runs were done, my second 1600 was just CRAP. For real.  Everything was actually slower than I felt they should have been.  I wasn’t having it.  It made me feel even worse coming off of the crash-and-burn run from Monday.  I figured I should have been recovered by Tuesday.  It was 7.5 messy miles. And I wasn’t happy.  I let my coach know.

Wednesday: Easy, recovery miles.  3-4 of them.  With the week I was having, I wasn’t holding my breath that this would feel good at all.  But, something was different this morning.  I managed to have a decent run.  The entire thing felt easy.  Right at base pace.  Two of my miles were faster than I anticipated, but I wrapped up the run and I felt good.  I felt like I was turning a corner.  No personal training because my trainer had much more important things happening…but I did my additional hip strengtheners again with my daily stretches that morning.  My coach wrote me back and said it seemed like I had just come out of a mental block and was back into one.  He asked me some questions, and that resulted in a very long, very honest, very vulnerable response from me as to what I feel was going on.

Thursday: Speed Work day 2 and my coach was changing up the Tempo Run this week.  After struggling time after time to hit the ladder tempos, he had me running the same amount hard, but this time with just 2 miles in each one.  So 1 mile warm up, 3×2 miles with 0.5 miles recovery between, 1 mile cool down.  I ended up grabbing a wrist band and covering my watch face.  I didn’t set the pace intensity into the workout on my watch.  I decided that it would be what it was that day.  And I ran it well.  I had to stop for a lot of traffic that morning.  And I needed to stretch out my calf a couple of times ( that, btw, feels much better), but it was an impressive run.  One that I was happy with.  I hit the usual tempo pace he wants me to aim for and I didn’t obsess over it or consistently check my watch.  No pressure.  No expectations.  I just let this one ride.  And it worked.  9.5 miles with 6 of them at the proper tempo pace. YES!

Friday: Rest day.  Recovery.  Sleep in.  Except…I haven’t been sleeping well.  Which sucks.  I didn’t get to stretch and then chill and read like I would have liked.  But I did my best to relax.  I checked in with people about long runs, both of which weren’t going to be able to run with me this weekend.  It was also a half day at work.  The original plan was to grab an easy lunch…maybe get grocery shopping done…My roommate and I did grab lunch and headed home.  We ran some easy errands instead of going grocery shopping.  But we did turn on Designated Survivor before I was going to cook dinner.  Except, with 7 minutes left in the episode…the power randomly went out.  I was 7 minutes away from cooking dinner.  Power wasn’t back on by 5:30 (over an hour after it went out)…so we ended up having to go out to eat…again.  We ended up at Dragon King’s Daughter for sushi.  Sushi is one of my favorite pre-race, pre-long run meals.  This was fine with me.  It was just an unexpected expense that night.

Saturday: LONG RUN!  I had a goal of 17-19 on the training plan.  With the awful start to my week, I mentioned to my roommate that I was going to head out early and aim for 19…but I’d be fine if I just did 17.  I used the Maurten 320 Drink Mix for the first time…and LOVED IT.  I never crashed on this run.  I felt strong the entire time.  And yes…I managed 19 solo miles…and my pace stayed pretty consistent and even throughout.  No stomach issues.  I didn’t want to quit.  I didn’t need to randomly stop just to breathe or berate myself for stopping.  It was smooth.  It was the run I needed to round out the week.  And I felt good the rest of the day…refueling, recovering, and…finally grocery shopping (and shopping for my vacation in September too).

Sunday: Recovery run.  4 miles.  Same run I did last week.  It felt good.  I ran a lot of hills on Saturday in my long run, and my legs were definitely feeling that, especially as I tackled one of my least favorite hills along the way.  But, this run was exactly what it was supposed to be…easy, slow, recovery.  And I got some great sunrise views (again…not sleeping well…so hopefully that changes this week).

So, yeah…this week started off rough, but it definitely ended on a high note.  That being said, my coach is taking a WAY different approach with me this week in hopes of giving me the compete reset I need to get back into a proper mindset as I head into my fall marathon.  Wish me luck.  And stay tuned. Because, honestly, I think this is going to be fun.

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Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #4

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicornHow can I describe this week?  What word can I use that will basically sum everything up?  Oh…I know…

HOT!

From mornings in the 80s to real feel temps in the triple digits…this week did everything it could to destroy me.  I persevered, but I was wrecked at the end of it.  But, let’s hear it for getting it done.  Even if it wasn’t pretty.  And even if it wasn’t perfect.

(And we all know that I’m a perfectionist because…Virgo…so that’s not easy for me to deal with).

So…how about we dive into the week that wrapped up my first month of training with today (Sunday, July 21, 2019), marking 16 weeks out from the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon.  So, let’s all settle into ice baths (HA…just kidding…I don’t do ice baths), stay cool, and review the events of this crazy week.

Monday: Every Monday, I pretty much have the same run.  5-7 miles (aiming for 6) and an easy recovery pace.  It was 80 degrees at 3:30 am, so I knew that this wasn’t going to be a day where pace was even pushed.  Once my legs warmed up and woke up, I fell into a natural stride and the easy pace started to finally feel good.  I extended it to the full 7 miles for that reason.  I went ahead and did my additional hip strengtheners during my stretches because I had just enough time to fit it in.  And later that afternoon, I had my personal training session with Corey.  And we had it outside.  Which was super fun because it wasn’t overly humid out.  Basically…a little bit of everything.

Tuesday: Hello, speed work.  One of these days I hope to get to the track and see how I do on a flat track.  But this week…it wasn’t going to work.  Nope.  Not one bit.  The speed work this week was my favorite of the workouts that Daniel assigns: Mona Fartleks.  These are fun and challenging and definitely keep it interesting.  Mona Fartleks work like this: 2 mile warm up; 2×90 seconds, 4×60 seconds, 4×30 seconds, 4×15 seconds (with equal recovery time in between each rep); 2 mile cool down.  I felt like I was moving faster than I apparently was.  I blame the humidity.

Wednesday: It was a recovery day.  A short, easy, deliberate pace for me.  I got up at usual time though because I always try to fit in two days of my additional hip strengtheners, and they take some times.  The shorter run did allow for this.  And I took it easy on the run (somehow did negative splits…I can never do this when I try), and then got in the stretches and additional exercises.  This morning, I also had my 6 year check-up with my dermatologist.  He cleared me for another year, but did say that he wanted me to start running with a hat or do rag covering the top of my head. MEH.  I hate how I look in hats, and my head gets really hot when I cover it with anything.  But, my skin is more important, so I got on Amazon and placed an order from Buff, for both a hat and buff to use on my head.  I had my second day of personal training with Corey this afternoon too.  He had some serious fresh hell exercises ready for me.

Thursday: Welcome to Day #1 of the Extreme Heat Warning that was going to span the entire rest of the week.  So, believe me when I say that I was looking forward to taking Friday off.  It was HOT that morning.  Around 80 degrees before the sun was up.  MEH.  I had 9 miles on tap.  Nothing fast.  Nothing hard.  Just a base pace run.  It wasn’t easy in air you can wear.  Not at all.  I was so soaked in sweat that morning that my running shorts wanted to fall off my hips.  This sort of heat is serious business and people who downplay it are not smart people.  Whether you react to it or not…it’s hot.  Be safe.  I survived, even though I looked like I had gone swimming.

Friday: Day off.  Rest.  Slept in.  Showered.  Stretched.  Read some more of “Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered,” by the My Favorite Murder ladies – Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark.  If you don’t listen to that podcast…YOU NEED TO!  If you haven’t read the book…YOU NEED TO!  Trust me.  Went to work that day.  Then went out for some sushi at Dragon King’s Daughter…because it was too hot too cook and…we made it through a busy week…why not treat yourself a little?  I love vegan sushi.  It made me happy.  Plus…it was not just good carb loading for my weekend ahead, but also had some additional sodium to prep for the heat.

Saturday: Long run day.  One of them.  Because we were back to some back-to-back workout runs that I did a couple of weeks ago.  I met up with my friend Ron, on an extremely hot morning.  It was real feel 90 degrees and we started at 6:30 am.  Cathy got up early on a weekend to actually drop me off at the starting point, because she had a cooler full of cold water bottles and she was going to meet us at the turn-around point so we could cool off with cold water to drink and pour over us as needed.  This was also my first time running in the ultra-light Buff hat.  I still think it makes my head hot.  I will fight you.  Ron and I kept the pace easy, but challenging.  And he’s really good about telling me to ease back on pace because sometimes I feel good and that helps me to keep out of the “now I feel like crap” zone that likely will come sooner rather than later.  We did 10 miles together.  His training ended there.  I still had 2 more “fast finish” miles to go.  MEH.  I took another cold water break before I left to go and get those done.  I knew in the heat that it would not be super fast, but the effort was there.  Both miles were in the low 8s which is in my marathon pace zone…but definitely not the fast finish I can usual produce.  Iced coffee, a shower, and some air conditioned shopping later…I started to feel recovered.  With heat indexes in the triple digits, and me needing to not be dehydrated going into Sunday, we skipped the Louisville City FC match (we would have baked).  I went to bed after watching Chernobyl on HBO (we started it on Wednesday night) and hoped to rest up because I was setting yet another early alarm.

Sunday: I had texted Daniel on Saturday afternoon regarding my Sunday workout.  I knew it was going to be impossible.  He told me to go off of effort and not pace.  But even with effort, this run was pretty much impossible to do without multiple, numerous, sometimes air-conditioned stops.  I loaded up a cooler when I headed out to put on the back of my car.  It had one bottle of water to drink and one bottle to use to pour over my head.  I had frozen two small (5 oz) bottles the night before to allow to melt while I was running so I could snag them from the pockets of my Nathan hydration vest and pour over my head if needed before I could get to a good point near my car.  I looped this entire run.  I wore the Buff as a do rag, despite being out before the sun was up.  I just wanted to see if it made my head overheat.  The jury is still out on that.  But I died.  I died so hard on this run.  No mile came without a stop or two.  My effort was not as hard as I would normally push.  It makes me feel like I just can’t string together hard pushes in runs, even when racing, and it’s bothering me so much.  I know that it was 90 degrees at 4 am this day…but it still bothers me on a fundamental level.  Want me to feel out of shape…let me fail at a workout.  And this one was the one that nearly killed me a couple of weeks ago.  1 mile warm up; 3×4 miles @ marathon pace (with 4 minutes recovery); 1 mile cool down.  It was bad.  It went completely off the rails for the second time.  And I just need to prove to MYSELF that I can do these more challenging workouts.  I’m tired of feeling like I failed or having people make me feel like I’m a failure for wilting in this heat.  I drank water, finished off Chernobyl, and have been meal prepping ever since.

It was a rough week, friends.  I just need things to start clicking.  I need to start feeling excited, confident, and prepared.  I’m not there right now.  I’m not even excited.  And that’s definitely not where I want to mentally be with 4 months to go.  So, we’ll see what happens in this coming week.

Fingers crossed that the heat never gets this hot again.  But it’s only July.  So I won’t hold my breath.

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Geist Half Marathon – Fishers, IN (May 19, 2018)

Me crossing the finish line of the Geist Half Marathon – Fishers, IN

Race: Geist Half Marathon

Place: Fishers, Indiana

Date: May 19, 2018

Time: 1:45:28

Oy.  That was a tough one.  Needless to say…my runs have not only proven to me that I’m sort of stuck at a certain pace or higher (MEH!), but that I am lacking in endurance, especially as the weather warms up.  Also…as a point…I had to give up a fall half marathon I had been hoping to run, but this one was far enough of away from a goal race that I was good to go on this one.

Here’s the thing.  I LOVE THIS RACE!  For real.  The Geist Half Marathon in 2014 holds my half marathon PR (almost 10 minutes faster than this time – 1:38:52)…and that was a difficult course.  I think I was in much better shape then.  HA!  But…it was a goal this year to press on into a new race PR, specifically in the half marathon distance.  This was supposed to go down at the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon at the beginning of the month…but things went downhill quickly on that one and my goal slipped, rather quickly, out of my reach.

This race is a beautiful one.  You run through the gorgeous neighborhoods of Fishers, Indiana.  You run the reservoir, which is stunning.  It’s just fun.  And…guess what…it wasn’t the race I expected, but damn…I had fun on this one!

Let’s start with Friday…

Sushi on the go from Dragon King’s Daughter

It was difficult to get away from work early as my roommate’s teammate took the day off at last minute, leaving her to cover for him.  Our best chance was to escape around 3:30 pm.  The plan was to place a call into Dragon King’s Daughter for sushi to pick up and take with us in the car.  Sushi is great travel food, by the way!  We got out, but our order wasn’t quite ready at the restaurant, so we waited around near the bar while they finished it up.  I loved that they included a little take-away container of the gluten-free soy sauce for me.  This is why I continue to return to Dragon King’s Daughter.  This also proved to me that sushi is not the magic race food I was toting it up to be.  Dang it.  I thought I was onto something.

You failed me, sushi!!

The drive up to Indianapolis was uneventful and traffic actually wasn’t bad.  Normally we hit bad traffic heading into the Nobelsville/Fishers area.  Not this time.  But it was getting late into the evening…we were after 6 pm and just now getting into the area to get to the expo and pick up my packet.  From past experiences, we know that the expo has little to offer, but you have to walk through it in order to get your bib and then your race shirt.  No biggie.  We parked at St. Vincent’s Fishers Hospital and walked inside to the Visitors Waiting Area/Food Court entrance, which is where the expo was being held.  It was raining at this point.  Naturally.  And we were supposed to be battling thunderstorms the following morning…but we were hoping that it would hold off.

On my way toward the back to pick up my bib, I heard someone say my name.  I turned…and there was Jay…another Nuun Ambassador!!  I love seeing familiar faces.  We gave hugs and spoke for a moment, but then, I was back on track to pick up my bib number.

My first look at the GIANT half marathon medal at the expo

I was bib 24.  I had to go to the very end.  Why the low number?  Because I was doing the offered 26.2 Half Marathon Challenge.  What is this challenge?  Well…the description said: Run another half marathon (or marathon!) in March, April, or May prior to Geist, and then complete the Geist Half Marathon on May 19th!  I had done half marathons in March, April and May…so using Geist as the required last half marathon in the challenge was totally in my grasp.  Why not?  And it got me VIP Access post-race as well.  It only cost $49 to throw my name into the challenge and that got me a 26.2 Half Marathon Challenge jacket, a special collector’s edition medal, the aforementioned VIP Access at Geist, and then two chances to win airfare, hotel and a free race entry to the March 2019 Publix Georgia Half Marathon in Atlanta.  I’m pretty certain I didn’t win that…as I’ve never heard otherwise.  Dang it.  OH…the most exciting part of this was when I did go to pick up my race shirt, only to discover it is a tech material hoodie.  I LOVE HOODIES!!  Day…made.

Since the expo is really small, we had walked through it on the way to get everything…so we left right after getting the hoodie.  Still raining.  We were off to the hotel for the night, just a short drive up the road…the Holiday Inn Express Nobelsville.

Cathy’s hotel breakfast from the Holiday Inn Express in Nobelsville, IN

Check-in went smooth.  Cathy unloaded the car while I got the key.  Cathy spotted the free coffee and said when she brought the luggage cart back down she’d check for decaf coffee (her favorite nightly tradition).  We unpacked the cart and she went to scope stuff out while I turned on the traditional Food Network for some Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives viewing while we relaxed and I foam rolled.  I laid out my intended race clothes (the humidity was going to be stupid the following morning) and then…lights out.

Race morning dawns…and while I’m changing in the bathroom, Cathy turns on the weather.  When I came out, she said, “The weather looks SO much better this morning.”  She wasn’t wrong.  The rain was now going to hold off until later in the morning.  If I ran well…I could beat it in.  That being said…the caveat was still that it was going to be 97% humidity during the race.  That was going to be a sweat-fest for sure.

The Geist Half Marathon has a 7 am start time.  That’s early.  But I was grateful for it due to the humidity.  We packed up our stuff to head out and noticed that the complimentary breakfast was open slightly early.  It’s usually open at 6, but they opened up early for the runners.  That was awesome.  Kudos to the hotel.  Cathy grabbed a light breakfast and I snagged a banana.  She ate.  And then…we got into the car and made it to the school where we always park the car and walk to the start line.

I was able to snag a 10 minute power nap…which just consisted of me closing my eyes.  No real sleep actually happened.  But then…I knew the walk to the start needed to happen.  So, I got out of the car, tossed on my NYC Half Marathon jacket (in case the morning air was chilly) and we began the one mile hike down to the start line area.  On the way, my NYC Half Marathon jacket was spotted by a nice guy (and super fast) runner named Tim.  I know a lot of fast runners named Tim.  We talked the entire walk and wished each other luck as we both went to find spots for the start. There was still a little bit of time ahead of that, so Cathy got a photo of me, still in the NYC Half Marathon jacket with the start line.  Then…I handed it off to her and went to go stand and stretch in the corral.  And lo and behold…I ran into a familiar face once again…JAY!!  It was good to have someone to talk to and chat with at the start line.  Normally I’m good making friends but here…built in friend!  Love it.

Me and Jay at the start of the Geist Half Marathon!

We wished each other luck and then…the start of the 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon started all at once.  And, with a wave to Cathy just past the start line…I took off at a comfortably hard pace.

My training plan wanted me to do this race in over 2 hours.  I. HATE. THIS. ABOUT. MY. TRAINING. PLAN.  Needless to say, I tossed that plan out the window that morning, because I was now playing “Beat the Thunderstorms.”

The air was incredibly thick with humidity that morning.  Like…breathing through a wet towel kind of humid.  So, before I even made the first turn after Mile 1, my pigtails were already damp and I could feel the sweat on my skin.  This is not a PR course as it is (never mind the fact that this race holds my my PR half marathon time), but it was also not PR weather.  Water stops were happening immediately for some.  I carry my own fuel/water/electrolytes, regardless, so I only stop if it gets unbearable.

Here is what I love about this race.  It’s beautiful.  You get to run through the gorgeous neighborhoods in Fishers, Indiana near the Geist Reservoir.  The 5K goes along a different course, but the 10K and Half Marathon runners are together for the first 3 miles of the race.  It’s after we duck out of a neighborhood and turn onto Fall Creek Road that we get to take our first pass over the Geist Reservoir bridge.  The 10K peels off to the left to go to the turnaround point, while the Half Marathon runners stay to the right and keep on pressing forward.  It’s back into the neighborhoods and around part of a round-about.  And around Mile 5, I remember high-fiving some children at the bottom of a driveway.  It was fantastic.  I was having a blast.  There is something to be said, when you know your speed is down, but you can’t stop having a good time.  That’s what this race does for me EVERY. TIME.

Running to the finish line at the Geist Half Marathon – soaked in sweat and humidity!

The halfway point came and I went ahead and took the HoneyStinger gel (everything new on race day!  I had never tried these before) that I had randomly at home.  I was out of my normal Hammer gels…so why not try it.  I felt an immediate surge of energy, and I actually did pick it up.  In the humidity though, it was short-lived.  There were, thankfully plenty of water stations along the course and even some sprinklers/cooling stations that could mist water over you.  LOVE.  So, my pace didn’t start failing me as soon as it did at the Indy Mini…but this was where I did start slowing down, heading into Mile 9.  And Mile 9 happens right at the base of a large hill.  There were some women out there who were just amazing…very encouraging to the runners and just cheering them up the hill.  Some people walked.  I did last year, but my legs feel strong…just slow.  I pressed up the hill.  From about Mile 7-11, I was pretty much following a very strong woman who was just very steady in her pace.  Rabbit, rabbit.  I passed her, just after we crossed back over the Geist Reservoir and ran the last 3 miles of the course backwards back to the finish line/start line.  At this point, if there was water, I was snagging it or running through it.  I was pouring it over my head, knowing that in order to keep running and going, keeping cool was going to be key.

Fist-bumps for finishing…I chased this amazingly strong woman for more than half the race…I passed her in the last few miles. I love having someone push me to do more.

I knew I was running smart, but I was also trying to pick it up.  I never once glanced at my watch to check my pace, because, honestly, I didn’t care.  I felt better than I did at the Indy Mini…so there is that.  The final mile is straight down the road, and when you hear the crowd and see that finish line…it’s just amazing.  I did manage to pick my pace up for a strong finish.  I crossed the finish line…arms barely capable of going up over my head…but I was done.

The 10K race bibs were silver and the Half Marathon bibs were gold…but since I was doing the 26.2 Half Marathon Challenge…my bib was silver with a low number.  The woman who was going to give me a medal went to hang a 10K medal on my neck and I stopped her and said, “No…no…I did the half.”  She was very apologetic, remarking that she thought all the half bibs were gold.  So…volunteers were apparently unaware of the challenge bibs being a different color.  It was quickly fixed and the GIANT Geist Half Marathon medal found it’s way around my neck.  Then, the woman I had been chasing for most of the race came up behind me and we congratulated each other, thanked each other for the push, and fist-bumped.  LOVE the running community.

Post-race massage therapy!

Cathy met up with me and we decided to head toward the after party area.  We had time and the storms were holding off.  On the way there, we ran into Tim again.  He had a good race even in the humidity…so that’s fantastic.  We high-fived and I went to head to the VIP area to get my additional medal and jacket (the medal is plexiglass and the jacket is sort of like a cheap wind-breaker/rain jacket…but it works!)…and then I went to get a massage.  Apparently, I am a WRECK.  I should really look into massages post and pre race because there were so many spots on my neck and shoulders and back that this poor massage therapist had to really work to get the tension/knots to release.  I’ve always been told I’m a train wreck anytime I get a massage.  They aren’t lying.

Drinking before 9:30 am at the Geist Half Marathon VIP area!

After I had my massage, I put my VIP Access to good use.  I went over to the Oliver Winery booth and got a Mimosa to enjoy.  I don’t drink much or often, but this was nice and Oliver wine is one of my favorites.  It’s SO good.  And I snagged the free beer for Cathy.  We sat at a table, enjoying not moving for a moment…drinking before 9:30 am.  It was great.  There was a guy who was dancing…the entire time there.  It was amazing.  People would join him, he’d get people to join him.  The music was wonderful.  I was able to eat some fruit…it was good.  It was definitely worth getting the VIP Access for this race.  I really recommend it for anyone who has thought about doing this race or perhaps have passed on doing VIP in the past.  I thought this was worth it. No disappointment here.

After a little while, we knew that if I was going to catch a shower before meeting up with our friend Greg for lunch that afternoon…we needed to get back to the hotel.  We headed out to make the mile walk to the car.  I called my mom during the walk to let her know how I did and we just chatted the entire way to the car.  Back at the hotel, Cathy went to fetch me coffee and a luggage cart while I showered.  She packed and got everything ready…and I had time to sit and use my foam roller while drinking coffee before we actually needed to check out and head on our way.

Coffee, Foam Rolling, and some Instagram Time all post-race!

It was nice to have time to relax and just…savor everything from the morning.  I was still smiling.  This is my slowest half marathon of the 2018 season thus far…and yet…I think this was the one where I had the most fun.  I enjoyed every…humid…step.

We were heading to Hops & Fire to eat lunch with Greg.  I got the exact same thing I got when I went here after the Indy Mini…the Vegan and Gluten Free Caprese Sandwich with Fries.  And we all split an order of the Gluten Free Onion Rings.  And then we hit up Half Price Books and a Comic Book Store before needing to hit the road to get home, unwind, give me time to stretch and then head out to the Louisville City FC soccer match that night back in Louisville.  Busy day.  But a full day.  And a day full of smiles.

So, my official results of the Geist Half Marathon is that I finished in 1:45:28.  I’ll take it.  I thought I was having a better race than the Indy Mini…but I think the humidity got me more here, even if it happened later on in the race.  Or my endurance has just gone to crap at the moment.  Or a combination of the two.  Who knows?  That being said, I was 87/869 finishers overall! Top 100 this year.  Also…this was half the finishers of number when I ran it 2 years ago.  I hope the chance of storms just kept people away because this is honestly a great race.  I was the 17/420 women to cross the finish line. And I was 5/74 people in the my age division! Inching closer to an age group award.  In 2014, I was 4th. In 2016, I was 6th.  This time I was 5th.  One day…one day it will be my time!

Can’t wait to return next year!

CHEERS!