Fearing the Long Run

Lately I have been talking a lot about fear and failure. These two topics have been on my mind a lot lately. Probably more than they should… But it is the reality of my training right now.

Despite all of my recent success I still cannot seem to get over the anxiety I face when I need to do a longer run. And the attempt at 6.50 miles only to have to bail after 2.50 really did not help. I did end up nailing that run but what little confidence I had slipped away. The past two weeks of good training hasn’t done enough to build my confidence back up.

I still fear the longer run. It is a fear that I cannot seem to shake. So far I have not let the fear take over. I still lace up and head out and I am completing the runs… But I just can’t shake it.

The last time I completed a training run that was more than 7.50 miles was April 2011. That is a very long time. Sure, I have completed one half and three 10 mile races since then. But a race is totally different from training. I can look at a race and view it as a one off… a short lived struggle.

Training is day in and day out. It is a daily grind. It is not a one time thing.

A longer distance race will only last from the moment you cross the start until the moment you cross the finish. But the training for that race is sometimes MONTHS of prep. It is weeks of running longer and putting in the miles.

I have had mild success with winging it for some of those longer distance races. But, at the same time, those races weren’t always about the running or the time. I know I can finish the races. I am stubborn enough to finish and I know that. Hell… I proved it when I ran my first half.

But the training scares me. The longer run scares me. Oddly enough, the longer run never scared me when I trained for my first half. I didn’t know any better and I had nothing to compare my training to. The fear started when the nausea started and I have struggled to move past that fear.

This week I have my first training run over 7.50 miles in years. And it scares the hell out of me. If I fail, I am not sure how I will handle it. I need the 8 mile run to go well. The thing that makes is probably making it worse is knowing that I have a lot riding on this run mentally.

See, my hope is that by finally completing this run that I will finally be able to STOP fearing the long run.

My battle with this run is all mental. I KNOW I am physically capable. My training has been consistent and I have felt good. There have been zero pains and there has been no nausea. I know I can do it. And more, importantly, I WANT to do it.

But I am still afraid

I have considered asking a friend to join me. Someone that will talk me out of my head. Someone that will be there for me.

But I need to do this one on my own. Every mile needs to be completed be me and me alone. I need to prove to myself that I can do it without help.

It will be an 8 mile mental battle but it needs to be a battle that I will win…

 

 

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Weekly Training Report: September 22nd – 28th

Monday – 7.52 Miles

I was anxious about this run all day. I am still dealing with the residual mental struggle I faced when I had the nausea issues. Last year at this time, I maxed out at 7.50 miles and never made it past that. Despite having completed three 10 mile races, the last time I did a training run that was more than 7.50 miles was April of 2011… thats quite a long time. Part of me contemplated just adding on the extra half mile to get it over with but I was fatiguing too much by the end of the run and I knew I didn’t have it me for the day. The run went pretty well… once I got my body to get over the anxious feeling. The last mile and a half was definitely a struggle though. I could tell I was fatigued and getting dehydrated but I was determined to get the run over and done. But it was definitely a huge mental battle to get there.

Tuesday – 4.03 Miles

Since I survived my 4 miler after my longer run the week before, I thought I would do the same thing this week. In all reality, I am going to have to reverse it once I start to officially train for Disney but this will help a little bit. It was a bit warmer than I would have liked but still pretty nice out. The run felt really good. I am starting to feel stronger even on my 4 miles runs now. I know I still have a lot of training ahead of me but 4 mile runs aren’t scaring me the way they used to.

Wednesday – 3.06 Miles 

With all the tough running done and out of the way for the week, I was left with my normal three milers. I headed out a little later than I had been as of late because I spent a portion of the day with my best friend. I was very pleased with my pace and am starting to wonder if I can manage a three mile run at a sub 9:00 pace.

Thursday – 3.02 Miles

I spent the day running errands with my best friend. So when I got home, I changed and headed out for my run. My legs felt heavy though so I thought I was running significantly more slowly than I was. But overall it was a good run. I didn’t have much too much down time when I got home before meeting a friend to watch baseball. It was, after all, Jeter’s last home game.

Friday – 3.05 Miles

Not going to lie… I was hangover… It wasn’t a bad hangover but after 4 drinks the previous night, it was enough. In case you didn’t know, I am a lightweight and rarely drink more than one drink if I have to run the next day… and even those days are rare. But a night out with a friend doing one of my favorite things caused me to throw caution to the wind. I knew waiting wasn’t going to make me feel any better so I decided to just lace up and get it over with. I was stopping at all the water fountains on the way out hoping it would help the slight headache… but it wasn’t helping at all. So on the way back I decided I just wanted to finish the quickly as possible so I skipped one of my water fountains. Oddly, I felt great and awful at the same time. I had a lot of energy and my legs didn’t feel as heavy as the day before but the headache wasn’t going away and I was feeling the effects of the hangover. There were no expectations of pace when I was done so I was gobsmacked when I saw my pace. It definitely could have been better but it also could have been far worse…

Saturday – Rest

Given that I have been getting closer to a sub 9:00 pace on some of the my three miles, I was partially tempted to go out for a timed mile to see if I could go sub 9:00 but, in the end, I decided against the idea. My mileage was where I wanted it for the week and I had hit my goal of 5 days for the week as well. An extra mile wouldn’t have hurt but since I am not used to running 20ish miles a week, it might be smarter for me to let my body get used to that for a few weeks first.

Sunday – Rest

I didn’t even consider a run. Instead, a day of Baseball watching was what I had in store. It was the very last game that Jeter would ever play and I wanted to see it. Plus I will hardly turn ever turn down a chance to watch a Yankee/Red Sox Game. There were also several other games that matter for playoffs so I was definitely paying attention to baseball for the day.

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I am pleased with my week of training… I wouldn’t have minded getting over 21 miles for the week but my mileage was higher than the week before so that was really all that mattered to me for the week. It has been a long time since I have had two rest days in a row but I think it was good idea. Ideally, I should do the 8 miler today but it is going to be warmer than I would like for 8 miles. I really need this run to go well so I am going to wait until it cools just a tad…

Training Confessions

In case you missed the memo, I have officially started training for my Navy Pier Perfect 10 (mile) race in November. This is now the third time I have started to train for a 10 mile race. I say started because I have yet to actually complete my training “plan” for a 10 mile race.

Last year around this time, I got as far as my 7.50 mile run and then I got a cold so I was forced to take about a week off. After that, I struggled to find the desire to lace up and head out for a run.

So I started to evaluate what was going on with me. I figured it out. My two and a half year struggle with random nausea had finally caught up with me. I started to associate running with getting nausea which lead to me being afraid to run. The nausea was so severe on some days that I would just curl up in a ball on my couch. I honestly just couldn’t deal with it anymore. I had spent a solid year trying to figure out what the hell was going on and I had finally reached my breaking point. I had essentially stopped running because I was so afraid. In a last ditch effort, I went off my birth control. Almost instantly the issue was resolved… I was no longer getting nausea when I ran.

But after two and a half years of having this fear… I now had a mental battle to fight. I had to re-train my brain to NOT fear running.

I completed the 10 miler essentially without training… which is starting to become my specialty…

After that, I knew I had to focus on re-training my brain to stop fearing a run. It was the perfect time to kick off what would be my main goal for 2014… to run consistently and have a good solid base. I decided it would be best to start off small… I would focus on running a mile then two miles and then three.

See, before, I rarely ran more than 2.50 miles because the nausea problem seemed to be more severe when I ran over that distance. So three miles for me was where I needed to get to.

Through the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 I stuck to my plan. Slowly but surely the fear started to melt away. I could plan to run three miles without the fear of getting nausea.

But then it was time to start training for SF10. The fear returned as soon as I needed to run that was over 3 miles. I would feel anxious the entire day leading up to the run. But I forced myself to lace up and head out. I kept this up… forcing myself to lace up and head out for my planned longer run each and every week despite my fear. Throughout all of this, I never got nausea during or after a longer run. However, two and a half years is a long time. My fear wasn’t going to go away in one training cycle.

And then that training cycle ended…

A huge part of that was due to traveling and needing new running shoes. When I was done traveling, I had a very busy week and I wasn’t able to run.

In all honesty, I probably could have but fear is a powerful thing and I allowed it to cloud my decision between running and doing something else. I got to a point where I knew that trying to train for a race that was less than two weeks away wasn’t going to do much. I knew I could finish the race despite not having completed my training cycle. So I made the conscious decision to stop training for those couple of weeks.

That was when I saw the Runner’s World Run Streak for the summer. I knew that would be what I needed to get myself back on track.

SF 10 came and went. I did finish… and I fared better than I thought I would. In fact, had it not been for GI Issues, I probably would have nailed my goal. But of course, I will never truly know.

I threw myself into the Run Streak. It was a game changer for me.

I have always known my body does need rest days, but I also knew that my body would be able to handle a short-term streak of some sort. There were a number of days where I stuck to one mile only but as I started to get more comfortable with running again, I slowly started to add on the miles.

And then I got a really bad cold…

Remember when I said my body needs rest days? Yea…

During that streak, there was a day where I felt great. I wanted to see if I could run 4 miles… It had been months since I had run anything over 3 miles and I needed to find out how my body would handle it. Short and simple… It was amazing.

My plan for the summer had always been to maintain my running base… To run 3 miles a day. More if I was feeling good and less if I felt like I needed a shorter run. So that is what I did. I maintained my base and was consistent.

I also successfully ran more than 3 miles a handful of times over the summer. But as the start of my new training cycle neared, I found that fear was creeping back. I was afraid of my first “long” training run of the cycle… a 6 miler.

Luckily, I had a friend join me on this run which was a wonderful distraction from that fear for the first couple of miles of the run but the fear was there all day leading up to the run. The fear was there again for my next long training run… a run that I had to bail on. Which only increased my fear for my next attempt at my long run.

The fear is still there when I need to run long. I know it shouldn’t be. I haven’t had any issues with being nausea is such a long time now. I am 100% positive the issue was the birth control. But two and a half years is a long time. It will take time to reverse the training my mind suffered… the fear.

I know I am a stronger runner than I was during those two and a half years. What’s more, I feel stronger. Over the past 6 months, I have started to feel like the runner I was back in 2010… when it never occurred to me to be afraid of a long run. The body is there but the mind still isn’t. But I am working on it.

I have every intention of completing this training cycle. Technically training for Navy Pier is just PART of this training cycle. The true training cycle goes through January for Disney Marathon Weekend.

I don’t know if I will succeed or fail. But this time I have something that I didn’t have before… I want it more. I want to finish this training cycle. I want to hit my goals. Finally hitting all of my goals for this year will only help with the goals I am considering for next year. I know that I need to continue to run long instead of letting the fear take over.

It is all mental and I know that. I know my body is capable. For the first time in 4 years I feel capable again.

I haven’t done a training run over 7.50 miles since 2011 but this year WILL be the year I succeed… I WANT to succeed.

Weekly Training Report: September 15th – 21st

Monday – Rest

I started off the week with rest. I had some errands that I needed to do and there was a threat for rain all day. So I decided it would be a better idea to rest and do the whole adult thing and get some stuff done.

Tuesday – 7.02 Miles

It was a gorgeous day outside so I decided to go for the long run for the week. I felt pretty good throughout the run but could feel some fatigue set in towards the end of the run. The last mile was brutal and I had to mentally fight to stay with it. But once I got to 6.50 miles, I knew I was stubborn enough to finish the run. Lately, I have decided that finishing the run with at least half a mile to walk home as a cool down is a good idea. The weather allows me to do this right now so I am not sure if I will keep it up once the weather gets colder but for now it seems to be working well. During the walk home, I checked my data for the run. I was very pleased with my pace and hope that I can keep up the sub 10:00 pace on my training runs for this cycle.

Wednesday – 4.04 Miles

I am really loving the fall weather and am definitely starting to enjoy my early afternoon runs. Since the long run was done and out of the way for the week, I decided to do my 4 miler for the week. I actually struggled with whether or not I should do my 4 miler or not because it was the day before a race. But since I still hadn’t made up my mind about whether or not I was going to race for time, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I felt great during the run and am really glad that I decided to do my 4 miler.

Thursday – Oktoberfest 5K Race

It was race day! I had signed up for this race back in early July and was really glad that I did. I was eager to see how I would do in a 5K race that was not in the morning… since I typically run better in the evening. I went back and forth trying to decide if I wanted to run for time or not but in the end I decided to go for it. You can read my full recap here.  I had gone into the race with a time goal of being around 30:00 for the race but I ended up with a PR instead! It was a great race and I had a lot of fun with my friends.

Friday – 3.13 Miles

With my two longer runs and my race over for the week there was no pressure on my two remaining runs. It was a little warmer than it had been but I decided I wanted to run my “hilly” course. As you know, Chicago doesn’t really have hills. However, the park near me does have some inclines and a hill that is fairly short but steep… and I can loop it. I set a goal for myself to loop hit that hill twice. The first go at the hill I definitely felt but I felt stronger than I normally do after running up the hill. But that second loop wasn’t as spectacular and I felt it big time. In fact, it almost had me but I managed to finish the run up the hill. I think I need to add this hill to my weekly training…

Saturday – 3.02 Miles

I knew there was little to no chance that I would be able to run on Sunday so my last run of the week had to get done. It was a lot warmer and VERY humid out but it was also supposed to rain early afternoon and then continue through the evening. Once I got home from my hair cut and running an errand, I killed a little bit of time and then figured I should just head out. I definitely felt the difference with the higher humidity but luckily the clouds started to roll in and that helped to cool things off enough. I was really surprised by my pace when I got home since I thought the higher humidity would have slowed me down a bit… but guess not.

Sunday – Rest

I was up bright and early to go support someone at a CrossFit competition. I had zero idea of what to expect since I had never seen one before but I was massively impressed! I am now even more intrigued with CrossFit than I was before. This particular event was a team effort and from my perspective, the team was well matched. They all had their strengths and weaknesses but where one person had a weakness, another had a strength. So it is my opinion that it was a good team for the competition at hand. Each team had to complete three rounds of various exercises and there were 6 heats per round. My day was spent watching some pretty incredible athletes and freezing my butt off… Note to those who watch CrossFit competitions, there is a very good chance the even will be held outside… this never occurred to me so I didn’t have enough to keep warm. I had a wonderful day at the competition and it was topped off with dinner so all in all it was the perfect way to spend a rest day 🙂

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The week of training was a good one! I have been feeling good while running and hope that it continues. This training cycle is already going better than the last one so I have some high hopes.

Race Report: Oktoberfest 5K

For those that know me well, you know that I am a morning person. Not just any morning person… one of those annoyingly perky and alert morning people… and that is before the cup of the coffee. However, what surprises a lot of people is that I loathe working out in the morning. That is not to say that I never work out in the morning… but for the most part, I avoid it if I can.

And yes, morning races are also my least favorite…

So a race that starts at 6:30 pm in my favorite part of the city is right up my alley. The Oktoberfest 5K is such a race. The race starts and ends in Lincoln Park winding through areas of the park.

Packet Pick-up at Fleet Feet was a breeze like always. My only complaint… Fleet Feet really needs to work on their definition of Women’s t-shirt sizes. Myself along with several other women at the race that I spoke with all agreed that the women’s sizes were closer to children’s sizes…

Leading up the race I really wasn’t sure if I was going to set a time goal for myself. I had just nailed a HUGE goal that I had been chasing for two and a half years and I was quite content with that. Part of me wanted to just enjoy this race. But the other part of me really wanted to see if I could better my time from the last 5K so that I could see if I had a 5K PR in me for my favorite 5K.

In the end, I decided I wanted to be around 30:00 minutes for this race. It would be a decent improvement from my last 5K and it would mean I was within 22 seconds of my PR time.

Luckily, the weather was in my favor this year over last year… it was a gorgeous night for a run. I was really excited to race and even more excited to spend time with friends. I was all ready to go in my WRCE Drindl

Eric and I met up around 6 and chatted with his track crew before checking our bags and lining up. This is a very small no frills race. After the Star Spangled Banner and an enthusiastic “go” for the vocalist, we were off.

I have a slight advantage when it comes to LP races… I know all the “potholes” in the park and I know where things get uneven. I also know where the race is kind of tight and where things spread out for a better chance to get around people.

Not having too much of a race strategy in mind, I knew I didn’t want to do too much weaving to start but I also did not want to hang back like I normally do. I weaved where it was easy to do making sure I stayed where I needed to so I could avoid those tricky spots on the course.

I decided to not run with water for this race. Despite this strategy working really well for me in the Mag Mile race, I also knew that it was significantly cooler and there was really no sun exposure. So I took my chances…

When I saw the mile one marker, I glanced at my watch and saw my mile split was 9:33 and was immediately bummed. I went out a LOT faster than I had planned so now I was concerned that it would mess up my chances to hit my goal because I would fade at the end of the race.

The one and only water station came shortly after the mile one marker. I debated whether or not I should keep going or stop for water. I knew I would need water before the race was over but I also kind of wanted later on… But since the race had the water station before the half way point, I didn’t really have that option. In the end, the strong headwind that had me feeling pretty parched decided for me… I grabbed a cup of water which I downed in a few quick sips and maybe 10 steps and then took off again.

As I made my way to the turn around point, I started to pass some of the people that had passed me earlier in the race. I was a bit surprised because my first mile split had me pretty concerned. Racing well after three seasons of NOT racing well is a bit of an odd sensation….

I made my way back under the Fullerton underpass… I really hate the underpass hills…. really short but really steep…

I saw the second mile marker sign and glanced down at my watch but I had already missed my second split. I was running blind now. But the mile marker clock said I was a little over 19 minutes into the race… but I also had no idea what the start line clock said when I crossed and I felt like I was slowing down so I had no idea if I was still on pace to hit my goal.

The next mile was a hug struggle for me. I knew there was another small hill to climb and I felt like I was slowing down even more.  refused to look at my pace because if I had seen the confirmation that I was slowing down, it would have defeated me mentally. I trudged along…

Here is where I was really glad I was so familiar I knew the park and the course. I knew I was getting closer and I was determined to hang in there. I quick glance at my watch and I knew I only had half a mile left. So I made my through the last turns of the course getting closer and closer to the finish line.

When I hit the final straight away and saw the three mile marker, I took off. I had no idea where I was timing wise but I suspected I was borderline so I went all out. The closer I got to the finish line, the more my legs felt like they were toast but I refused to let up. My mental will was stronger at this point.

I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch… and totally missed the reading on the finish line clock…

I saw Eric and the rest of the crew so I walked over to them as I checked my watch… As soon as I saw the reading on my watch I was floored…

It wasn’t an official time, but I knew I had just PR’d by nearly 30 seconds… and I never intended to PR at all… I was also completely out of breathe so I doubled over as I told Eric that I just PR’d…

But what I really wanted was my official results… and a bottle of water… the need for water came first. But I was so tired and out of breathe that I needed Eric to open it for me… Too bad he couldn’t catch :-p

We grabbed our bags from gear check and then headed over the bar to sit and chat and eat and drink. I ordered myself a drink because I deserved one for a PR. It was a fun evening chatting with everyone but I was still rather shocked that I nailed a PR when I had never intended to do so… Oddly enough, I had someone believe in me more than I believed in myself…

I checked my mile splits and saw 9:33 / 9:31 / 9:30 / 7:49 (last tenth of a mile)… So Even though I felt like I was slowing down, I wasn’t… and talk about consistent…

The following morning, I eagerly checked my results…

My official results were even better than my watch… I officially have a 31 second PR!!!! I was even more thrilled than I had been the night before.

After three years of disappointing races and training, I feel like things are finally falling into place. I am actually contemplating setting goals that I never thought were within my grasp. So far the fall racing season is off to a great start for me!

August in Review

My world kind of turned upside down at the end of July and the reality of that hit me like a ton of bricks on the first day of the month. I clung to the only thing that felt normal to me… running.

Mentally I was all over the place. I wanted to go into hiding and just mourn my loss. But I forced myself to lace up and head out. To come as close as I could to hitting my weekly and monthly goals. I needed the routine and I needed the sanity. Running has frequently been my escape… my way to work things out.

I had the support of my wonderful friends and family and I am so grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life.  But I needed the run and I am not sure I would have survived as well without it.

I hit my main goal for the month… to run 20 days. And though I failed to hit my weekly goal of 5 days a week a couple of times (I am 0-2 on running in MI) but I still feel like it was a very successful month of running. My two trips to MI where I got to see family were definitely worth missing two running days. Family always helps.

As for the mileage for the month… Highest ever for the month of August…. granted it was only by about 2 miles but I will take it. I had started to do some longer runs to prep myself for my Navy Pier training that I knew I would need to start in September. Having spent most of the summer consistently running lower mileage on any given day, I knew it would be best for me to start throwing in a few longer runs here and there. I didn’t want to lay out a plan but I sort of knew where I wanted to be by the end of the month.

For the first time in a while, I kept my average above 3 miles for the month. I also managed to have my average pace drop below 10:00 for the second time… I am slowly but surely getting faster. I am not sure if it will stay this low once I essentially stop doing half mile intervals daily but I am feeling good. The pace is starting to feel a little more comfortable. To prep myself for the water fountains being turned off for the year, I have started to try to skip water fountains on at least one run a week. Even while doing that, my pace has still remained sub 10:00 so things are looking good.

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For the first time in a long time, I feel like my running is right where I want it to be. I do occasionally still need to struggle through a run but my ability to stick it out is getting better. I feel confident that I will be able to keep up the consistency that I have had over the past several months. My hope is to keep improving. I have always known that consistency is the key for me and I think I finally have it.

Weekly Training Report: September 8th – 14th

Monday – 2.51 Miles

This run was horrendous… I headed out for 6.50 miles and well… clearly that did not happen. My body had other plans for the day. Throughout the day, I had been hydrating and I ate well but as soon as I started running, I knew something was off. I thought it might work itself out throughout the course of the run so I kept going. At the 1.50 mile mark, while at a water fountain, I knew I was going to have to cut the run short. At that point, I should have just headed home and settled for a 3 mile run but I decided to try for 4 miles. I reached my two mile turn around water fountain and I wasn’t feeling good at all. I was starting to worry that getting all the way home was going to be an issue. I started to run back but then I noticed I was no longer sweating… which never should have happened considering I had been hydrating ALL day and I was stopping every half mile for water. It also wasn’t THAT hot out. I had run in far warmer and more humid conditions without the issue I was currently having. As I neared the next water fountain, I noticed I was getting light-headed and I was starting to get really dizzy. I stopped at the water fountain and knew I had to walk the rest of the way home. Every runner has those really off days and I hadn’t had one in a while, so I just figured I was due. But at the same time, I had just come off a fantastic week so having to bail on a run just messed with me mentally quite a bit.

Tuesday – 3.02 Miles

After the run from the day before, I was dreading this run. I was anxious about it all day because I was so worried I would have another horrendous run. But I laced up and headed out. It wasn’t the greatest run but it was far better than the day before. I was relieved. The day before really was just one of those off days.

Wednesday – Rest

Despite a wonderful week of training the previous week, I had also not had a solid rest day. Instead the week had two active rest days. There is nothing wrong with active rest days but I felt like I needed a solid rest day with less walking. With the rain and high humidity, I figured it was a good day for it. Spending the morning with a girlfriend over coffee and the rest of the day with my best friend made it a wonderful rest day

Thursday – 6.54 Miles

My longer run for the week had been bugging me since my failed attempt on Monday. It was hanging over my head and I knew I needed to get it over and done with. I also sort of needed the ego boost. Luckily the weather changed and we had lovely cooler fall weather. So I headed out for my run in the early afternoon. I decided to do a small loop which is around 2.25 miles for one loop. Part of me was just curious what the loop was in length and the other part of me wanted to stay closer to home in case it was another bad day. Cooler weather means walking home a long distance after running is not the greatest of ideas. There was a strong head wind going north but I was feeling pretty good. I also wanted to skip water fountains since it was drastically cooler out. After my first loop, I knew I had the run in the bag and stopped worrying and just enjoyed the run. I purposely planned the run so that I had a short walk home to cool down just a tad. I was thrilled that the run went well. I was even more thrilled when I saw that the run was a sub 10:00 pace. I felt great!

Friday – Rest

I didn’t originally plan for the day to be a rest day but I had a few errands to run and the weather was icky for most of the day with on and off again rain. I also got some cleaning done at home. The weekend looked like perfect weather so I figured it was a good day for more rest.

Saturday – 4.04 Miles

I consider myself officially training for my 10 Mile race that I have in November, so I wanted to slowly build up my weekly mileage. Which means throwing in at least one 4 miler a week on top of my weekly longer run. I figured it was the perfect day for it. The sun was shining and it was a nice cool day. I headed out for my run along the lakefront trail and felt wonderful. It really was just a perfect day for a run. I was able to skip water fountains and I still managed a solid pace which I had no expected at all. I truly love fall weather running! Mommy surprised me by treating me to my favorite pizza for dinner too… Really a wonderful Saturday 🙂

Sunday – 3.12 Miles

Since I had to cut my run short on Monday and run only 2.50 I thought I would add an extra half mile to my three mile run. But I also knew that if I ran 3, I would still be where I wanted to be for the week with regards to weekly mileage. I figured I would just see how I felt. Well… I started out a little too fast and my last mile was also a bit speedy. I also really should have worn shorts instead of pants. I felt good but just didn’t feel like doing much more than 3 miles so I decided to turn it into a 5K. If it had been a race it would have been a PR… hmmmm…

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Despite the early set-back in the week, I still managed to hit my goals. The run on Monday was horrible but it happens from time to time. I am glad that I was able to nail my longer run for the week and in all reality, it was probably better to have gone for the run in the cooler weather since that is more likely to be the weather I will run in for my race.

This week I have a 5K race with the WRCE on Thursday that I am really looking forward to. I actually have a chance to PR if I decide to go for it. Part of me wants to go for it later in the race season and just enjoy the race this week with my friends. But the other part of me knows how close I am and I kind of want to just go for it. I haven’t made up my mind and in all reality… I probably won’t make up my mind until Thursday.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Never Forget…

I have already told my story about this day… if you missed the post, you can read it here.

I was 16 on that day. I was old enough to understand the impact but, at the same time, I wasn’t old enough to understand the impact. The world changed that day… MY world changed that day. I will forever remember the fear that engulfed me as I struggled to comprehend what was happening. Years later and quite a bit older and the days events as they unfolded for me are still vivid in my memory.  I know I will always be affected by this day. That I will always feel sadness. It is no longer a normal day for me. I will never forget.

 

July in Review

Yea… so I am over a month late in posting this… All I can say is… Life…

I had originally decided that I was going to extend my run streak for the whole month of July… But then I got a cold so I was forced to end my streak. I had to take a week off and take a DNS on a race that I had really been looking forward to. In hindsight, even though I felt good throughout the entire streak, it is possible that my body truly could not handle it and my getting a cold was my wake up call… so-to-speak. However, I am still glad that I did the streak.

Alright – Let’s talk numbers here. I managed to run 19 days for the month… just one run shy of my 20 days a month goal. I took one DNS… and yea… that one kind of stings a bit… But I did manage to run one race and I even finished off the month with just under 49 miles. Since I took a solid week off after getting sick, I am pretty happy with the numbers.

My whole plan for the summer was to maintain a solid running base and be consistent so for the month of July, I would say that I hit both goals.

Thankfully, most of the month was on the cooler side which always helps my running. I started to notice that even on the warmer days, I was more adapted to the heat than I had been the previous three summers. I really do think that the run streak was a HUGE contributing factor to that.

I am very happy that I was at least able to beat my monthly mileage from the previous three years. Was no where close to 2010 but I was at the height of half marathon training at that point… so all relative.

My average mileage for the month was below 3… I really wanted it to be at 3 or higher but I did a number of streak keeper days at the beginning of the month so all in all I was ok with that. My pace was well below 10:00 though. I had started to notice that I was running faster. I chalked it all up to the streak and therefore having several days where I only ran a mile but then I started to notice that my longer runs were staying under a 10:00 pace. I was really surprised by that since I wasn’t doing any speed work… at least not intentionally.

All in all it was a good month of training… I had big plans for August and the last week of July. But I received some devastating news at the end of the month when I was laid off from work. This definitely messed with me mentally. Running was definitely my only sanity for the time being.

Weekly Training Report: September 1st – 7th

Monday – Rest

Despite the fact that I did not run I did go on a hike with someone so you could probably call it more of an active rest day. I had a lot of fun. After the hike, we did a little bit of strength training. For the record… I cannot do a pull-up

Tuesday – 6.06 Miles

I decided it would be good to get the longer run for the week out of the way. I also had a friend join me… Always nice to run with someone. The pace was a bit slower than I would have liked but I don’t run with a set pace. We chatted the whole run so that likely slowed me down just a tad. I felt pretty good on the run as well. Feeling very good about my training.

Wednesday – 3.05 Miles

It ended up being a double workout day… which I haven’t done in quite some time. A look at the weather made me worry that I would have to take a rest day either Thursday or Friday and I didn’t want to miss a running day. The run was good and I had no idea that I was running that fast. After the run, I had a couple of hours to spare before I went to Flywheel for a cycling class. The class was awesome! But it also seriously kicked my butt. It was very challenging and I think I was too tired from the run to keep up with the class. My butt was also hurting a LOT on the bike…

Thursday – 3.04 Miles

I spent most of the day feeling rather run down. I wasn’t sure why but I was wondering if taking a rest day might be the best idea. I made myself some dinner and then magically felt a lot better so I headed out for a run. I could tell that my body needed some rest but I still managed to get in my full 3 miles.

Friday – Rest

I actually wanted to run but I knew the weather was supposed to turn. I went to the grocery store with my best friend during the day. Despite how hot and humid it was, we walked the errand. At the end of the day, I walked over 5 miles. I was home for maybe 30 minutes before the sky got really dark and the rain started. Yep… definitely a rest day

Saturday – 3.04 Miles

Spent the afternoon walking around with a friend. It was a gorgeous day out. It had cooled off quite a bit from the day before and the sun was shining. I was really excited to head out for my run.  I felt great the whole time I was running and was very happy to see that I had a faster pace than my previous run.

Sunday – 3.04 Miles

I am amused that for the first time in a LONG time… I had three runs in a  row at the exact same mileage. I usually run the same course when I head out for 3 miles but it never ends up being exactly the same mileage. I was really tired because I had gotten up at 4 am to go spectate a few friends running the Half Marathon in the morning. Eric had a time goal in mind and was shooting for a massive PR as well so I decided to go and support him. He totally smashed his goal! When I got home, I made food and then tried to take a nap but it just didn’t happen. I fully expected to run slower than the previous day especially since I skipped water fountains on this run. Needless to say, I was surprised by my pace.

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It was a wonderful week of training! I hit all my goals for the week and have been feeling really good while running. I have no idea if the pace will stay sub 10:00 once the water fountains are turned off and I am not stopping as often. Overall, I am feeling stronger and I really hope that my pace won’t slow too much. Only time will tell.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!