Happy Blogiversary To Meeee!!!

WOW. I seriously cannot believe it’s been year! Talk about time flying!

September 30th last year I wrote a post letting the blog world know I was newbie. 🙂

It’s really all Salt‘s fault. We were chatting one day and she’d been blogging for a while (non-running related) and we both thought about how much we love talking about running–our conversations were mostly always about that. So then we thought about starting a blog. I was apprehensive, being completely new to blogging and having absolutely zero knowledge about what it entailed. But, Salt eased any fears and helped me get the party started. And here I am, still writing one year later!

I want to THANK YOU for following my journey. I still think no one reads what I write lol!!

Here’s of some of my fave posts ❤

Running Home

Who Inspires Me

My Sub 2 Hour 1/2 Marathon Recap

Random Things I Love

Crossing the Grand Canyon.. Twice

Anyway, I haven’t recapped last week’s training so….

Last Monday, I went for a treadmill run to shake off the previous Saturday’s awful long and I was back with my running club on Tuesday for another 5 mile run.

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I had to work really hard for both of those runs but I felt like I needed to because my spirits were low from my failed long run a couple of days earlier.

Speed work was Wednesday and I made myself puuush:

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The workout was 2×800, 1×1600, and 2×800. It was actually somewhat fun as the high school marching band was practicing the entire time. Made for a great distraction 🙂

Thursdays are supposed to be cross training days and I’ve been REEEALLLY bad about getting it done. So yeah, I didn’t do anything 😦

Friday, rest day.

Okay, so Saturday is where my dilemma begins:

I’m unable to to do my big 20 miler this weekend (3 weeks out and what’s on my training schedule) so I asked my coach if I should attempt it 4 weeks out or 2. Two worries me because I would’t have a lot of taper time and 4 worried me because it seemed, to me, a lot of time.

But I went with 4 weeks.

I set my alarm for 4 a.m. to be out in the streets by 4:30. But at around 1 in the morning, thunder, lightning and rain woke me up. There was no way I was going out in that alone if it continued. So I decided to start an hour later, at 5:30 when the rest of my run club started. I figured at least I wouldn’t be alone for most of my run even though it might get warm later on.

I pulled up to the parking lot, got off, and put my water pack on. Except I’d forgotten my phone! Ugh!!! I didn’t want to be out for 3+ hours without any means to contact my husband in case of an emergency.

So I decided to run 10 and then 10 later that evening. Of course this made me super anxious and I could feel the stress affecting me as I ran.

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When I got home, my husband met me with more stressful news. My daughter had a high temperature. The rest of the day was spent making her as comfortable as possible and trying to reduce the fever. By the time evening came, I was so exhausted. It was still raining outside so running outdoors was not an option. I sludged my way to the gym and 5 miles into my treadmill, I ended up calling it quits. A big DNF.

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Needless to say, this potentially not getting in a 20 miler has me really freaking out. I’m left with doing it 2 weeks before the marathon or not at all. (My longest run this training is 16 miles)

What would you do?

Total miles for the week: 28.11
Soda count: 1 can, 2 20oz

 

Marathon Training Recap Week 13

I’m on that roller coaster again.

It’s like I have a good week and then a bad week and then a worse week then an okay week then…

Ugh, last week was bad. I was coming off a great week and hoping that it would carry over. But, it didn’t.

I’m blaming no one but myself. I haven’t been following my plan as closely as I should. Even though I know that leniency is okay and life prevents you from following a schedule to a tee, there should still be some consistency. And there hasn’t been with this training. Totally. My. Fault.

I didn’t start my week until Wednesday at the track. Coming off a 3 days of nothingness, I didn’t have high expectations but still fared pretty well.

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The next day, Thursday, I joined my run club for an Adventure Run at our local RoadRunner Sports shop. It was way harder than it should’ve been…

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That beer stayed full. I couldn’t even drink it.

And then the Worst Run of Marathon Training Award goes to…… Saturday!!!

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It was absolutely awful. My legs felt so heavy and I was just tired.

To be honest with you, that’s how I’ve felt this entire training. Tired. I think I severely underestimated the commitment it takes training for a marathon, being a mom, and working full time. Holy shit, I’m tired.

This run sucked even more because a girl from my run club is pacing a race soon and wanted to maintain a 9:30ish/mile for 13.1. I told her I’d be her guinea and I completely effed things up for her. I felt so bad and she of course was super nice and told me that we all have those days. I honestly was surprised I had even offered because I usually don’t like running long runs with others. I’m always so worried I’m messing up their pace and that anxiety messes up mine and it’s just overall bad news bears. Why I had offered to be her running buddy, I don’t know, but I feel horrible that I ruined her training run.

Anyway, while I was running/slogging, I told her that I was hoping the reason I was doing so bad was because my extra energy was being sent to my sister who was running HER FIRST MARATHON that very morning.

I’ve written about my sister before and how inspirational she is to me; she is the reason I run in the first place.

About 10 years ago, her running career took an abrupt break though, when we were in a pretty terrible car accident, one that left her with little feeling in the left side of her body due to three broken vertebrae.

Yet, after months of therapy she regained enough strength to walk again and months after that, run! She’ll never be able to be the runner she was before but she doesn’t let that stop her from doing what she loves.

She finished her marathon on Saturday in 4 hours and 58 minutes! Killing her goal of finishing under 5! When I got off the phone with her, any woe-is-me feelings about my run that morning vanished. I was so freaking happy for my sister–all that mattered was that she had accomplished a life long goal and accomplished it like a total badass.

That was my week and here’s hoping 14 is my lucky number! One more month for MCM!

ETA:
Total mileage–19.22
Soda count–2 Big Gulps, 2 cans

–How was your running last week? Did you race this weekend?

–Do you have someone that inspires you?

Marathon Training Recap Weeks 11 &12

I missed my training recap of Week 11 somewhat not coincidentally.

It was a bad week.

Monday, September 1, I spent our Labor Day out on the trails for almost 9 miles of awesomeness.

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Then I didn’t run the rest of the week.

😦

It was just one of those weeks where life happened, excuses happened, anything that could/would deter me from running happened….

By Saturday, the guilt had creeped in and I got myself on the treadmill for 10.

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and I totally deserved pizza after 10 treadmill miles

Total mileage for the week: 18.8

Week 12

I was determined to have a better week and I felt like I did.

Monday, I got on the treadmill and ran a 5k x2 benefitting a virtual run a #RunEatTweetAZ buddy had organized. She was helping raise money for her friend who is battling cancer. I decided to run my 5k and run a 5k for my IRun4 little guy for a 6.2

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I was back with my run club on Tuesday and one of my running buddies pushed me to negative split and finish with a fast mile.

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Speed work on Wednesday and I was feeling the heat and running consecutive days. I still managed negative splits and a last fast mile though

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Thursday and Friday I took rest. (I’m supposed to cross train on Thursdays….yeah….)

Saturday I had 16 miles on my agenda. I hadn’t really long runned in a while and was starting to feel super anxiety. I needed to long run.

I woke up at insane o’clock in the morning and got ‘er done.

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My Olson response to anyone asking if I’m a morning person…

Surprisingly, I felt relatively good. I did start to feel my body begin to crumble towards the end of the run though and I had a flashback to my first marathon where I hit the wall at that exact mileage. I know that’s a mental roadblock I need to learn to get through.

Sunday rest.

Total mileage: 30.2

Much better.

Soda count: 3 (<—woo hoo!)

–How was your running week?

–At what mileage do you start to feel your body crumble?