My 2nd 20 and Holiday Hoedown Wrap-Up

This is a bit late due to a trip to Idaho to pick up this year’s half a cow.

So here’s the run down.  My week was fairly good.  It could have been better if I wasn’t still fighting my hip and ankle.  Because of the hip and ankle, I didn’t run Thursday’s scheduled 6 miles.  Would have liked to, but I feared that if I did there was no way I would have been able to complete the 20 I had scheduled for Saturday.  So I didn’t.  I did see the chiropractor and by Friday I was feeling at about 80%.  Which, all things considering I had been feeling about 50%, 80% was pretty good!

The weather had been iffy all week.  Lots of snow and cold and rain was supposed to be hitting us Friday through Sunday.  I sighed a lot on Twitter about it.  I didn’t want to run in slippery weather.  I didn’t want to run in rainy weather.  I contemplated wearing a trash bag to keep me dry.  I live in the desert.  It doesn’t rain all that much and it’s out of the norm for it to rain in December.  So I started seriously contemplating the treadmill.  At least in the morning for maybe half of the 20.  Then chauffeur kids around and then hopefully the weather would start behaving and I could do the last 10 outside.  Yep, I could do that.

Until I heard that we were going to be having 70 mph wind gusts Saturday afternoon.

Humph.  I might fly away in a 70 mph gust of wind.  And then I definitely wouldn’t have made it to Disney.  Although, the wind was blowing to the east.  Maybe if I hit it just right….Christie, I’m coming in for a landing!!

But alas, I got up later than I had planned and got in 8 miles on the treadmill before 9 am.  Took a 90-minute break for mom duties, and then hopped back on the treadmill.  I’m not gonna lie.  My ankle was hurting.  I wanted to cry.  I walked a lot of that last 12 miles.  But in walking, I had my peeps on twitter entertaining me with random funnies.  I might be putting them on speed dial on January 9th if I’m still having ouch issues.  Because the last 5 miles was hard.  And then I miscalculated and thought I only had 2.5 miles to go and then I questioned my math skills and realized I still had 3.5 to go.  I was hot and sweaty and starving.  (Man, I have *got* to figure out something that will keep my stomach from growling!)

I’m so happy that I had my previous 20-miler done.  Because I would have been hard pressed to add another 6.2  miles to Saturday’s run.  The first 20-miler, I knew I could do it.

But I did it.  I completed a second 20-mile run.  That still blows my mind to think about.  And I did it on a treadmill.  That’s almost as hardcore as running 20 miles in the snow (which is what the first one was).

Honestly I don’t remember what my goals were this week.  It was such a blur.  But I’m going to say that I’m proud of where I’m at.  I exercised for 4 hours and 38 minutes.  For a total of 278 minutes.

And on that note, I’m going to say thanks to my team – The Healthy Holiday Hos – you’re awesome, and I’m going to leave you with this picture.

 

10 fingers and 10 toes = 20 miles!!

 

What keeps me going

This training for a marathon business is hard work.  And I’m not talking just the actual miles that are spent running.  It’s trying to fit in HOURS of running every week around an already packed schedule.  I couldn’t do it without the help of T and my parents.  Last weekend I did my first 16 mile run since early September.  As you know I’ve been battling pain and injury since then.  I’ve been seeing an awesome chiropractor who has given me stretching exercise (along with some therapy in office) that have made  a world of difference.  Unfortunately I now know that I can’t not do these things.  I must stretch and roll out my muscles every day if I think I’m going to make it as a runner.  It’s part of who I am as a runner.

On Thursday I had a chat with Coach Joe about revamping my plan.  I originally had an 18-miler on tap, but I knew that there was no way I was going to make that.  So we changed things up a little, slowed down my pace for my goal-paced runs and my long runs and off I went into the land of altered training plans.  The good thing about this plan is that since it started back in July, I still had some wiggle room.  If you are ever looking for a coach – granted he’s in Oregon and so we email and chat periodically on the phone – Joe is awesome.  I always feel reassured that he’s got my back.

Last weekend’s 16 miler, I’m not gonna lie, was hard.  I ended up doing it on Friday as it was a holiday (Nevada Day) and T had the day off.  That meant he could do his long run on Saturday and would free up time on Sunday.  I was a little perturbed that morning because the kids ate all my English muffins so I didn’t have my usual pre-long-run breakfast.  I ended up with oatmeal mixed with yogurt.  Not bad, but I missed my usual.

The run wasn’t bad, but I was DONE by the end of it.  I had nothing left to give.  Which actually felt good when I realized that I had zero pain throughout my run.  I had my normal aches and twinges, but no pain.  That is until about 2 hours later.  And then I stretched the heck out of my legs and the pain went away.  Getting this run done on Friday meant that I had two rest days before I was ‘scheduled’ to do another workout.

Monday was speed work.  I love speed work.  It’s fast, it’s hard, but it’s over pretty quickly.  The plan was for 8 x 400 m at 1:42 with a rest of 1:30 between each interval.  That’s fast, yo.  And actually too fast for me to feel comfortable on the treadmill.  I completed them in 1:47 each; and I’ll take that happily.  The last 400 m was hard and I had to repeatedly tell myself to just keep running.  My legs were tired.  But I’m so glad that I got it done.

In looking at my training plan I have some longer runs during the week – my Tuesday run – that I know I won’t accomplish on the treadmill.  To for instance yesterday’s 8 miler.  After talking with T, I decided that I’m going to get the run in when he gets home from work, or more accurately when I get home from being mommy chauffeur. So I tried my best to get everything ready before I left that afternoon.

My legs still felt a bit tired from the speed work on Monday, so I was a little nervous about hitting my goal pace on this run.  Not to mention I don’t normally run in the evening, so how was I going to do manage my meals when dinner is usually my biggest meal?  I hydrated and tried to eat a nice balance of protein and carbs all day.  I ate a protein bar about an hour before setting out hoping that would be enough.

So at 6:30 off I went into the darkness.  This was the run I was waiting for.  This was the run I *needed*.  I felt like I was flying the first 3 miles.  Granted I was going on a downhill slant for those 3 miles, but they felt good.  I felt strong.  And I hit green lights at all the intersections.  My lucky day!  Then the slight uphill started, but the legs? They were cooperating.  I just kept thinking about how tired they felt after the 16 miles and how relatively awesome they felt now.  I did have to walk for about 1/4 mile around mile 4 because it was dark, no cars were passing me, and I didn’t want to kill myself on curbs or trip on a rock buried underneath fallen leaves on the sidewalk.  I ate a gel at mile 5 and sipped on Cytomax throughout my whole run.

Music was playing in my ears and I was feeling the vibe.

As I turned the final corner, I realized I still had a ton of steam left, so I picked up my pace.  I ended up sprinting the last 1/4-mile or so.  I ended this run with a huge smile on my face, dripping with sweat, and feeling 100% satisfied.

Now comes the real work.  Staying on top of my stretching and rolling so I can build on this strength and endurance I’ve worked so hard for.  So here’s to another week filled of runs that I feel good about.  Because those awesome runs? They are what keep me running.

 

I’m still runnin’

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I last posted here.  The rest of June was cray-zee!  We had our family reunion in Maine and I piggybacked that trip with a conference in Chicago and then trying to get back into normal life.  But, I will have you know, I’m still running.  I took the week off after San Diego as prescribed by Coach Joe.  And then I did some shorter runs.  I haven’t gone much over 6 miles since San Diego.  I’m itching to start training again for the Nike Women’s (half) Marathon in San Francisco in October.  I ran twice in Maine – and sweated bullets there with the humidity.  I also ran twice while in Chicago – again sweating bullets.  And I’m determined to run once a week outside in the dry heat of Nevada this summer.  I’m determined to be prepared for any heat coming my way.  Granted my next races are going to be fall and winter, but I was so disappointed in my performance in San Diego.  I don’t want to be in that position again.  So I’m running.  This week I ran 9 miles.  That was on top of a 10-mile hike on Monday with T and the girls.  Yes, the girls made 10 miles.  Well, the 4yo got a ride for about 3 miles back, but all things considering they did awesome.  Very proud of them.  I’m looking at a 5-miler tomorrow on the treadmill since T is gone for drill this weekend.  I also started incorporating tempo runs back into my schedule.  Tempo runs helped me so much in training for San Diego.  I did one on Friday and while it felt good, I know I could push myself harder and be okay even in the hot garage!  So that’s where I’m at.  Running has definitely become a new lifestyle for me.  I’ve been consistently running for almost 2 years now.  That’s a record for me.  I love training for a race.  It helps keep my motivation going.

 

Weeks 12, 13, *and* 14

Wow. I can’t believe that it’s been almost 3 weeks since I last updated everyone here.  So much has happened.  In week 12, I know I did my runs almost as prescribed.  That Thursday I only did 5 miles instead of 6 due to time constraints of T’s birthday and picking up Tiffany and Jerrod at the airport.  That Friday morning Tiffany and I headed to the airport and were off to middle of nowhere Texas (aka Leakey – pronounced Lake-ee not Leak-ee for those of you who might have mispronounced it like I had been doing).  The majority of the girls who went for our little ‘girls weekend’ were part of Team Shrinking Jeans and so really early Saturday morning (well, early for us pacific coast timers) we got up and ran our prescribed miles.  I completed 12.  It was a bad run, in my mind, but I banked those 12 miles.  Tiffany and I flew back into Reno on Monday.  I left her at the airport to catch her flight back to Boise.

Week 13′s training I modified.  On May 2nd (last Sunday) I had signed up for a half-marathon in Reno.  The Rock N River (Half) Marathon.  I signed up for this because I know I can run 13.1. But I’m aiming for a below 2-hour time in San Diego.  I figured if I could run at elevation in Reno in less than 2:10 that I would fairly easily be able to run the same distance at sea level in less time.  I ran 5 miles on Wednesday and then 2 miles on Friday just to give my body time to rest before the 13.1.  Also I was starting to feel like something was off in my left ankle.  It felt like it wanted to pop but it wouldn’t.  I’m blaming it on running in a different brand of shoes than normal.  They are really pretty shoes, but I will be handing them off to one of my teammates who loves her identical pair.  The race was pretty good.  I took off slow.  I didn’t want to push my ankle too much in the beginning.  It took a mile or so of paying attention to it and making sure I was allowing it to warm up gently. Unfortunately for my brain, my headphones died on me.  At mile 1.  I was a might bit ticked.  Music is my big motivator in running.  Luckily there were enough other runners around me that their strides and banter helped keep my mind off of the lack of music.  Then I hit a good stride about mile 2.5 – at this point I was running 9:10 miles.  My cruising kept up until about mile 8.  I knew I was over halfway there.  But at mile 8 my ankle did something weird and started hurting.  My pace slowed down considerably at this point.  I started having internal debate of whether or not I should just call it a day and quit.  But I wasn’t mentally able to say I was done.  I *knew* I could run this distance.  I kept wondering if I was doing damage that would hurt attaining my goal in San Diego.  Long story short(er), I finished the race running.  I finished with a time of 2:07:38 – which I’m totally fine with.  I met my goal, and I know that once my ankle is back to 100% I will definitely hit my goal time in San Diego.

Week 14 – I’ve essentially taken this week off.  I wanted to let my ankle rest after the half.  I did get on the treadmill today and ran relatively slowly for 2 miles.  Once my ankle warmed up, the muscles and tendons felt fine, but my ankle still felt like it wanted to pop.  This afternoon I visited with my chiropractor.  He adjusted my hips and my ankle and then he did some laser therapy on it.  It feels so much better already.  I’m going to let it rest tomorrow and then hopefully go for a 6 mile run on Sunday.  If it’s not back to normal by Sunday I will head back to the chiropractor on Monday.  There are only 4 weeks left until San Diego.  Actually in 4 weeks we will *BE* in San Diego and I’m excited beyond belief.  I will be hanging with my sisters and enjoying being all together for the first time ever.

I promise I’ll be back in a week and let you know how the ankle is doing.

 

Week 9

This last week of training brought to within $400 of reaching my fundraising goal.  Thank you to everyone who donated in the last week.

I was pretty sore on Sunday following the 8-miler in the hills.  I ran on Monday and then the Tworkout (via The Sisterhood’s Twitter workout during the Biggest Loser).  My butt was so sore.  But I knew that if I just kept moving that I would work the soreness out.  And eventually I did, but my muscles were very tired last week.  I did my tempo workout on Thursday so I could rest before my 8-miler this weekend.  I knew I needed to rest.  So yesterday rolled around, T got up early and went for his run and I headed outside again just before 10.  I knew I needed to be done by 11:15 so I could pick up the little gymnast at 11:30.  I have been running on average 8:30 minute miles.  So doing the math says that I should be done in 68 minutes.  It was an interesting run.  It was cold and breezy and cloudy.  After the first mile I was warm all over except for my hands, which were uncovered because I didn’t think it was going to be *that* cold.  I ended up needing to be creative with my path because the loop I was making was only about 7 miles.  But, in the end, I landed in my driveway at 8.01 miles in 1:07.  My only concern about next weekend is that I have a 10-mile run on the schedule.  I’m not sure I can maintain that pace for 10 miles, but I have a really hard time slowing my pace.  I know it’s something I need to work on.  And today I had a 4-mile run, which I did have to slow down and change my pace, because I was still tired from yesterday’s run – but not sore – and I slowed my average pace by almost 15 seconds.

So here’s to this next week of good, solid training (and of hopefully reaching my fundraising goal)!

 

Week 8

Time just seems to be flying with training.  This week was better than last week.  The only issue was a lingering full-torso rash that wouldn’t go away.  Running and sweating and clothes rubbing were an obnoxious combination.  Hopefully that wasn’t too much information for some of you.

But, I got all my runs in and felt pretty good about them.  Although I’m sure I’m pushing myself hard enough on my tempo runs.  I might up the challenge a little bit this week.  I did complete about 20.5 miles this week, which is just way cool in my book.

My long run today was supposed to be 8 miles.  Nike+ logged it as such, but I think it might have been a little shorter than 8.  I made up for it though.  Today I ran outside.  On a trail.  With rocks.  And steep hills.  And oh.my. it was hard.  But it was hard in a good way.  I’m a little sore now sitting here this evening, but it felt so good to challenge myself.  My average pace for this run was over 10:30 minutes miles.  The pace I have been able to easily keep on the treadmill and even outside on the city streets is 8:30.  I completed this run in 1:27:05 by the time I shut off the iPod.  I’d like to do more trail runs, but I’m not sure if I should with this training or not.  It is definitely harder on my body and joints, and I don’t want to injure myself.  So I will probably stick with the streets, at least for another couple of weeks.

T took this picture of me today after we got home from my run.

I am updating my thank-you note up at the top.  (I know I said I’d do it last week and I didn’t. I suck.)  Next week I’m slate for 1 mile less than this week. So pretty much it stays the same.

I have to give a great big shout out to Christie O. who is on Team Shrinking Jeans with me.  Today she ran/walked 26 miles on a treadmill in a mall as a big part of her fundraising efforts for Team in Training.  I could not be more proud of her.  She raised $1435 today.  Just today.  I’m sure she is going to enjoy a nice, not moving, kind of Sunday tomorrow.  And she deserves it.  I am proud and honored that she is on of my “sisters” and on my team.

 

Week 7…wait a minute…

Wow! I have officially started week 8 of my training!  I can hardly believe it.  This last week was a little rough.  I’ve been recovering from being sick a week ago which left me with some sort of crazy rash all over my torso.  It doesn’t hurt.  It doesn’t itch, but man it looks horrible.

So, first, I want to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who have continued to donate.  I need to update my little sticky note at the top of the blog, because there are so  many new people, and I appreciate their willingness to donate in my name.  AND there are ton more who have donated to the whole Shrinking Jeans team and you? are awesome also!

I stuck to my schedule this week which was a 4 mile run on Monday, 5 miles on Wednesday, and a 3-mile tempo run on Friday.  I was originally planning on doing my long run of 6 miles on Saturday before I headed off for scrapbooking, but T wanted to head out to the hills with a local running club for a run.  And since his schedule fluctuates and he doesn’t get out running as regularly as I do, I felt it was worth the sacrifice.

So Sunday morning I headed outside for my 6-mile run.  I was contemplating throwing an extra 0.5 mile in there just because, but I decided that after about the first mile I was just going to do my 6.  Why, you ask?  Well after crossing a street with a light and I hopped back up on the curb and took a couple steps, my lack of gracefulness finally caught up to me and I tripped over an uneven spot in the sidewalk.  I’m happy to say that I only hit the side of my right knee and my hand as I caught myself.  I never did stop though, I pushed off with my right hand and just kept going.  I have a bruise now though.

This week brings an increase in my long runs.  It jumps to 8 miles this weekend for a couple of weeks and that number won’t get below 8 until the week before our race in San Diego.  I am so excited!!  I also get to run my longest scheduled training run of 12 miles with 7 members of Team Shrinking Jeans in April.  We are getting together at Christy’s place in Texas for a little R&R and ‘sisterhood’ bonding time (along with a handful of other sisters who are on Team Shrinking Jeans).  And then I just signed up for a local half marathon the weekend after our little retreat – which is a month before the half marathon in San Diego.  I’m doing it for two reasons.  I want to see how I perform at 4500 ft. above sea level.  If I can do at least as good as I did in San Francisco last fall, then there should be no reason I can’t reach my goal time in San Diego.  And, I’m a glutton for punishment.  T, unfortunately, will be out of town that weekend for drill, so he won’t get to run it too.

So that’s the last week and a little peek into the future.