Tag: long run

San Francisco Marathon Training Week 11

Another one bites the dust.

Anyone else just start singing that? Maybe it’s just me. 😛

While my week 11 did not see the start of the strength portion of Hansons, it did see my mileage go back up a little. Little victories, right? There are a few perks to running fewer days though. I suddenly have way less laundry to do on the weekends. Which also means fewer clothing items strewn everywhere while they air dry. Also I can wash my hair less, so that’s a win right?

Monday- Rest day It was a fairly busy day at work and it went a little late. Going straight home was kind of nice.

Tuesday- 6 miles Slow and steady, slow and steady. Outside of long runs, I’ve taken to run/ walk intervals. My walk intervals are always .25 mile and the run portion will vary from .25- .75 miles. It’s slow going but I am getting it done. The shin pain was minimal so I’m calling it a victory.

Wednesday- Rest– We were down 2 people at work so I sure felt like I was running around though.

Thursday-6 miles I had a work meeting in another town and about 3 hours in I started to feel super sick. The room was so hot and stuffy, I thought I was going to lose it. And this is coming from the person who runs her space heater everyday at work. I still felt crappy at the end of the day but I wanted to at least attempt to run. River path this time, so more concrete and baby elevation gains. More run/ walk intervals but my shins were still manageable. I was able to pick up the pace a bit on the downhill portions and things felt pretty good actually. I also saw a bunny or two at the end! 😃

Friday – Rest Another open to close and I was tired. While my shins felt ok, my calf muscles on both legs felt like they were seconds away from a massive charlie horse all day. I was supposed to run with Heather and Ashley the next morning but between being exhausted and my crazy calves, I texted and canceled. I knew I would push harder than I should if I ran with people. 😢

Saturday- Rest Oops. The weekend was supposed to be cooler so I planned for an afternoon run. It was nice not even setting an alarm that morning. I admit I slept until 10. No shame. I needed it. After lunch and a few errands, I was planning on heading out for a run. I started to feel super nauseated though. I waited to see if it would pass but eventually decided that Sunday’s long run was more important.

Sunday-16 miles -Run 1- 11.5, Run 2- 4.5 miles Not the way I planned it but got it done! Once again, I listened to the weather man when they said the weekend would be cooler. I started my long run at 9 shooting for 16 miles. 6 miles in, I was over heating and my form was trashed. My shins were holding up but I knew finishing 16 at that point would probably do more harm than good. The plan had been to meet my mom at the high school after my run and go to lunch. I texted her at mile 6 and let her know that was going to be sooner than planned. With a route change I hit the school at 11.5 miles. Good enough. I felt like ran most of it but my Garmin data shows more than a few dips where I walked.

We ate lunch, then I rested a bit before heading back out to finish my mileage. I was expecting to feel tired and have to concentrate on my form but I felt surprisingly good. My legs actually felt kind of peppy. I knew it was going to be slower due to the heat of the afternoon but I was fine with that. What I didn’t account for was some….ummm… uncomfortable chafing issues that had me taking more walking breaks than planned. I had changed everything I was wearing but my socks so I have no idea what was up with that. I hope it never happens again though because that was not cool. Sorry for the TMI.

Overall- 28 miles.

Not too bad. Better than the previous few weeks at least. Survival mode it is, which means my long runs have become the most important part of my weekly mileage. I do kind of miss the speed work though. #justkeeprunning

Dietary wise– my breakfasts, lunches and most of my snacks have been on point. Dinners have been a whole other ball game. Kind of a mess actually. Grrr. And why does everything have soy in it?! Some of my favorite Crystal Light flavors have soy in them. What the hell does lemonade need soy for?

This week will probably see fewer miles than last week if I stick to the way the long runs are scheduled on my plan. My boss is back though so hopefully things will calm down on the work front a little. Fingers crossed!

How has your week been?

Do you flavor your water with anything?

Week 20 Training Recap

Week 20 for real??!? Where has the year gone?

And the marathon training keeps rolling. I am already tired. Or still tired from an emotional April. Who knows anymore. My focus this week was to up my running from 4 days to 5. My big goal for May is to consistently run 5 days a week. My training plan actually calls for 6 days of running but one of the first changes I made was dropping Friday’s run. If I handle May well, I may consider adding in Friday miles but I am not going to worry about that now.

Monday- 4 easy miles. After an unplanned Sunday rest day, I was really hoping that these “easy” miles would feel easy. Yeah, not so much. My legs felt tired. Part of it may be mental- I was a die-hard believer in never running on Mondays. It’s only been a month-ish since I started running on Monday’s and I think I still mentally rebel sometimes. #rebelwithoutaclue Post-run, things snowballed quickly and the next 6sih hours were spent waiting in the ER.

Tuesday- 6.98 miles- 1.25 mile w/u, 8 x 600’s, 1 mile c/d. Dude. This was the first time using the workout feature on my Garmin; it worked pretty well. With Monday night being so long and not getting to bed until 2 something, I told myself 2 things going into this run. 1-walk the recoveries and 2- listen to your body. I knew I was overly tired and under fueled. I didn’t want to just bail on the workout though. I decided to try the warm up and 2 600’s with recoveries and see how I felt. If I needed to drop the intervals and do easy miles, I would. I was hoping that making the recoveries a walk would be enough to get me through it. My plan calls for 600m repeats to be done between 3:26-3:35 but never having done 600m before, I had no idea what to expect. I just tried to run by feel and be consistent. The drawback to the workout feature is that it showed my current pace, I’d knew what overall time I had to hit but had never translated that to pace. Oops. Actual repeat times– 3:17, 3:22, 3:15, 3:23, 3:20, 3:19,3:16, 3:21. Holy crap, I did it!! I felt pretty good when I was done but was tired so I skipped my last recovery and went straight to the cool down. I might not have done that had I realized the watch would just stop at 6.98 miles!!!! Grrr.

Wednesday- Rest day Pizza day- nuff said. 😜

Thursday- 7.25 miles- 1.25 mile w/u, 5 tempo miles, 1 mile c/d. Oof, that was rough. Nothing about this run ever felt good. I ran this tempo on the streets and I looked forward to every stop light. Built in breaks without having to feel guilty? Hell yeah! Outside of those, I never walked or took a break, so that is huge in itself. I was glad to hit the cool down portion and even happier when that was done. I was so happy for cool down that it was almost faster than the tempo miles. Oops. A run-in with an off leash dog turned it into a walk and lowered the pace, which was probably better anyways. 😒 Tempo goal- 10:18. Tempo miles- 10:03, 9:58, 10:04, 10:10, 10:07. Pace wise, I did what I was supposed to do but it was just ugly. It was also my first run with my Fitbit and one point it said my heart rate was 182. What?! I know that most runs will feel tired but this one just had me worried for the longer tempo runs that I know are coming all too soon.

Friday- Rest day. Aww, bliss. I indulged in some very yummy tri-tip, garlic bread and garlic green beans. It was amazing.

Saturday- 8 miles Misery. I am intentionally keeping one of my weekend runs in the mid-late afternoon. I need to work on building my heat tolerance back up. I know that’s one of the things that hurt me at SLO- it was a very warm morning. Saturday was only 76 but it kicked my ass. I took more than a few walk breaks, a couple of stops and ran out of water. Well hell, that’s not a good sign. We’re not too far from constant triple digits here! Oh well, I got in some hills. To add to the pain, I realized that my training plan only called for 6 miles. 😓😂

Failed cool pic attempt but my Benjamin Button-ish made me laugh

Sunday- 10 miles I got up early in an effort to beat the very high heat of 81. Yes, that was sarcasm. 😏 This was rough, my pace was all over the place. Some 10’s, some 11’s and some 12 minute miles. It was warmer than I would have liked but like I said I have to get used to it. I had more water than the day before but I dropped my bottle around mile 4 and broke the lid. Seriously?? I had enough left to get me through the run but I had to carry the bottle in a certain way so I didn’t spill the rest. I also knew that week’s mileage was catching up with me so I was fine with going slower. When all was said and done, I was still closer to long run place than I thought I would be.

Weekly miles- 36.2 miles

It was a long, hard week but I completed every workout I set out to do. I felt like throwing a little party when I finished my long run. This was my highest mileage week ever– hell yeah! Right now I feel ok, but I know I need to keep on foam rolling and stretching. Moving on to this week, my mileage stays relatively the same but my intervals shift to 6x 800’s. Yikes!! I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday that could mess with my easy run though. I thought about moving it to the morning but if I am still struggling with 8 AM runs, 4 AM is not going to happen. 😜 I really don’t want to miss my run so we will see. I know consistency is going to be key to getting through this training cycle. And a good dose of good luck.

I feel like there is something else I wanted to share but I can’t remember what it was. Oops!

How was your weekend?

Do you run a last recovery or go straight to cool down?

How’s your weather?

Week 17 Training Recap

Upcoming race– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Keep working on the 4x a week and enjoy a step back long run.

Mission partly achieved. As for the other part- uh oh? For someone who has a propensity for colorful phrases, whether cursing or not, my training week ended with a very quiet, meek “uh oh”.

Monday- 3 miles 3rd day in a row and I was feeling a little tired. However, that was part of the plan so I kept moving. Mile one was super sluggish but I loosened up for mile 2 and 3. I finished strong and headed home. I did miss running with NikeC though.

Tuesday- 4 miles 4th day in a row?! Who am I? There is a method to my madness here, really. By the end of the work day I was not feeling like running at all. So I ran in work town; I knew that if I had to drive anywhere else, I would lose motivation and bail. My legs are not used to 4 days in a row yet so they were feeling pretty tired. I kept the pace easy and just tried to enjoy the view. By the time I got to the eucalyptus trees and shoreline I was glad I had stuck to my plan. Mile 4 felt the best to me which was funny as it is all uphill. I was just shy of 4 miles when I hit my car so I figured another loop of the block would get it done. Except I cut through the alley behind the police station. Should be safe right? And it was if you don’t count the crazy Husky that charged me. Seriously, what is my luck these days?! Someone called the dog off but he had the crazy dog look like he could snap at any time.

Wednesday- Rest Except my mother had a random Wednesday tennis match so without pizza night or running, I felt a little adrift. 😝 Ha! I ended up cleaning half of my car. It still needs to be vacuumed though.

Thursday- Rest I planned to run, I even changed into running clothes after work. My mother wanted to reschedule pizza night but I said I wanted to run first. Once again, she dropped the dad kryptonite. So I enjoyed pizza in un-sweaty running gear.

Friday- 10 miles I worked on Saturday and had plans to spend a day shopping in SLO, both of those things were stressing me out about my long run. I was able to leave early on Friday though for a partial day. As I was changing into my running clothes it started pouring in work town. Boo. I headed towards home hoping it would clear up on the drive. When I parked it looked stormy and threatening but was not even raining. A little rain is one thing, the pouring diagonal mess I drove in- not so much.

My first mile was super slow- more walking than running- I was mentally debating if I was going to run or bail. I didn’t have a mile goal in mind at all anymore, I was just out running. At every point where I could make the run shorter or longer, I would assess the situation. How did my legs feel and what did the skies look like? It was cold and windy but the storm clouds were holding. My upper left thigh felt a little off, kind of like there was a band around it. Nothing hurt, so I kept running. I was keeping a pretty steady pace and while it was faster than it should maybe have been, it felt good.

I was coming down a hill about a mile from my car when I felt it. Something in my left leg moved. I felt it shift on the outside of my upper thigh. I calmly said “uh oh” out loud and continued to run. Smart, right? It didn’t hurt but it felt very off if that makes sense. Good news was that the band feeling had gone away. I finished out 10 miles and stretched really well. At least I hoped so. I also attempted some butt kicks and high knees. Things felt weird. Oh crap.

Saturday- Rest I still wasn’t in pain but things weren’t normal. By midday, I was limping. But it still didn’t hurt? How does that even make sense? I chose to skip my planned easy run. Boo. If I didn’t have a race (SLO!!) next week, I may have pushed it.

Sunday- Rest For the most part, I felt better. Every now and again, I would feel an odd twinge but overall it felt ok. I spent the day schlepping around SLO and by the end I was exhausted. I haven’t slept well in almost a month so even though there was plenty of daylight when I got home, I passed on a run. I did however spend a very long time at The Running Warehouse, trying on all the shoes. At least it felt like that. The Launch’s and I broke up for good after that last cramp-tastic run. I hate returning shoes but I also can’t keep giving them to my mom. My budget is not that big!

So yeah, not the week I was hoping for but it could have been worse. I wasn’t planning on tapering for SLO but that will depend on my leg feels on my first run this week. It’s being weird so who knows? Fingers crossed?

Funny story, Friday I was sitting at my boss’s desk talking to her. I heard something behind me so I looked- crazy husky!!!!! He was in the building! Turns out he was looking for a treat. Small towns, right?

How was your week?

Ever have an odd, weird twinge? I’m thinking it’s my IT band.

Week 16 Training Recap

Upcoming race– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Keep on with the 4x a week.

16 weeks into the year already? How did that happen? I am not prepared for it to be halfway through April. I feel like the past few weeks are nothing but a blur. There has been running, eating, some mindless tv watching and some staring into space. I haven’t been sleeping well, I think the bags under my eyes are permanent features now. Enough whining, let’s get to the running!

Monday- Rest Ha! 2 days post Firehouse and I was walking a little crooked. I thought I was hiding it well but the first thing an employee said to me was “are you limping?’. Just call me gimpy. Getting up onto my chair and then down was definitely amusing. But in shiny news- Meet Mel!

The week before was actually my 9 year anniversary at work and they (my boss) got me a new fish!

Tuesday- 3 miles After work I headed to the lake path to take things nice and easy. The first mile was rough but miles 2 and 3 felt pretty decent. I kept it short on purpose and I wish that was all I had to say about Tuesday but it’s not. Next post will cover the excitement though.

Wednesday- 4.59ish miles I was running with NikeC and somehow I accidentally paused my Garmin .25 miles in. I didn’t figure it out until we hit the turn around point 2ish miles later. Waah!!! No! I may not be focusing on my pace these days (yet) but I am paying close attention to my mileage totals as I am trying to do this whole marathon training thing smartly. Luckily, she has the Runkeeper app on her phone. Other than the technical issue, it was a good run. My calves were a little achy but I expected that going in. I am really starting to like running with friends.

Thursday/ Friday- Rest Both of these days are a huge blur truthfully. I worked and ate cookies. More on that below.

Saturday- 13 miles- 11:16 pace Going into this weekend, I knew I was overly tired, stressed and emotional. I had originally planned for a 14 mile long run and a 6 mile easy run. By Friday evening, I had decided that anything I did was more than fine even if I chose to do nothing at all. That said, I headed out to attempt a long run early Saturday morning. 8:30 is early to me.

I was a little stiff the first few miles but soon loosened up. Per usual, crossing the bridge was my fastest mile-9:48. Slightly slower though as I had to detour through the Albertson’s parking lot due to road construction. Miles 6, 8 and 11 were real struggles. My pace dropped into the high 11 minute range. I wasn’t 100% present. By mile 8, I had also confirmed that my Nike’s are not long run shoes. 11 miles in and I was adjusting my stride because it felt like my entire right arch was turning into one huge blister. Part of me wanted to stop and check but I was also afraid to. My stomach cramped really badly in mile 12 and I walked most of it. I recovered for mile 13 but I was thankful I had called for a pick up. 13 was way farther than I thought I was going to get in. And my arch? Completely fine. I don’t get it, I felt like my skin was on fire.

Sunday- 4.2 miles This was intended to be a run/walk with my mom. It was a very warm day and we headed out in the afternoon so I knew it was going to be slower. And it really was- in fact I only ran about 1/4 of a mile. My left knee felt off and my left groin? area felt tight. I decided walking was just fine. I was outside, my legs were moving and I could use it to help me get used to the warmer weather.

All in all, not a bad running week. I actually got in more miles than I thought I would. I am going to call that a win for the week.

Life- Sometimes real life rears its head. I admit that I don’t deal well when that happens. My family has been dealing with some bad news, but part of that was waiting for the inevitable, final bad news. The last few weeks have all blurred, I got all clenched up every time I saw my cell phone ring. That call came Friday. I’m still not processing well. I don’t know when I will.

That’s not really how I wanted to end this post but I seem to have written my way into a corner. At least for now.

How was your week?

Anyone race this weekend?

Tell me something shiny!!

Week 15 Training Recap

Upcoming races– Firehouse 5K (this week!!)
SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Take it easy and bump it up to 4 days of running

Maybe it was something in the air or the water but this week kicked my trash. I haven’t been sleeping well and that hasn’t helped matters any. I was so tired most days I ordered a coffee and a soda most mornings. Not the best, I know. Towards the end of the week, I made a choice about my stomach meds and that threw some things out of whack as well. I was also feeling very hermit like this week and I ended up bailing on all my public involved plans. #horribleslacker

Running was rough but I hit the days I set out to. Last week was the week of the my first 16 miler attempt and this was the week where I stepped it up to 4 days a week. In retrospect, I should have scheduled those 4 days better.

Monday- 3.5 miles I ran on a Monday! Say what?! I was supposed to have plans later in the week, so I decided to run on Monday. I also ran in some new shorts that I had picked up over the weekend. I have to get over my sudden phobia of running in shorts in public somehow right? Even if it means buying a bigger size. 😭 The run was average if anything. I wasn’t sore after the 16 miler but my legs felt tired. I headed to the lake path for a few easy laps. I kept the pace slow and easy and just tried to enjoy running. However I had shoe issues. I started out in my Launch’s thinking the extra cushion would be a good thing right? My calves tightened up so badly, I changed my shoes 2 laps into the run. Luckily I had my Nike’s in the car as well. I made sure to stretch really well after my run.

Tuesday- Rest This was a rough day at work and a big part of me wanted to run it out. However I was trying to rest my legs after the previous days issues. It was also the lovely shattered make up morning.

Wednesday- Rest– I wanted to run after work, I had everything packed. I had a meeting in SLO in the morning. Part way through the meeting my head started to hurt. By the time I got back to work, I had a full on migraine. I still told myself I was running after work. Around 4:30, I realized that just wasn’t going to happen. I wanted pizza, then comfy clothes and a dark room and an ice pack. So I did just that.

Thursday- 4.5 miles– Ouch, ouch, ouch, damn it. Another run in the Launch’s and a ouch filled 4.5 miles. I probably should have called it sooner but I was stubborn. I kept stopping and stretching out my calves. No luck. I was thisclose to taking my shoes off and finishing the run barefoot. But instead, I went back to my car, then home to stretch. It was probably payback for not going to the work social thing that I was supposed to that evening.

I don’t know if it was the shoes or what but I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst cramp in my left leg. I damn near screamed. It was like a charlie horse all over my calf. I felt like I had barely dozed off when it happened again- in the right leg. WTF?!

Friday- Rest– Ha! Standing in the morning and walking around was real fun. My upper calves were so painful and tight from the cramps. Compression socks can be had to conceal at work but thankfully it was a casual Friday. And I pushed it to the limit when I wore my old dark blue Pureflow’s with my jeans. I meant to change them, I really did but never did. So bad.

Saturday- Firehouse 5K, 3.75 walk– First 5K of the year! It was rough, no lies, recap will be up on Wednesday. I tried to get ahead of the soreness I knew was coming by heading out for a walk later that day. I could tell that I was getting super stiff already. I was really hoping the walk would make things better. I also missed another social situation- this one was family related. #horribleslacker

Sunday- 7.5 miles– Oh my quad. Serious ouch! Full disclosure- I have never run the day after Firehouse. I usually take 2-3 days off, sometimes 4, I’m that sore. I ventured out Sunday morning for a long run. I was hoping for 10 miles but I knew that was unlikely. My quads were so tight, my feet hurt and my knees were sore. Throw in 90% plus humidity and this run was Rough. I slogged my way through 7.5 miles. I welcomed any break so when some cyclists needed directions, I was more than happy to. ☺ 7.5 is better than none right?

All in all, it wasn’t a bad week. The runs weren’t the best but I got them done. The mileage was a little lower than I would have liked but I knew that was likely with Firehouse in the mix. It’s suddenly dawned on me that SLO is only 3 weeks away. How did that happen? I feel unprepared, I’m not ready! I need more time. So this week, I am just going to keep my head down and just keep running. Hopefully the soreness will ease up and I can have a decent week of running. And foam rolling, I really need to do that more. 😛

How was your week?

Ever get horrible cramps in the middle of the night?

Have you ever had a week where you just wanted to be a hermit?