Date: March 16, 2023 Location: Fairhope, Al Start time: 8:00am Weather: 62° with 92% humidity
I woke up at 5:15 am and definitely didn’t want to get out of bed. (even though it was only a week or two worth of early brighter mornings, I really enjoyed them and hate that it is dark till almost 7am now!) But I did get up. It was rough! Started with a watermelon electrolyte drink – oh yeah, this was a day of many firsts and that’s never a good thing haha. The electrolyte drink made me think of high school watermelon vodka (🤮🤮) and I barely choked it down. Then I had my usual bagel with peanut butter and a drizzle of honey.
I wore Reebok bike shorts which I normally don’t wear for races because they don’t have a key pocket where I would normally put an ear piece for music or my car key. But I thought it would be fine since I wasn’t going to listen to music and in general they were tight, right? But, without the phone holder holding my shorts up they were a little loose around my waist during the run – so lots of tugging them back up. Oh yeah! FIRST race phone free, water bottle free and music free! It was kind of really nice to not have to deal with anything at all. But if I were to want music I wouldn’t be able to listen to any – so that means I definitely need a Garmin upgrade with music (obviously lol) 🤣
After eating I did some mobility work to get moving and warm ups. I ended up leaving around 6:20 am and it was difficult to figure out where to actually park which meant driving around aimlessly for an extra 15 minutes. But I had plenty of time. They had a good portion of the streets blocked off for an arts and craft street fair which was confusing. I met up with Vina after I picked up my bib around 7:15 am or so and we both figured we would just leave our phones in our cars. Which of course later gave us problems trying to find each other since we split up half way through the run.
Mile 1- we started at the front not knowing what peoples paces were but figured we were just gunning it and going for whatever. We were hitting 7:30 paces!! With the arts and crafts fair going on/starting up we ended up running through some of the greasy food tents and it definitely would have been more amazing if it weren’t so overwhelming. You would think it would be a great thing, the food did smell good, but not while trying to race, it left us nauseous. It was just too much when we were pushing. And I held the 7:30 for about .5 mi haha and then we slowed it down. Average pace: 8:09min/mi
(I gotta be honest with ya, I had no real expectations since I didn’t train specifically for a 10k at all – which also felt like a nice excuse to fall back on)
Mile 2- I was dying. Let’s be real, my legs were heavy as heck and I was just trying to hold on. Average pace: 8:50 min/mi
Mile 3- there was some real good elevation during this run, and mile 3 was basically all uphill. It was HELL. I think I lost Vina a little after mile 3 on a water break. She was doing great and I let her go. I got a stitch in my side, my biggest weakness is not being able to stay in the uncomfortable zone for long. So I will definitely work on that. Average pace: 9:21 min/mi
Mile 4 couldn’t come soon enough but it was downhill from there. Average pace: 9:15 min/mi
* also race support was SO much better than the marathon or any other race I’ve done down here. It was surprising, but I was hurting and in the pain cave and couldn’t properly say hello. The humidity really got to me today! I stopped at each water station and got water, wish they had powerade or some electrolytes, but that’s ok!
Mile 5- I think I blacked out. I was playing leap frog with another girl who didn’t seem like she was dying at all. Average pace: 9:13 min/mi
Mile 6- I tried to go faster but it started to go uphill, an UPHILL FINISH!?!? COME ON!! Average pace: 8:35 min/mi
.2 I tried to go fast, I was toast. Average pace: 8:42 min/mi
Unofficial time: 55:26 Feeling like: Burnt toast. I pushed myself and I am soooo happy I did! It’s not a PR but I went into this knowing I wasn’t going to PR. but still, I’m happy with the results, especially since it was so humid! I don’t think I have ever pushed myself that hard in a race, sometimes I feel like I let myself down by not, but I was heaving at the end of this one, which was great! I feel like I left it all out there.
After going through the finish line, there was a longer than normal walk to get water and snacks. At the first I thought there wasn’t any! Which would have sucked. I got orange slices – they tasted soooo good!! Makes me think I should have oranges on long runs in the summer! And I guzzled a whole 16 oz water bottle too!
if you can tell on my shoe there is blood, my toes were bleeding – another first for me!
Here are my splits. Not too shabby, I am so excited with this starting point and happy at the paces I managed to keep especially with the up hills! I thought I was moving A LOT slower!
Monday – (3.11.24) – Plan: Strength training + cycle
I did it! I didn’t want to, I was feeling quite unmotivated but I did it. If I want to achieve these big goals I have them I gotta put in the work. Because no one else can do it for me! I skipped the leg hops because this morning my heels hurt so badly. I don’t know if it’s necessarily from running yesterday or from wearing my old New Balance stability shoes. I took out my old(ish) (they have miles left on them) Vongo shoes and this morning I was hobbling out of bed. But then stretches plus some foot strength and calf stretching took most of the pain away. Anyway, I’ll be keeping a close on that. And to cut y’all off – this is America, where I can’t afford healthcare for myself and therefore can’t go see a specialist. Otherwise I totally would! And paying out of pocket $500+ is not something I can do either.
Anyway, back to the workout! It was a GOOD one. And I’m so excited because I used a 25 lb kettlebell which felt like it was moving easier (not too easy where I need to up the weight yet) but it was smoother! And a 40 pound barbell!!! The RDLs I used the KB because I was pretty tired at that point -ha!! It was a sweaty session but I’m so glad I did it!
As I’m trying to get in mileage to hit 2024 for the year, the only way I can get there is adding in biking miles. So 4 for today since I was running outta time and it was pleasant! If only I could/would wake up early… The thing is, we’ve been plunged back into darkness so while I would love to get up and go on a walk, the darkness is so inviting to just snuggle up and sleep. Also, I didn’t sleep in all weekend and got up at 5:30 even without my alarm clock – talk about rude! Sunday morning Jesse woke up at 4:50am and just started chattering away so I was basically forced awake -ha!
Did anyone else get effected by the time changing? Saturday Jesse was so exhausted he slept from 6PM TO 4AM!! We were all surprised, but he was so wiped out. And then Sunday I was pretty tired and tried to take a nap, but hazel decided to use that time to try and balance everything on me so I didn’t sleep haha. But then she passed out around 6pm woke up at 8:30pm had a snack and snuggled up for an hour and we all went to bed at 9:30! She slept til around 7:30am! Also, while I love spring I also hate it because the pollen sends my allergies into an absolute tizzy! I sneeze non-stop and it’s miserable.
Tuesday – (3.12.24) – Plan: 4 mi easy recovery run (5.7-5.8mph) Actual: I had to leave early from work to take the kids to the dentist and couldn’t go running. Afterwards we ended up going to that park to burn energy. I had originally intended on trying to wake up early and do a run on the treadmill in case my heels acted up but I slept through every opportunity.
Wednesday – (3.13.24) – SPEED workout 4-5 miles (5x 100m strides at 8.8-9.3) Actual: I had absolutely no desire to run. This tends to happen after a big race, I jump into running too quickly afterwards still on that race high and the following week I’m over it. I need to just run for fun or something. I need a run with Vina! And just like that, Vina texted and asked if I wanted to do a fun local 10k race with her. I obviously said YES. I’ll be bringing Hazel with me in the stroller so there will definitely be a big obstacle haha but I’ll go out as hard as I can!
Thursday – (3.14.24) –Strength + XT I’ve skipped all runs this week, I’m going to try to go on a run today with some pick ups to test out the legs. Plan: mile repeats, 800m repeats and 400m repeats
*Each morning since Monday I have been working on foot strength before getting out of bed. Stretching the toes out and flexing and all that they say to do for PF pain. And you know what? My heels haven’t been hurting nearly as bad (hardly at all) when I first get up! Huge improvement!!
Actual workout: I finally made it to the gym and it was really good! I guess I need to remember to TAKE SOME DAMN TIME OFF AFTER A LONG HARD RACE HAHA.
I started out with a 5 min warm up, then did 2 x 1mile repeats at 7.1 which was roughly 8:35 pace – and that felt comfortable if not a little annoying for having to still run for a full mile haha. I would say an RPE scale it was 3-4 in all honesty. And in between the repeats I jogged for 3 minutes to get good and rested. Then I attempted to do 800m repeats at 8.2 and I failed a few times. I just couldn’t hold the pace. But I didn’t get down on myself either. I was kinda happy to hit this wall and I kept going. I adjusted the pace and did 7.8 for the last and only full 800m and I increased to 8.2 to finish off. Then I walked a smidge and had 400m repeats. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hit my 400m goal paces I had thought up last night so I decided to stick with paces but only do 60seconds of it rather than 400m – seemed easier that way ha! Which turned out really good and by 40 seconds I was like ok I wanna stop so badly, but I didn’t. I did those 60secs at 8.8, 8.9 and 9.0 … all of them felt a little too fast for me today and I felt like my running form was off. Not sure why *edit to add – I know exactly why lol, it was timing of the month! I couldn’t settle into the pace though and it was a little awkward. But I still finished it. Then I did a cool down at 6.0 for about 4ish minutes and completed the rest of the 60 minute allotment walking at 2.9. those walk recoveries really drag down your average time! Also my watch never registers how fast I’m really going. When I was doing the mile repeats it was showing 10 min pace, maybe I don’t swing my arms as much as I need to??
Decided to also get in a short upper body and core work since I’ll be pushing a heavy stroller on Saturday! That’s also kinda why I wanted to push the pace to see if I could and I knew I wasn’t going to be hitting 8s with Hazel. Hoping for some 9s and would be happy to stay in the low 10s with her.
the updated green house! – and the plants in there are doing SOOOOO GOOD now!
Funnily, Hazel has gotten used to listening to a book before bed! I don’t think it matters much what it is, but I put on a book for 10 minutes and she was out like a light! Haha
Friday – (3.15.24) – Mobility + 3 mi EZ – meeting a friend for lunch to talk all things books and fun.
Woke up feeling really good considering the harder workout yesterday. Heel pain not there – forgot I was also doing foot strength at work! Win win just gotta keep it up and will continue to do mobility movements throughout the day and foam roll tonight.
Saturday – (3.16.24) – REST RACE DAY! (10km!) I haven’t raced a 10k since 2020! Obviously I won’t be PR-ing but I am hoping for under 60 minutes. That would be really awesome since I will be pushing Hazel. this is what the weather is saying:
It’s been in the high 50s in the morning so I assume it’ll be 50/60 which isn’t too bad for a short race and I doubt it’ll rain much – should be passing through Friday and be ok.
Morning of run-
Weather: 62° and 93% humidity (youch!) / partly cloudy / 5-6mph winds from north east.
Wearing: neon-ish green new balance crop top (for St. Paddy’s Day celebration)+ black Reebok bike shorts + green feetures socks + pink and white Craft shoes.
Fueling: had one electrolyte drink (watermelon flavor) and bagel with peanut butter and honey. I will bring a gu but I don’t intend to use it. 🤷🏻♀️
So. Freaking. Humid!!!
Race recap coming shortly!
Sunday – (3.17.24) – recovery run if weather allows!
Actual: First off, I slept REALLY good for the first time all week. Slept in till about 7:20 and then River was barking like “let me out to pee pleaaaasssee!!” I got up and enjoyed some peace and quiet. Hazel woke up shortly after and ate her breakfast and was eagerly ready to hop in the stroller for a run! It was a lot less humid out and a bit more sunny. My legs felt great and we clocked in 3 miles with the stroller! Definitely not a recovery run haha! Also I feel like the hills around me were WAY HARDER and longer and taller than normal. But we had a breeze so that was really nice. Hazel pointed out all the birds and squirrels on our route. We both had a lot of fun! She didn’t want to go inside afterwards so we strolled around quite a bit, saw the chickens and in general just enjoyed being outside before the rain came.
Yesterday I discovered I have a splinter in my toe .. I got out half, but there’s still half there and it hurts a little
Amazing how we are already in March and the time is springing forward! It has been warm out but I am waiting for that last cold snap that always seems to happen end of the month!
When this gets published- we will have spring forward!
Goal for this month: Strength + building up mileage
Monday – (3.4.24) – Plan: Lower Body Strength + Core, Foam Roll + Cycle 4mi Actual: restarting the strength program I did after last half marathon because I felt it really helped me get back on my strength game!!
4 mi cycle which oddly the last mile felt SO long haha! And then foam rolling and stretching.
Tuesday – (3.5.24) – Plan: Active Recovery/ Stretch + 3 mile extra EZ run Actual: never have I noticed that you can see the sweat in these shorts!! Haha! Looked like I peed all over myself! 3.5 miles between 5.6-6.0 which really felt great and easy and then 5 – 30second strides ranging from 8.5 + 9.0mph. 4.25 miles total. (Probably more to be honest because when has Garmin ever matched the treadmill?!? But I forgot to look at the treadmills total since I had to pee so badly!!!)
Wednesday – (3.6.24) – Plan: Speed Work – 5mi Actual: found a fun little treadmill plan to follow from my app- oddly though I am wondering if maybe I will be outgrowing that app soon. I love the strength part but I wanted to follow the running too and some of these are too easy. Maybe need to find advanced ones. Wondering what is next for me. Eventually I will have to move on to something else.
Thursday – (3.7.24) – Plan: Full Body Strength + 6-8mi cycle Actual: I FORGOT A SPORTS BRA and couldn’t do the actual workout. I did 10 minutes and got really sweaty. A much needed break!
My favorite picture from the race:
Friday – (3.8.24) – Plan: 4mi EZ + Strength and core Actual: I took today off. I got my hair cut instead and I think I jumped into running too quickly, especially since I got too much into the comparison game. Vina started running and she was just trying to run FAST and I wanted to run FAST. so I tried. But I gotta slow it down. Push some, but not two speed workouts one day after the other.
Hair cut!!
Saturday – (3.9.24) – Plan: REST Actual: we made some Delicious frozen banana+ peanut butter + chocolate covered yummies! Hazel and I devoured these and funnily enough Hendrix (who had the idea) didn’t enjoy them much! Haha
We got Hendrix a hair cut and then headed to the park to play!
Sunday – (3.10.24) – Plan: 60 min long run Actual: managed a 7 mile run and tried pushing pace just a little. It was fun, but the wind chill was making me extra cold! I wanted to go for 8-10 miles but thought better of it. Vina decided to sleep in so it was me and a great new book! I tried to push the pace some and it definitely wore me out haha! My average pace ended up being slower than if I just did an easy dang pace!
I like that 9:19 pace though, I want to get faster just gotta take it easy and be methodical I guess 😒
So, I have to honor the fact that I’m probably still recovering from the marathon distance and I can’t jump in too quickly. I was definitely dealing with some lack of motivation this week and didn’t want to do anything. Hopefully next week we can get in some more strength, easy runs and one good speed workout!
After the run I enjoyed coffee ALONE as no one was awake yet and then once the sun came out it got warmer and I did some weeding (again) and helped Jesse with putting the tarps up on the green house. YES! we decided to make a green house from the wood of the playground that was somewhat salvageable. Also he made a chicken coop! He has been resourcing free wood and other things to help put it together so it is as cost effective as possible
Beginning stage of chicken coop – need to get an updated pic!Beginning stage of green house – definitely need an updated pic!
Goal: REST and RECOVER. I’m coming off such a high and I really want to jump back in to running full send! But I don’t want to injure myself. So I am going to focus on recovery.
I have been craving since Sunday after the race and Vina mentioned them, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. haha I also want to run all the miles, literally after the marathon I was like “wanna run it again?!” Knowing all too well I was hobbling the last 5 miles 🤣 guess you could say I am absolutely hooked! And I couldn’t be happier with the feeling this left me. But, back in 2020 I had a FANTASTIC 10k race and PR’d but then I didn’t properly rest and recover and I went straight into marathon training and I got injured. I don’t want that happening again. So I am going to be mindful.
Monday (2.26.24) – Plan: stretch + walk + sleep
Actual: soreness level: 7.5/10 active recovery mobility in the morning then attempted the 2 mile circle walk with Hazel and River but turned around ~.8 miles in. Seemed like a better idea that to keep going, I had to pee so badly but also my hips are just hurt! The joint part, where the ball and socket move. It’s creaky. But I did do some pick up jogs 😅 just to see if anything else popped up to hurt. Nothing did. I stayed moving for most of the day til after lunch when I took a 45 minute nap. ❤️ After our nap and some yummy food we headed off to the park. Over the day my soreness level definitely went down and I wasn’t walking so funny. I was rather tired by 9:30pm and went to bed but tossed and turned all night.
Tuesday (2.27.24) Soreness level 1.5/10
I finally got my chocolate chip cookies and ate them all!! I was going to go straight to strength training and cycling but I think I will do bodyweight core work and walking slowly. The walk yesterday was harder than I anticipated so I need to start off slow. And that’s ok! I did 1.49 miles walking in 30 minutes with some slight incline and then mobility/foam rolling again.
This evening I feel like I’ve gotten into the Post Marathon Blues – I was a bit cranky…. I really want to run or train or do something more active but I also know I need to rest. I had a good venting session with Jesse who listened as I complained about wanting to do more but I know I shouldn’t..
Wednesday (2.28.24) – my legs feel heavy! As if I did weight training (but I most certainly have not) This morning I woke up and did a core workout and I hope to walk for 45-60 minutes.
I ended up doing a run/walk for 30 minutes. 2 min walk at 3.0 and then 3 minute run at 5.5 and repeat till 30 minutes. Then I walked for a cool down til 3 miles total. 2.32 mi run/walk and .68miles walk
Afterwards I did upper body strength with dumbbells and it felt great!
Thursday (2.29.24) – ummm first let’s just say I slept SO GOOD last night. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow and slept till 5:30am. I also love that it’s getting light earlier and staying light later! I can’t wait for daylight savings time!! Today, I decided NO GYM at all. NO extra walking and just take it easy. I think my body liked that idea. And tomorrow I might do the bike.
Friday (3.1.24) – taking yesterday completely off made me feel like a million bucks today which makes me think maybe I should take today off too? Also, I started thinking about what my next goal to do is. I obviously want to focus on strength but also running! For a little bit I thought about maybe doing an ultra for my birthday, but my birthday is in the dead of summer and down here in the south it’s unbearable and really hard and there’s an extreme risk to be doing those kind of endurance activities without a crew or aid stations in that kind of heat and humidity. Sooo I think might focus on base building and then a marathon in December!! I’ve already discussed with Jesse about my goals and thoughts and he is behind me 100%! I’m so excited and it’s nice to have so much support.
Saturday (3.2.24) – I feel really great and did a little running warm up I would normally do, some stability work and jumps and it wore me out! Lol but no pains. We went on a 1.8 mi walk with River and it felt great. It was a very gloomy day and humid, so everything is wet and not drying because no sun is coming out.
Sunday (3.4.24)- officially one week ago I became a marathoner! Still wild that I held myself back for so long and also wild that I completed it!! There was a lot on the agenda today and luckily the sun came out and it was beautiful! I started out with weeding – I just did a small section because it’s a lot of yard!! My deal with Jesse was once training stopped I was going to focus on the yard. Then I did ALL the dishes (yay me), put away the laundry, and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to bathe River!! Gosh he needed it so badly haha! It has been so cold and we give him baths outside that he just hasn’t had one in a few months! He’s also a lab so his skin doesn’t do too well with excessive baths. But I bathed him twice, he absolutely loved it! Got all his scratches and itches and did the butt wiggle dance! Ha! We also rode some bikes earlier in the morning.
tried to go to the park to play after Hazel’s nap around lunch time but it was really warm and the direct sun was a little too much. They haven’t turned on the water play area yet so we had no relief. We ended up leaving about 40 minutes after arriving.
AND I really wanted to try for a run! My eyes were bigger than my stomach (as always) and I wanted to go out for 6 and keep paces. But then I thought better of it and said I’ll be really happy with 3 miles and it doesn’t matter the paces. I made it 2 miles out and 2 miles back. The .5mi was rough and it felt like I was breaking in new legs haha and then it got easier. I noticed I need to work on unilateral Strength and some mobility. My left Achilles hurts just a little after 2 miles as well as my ITband, so that is a huge focus I’ll be working om next week and the coming weeks.
Really happy with how this past week went and excited for next week! I’ll be picking up some kettlebells and weights!
(I was waiting for the race pictures since I didn’t really take any during race, but I can’t hold off and really want to let you know how the race went!!) * race pictures down below!*
9 weeks ago Vina and I were on a long run minding our own business when we thought….. “you know.. we could probably totally run a marathon in 2 months.”
And so we finished our run, went home.. thought about it more and said. LET’S DO IT. And that is how it happened! And then afterwards I was hit with the gnarliest FLU bug ever. This was her second marathon, my first one. I have been wanting to complete a marathon since 2020! So, 4 years later and I am finally ready.
Date: February 25, 2024 Start Time: 7am End Time: 11:45am! Weather: woke up to around 43° but it didn’t feel terrible – I let River out to use the bathroom in the hopes he lets the others sleep in haha! 50% of the time it works out well. *Update – everyone slept in til 8am!* It was an absolutely beautiful morning and the sunrise over the beach was gorgeous!!
Also it ended up being around 47° at the start and sunny and it was absolutely perfect!! We noticed a lot of people had WAY too many layers on, and I was happy I chose shorts and a tank rather than shorts + long sleeve! I can’t believe I was so stressed out, I should have had sunscreen though!
What I wore: black moisture wicking tank + black shorts + lime green feetures socks + black new Balance 1080s + visor for the sun (thank goodness I brought this!! Almost didn’t and it was a life saver!) AND sunglasses! – not pictured but I wore the EXACT same sports bra I wore for every single long run and it still cut up my back during race and it never did during long runs!! Also, my phone case that I had stuck phone, running snacks and a small water bottle. *it must have been unbalanced* because it basically hit my back and bruised it up.
What I ate before: At 4:30am I had 1/2 plain bagel with peanut butter and honey+ electrolytes – I figured I would need another bagel beforehand and brought another half bagel but I couldn’t eat it. The nerves got me! What I brought to eat during: 3 gu gels, pack of honey stinger energy chews, gluckos shot, macca gummy. There are also more gu gels at each race station so I will be relying on those a lot.
How am I feeling before? ANXIOUS!! I had an anxiety headache all day yesterday (Saturday) that made me super nauseous. Once I picked up our packets it went away for the most part. I didn’t sleep great, woke up 30+ minutes before my alarm went off and couldn’t lay in bed any longer. I am much more nervous than I’ve ever been. Just trying to go through the motions
Miles 1 -6 These were the best miles and we were just constantly chatting and laughing and our mileage was MUCH too fast! fuel: 1 chocolate gu at ~3 miles and another choc gu a little after the 6 thoughts: this is so easy and fun!
Miles 7-13 I still felt great miles 7-8 but then around mile 9 I started to get a little bit of pain in my butt (priformis muscle) and I tried ignoring it but finally voiced an issue around mile 11 when the pain was much sharper. So around that time is when we had to stop to stretch it out. Which helped immensely for about .5 mi and then it would hurt. So every 2ish miles we stopped and tried to time it with the aid stations and get water/Gatorade and stretch. fuel: I think around mile 9 and 10 I had some honey stinger chews. Mile 13 I had Tylenol and a salt pill. I tried to concentrate on fuel but it was difficult.
Miles 14-19 HURTING. I just wanted to keep going but was so bummed that I was hurting. I think I choked down some more gu and chews and had Gatorade at every aid station. But I was a little defeated with my priformis hurting so much and having to walk. By around mile 18 I really had to walk more and even stop at benches before the aid stations could come around. It was also all in sun and not much shade left. The temperature was really climbing!
Miles 20-23 feeling/fuel/thoughts: once I hit mile 20 I was happy because then it was like the furthest I’d ever gone! But with the pain it took away, although I did get random bursts of excitement and picked up the pace for a bit due to excitement. I didn’t ever hit a wall where I thought I couldn’t keep going, because I knew I could. It was just a pain in the butt. I don’t think I had ANY fuel during this time because nothing sounded good at all!
Miles 24-26.2 feeling: hurting a lot! But also so grateful for Vina being there and helping me out. I was never once like out of breath, just hurting! And everything felt great except my priformis. So I kept trying to just say “my feet feel great, my arm swing is great, my legs arent sore and feel energized.” I tried focusing on everything except the pain.
By mile 25 Vina pulled away a little which was totally ok, she was only about 10-15 ft ahead of me. And once I hit mile 26 I was like OMG IT IS REAL. the last 100m I started crying and got emotional and I’m actually so happy I had that time for myself to feel it all. I ran through the finish line and (I think) I had the biggest smile on ever -haha! Hopefully the pics show a smile! fuel: I think I choked down one caramel gu that was WARM and kinda gross haha. thoughts: I can’t believe I am a marathoner!
Overall – I can’t wait to run another marathon! I am trying my hardest to recover properly and not go run or too hard on anything, but it’s more of I am SO BORED during the middle of the day at work that its really hard to not go to the gym. I know I won’t lose my fitness, it’s not even about that. But work is slow this week and the 1.5 hour block for lunch is mind numbingly long if I don’t do something! My mind wants to run a million miles but I know I have to slow it down.
Race pictures!!
HE PROPOSED DURING THE RACE! Thought this shirt was soooo funny!
I can’t believe that this is RACE WEEK! I am so nervous! And every other moment I feel a new pain and niggle!
Monday (2.19.24) Plan – recovery mobility + strength Actual: REST – I had to skip going out for lunch because there was a lot to do today at work. I even went to bed at like 9:15pm!
Tuesday (2.20.24) Plan – 3 mi EZ + core Actual: 1 mi run – felt a pain in my foot. The ball of my foot. Stopped immediately. Did 1.5 miles on the cycle and then 25 min strength train followed by 10 minutes sauna session.
I bought salt tabs, courtesy of Janae from hungry runner girl and I am going to test them out on a cycle session this week.. probably Thursday just to make sure they don’t upset my stomach. But it seems promising and even if I don’t take it for the race, during the summer I think they will be EXTREMELY helpful!
Vina is being the sweetest and calming my nerves because I am a mess and stressing out. We’ve decided we aren’t bringing headphones and will be together and run it. She believes that if she needs to push me through some pain cave she can and I won’t fail. And that’s honestly what I needed to hear! Also I informed my boss that there is a good possibility I won’t come in the next day or will be late because I couldn’t move. I’m seriously thinking the worst could happen and need to stop so I don’t put it out in the atmosphere. It’s a flat course, the 20 miler didn’t do much damage to me at all and I felt great. So I just think I am overthinking everything … Like normal! I just want to finish and have fun!!
Also, I have been stressing over carb loading. I thought I ate a lot of carbs. Apparently I barely hit 150-180g of carbs – even when I have pizza 😒 when I used feather stone carb calculator it is telling me 300+ a day for three days before. I’ll try to hit what I can but I know my digestion will be off all week due to stress and overthinking so I don’t want to go out there heavy and bloated. BUT GOSH I AM SO EXCITED I CANT HELP IT
Wednesday (2.21.24) Plan – 3 mi speed + mobility Actual: I really do love watching Grey’s Anatomy while running on the treadmill. That’s a huge plus lol. I decided against speed work. I want to save my legs. I did a super easy 4 miles while watching an episode of Grey’s and then stretched after.
Thursday (2.22.24) Plan – 25-30 min biking + core Actual: today is also day 1 of carb loading!
I’ve Always tried to give people who don’t run/have running knowledge the benefit of the doubt. The general population doesn’t run for fun or know the ins and outs of training and running long distances. But within the last 2 days I have been asked “what place do you think you’ll get? Are you trying for first place?” And it’s like no, it doesn’t matter what place I get really .. it’s that I finished. And tried explaining I’m no elite runner just running because I genuinely love it and I want to challenge myself. And I’m left with a look of just like “why would you do that if you don’t want to place first?” And it’s like because I literally can’t run a sub 2:30 on my first race or probably ever LOL. The second thing that’s happened (it’s happened a lot too) is how long is your marathon I’ve always wanted to run a 5k marathon! And I’m like do you want to run a 5k or a marathon? Because those are two different distances… And I get a look of complete puzzlement and they are like it’s a 5k marathon how far is YOUR marathon? And I’m like um, the marathon distance is 26.2 miles, that is what I am training for. 🤣 And it’s just like watching someone not really get it. And it’s like you know, never mind… You get that 5k marathon goal! Lol it’s so funny to me sometimes I just am trying to not get upset lol.
I decided to do 8 miles (in 34 minutes) and then focused on mobility afterwards. Then I was too hungry to get core work in and left ha!
As excited as I am for this marathon I’m really excited to focus more on strength 😁
Friday (2.23.24) Plan – mobility Actual: REST – I slept wrong on my neck two nights ago and it’s still a little kinked up. Muscle wise, I feel great today. foam rolling yesterday was brilliant and helped a ton. I just want to rest my legs and might go for a little jog tomorrow.
Saturday (2.24.24) Plan – shake out 1-2 mi run Actual: I had a splitting headache all day! It was a stress headache that immediately went away once I picked up our race packets.
I wanted to take a snapshot of what the predicted weather was for marathon weekend.
While yesterday when I looked it said chance of rain showers, it changed! So what better way to follow along on the changing of the weather than this 😂 Also, this is a great way to show you my absolute ANXIETY over weather. (Update on 2/23/24) I have been watching the weather go up and down and trying to check to see what predictions will happen since the first of February, maybe even before. Honestly, at this point I have given myself an eye twitch worrying about over dressing or under dressing.
So, on Wednesday – February 14th, this is the prediction:
Thoughts on 68° – HOLY BALLS that’s warm!! I hope it isn’t 68° in the morning haha 😆
Thursday, February 15th prediction:
Friday, February 16th prediction: (rain, humidity and wind percentage is going down!)
Saturday, February 17th prediction:
Sunday, February 18th prediction:
Hourly wise… It’s predicting 48° around 7am and climbing to 58-60°
Monday February 19th prediction:
Tuesday, February 20th prediction: (it keeps getting just a little colder for the start – which I am NOT mad about)
Wednesday February 21st prediction:
Thursday, February 22nd
The last final update, because I need to stop this nonsense, but I know I will look back at this post and face palm majorly.
Friday, February 23, 2024 prediction:
As of last night I had to dump all my worries on Jesse and he helped me come to the conclusion for race day and what to wear. He knows I am an absolute worry wart and overthinker. So, we sat down to look at the weather. Here’s the plan…. BRING BACK UPS OF SHORTS AND LEGGINGS haha!
I don’t want to overheat during the run, but I also won’t be running terribly fast. I don’t want to be too cold on the run either.
If you have any insight, please let me know! I love running in shorts and was thinking shorts + long sleeve with a tank under for layers but if it gets too hot I can take off the long sleeve. I am of course wearing sweats down there to keep warm as well.
still kind of weird to say 2024. Even weirder that we are past halfway through FEBRUARY!!!This week is not only Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day – but also Hendrix’s 9th birthday!! He has the week off because down in the South they give kids Mardi Gras off lol. Goals – GET OVER THIS SICKNESS
I haven’t been able to really sink into a good book, I haven’t had that “want” so I’ve been listening to podcasts like Choose Strong and the Armchair Expert. It’s been fun and relaxing to zone out to those but hopefully soon I can get back into books.
Monday – (2.12.24) – Plan: Low impact strength + bike + sauna Actual: Felt today I really needed to not go and try to workout and worse sneeze everywhere and get snot on everything. So I stayed in! Probably for the best. 🤞🏽🤞🏽
I am constantly checking the weather to see what is going to happen. This past weekend it got warm enough for shorts and no jacket – regular time, not running – running was shorts and sports bra. But also, it is showing a cool down trend..while it’s still 13 days til race day, it is predicting 50°, windy and rain! I’m nervous about the rain and running in it for 26.2 miles!
Tuesday – (2.13.24) – Plan: Run with Vina Actual: checking in Tuesday morning and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. really glad I didn’t push it yesterday and decided to rest.
It’s currently 4:22am, I’ve had my bagel and peanut butter and drinking my electrolytes and caffeine for the morning.
It’s 47° with some 9mph wind. I’m planning on wearing my long sleeve New Balance top with leggings and pink pair of balega socks with my craft Ultras. I don’t want to put too many more miles on my New Balance 1080s since I want to wear those for the race and there’s around 85 miles on them. Which, I know isn’t too much but I’m paranoid! Haha this morning is a huge drop in temperature from just a couple days ago .. 20+ drop! Which is wild. And I’ve come to realize I like running in the cold more than the hot. And vina likes the hot humid miles lol. Maybe I can learn to like them too! I am very excited the days are feeling longer! It’s staying light out til 5:45ish and so when I get home I have a good 20 ish minutes to run around outside with the kids! ❤️
Fuel on run: two 6 oz water bottles (forgot the honey stinger chews but also it wasn’t going to be super long run so figured I would be ok)
Feelings during run – I could feel a little congestion but it wasn’t too bad. Effort was 5.5/10
We ended up doing 7.5 together and then went our separate ways home and ended with 9.5 and an average pace of 10:13… By the last half mile I was ready to eat something! Lol clothing wise, I was a little warm but the cold wind made it necessary to have pants on. Definitely not cold enough for a jacket so I’m really glad I didn’t wear one like I originally thought I would need.
We (I- Hazel definitely didn’t help haha) cleaned out the playroom and swept out all the dust and dirt. Felt great! I had to take out the rugs and once they were cleaned Hazel made camp on one of them and laid down in the sun. I joined her and it was fantastic!
After playing and lunch we took the most GLORIOUS nap ever. hazel had a hard time falling asleep and eventually conked out on the couch. I went and slept in the bed and had it all to myself! I think I slept for 2+ hours! I needed it so much!
By 4pm Aunt Mel got here and we were all playing outside. Hide and Seek was lots of fun!
Counting to 20 before going to find Hendrix
Ready or not! Here we come!
Wednesday – (2.14.24) – Plan: 4 mi shake out + mobility + sauna Actual: since I didn’t get strength in yesterday I decided that would be main focus today. Plus I forgot to bring shorts, a change of socks and a towel! Lol so, I did a “Runners KB Class” and a 3 mile cycle. Which still worked up a sweat but not as much as a run would have. Also, I like really really didn’t want to workout at all. But I’m so glad I went and I went to the main part where I took my spot and just did my workout. It is empowering being out of there instead of in a studio alone. I also kept repeating to myself that I needed to keep strength up for when I grow old so I can strengthen my bones. Obviously next week I won’t go super crazy with strength but I don’t want to stop completely either. I find it helps me.
Thursday – (2.15.24) – Plan: Low impact strength + sauna Actual: morning plan is to run with Vina – I hope this doesn’t backfire on me doing more runs that on the “plan” but with Aunt in town and an extra set of hands it’s just so nice being able to run outside. I also just really need that time outside and fresh air.
I dressed for colder weather, I didn’t need to wear my thick long sleeve but oh well! It was so nice to chat – it was a little difficult, my legs were feeling the workout from yesterday! But it was so nice to get moving this morning! And I got a wonderful hot shower, coffee and breakfast in before Hazel even woke up! I call that a win win win!
Despite having the time to shower, drink coffee and eat breakfast I didn’t get to properly stretch! So for lunch I decided to stretch and do mobility work. I was going to do upper body and core work strength and decided to save my energy. I’m tired! And I don’t want to run myself into the ground – especially since it’s Hendrix’s birthday! So we will be celebrating tonight and I need more energy. I even fought the feelings to get on the bike just for the sake of doing “a real workout” for some reason I felt like I needed to do something MORE than just stretch, foam roll and mobility. But I don’t. I did my work, and that’s all.
Somehow I have a 9 year old. Still not sure how that happened lol – the years fly by!!!
Friday – (2.16.24) – Plan: 8 mi EZ (maybe some speed if feeling ok) – this was the plan before doing TWO other medium-long runs with Vina this week, so I am probably going to cycle and/or row. Actual: 10 mentally tough miles on the bike. I was a little bored and had trouble zoning out. Couldn’t find a good podcast episode or music I really wanted to listen to! But I did it and I’m glad I didn’t stop early.
Saturday – (2.17.24) – Plan: REST Actual: I slept in till nearly 8am! It was amazing!! And Hazel didn’t wake up till well after 8:30! It was pretty cold, rainy and windy so our original plan for Hendrix’s bday party was rescheduled to tomorrow because it wouldn’t be wet. So, we played inside mostly went for a 2 mile walk which led to Hazel napping and all around it was a super chill day.
Sunday – (2.18.24) – Plan: 12 mi LR Actual: the predicted weather and what dress my run is telling me to wear:
Fuel: toast with peanut butter and honey + honey stinger chews + gu gel + 2 6oz of water Wearing: leggings + Nike (thicker) blue moisture wicking top + long sleeve shirt under + jacket + gloves + ear muffs/cover
Feelings before run: 10000% don’t want to run. Vina isn’t able to and so I totally don’t want to. However this is THE LAST ONE long run then afterwards is race day and I know it’ll be a while before really getting out there due to wanting to recover properly. So I gotta get it done!
Feelings during run: At first the cold was really biting, and I had on my ear covers, gloves, and two long sleeve tops and my jacket. About 1.5 miles in I took off first layer of shirts, gloves and ear muffs. After warming up, the minimal wind made the cold 32 degrees feel really nice. I am type A, aren’t most runners? Lol and I usually like to know exactly where I am going and my route and distance. But this time I only had a general idea of where I was going and how far I actually wanted to run. A lot of it was on a whim. I realized I didn’t want to do loops and I didn’t want to do a straight out and back. So I incorporated a little bit of my normal 5 mi loop and Vina’s run that we had been doing the past week. And it turned into exactly 10 miles and I didn’t have to do any loops or back tracking! While the plan called for 12 and I could have very well done it, I stopped at 10 and called it because today is Hendrix’s birthday party and I knew I needed to be home to get ready and have energy.
Played with Rivs while stretching after the run
Feelings after run: EXCITED that this training cycle is almost over and so surprised with how I handled the higher mileage and kept up with strength and mobility work! Feeling accomplished and excited for next week!
We threw Hendrix a birthday party and it was so fun! We had pizza for the second time in like 3 days so we are definitely pizza’d out!
Total running mileage : 26.5miles! Biking mileage: 13 miles
Absolutely wrecked this Monday (2.5.24) morning! I don’t know if the miles are catching up to me or if I am just not getting decent sleep OR this is onset getting sick. It doesn’t feel like I am overreaching, but I have jumped mileage significantly in the last month. But also, I haven’t gotten the best sleep the last few nights… So maybe a combination?!
GOALS: get more sleep. Strength train 2x for minimum 30 minutes Hit the mileage Mobility 2x
Monday (2.5.24) – Plan: Strength Train + 5 mile cycle + 20 minute on rower Actual: despite being absolutely wrecked this morning and wanting to sleep. I didn’t have to dig that deep to get my workout done. In fact, I really killed it today! (I however did so good on strength, there was NO way I could get on the rower)
First off, I did this strength workout with 25 lb KB And in the main part of the gym. I usually get a spot in a little studio room where no one else is because I’m a bit self conscious and don’t want someone to see me with bad form. But today, there was someone in there taking a class and I didn’t want to disrupt or put off my strength training like I’ve done in the past. So I grabbed a spot in the main gym and got the equipment I needed. First off, it’s like turf right there and WAY more comfortable to be barefoot on – so I think I’ll continue working out there! And I was just able to zone out and I feel like I pushed myself more because I didn’t want people to see me give up haha! But I pushed myself really hard, ugly face coming out and working til failure and all at the end of the sets!! I felt invincible and like SUCH a badass!!
I absolutely wanted to just lay on the ground for 10 minutes after this workout. Which I feel like is awesome haha. I haven’t pushed myself that hard in ….. Ever?? Quite a while, to say the least! Not with strength anyway. And I am SO happy with my box jumps! I used a 24″ box! And cleared it… Probably could have gone to 30″ but I didn’t want to move equipment around lol. And the Bulgarian split squat was also intense but loved it. Let’s just say, the 3rd circuit was a killer for sure.
After a couple minutes rest and gathering myself, I hopped on the spin bike and threw on my sub2 playlist from Spotify. I haven’t listened to it in a few months so it really hit the right chord and I pushed HARD. 4.8 miles in 20 minutes flat.
I nearly fell out of the bike trying to get off, my legs were feeling it! This was the best exhausted feeling ever. I want to bottle up the amount of success I felt today! I stretched and then showered off and came back to work. What a great workout, so ready for a nap now though!
Tuesday (2.6.24) - Plan: 4 mi Actual: this morning waking up my legs feel a little heavy but not horrible (not yet) so this 4 mi will definitely be a shake out easy run!! (This little input was first thing in the morning haha – the optimism!)
I tried to run. I made it 1 mile and my calf wouldn’t stop straining. It felt like the muscle was going to pull and split apart! So I hopped off and rowed a mile. Then went back to the treadmill to try again but my feet were not FEELING IT, I was so upset with my feetb that I just gave up. I couldn’t keep going, it felt like an injury was lingering Is this the taper crazies/scared sh*tless of getting hurt?!?
At 4:07pm I received the best text ever:
WE ARE A GOOOOOOOO FOR THE RACE! I have been so stressed over the race and running with Vina AND the fact that Hendrix wants to have a bday party! But the RSVPs are rolling in… All I gotta hope for is good weather!
I ended up going to sleep pretty early with Hazel, she wanted to lay down in bed at 9pm… I definitely didn’t say no to that! It seemed like I needed it. Haha! (Garmin says I got 8 hrs and 25 minutes!!) Sometimes I wish I had a whoop to see the recovery part. I bet those numbers are such a mental hurdle if they are bad but if they are good recovery numbers then you’re like YESSSS I can do anything!!
Wednesday (2.7.24) – Plan: (Original Plan) 6 mi **new plan since messing yesterday up** 2 miles easy warm up, 8 x 800m pick ups at 6.6-6.8 with a 60-90 second recovery walk, 2 mile cool down – this should get me to 8. Actual: my inner thigh (adductor) on my left side was HURTING and super tight so I am very happy I had a stick roller/massager thing just for those thighs!! I rolled my legs out vigorously before my run and did a proper warm up.
I wanted to be a little conservative with my “speed workout” and also give me a “gimme” to boost my confidence. This workout did just that. I had to edit it for time:
1 mi warm up at 5.2mph, then straight into 800m at 6.8, then 1 min at 2.5 and repeat for 6! The last two 800s I had a lot left in the tank and bumped it up to 7.0mph. that left me with about 56 minutes and meaning 4 minutes til the treadmill turned off automatically- ending at 5.73miles. Had to get to an even number and went til I hit 7 miles. And was going roughly at 5.5 which felt easy. Honestly all the 800m felt relatively easy and not hard. I could’ve bumped it up, but I’m glad I didn’t either.
I’m starting to really enjoy these pink crafts!
After the workout walking around work was a little difficult, gotta be honest. I was feeling like I had lead legs! But I went to bed at 9ish with Haze and we got pretty good sleep. 8+ hours at least! And when I woke up Thursday morning my legs weren’t so heavy any more! Yay!
Thursday (2.8.24) – Plan: Mobility + Strength and a bike ride OR rest Actual: I made it to the gym and just couldn’t get myself to change and get into my gym clothes. I needed a day off. And that’s fine, I want to make sure I keep the joy of training up and be ready and happy for the race not feeling “I have to do this” because running and working out is for fun as much as it is for my health. So after sitting in the gym changing room for about 10 minutes I packed up and just headed out. 🤷🏻♀️ It is what it is! It definitely made for an extra long and boring day at work since I was only gone for about 20 minutes haha, but it meant I could leave a little early. And with that extra time I came home and me and the kids ran around outside before it got dark. So, it was worth it!!
Friday (2.9.24) – Plan: 8 mi Actual: what’s TMI? LOL… well, this might be. But it’s a running blog – we gonna talk about it! Pooping.
I felt super backed up last night and thought “why not take a laxative and clear the system out” 😂 so casual about it. And well, I cleared the system! Just about ALL morning today and had more at the beginning of my run. But despite that obstacle, this run went really really well and I felt really strong. I am glad I took yesterday to rest and didn’t force myself to do strength. Today, I did like a ladder type work out… I warmed up and started at 5.2 and moved to 6.0 in the first mile, then after the first mile each .25mi I increased by .2 so it went (6.0, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6) then the next mile I went down 6.4, 6.2 6.0, 6.2) and back up. I felt really strong. And the only reason why I stopped at 5 miles was because I had told myself early on just get to 5. And I probably shouldn’t have limited myself like that. I was like… I’ll stop and do 3 cool down miles. Well, I did stop and was happy with the pace and effort and I was DRENCHED. But I couldn’t get comfortable in the super slow pace of cool down and gave up .5 in. So, total was 5.5 miles on the treadmill.
Then I went to the mat and thought I would stretch and cool down and do some mobility. I was slipping and sliding alllll over the mat!! Lol courtesy of sweat and lotion on my legs lol 😆
I was very tempted to hop back on the treadmill and finish off the 2 miles but then thought better of it since tmrw I am running the 10 with Vina. So I hopped on the bike and did those 2 miles REALLY easy there. Like did not push or even pay attention to it. It went by quick.
I am really really enjoying these craft Ultras!! I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again . I think they are finally broken in and the insert is helping so much, I just really like how they feel!!
— today’s workout fueled by listening to “Choose Strong” by Sally Mcrae
Friday night I did the most terrible thing…. I ate after Hazel – which in itself isn’t terrible, but she had a runny nose. And paranoia set in.
Saturday (2.10.24) – Plan: rest Actual: We are of course switching long run to today haha. Here is the projected weather (according to dressmyrun.com):
And the recommended gear:
According to the weather channel:
So, the actual weather: raining and 64° and really dark What I wore: hat, sports bra, shorts, New Balance 1080s, like green feetures socks (gotta get more!!) Fuel: one pack of honey stinger chews + whole wheat bread and PB since we were out of bagels How am I feeling pre-run? So bummed! Vina wasn’t prepared to run in rain and I totally get her reasoning for not wanting to go in the dark and rain because we could slip and hurt ourselves. But this was my only time to go. I didn’t even finish my pre-run drink fuel with caffeine. As soon as she said she was going to wait til later I just went to the treadmill. How I felt during run: the first mile I started at 5.5 and then went up to 5.8 every .25 miles and played that game and went up to 6.1 tops for the whole time. I mostly stayed above 5.8 though and hovered at 5.9-6. I stopped the tread at 7 miles since I knew I only had about 20 minutes left before the treadmill would automatically shut down. Then restarted it for the next three which I kept at 6mph (I think) the whole time. Even after yesterday’s impromptu workout I felt so good and strong today! Finished in 1:44, with an average pace of around 10:30 min/mi. How I felt after run: really strong and good and not exhausted. Funny how I kept saying “it’s only 10 today!” Where like 2 months ago that would have been like 🫣I am running 10!!! Funny what marathon training does for ya, huh!! Pretty sure I got bit by a few mosquitoes too on the run, as I had the garage door open to our “gym”
My hat I wore with the intention of going out to run outside stayed on and was so heavy and full of sweat it was a great contender to my sportsbra that weighed nearly 6 pounds! (Guessing here but dang it was heavy!!) Haha I finished in the dark and then it got light about 20 minutes later, by that time I was playing with River and the rain had stopped
Saturday afternoon – I am starting to feel sick!! Hazel has a cold, everyone in office is sick… I’m trying my best to steer clear but I accidentally ate after her and now my paranoia is going haywire!! So prioritizing rest and hydration!! And not drinking or eating after her at all!!
Sunday (2.11.24) – Plan: 10mi Actual: REST —- going to trampoline park for a birthday party!
It is HUMID today, 93% and 67° !! Hazel and I went on a morning walk and she fell asleep! That hasn’t happened in a while!
I am full blown sick. Very congested, lots of snot and sneezing and feeling pretty worn out. NOT GOOD. We still went to the trampoline park – which wore us all out – Haze LOVED it but all I could see were disgusting germs everywhere! I was internally freaking out. Hazel took more of a turn for the worse once we got home and we took a nap she woke up drenched in sweat… we got to bed around 9:30pm and slept hard. I am going to prioritize hydration, vitamin c and zinc and rest.. I hope I can do a whole “mind over matter” thing and not let this effect me!
Total Mileage: Run: 24.02 mi – it’s funny that just last year (December) I made a goal for average 20-25 mile weeks and now this feels and looks so incredibly low to me!! Haha I LOVE that!! Bike: 7.78 mi Row: 1 mile (lol) walk: 1.75 mi
I think I prefer the long runs on Saturdays to Sundays. I woke up this morning really just wanting to sleep more! haha. But overall, feel so good this morning and not like I just ran 20 miles! That feels WILD to me!! (Obviously written last Monday)
Now, this is written Monday 2.5.24 – I feel EXHAUSTED! is this the kind of exhaustion they talk about when marathon training ? Just running + life in general is wow! My bones are tired. I had a hard time sleeping the last two nights but waking up this morning I nearly fell over and I DID wake everyone up! I couldn’t stand. Wonder if that means I’m lacking something??
Monday (1.29.24) Plan: Mobility + full body strength
Feeling: super tired and a little hungry. Looking forward to Chipotle today to refuel as I wasn’t overly hungry yesterday but it is coming to bite me today, so protein protein!! I could do with a good nap today too. But I’ll just do my strength work and mobility.
Actual:
So, as I’m reading and prepping for recovery after a marathon and what to expect, one that jumped out at me was the possibility of cold like symptoms! Because you’ve worn down your body so much. Well, last night I started sneezing so badly and getting cold when it wasn’t that cold. This morning I am not only exhausted but a snotty nose. So, guess it’s a good thing we are cutting back this week!
This sea turtle shirt was a gift from Hendrix 4 years ago! It’s normally a simmer time shirt but I had to grab whatever I could for the gym this morning without waking up Hazel and this is what I grabbed. haha
Tuesday (1.30.24) Plan: 4 mi shakeout run + 6 mi cycle Actual: 3 mi run + 1.1 mi cycle + foam roll – the gym literally had no water. So my water bottle stayed empty. And I couldn’t keep going either walking, running or cycling.
My watched accidentally got stopped 5 minutes into workout and didn’t catch the activity so I just deleted it.
And here, I am soooooo thirsty but the water fountains weren’t working and I didn’t bring any water so I just gave up. My head started hurting from lack of water and decided I would just foam roll and head back to work for my sandwich.
(Wed morning) – it is clear my body is still recovering from the 20 miler…. I fell asleep with Hazel on the couch at 9pm lol. Also, have you ever had a dream and been so asleep that you woke up feeling like your legs weren’t working? I thought I was paralyzed – but I think I was still 1/2 sleeping!
Wednesday (1.31.24) Plan: 3mi run + strength Actual: okay, so I decided that today just needed to be a rest day. My body is still recovering from the 20 miles on Sunday. I haven’t had a real day off from doing anything in four and a half five weeks. So what better day than today? I use my lunch time to go get gas in the car and incredibly walked around TJ Maxx to see if I could find something, anything. But slowly I come to realize how much I hate that store now cuz they never have anything good. I know this is just because of where I am and the stores probably have not lost that much good “quality” as it did in California. So, I did not end up buying anything which is best for my wallet. I am thinking of doing a double tomorrow, and doing my run in the morning and then in the afternoon doing a lift session. I want to go into this Marathon with rested legs and a joyous outlook. And today just was not the day.
Here are my January totals!! What awesome mileage!! I haven’t hit this like ever??? Lol
Thursday (2.1.24) Plan: 8-10mi bike + sauna Actual: 3.5mi run with incline + 2.5mi cycle + .5mi on the rower! No sauna today. It felt really good to move, Im glad I took yesterday off, I think I really needed it.
Had to share – I packed THE BEST afternoon snack… Apples, peanut butter with a few chocolate chips!! 😁 I love peanut butter and chocolate but I’ve never thought to add the chocolate with apples too and hot dang! That was perfect!
Friday (2.2.24) Plan: 6 mi ez + mobility Actual:
This simple exercise.. hinging your inner (upper) knee like your quad? Is absolutely blissful!! And you can do it on the outside of your leg for your IT band. Don’t roll just hinge. So great! Such a release
Saturday (2.3.24) Plan: rest Actual: a storm is coming on Sunday, so I had to do my run today… But Jesse also went fishing so I had to postpone til afternoon. Which was rough because I definitely didn’t fuel right for it. I didn’t want to overdo it and I accidentally under-fueled. Vina had to go to her son’s soccer tournament so it was a solo long run and boy was it rough! I didn’t want any part of it, but I did it. I tried to wear a crop top with a long sleeve over it to see if I would like it for the race. Turns out if I just have the crop the belt that I have to hold fuel and phone rubs on my skin too much. So I had to keep the long sleeve on the whole time. Which was fine, at least I know now and not race day!! The run itself was very mentally difficult. The winds were high and matter which way I turned I was facing the wind head on! I even texted Vina half way through telling her how much this run was sucking and how I wanted to quit. But I didn’t because I know these are the runs that make you. I’m glad I kept going and finished but it definitely sucked!!
This morning though consisted of a lot of playing outside, a little bike ride and the park. So I wore myself out before the run even started!!
The photo I sent vina to tell her how much I hated this run lol
Pretending I was happy running, I wasn’t!!
So, these paces are shocking to me because whenever I like looked at myself through a shop mirror it looked like I was barely moving! Like I thought I was walking. So definitely weird to see they were in the 10s. I looked back at my old runs from 2020 and at first I was like WOW I am so fast hitting those 8s!! But then I also looked and saw the “easy runs” were 10 minute ones and my heart rate was 160+ so I’m like okay I’ve been doing much better. So maybe after marathon training we focus on getting fast!!
Sunday -(2.4.24) Plan: 13 miles Actual: yesterdays 13 left me more tired and sore than the 20 last week! So I decided while the dumpling napped (surprisingly at 11am!!) I decided to do some much needed mobility work and it helped soooo much!
After she woke up and had lunch we headed out to grocery shop which also went really easily – normally it doesn’t go that smoothly, today it did and we have a dinner menu planned for the whole week 😱. I stocked up on more honey stinger energy chews because I realized how much I enjoy eating those in-between gels. And I’ll probably get a few gels from Amazon. The race says it is supported with gu’s – which is what I’ve been practicing with this whole time, I just don’t know what flavors there will be so I’m thinking I will just bring my own so it’s no surprise.
After grocery shopping it was the park! This afternoon was actually warm enough for shorts! There were still puddles from the rain this morning so she did A LOT of puddle jumping. I looved watching her enthusiasm and jumping and running through all the puddles. PS. The boots were her choice. Haha
Total mileage: 25.64 – definitely a dip down week!!
Goal for next week – 2 strength sessions + MOBILITY – my hip flexors are feeling weak! And hopefully I can figure out what I want to wear for the race. It’s still too early to really depend on the weather. We are on a warming trend but it’s windy as heck by the beach so I think a long sleeve will be necessary.
Run Jac Run 🏃🏻♀️ 