Who doesn't love a good taper

11/17: Rest

11/18: Rest

11/19: 6 miles, TM

11/20: Rest

11/21: Rest

11/22: 10 miles, TM

11/23; 4 miles outside w D.

Total weekly mileage: 20

Total run days: 3 

Total rest days: 4

I'm writing this 4 days before the race, and a day before "food coma day", otherwise known to Americans as Thanksgiving. 

Decided to stop the theme of procrastination, and start the taper a week early. Last week was quite uneventful. One early morning treadmill run, one long treadmill run, and one soggy and cold easy run w a friend. I managed to squeeze out 20 miles, and I was fine with that. I was feeling some major fatigue as usual last week, as we had most evenings filled with kid activities. 

Excuses, excuses...

Anyways, I ran 4 yesterday morning,  My plan for the rest of this week is to take it easy, get in one more easy run, make a turkey (Blech - who else is not looking forward to reaching into the turkey's asshole? Anyone?), and chill out. Our Xmas tree and wreath have already been set up, and decorating starts tonight. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house, per usual, so there will be lots of food, wine, and perhaps some karaoke?

Next time I update, hopefully I will have an excellent race recap for you. The weather is supposed to clear up by Sunday, and conditions expected to be clear and cold. 

My favorite!

See y'all later!

Almost there

11/10: Rest
11/11: 6 Miles, TM. Tempo
11/12: Rest
11/13: 5 miles, TM.
11:14: Rest
11/15: 13 miles, outside and solo
11/16: JM Ripped in 30, level 1. 1 mile, TM.

Total weekly mileage: 25
Total rest days: 3
Total strength: 1
Total run days: 4

So. Long run Saturday.

Let's start with my favorite gymnastics skill.

The SPLITS

Mile 1 - 9:40
Mile 2 - 9:41
Mile 3  - 9:34
Mile 4 - 9:12 (Hammer Gel - Peanut Butter)
Mile 5 - 9:14
Mile 6 - 9:01
Mile 7 - 9:02
Mile 8 - 9:10
Mile 9 - 9:09( Honey Stinger Gel - GROSS)
Mile 10 - 9:08
Mile 11 - 9:05
Mile 12 - 9:11
Mile 13 - 8:44

Total time: 1:59:42
Ave pace: 9:12

Fuel: 2 gels, no water (dumb)
Temp: 35-ish, cold, sunny.
Gear: Capris, L/S mock zip, ear warmer, sunglasses, fuel belt.

First off, I would just like to say,

I love running most of the time.

Yesterday's run was my longest to date for this training cycle: 13 miles. A couple of days before my long runs, I tend to psyche myself out and over analyze every aspect of the run - my fuel, my warm up, my clothing, my route. The week of the long run, I find myself calculating neighborhood routes in my head.

I am weird.

Anyhow, clearly I started off too slow and conservatively. I have this irrational fear that I will burn out in the first three miles, which is untrue because my first couple miles from last weeks run were faster and felt easier? Looking back now, I'm kind of kicking myself because I know I could have had a faster overall pace if I had just listened to my body the first few miles instead of panicking at the watch. I started to get into the groove at mile 4, and did my best to stay focused on an easy but not EASY pace. I also forced myself to run down a hill at mile 7 so I could run back up it for mile 8, kind of simulating the race conditions.

Galer Street, I'm gonna make you my bitch this time mmkay?

Damn, that hill was crazy.

I have been doing my hill training on the treadmill, which has helped tremendously at running up inclines at the same pace as the flat. Yesterday I felt more power in my legs as I was tackling the uphills, and I was able to keep the pace under a 10 min mile for the inclines, which for me is huge progress.

I also treated yesterday as a mini dress rehearsal for the race. I ate 3 small oatmeal breakfast cookies, drank my usual coffee, and had some water before I left the house just as the sun was rising. The weather was frigid but clear and sunny - my absolute favorite.

My plan for fuel was to take a gel at 4, sip sip sip, and then another one around 8.5 miles. To my dismay, I realized the night before that I was out of my regular GU standbys, and so I searched my supplies for some gels, only to find one Hammer gel and a Honey stinger gel. The Hammer gel flavor was peanut butter, and at first sip, I had to read the ingredients to make sure it wasn't actually pure peanut butter. It had a strange gritty texture, and really did mimic peanut butter, minus its original deliciousness. I was able to sip the gel for a mile and a half, and avoided any stomach issues post run. There is not much to say about the Honey Stinger gel except for that it was absolutely disgusting. Perhaps, because it is organic, it just has more of a cloyingly sweet  sugar taste, but I much prefer the deliciously artificial GU brand.

I had to dig deep for the last two miles, as my body is not accustomed to moving past the 11 mile mark. I did stop once or twice during mile 12 because I had to reset my music but I did my best to move as fast as I could for the final 1.5 miles. Overall the run felt really solid. The last two long runs have been tremendous spirit and confidence boosters for me. I am hoping I can carry that feeling to race day.

My goal for this run was to run it at 2 hours or under, and I barely squeezed by! My hope for the race is that I can start off a bit faster, and then maintain the 9-ish min pace for the rest of the race. I remember the course from last year very vividly, and I think I am ready to tackle it again.

Two more weeks, and then we'll find out.

A cold and sunny Saturday, my favorite.

11/2: Rest

11/3: 6 miles, TM in pm

11:4: Rest

11/5: 4 miles, TM in am

11/6: Rest. Random strength 

11/8: 10.5 miles, outside and solo. 

11/9: 4.5 easy w D, outside in the cold rain

Total weekly mileage: 25

Total rest days : 3

Total strength days: debatable

I've been throwing in a few random evening runs into the mix, and I have a couple thoughts:

It's not as bad as I remembered, 

And

I can't believe I used to run exclusively in the evenings after work. 

I think my body is adapting well to this daylight savings change, not the spring version. I've been able to convince myself to get up easier than it was a couple weeks ago, although it's still not completely consistent.

Saturday's long run was fantastic. It has been a very long time since I've had a solid paced longer run, and i felt great the entire time, paced myself accordingly to plan, and only wanted to explode once (at the end, duh). I rode the high of my run the entire weekend. I texted two of my fellow runner friends, and basically shouted my run love from the mountain tops. 

I started with two easy warm up miles, intentionally ignoring my watch. Whoever said the run is not to be judged by the first (two?) miles.. Preach! Preach it hard.

When my watch beeped at mile 2, I reset my watch, turned on my music, and focused or the next 8 miles. My plan was to pace myself two miles at a time. 

2 warmup

Reset

2 at 9:30 ish

2 at 9:20 (Gu)

2 at 9:10

2 at 9 or below

Reset

.5 cool down

Splits
Mile 1 - 9:20
Mile 2 - 9:36
Total time: 18:56
Mile 3 - 9:25
Mile 4 - 9:28

Mile 5 - 9:15
Mile 6 - 9:24
Mile 7 - 9:07
Mile 8 - 8:55
Mile 9 - 9:07
Mile 10 - 8:42
Total time - 1:13

Mile .5 - Cool down

Overall pace: (using an online pace calculator): 9:12

I fueled with a salted caramel GU around mile 4, and sipped tiny blobs of sugar until almost mile 6. I didn't have any water with me so I didn't want to shock my gut with too much sugar all at once. I think this worked well for me, and I felt a steady sustained level of energy throughout the middle miles. I started to get pretty thirsty around mile 8.5, but I knew I only had a little longer until I reached 10 miles, so I pushed myself as much as I could until the end. At mile 10, I reset my watch one more time, and slogged/walked a cool down home.

When I got home, I looked at my splits and was surprised to see that one of my middle miles was sub 9, which was not in my plan and yet, I remember that mile feeling solid. Actually, all of the miles felt good.

Now, from an outsiders perspective, maybe my time was average, and my paces easy, but this run meant more to me than just numbers to be hit. 

Like I said earlier, I haven't felt so good or so capable on so long. This is the run I needed to remind myself that I really can do this if I set my mind in the right place. 

For the first time in a long time, I felt confident, happy, strong.

I felt like a runner. 

Half marathon month!

10/27: Rest

10/28: 6 miles, TM

10/29: Rest

10/30: 6 miles, TM

10:31: Rest

11/1: 10 miles outside, with D

11/2: 4 miles outside

Total weekly mileage: 26

Total strength days: Zero

Total rest days: 3

This training cycle is weird. I am seriously all over the place in terms of (lack of) structure and I'm think this actually might be a good thing for me...?

I know. 

I don't get it either.

I am participating in a women's bible study this fall, and the theme for the last couple of weeks has been to enjoy our lives, to slow down and embrace the life God has given us. Ok, so those might be roughly the ideas that I've taking away from each chapter. My daily life is filled with tasks to be done, deadlines to meet, clocks to race... But, why? For what? 

Yeah, I don't really know.

No one is forcing me to clean the kitchen spotless before going upstairs to my waiting family, to fold the laundry while trying to watch a movie during family time, to type up an email in the middle of a homework session.  No one is making me do these things, no one is expecting a perfect house and a seamless life.

No one but me. 

I've heard this from many people, that I am too hard on myself and that I should give myself a break. For someone who so easily proclaims to others to do what makes them happy, why can't I relax and take the pressure off myself? Why can't I let myself be happy? Yes, a clean house and an orderly life make me "happy" but I am forgetting what truly gives me joy - God, my family, my friends, good food, life. 

I joke with my friends that I am basically an unfeeling robot, and now I wonder,perhaps  this is more truth than jest. My mind is a list filled with check boxes waiting to be marked off as Complete. I find satisfaction in accomplishing tasks, with little attention paid to how the end goal is reached. My aim is to hopefully relax, let myself enjoy the moment I am in, instead of anticipating the next move.

***

On Sunday, I ran 3 miles, and then let myself stop for a few seconds, and ran the last mile home at an easy recovery pace. For the first 2,3 miles, I told myself to stay in that moment, to run swift and focus on the miles within reach. I can't tell you the last time I ran "just" 3 miles, and it was actually quite nice. I'm always so focused on running as far as I can, that sometimes I forget that there is quality in miles, not just quantity. I felt solid after my 4 miles, and was happy to be running in the brisk morning sunshine. 

I need to learn to be "in the moment", in running and life.

***

I think 4 run days/ week is my sweet spot. Now if only I can squeeze in at least one day of strength/xt, I'll be set. I think. For now. Maybe....