Are we there yet?

Week 13: 

8/15: strength

8/16: 5 miles

8/17: 6 miles

8/18: Rest

8/19: Rest

8/20: 18 miles 

8/21: unplanned rest 

Totals: 

Miles-29

Rest-3

Strength-1

Injuries- 2

Weird looking week.

My total mileage is low, even with the whopping 18 miler on Saturday.  I've been lacking serious motivation to jump on the treadmill, and it clearly shows. My two runs I did manage to squeeze in were fine, but it did take me well over 2 miles to not feel terrible. I woke up feeling pretty tired on Thursday; with a sore knee to boot so I figured two days of rest would have me more prepared for Saturday's long run. 

Also, oh Monday while playing around with weights, I somehow tweaked my elbow and had pain everything I tried to lift heavy objects or even straighten my arm. By the time Saturday rolled around, I had a bum right knee and a permanently bent right arm. I also think the compensation of limping and not being able to bear full weight on my leg also tweaked my back-right side, naturally.  I also made plans to run w D on Sunday but I woke up with an incredibly sore knee, and made the call to cancel. I think this was our first early am cancel ever! 

7 weeks left and my first trio of injuries. Not quite what I was expecting after 13 solid weeks of training, plus all the relays and previous training I'd been doing. 

Met Mac early early in Saturday for what I thought was to be an easy, flat 18- out and back.

Some things-

The Orting Trail is real dark at 5:30am

It's also reaaaal creepy at that time. 

5:30am bikers look actual riders until you run to them after sunrise and realize they may possibly be homeless and be sleeping on the trail. 

Just because a trail is flat doesn't mean it's always easy. My knee was twinging for the first half of the run, and then I think I just got numb. 

18 miles is long. Very long. 

Running with friends make everything a little easier, and unexpectedly running into more running friends is the best!

Splits, so many

Beautiful sunshine along the river. First time running far enough on the trail to see this!

When you run 18, you are allowed to stop at McDonalds in your way home.

Week 12 - We're basically past the first trimester.

8/9: off

8/10: 4 miles, TM

8/11: 5 miles, outside pm. 

8/12: off

8/13: 4 miles, TM

8/14: 17 miles, outside! 

8:15: rest

Totals:

Rest-3

Strength: 0 (damn it)

Miles: 30

Weirdest looking cutback week, right? I'm pretty sure I did it wrong but it goes with the theme of most of this training cycle, so whatever.  This was the first time in 12 weeks that I've taken 3 rest in a week. This used to be the norm, but that was back when I was semi normal. I just had a really hard time motivating myself to get out of bed before 5:00 all week, and I managed two short am treadmill runs, and one afternoon run outside with J, and all runs were relatively slow and easy paced. 

The scheduled long run was 12 but I decided to join Mac and Heidi for part of their 17 miler. The original plan was to run 6 with them, split up, and then run 6 solo back to the car but last minute I changed my mind and ended up running all 17. I didn't like the idea of heading back alone, so I figured a few extra miles with friends wouldn't hurt. I actually had a lot of fun most of this run

I realize the use of the word "fun" is all very relative here. 

The route was super (really really really) hilly but full of lots of twists and turns, beautiful scenery, plus a scary jaunt across a giant bridge, complete with a coyote sighting #nature and a group of confused volunteers setting up a water station for a local race. 

There was one large hill we all walked up, with paused watches, and some random stops for lights or to decide which direction to go, but for most of the time we were out running, we were moving - sometimes swiftly, sometimes at a snails pace (hills!!). Luckily the last part was a slight downhill and then flat straight away, and it was right along the waterfront.

We stopped twice at gas stations for more water and some ice, and then we were off again. We also tried to practice timing of our fuel. Mac and I took a gel at mile 6-ish and then some chews around 10,11, and then another gu at 13}, 14. I think that worked well and it took us to 17. I think for the marathon I will alternate more chews and one more gel? We shall see. 

It was the first time in a training run with more than one person, and while it was super fun and the best company, it was tricky because many times the sidewalks were not wide enough for the 3 of us, so we were lined up like little ducks for many of the miles. I did speed up a few times to power ahead, once mainly to get across that damn bridge as fast as I could, and then at the last mile to just see how fast I could finish.

I actually feel a little guilty about this, because I should have just sucked up my stubbornness and ran together with the other two, but during the bridge miles I just wanted to be OFF that thing (TOO HIGH. SO SCARY) but at the end I was feeling so good and happy that I just kept going.

That sounds so annoying, I'm surprised M or H didn't push me into traffic. Ugh sorry! 

I honestly felt pretty damn good most of the run, and i seriously am going to give all props to the massive amount of carbs I consumed the four days leading up to the run. Pizza pizza pizza and some banana bread for the win. 

Pizza is life. 🍕

So, most of this training I've been winging it, because I've been mixing two or three training plans. This is very unlike me because I generally like to stick to a strict training schedule with very little budge, but you know, this summer I've had to learn to just roll with what life deals me on the daily, and this has included training. With 8 weeks left (ahhhhhh) I decided yesterday that it would be best to follow the same plan as M and H, so we could line up our long runs. This Saturday we will tackle 18, and then I'll have a real cut back week of 13 miles as my long run. Then comes the 20, but we will deal with that when it comes. 

Hold me.

***

God's morning greeting to us before starting our run. 

#pnw 

This damn bridge. 

Some of the fastest miles of the run were from this thing. 

Guess which miles were on the bridge?

Also. My last mile was completely on weird happy runner adrenaline. 

I mean. Might as well see just how bad this tan line can get, right?

When it starts to click...

Week 11: 

Monday: 8 miles (7+1 mi CD)

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 5 miles; TM

Thursday: 5 miles, TM

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 17 (16+ 1CD). 

Sunday: 6 plus some change 

Totals:

Rest- 2

Miles: 42

XT- 0

A couple things. I suck at cross training. 42 miles is my highest weekly mileage ever. 

I'm finally feeling somewhat back in the groove this past week. I was home on Monday after a long weekend away, so I headed out for a longer mid week run. I managed to huff through 7 miles at an 8:54 pace and then ran a 1 mile slow cool down home. I also had two decent AM treadmill runs that didn't feel like hot, slow death. I think those treadmill runs really helped stabilize my mental state, as the previous weeks I had been finding myself worked up in anxiety every morning. 

Treadmilling is hard, people. 

However, I have embraced that it is really my life. It's what I can manage and fit into the day with my early schedule. So, a mindset shift somehow occurred this week and I made it through yet another week of mostly treadmill training. 

Saturday's 16 was my first solo long run in a few weeks. I love love love running with friends, but sometimes I need a solo check-in run to see where I'm at mentally. I tend to run slower with friends and focus less in pace, which is always great. However, I also need those solo runs to test my fitness and to work on pacing and fuel. 

I hadn't run hamster circles in my neighborhood for a while, so I set out early on Saturday before 6am to weave through 16 miles of cul de sacs and streets and loops. I even forced myself to run some hillier parts of the neighborhood, which was actually a confidence booster because my legs felt strong charging up the hills. There were a few longer tough hills in the middle of the run, and you can see by my paces where those hills were. ;)

It's easy to psych ourselves out over long solo runs and overthink every aspect and every mile.  My wise friend J always reminds me to pray beforehand, which I honestly just forget to do most days, but on Saturday, I said a small prayer, took a deep breath, and decided that today's run would be great. 

Running can tend to be one giant cliche but sometimes it's a pretty accurate cliche. I really felt positive energy during the entire run, even in those dreaded first few miles. Most long runs have some dark middle miles but I never quiet felt that shadow looming over me the entire time.  It also helped that I had some fresh new jams to get me through. 

My long run goal was to stay between 9:30-10 and I managed to run 16 at a 9:23 pace. Not too shabby for my longest training run to date!

Splits, like banana... But even better 

Mile1: 9:55

Mile2: 10:01

So many splits it doesn't fit in one screen shot!

Uh. Mile 6. I do not know. 

Also, mile 11.. HILL!

I had to dig deep for that last mile. Let's just say my arms were pumping like Forrest Gump. 

Saturday was the first time in 11 weeks that I've felt like I can (maybe) actually run this marathon. 

I think that's what they call, Progress. 

***

Obligatory garmin shot. 

Sunday's 6 mile "recovery", which ended being the same pace as Saturday? #doingitwrong

Oh and I finally ordered this, because....#mylife

Love my new Ragnar necklace. And last yeesr's shirt. Maybe that necklace gave me some sort of super powers? Nah. 

Ten Ten Ten

Week 10

Monday: Easy XT

Tuesday: 5 miles, TM

Wednesday: 5 miles, hills

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 4 easy miles 

Saturday: 13.1, 10min pace 

Sunday: Rest. Chillin in Suncadia!

Total: 

Rest - 2

XT - 1 

Miles: 27-ish

The last couple of weeks have been quite the struggle. Two weeks ago my mileage was lower than it should have been, and this week was lower than I had hoped. However, it's a new week right? 

Week 11?!

Holy sh.....

My weekday runs were less than fabulous but I did nicely talk D into running hills with me, and it was motivating to chase her up those hills. I generally take Friday's as rest days but since I accidentally skipped Thursday's run from basic exhaustion,  I managed to convince D yet again to run 4 easy miles on Friday before we left for a weekend trip to Suncadia.  I had planned to run the half marathon on Saturday, which aligned nicely with training, and John had signed up for the Sprint Duathlon  (run/bike/run). Our kids even joined in and raced the 1 mile kids race, which was pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

A group of us signed up to run the half, which was nice because it made my job of deciding to run slow a lot easier. I don't race well when I run with others, and since I hadn't been specifically training to race 13.1, I decided to keep it as a slow training run. The first few miles were faster than I should have gone, which resulted in a couple of "I really should quit running moments, all in my head, naturally. Clearly I need to work on the mental part of running, jeez. The course was surprisingly hilly, and the temps warmed up quickly. We walked up hills when we felt like it and then stopped at every water station. For a small destination race, the logistics were smooth and the support was fantastic. I'd definitely recommend the Suncadia races to anyone. We are going to try and make it an annual event. Plus, the house we stayed at was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was perfection all weekend. Thank you to the Smiths for a fabulous weekend!

***

So proud of my kids, and my husband!

This was Sunday. My race was Saturday, hence my normal clothing and regular appearance. 

First Duathalon race in the books

Beast Runners - half marathon finishers

My fave pics with Bart Yasso! He is so nice and down to earth! I even drove past him on Sunday and rolled down my window to yell "Go Bart!". #numberonefan

Half marathoners!

Also, as bonus I briefly met Run Eat Repeat. and saw the Run Blogger formerly known as Skinny Runner (SR) and RER checking out of the lodge. Of course they are both frickin adorable. I should have introduced myself but apparently meeting people in real life turns me into a major goob. Need to work on mah social skills apparently.