5 Weeks to GO!!!

So remember my pity party last week? How I was ready to slip on ice and break a leg or something to get out of running a marathon? Well, I think talking/typing it all out really refreshed my soul and made me feel a lot better. Seriously, I think everyone should write down their thoughts and feelings, it's a great way to either make something clearer to you or just somewhere to have a pity party (since Matt was totally tired of me whining and complaining) and lay it all out.

Monday

I went to yoga again on my rest day. We did a lot of vinyasas and added some side planks. Holy cow my sides were so sore the next day. I totally gotta work on my core again!

Tuesday

I met up with Amanda for a planned 5 mile run. It was nice out and when we got to 5, Amanda was going to run 1 more and since I was feeling great I decided to run with her. We were running at 9:45 pace and for the last mile it was 8:50!

Wednesday

I had to run an 8 mile paced (9ish min mile). It had snowed and it was cold :( I did really think about running outside but since I had to try to keep a certain pace I stayed inside at the gym.

Thursday

I just have to share this funny dream I had. I tend to get this before any race, mostly oversleeping and missing the start of the race or not being able to find the start to name a few. I dreamt that the marathon had turned into an obstacle course marathon. I knew it was a dream which never happens, but it wasn't the obstacle course that got me though. At the start I looked at the person next to me  and said "I know this is a dream because I haven't had my 20 mile training run yet!"

Amanda had a doctors appointment so it was just me for 5 miles. I brought my headphones (something I have been doing more of) and just went with the pace. It was suppose to be slow but I ended up with average 9:15 pace. Oops, but really I just ran by feel and surprised myself.

I had talked to my friend Megan about running some of my miles (19) with me on Saturday, since Amanda had to work, and had planned out a routine that would let Megan run 11-12 miles with me and I would continue on to make 19. The weather on Friday was so nice and I was getting excited to run with Megan and tackle 19 miles. She messaged me early in the day and told me that her little guy was sick and they had not being sleeping so running Saturday morning was not going to happen. I quickly sent out a post on FB looking for some buddies, everyone was running but not on the roads which I needed. So I spent most of Friday giving myself pep talks about just going solo and seeing what happens. 

Saturday

I woke up at 6:15 completely not feeling it at all. I didn't sleep well and it had been stuffy in our bedroom so I felt hot. I didn't have time for that so I just got dressed ate my bagel and peanut butter and headed off. My friend Cathy gave me a routine that included a big loop going from Sand Run to the Summit mall, down W. Market St to Portage Path back to Sand Run which was 11 miles. On Friday I purchased some new songs from my iPod and it really helped me. I felt good running through Sand Run and I kinda knew the rest of the loop was mostly flat. Matt had old shot blocks and I used those as fuel. However, to eat one of them it took almost a mile. It literally took 5 minutes before I could even start chewing the things and then they got stuck in my teeth. But really it was okay, I think it's time just to either buy new ones or give GU a try again. I ate one around mile 8 and one more at mile 16. After I made it back to Sand Run and the car I refilled my water bottles and took off again on the towpath. Knowing that if I started at "Big Indian" I should travel north since it is kind of uphill the whole way and it would give me 6 miles once I got back to start. I also knew that I might see some people I knew. I ran to Memorial Parkway and headed back and ran into my friend Rick from the Green YMCA. Rick heads up the Green YMCA running club (they were starting at 8 am or I would have joined them) and is just a nice guy. Even though he isn't running a marathon or probably should be running more than 12 miles (he's recovering from an injury) he turned around and ran about 2 miles with me. He told me that there was Gatorade at the first picnic table at Sand Run and told me to help myself and that I was looking great. I left him at 17 miles. I headed the other direction and decided what's one more mile ended up running 20 miles. When I turned around at 18.5 miles I started to cry. Not because anything hurt BUT because I had just realized that I was going to be running 20 miles by myself (okay not quite but pretty much) and that there was never a thought that I wasn't going to. All my pep talks and me repeating (sometimes out loud) "Just keep putting one foot in front of the other!" I also had this goofy grin on my face for the last 2 miles! I may have walked more than I should (or even needed to) but marathon training miles and marathon training miles! It's all about time on your feet!

I finally feel like I am going to be able to run this marathon. 10 years ago when I ran my first and only marathon I don't think I ever got to 15 miles in training. I didn't know any of my running buddies yet and was running all by myself. It was also during the summer and I had trouble staying cool enough for the runs. I feel way more prepared this time and I starting to get that mental toughness and attitude of I can do anything. This coming week is a "break" week and I have to run 5 miles on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with a 12 mile run on Saturday. I am ready for a little break, that was also part of my talking to myself on the long run, after this you get a "break" from long distances.

YAY for a confidence boosting week!!

Weekly Update

This week (well last week) I started having doubts that I really wanted to run this marathon. Like, I had trouble getting out the door and running. Maybe it was the snow we got and the two snow days that my kids had. But I seriously was dragging ALL week.

March 13-19
Monday

It was a rest day but I decided that it was time to get back into yoga. I had previously really enjoyed it but last fall when my back acted up I had trouble with doing vinyasas and just overall aches with a lot of the poses I just quit going. But I think I am going to start going again as it felt good and on Tuesday I woke up feeling a good ache across my chest and shoulders.

Tuesday

Snow day for the kids meant not getting to meet up with Amanda for a slow 5 miler, not that we would have met with all the snow (even though at this point I was okay with attempting to run outside because that might have made me fall and break something so I could get out of running this marathon!) I waited to run until the afternoon before the kids swimming lesson at the Y. Got there with about 1.5 hours to kill and set out to run 5 easy miles. Which somehow quickly turned into 8 miles of intervals. Which also turned out to be wayyyyy too fast. My intervals were between 7:35-8:00 for half a mile and then the "recovery" runs (quarter mile) were around 8:45. I seriously thought I was gonna barf when I was done. I also don't think I was well hydrated and just felt bad.

Wednesday

Snow day again! I did get out the door in the morning to attempt this run. Maybe it was because I ran so hard the afternoon before and didn't give myself a long enough period of rest but I struggled big time on this run. I walked a lot and too it very very easy for 5 miles which is so hard to do on the treadmill (for me at least).

Thursday

Kids had school! But I wimped out on Amanda because I was so cold and I couldn't make myself go out since I was nervous about running 5 miles again (after Wednesday's run). I felt better on the treadmill and kept a moderate pace the whole time. It felt good and then I was mad that I wimped out on Amanda. Later, I went to kettlebell/kickboxing which is always fun. We did a pyramid workout which is hard and easy all at once. Starting at 21 reps I always use a lower weight and once we got down to 3 reps I was using a 20 pounder which was a first. A little while ago, I tried 20 pounds and every time I swung the bell it would make me take a step back (which I don't think is suppose to happen!)

Friday

It wasn't cold but it wasn't even warm but I felt that I needed to run outside for some fresh air in the morning. It was suppose to be a rest day so I just ran 2 miles. I am glad I did as it made me feel much better and thinking about running a marathon didn't make me feel sick to my stomach.

Saturday

My buddy, Amanda, had to run 19 miles. My training plan stated for me to run 13. I had told Amanda on Friday night that it would be "fun" to run the shamrock course (9 miles) and hit the road for my last 4. And then she would "only" have to run 6 miles on the towpath. Amanda wasn't that happy with the idea but I told her that we ran her pace and take the hills nice and slow. Well the weather had other plans. It turned out to be rather foggy and where we'd have to run on the roads isn't really smart. I think Amanda was happy to learn this. So I made a new suggestion of running 7 miles on the towpath, 6 on the road and then she could do 6 more on the towpath to mix it up. It had snowed the day before but it was packed down however still not easy and Amanda decided that we should just run roads the whole time. We ran up and down Akron-Peninsula Rd. We ran from Hunt farm and ran North to The Winking Lizard (it felt more hillier this way) and then headed South about half a mile past Steel Corner Rd. This wasn't an overly hard run for me but I hadn't slept well the night before and still fighting the mental struggle of putting one foot in front of the other, I did keep telling myself at least I wasn't running 19 miles (or 20 since Amanda decided to add a mile, ROCKSTAR). I also listened to tunes for the first time (at least running with a partner) and I was happy about this especially since Amanda ran a little ahead of me the whole time. I was totally cool with Amanda running at her own pace and me behind this week. I just kept the pace very even (around 10:20 for each split surprisingly with a few quicker ones at the beginning and end) and ended up with an average pace of 10:16. I left Amanda to continue on and stretched before heading home. Came home took a shower and ran a few errands. Then I laid down in bed and continuing reading "A Man Callled Ove". When I got up to go out to dinner, my legs seriously felt like lead. I was confused since I had been running all my long runs (and I had completed longer runs up to 18 miles without this feeling) and knew it was gonna be a rough evening. I think last time I wrote I felt that my restless legs thing had stopped I guess I shouldn't have said that. Good thing Matt slept on the couch, I think I would have kicked him off the bed! I thrashed around for hours (!), okay maybe a few hours and couldn't get comfy at all.. Sigh!

Sunday

Woke up tired but had to take Charlie to a birthday party (his 4th or 5th of the winter) and legs felt better. So when we got home I went over to the gym and did an hour of the elliptical to get the rest soreness out. Came home and finished my book, Ma tt made homeade pizzas, and watched an okay movie "The Hollars". Only reason I said it was just okay is because it was not a comedy (which I thought it was based on the trailer we watched) and the book had made me sad as well.

**Also this was night 3 of nothing sleeping well. I sure hope to see better tonight (Monday that is)  and get my head wrapped around the fact that I am running 19 (!) miles on either Saturday or Sunday morning.**

Last Two weeks

I'm falling behind in this whole blogging thing oops

February 26 - March 5
Sunday

I had cross training and did an hour of elliptical (6.2 miles)

Monday

It should have been a rest day but I needed to run (ever have one of those days) and ended up running 2 slow miles in the morning...which all I was gonna do...but by the evening I really needed to run so I ran a quick 5K to see where my fitness was. It was around 26 minutes which I was quite proud of.

Tuesday

It was nice out and I met up with Amanda for an easy 3 miler. I totally enjoy these runs with Amanda and it's nice not to worry about speed or how many miles we need.

Wednesday

My training plan was calling for 8 miles now. 7 seemed like a great number and to be completely honest 8 just seems like SO much more (yea I don't get it either!) That morning there were tornado warnings and it was raining and I just didn't want to run outside in the rain and wind (and more tornadoes?!) I ran on the treadmill and I attempted a tempo run. In reality I started at marathon pace (6.4) for the first mile and then after that increased the speed to 6.7 and every mile increased it again to .1 to ended up at 7.3 and then back to 6.4 for the last mile. It hurt but I was pretty proud of this.

Thursday

Amanda suggested running at her house and we made a loop around Ellet which ended up being 3,25 miles. It was fun running somewhere where I had no idea we were going and just following Amanda.

Saturday

I met up with a several friends at 6:15 am (!!!) to run around Akron. My friend Cathy gave me her old garmin (I just had to buy a new charging cord) and attempted to run with it. However, it's very "touchy" and I had trouble with figuring out how to work it. The first 12 miles of this run were all part of the old and new Akron course and fun. There were 7 of us and it made it "enjoyable" and a pace that I could run for awhile (10:30ish pace). We stopped at 12 and parted with everyone except Amanda. We also stopped long enough to get water and fuel (which I wish I had something at this point but didn't have anything). And went back out along the towpath from downtown and south. These miles were NOT fun and I actually walked like a mile of this part. My mind got all negative and I cried for the last 1.5 miles. Thankful Amanda pretty much told me to suck it up and we weren't going to stop until we got back to the cars. We ended up back at the cars with 18 miles in about 3 hours and 25 minutes. I can't believe that I would have still had to run 8 miles after that! And what would you do after running 18 miles, well you'd go to SkyZone and jump around trampolines with your kids and go to lunch. My legs felt surprisingly well after all that and my legs have stopped with the whole restlessness I was getting after long runs.

Sunday

I didn't feel like doing anything but I knew I had an hour of cross training to do. I decided to do half an hour of elliptical (3 miles) and then I rode a bike for the other half an hour (8 miles). I then took some time stretching after the whole 18 miles.

March 6-12
Monday

I knew I had a race on Sunday so I thought I should still try to get all the miles in (I was scheduled to run 17 miles over the weekend) so I ran 4 miles. After that I did talk to a friend and she told me that she thought that didn't sound like a good idea if I really wanted to try to PR so I decided the rest of the week I was going to run all my weekly runs but take off both Friday and Saturday.

Tuesday

I ran on the treadmill with the incline at 2% for 3.1 miles. It's suppose to be an easy day so I have to run with an incline or I have trouble running slow. But with the incline I wonder how "easy" it really is and if I am still not really doing it right.

Wednesday

The weather was perfect for running outside. The was a wind advisory but it didn't start until like 10 so I knew I had time to get my 8 mile run outside. I had spent Tuesday evening trying to figure out the watch and had it all set up to run. However, I wasn't really excited about this run. I had convinced myself I would run out two miles on the towpath and turn around get some water and then run two miles out the other direction for the 8 miles. And then when I got to 2 miles I convinced myself that i could get to 3 miles and only have to run 1 mile out and back after. Then I got to 3.5 miles and and finally got to 4 miles. Maybe it was the wind (it was windy BUT nothing like it was in the afternoon) but boy those 4 miles I had to work hard for them. When I turned around it was "easier" and I actually had a negative split run and had an average pace of 9:18. It was a good marathon pace run (even though I still have trouble believing that I could run this pace for 26.2 miles!)

In the evening a bunch of my running buddies were meeting at Sand Run to run and my buddy Joseph was gonna walk, I decided I would be fun to meet up with them and bring the kids and walk with Joseph.

Charlie really didn't want to be the picture 

Thursday

I convinced Amanda to come to my hood and run around. It was another "easy" 3 miler and I took her on my favorite loop. However for some reason my brain wasn't working and every time I told her to turn right I actually meant left and vise versa (it definitely made for entertaining run!)

Friday and Saturday were rest days. By Friday evening I really wished I had done something but I woke up on Saturday feeling bad. I'd been battling allergies all week and Saturday morning I woke up to not being able to hear much (other than my pulse) and was glad to rest. I did end up at the minute clinic for some help getting my ears unclogged.

Today was my first race of 2017. My favorite (no seriously!) race, the Shamrock 15K, which says it's the hilliest 15K in NEOhio (or so the organizers say!) My friend Cathy was running the 5K and Megan, Brittany, and me were going to tackle the hills. This is the 5th start for me on the 15K (previously I had a 6 or 7 year run of the 5K) and I had hopes of a PR (1:23:XX). But due to the whole allergy thing, it was freezing, and windy it just wasn't my day. I did well over the first 5K, it was all downhill. I think the first mile was 7:45 which is just to darn quick but I totally took advantage of the downhills and got done in 25:48. The 4 mile is on a small flat section and had another sub 9 mile. And then the HILLS, HILLS, and more HILLS. The first incline I always just walk up and trying to gather myself for the rest of the hills. But because all I could hear was my horrible breathing (which may or may not have been as bad but it sounded bad to me) I struggled the rest of the time. I totally walked more than I want to say. However, by mile 7 I got a "second" wind and told myself to be under 1:30 and ended up with 1:28:46. Obviously not a PR but it was the second fastest time I have had on the course.

Before the start, we're happy!

So glad to be done!

Cookies and soup for the win after race.

February In Review

This February hasn't been the typical month weather wise. I was prepared to run in A LOT of clothes and lots of treadmill miles. I don't think I ever had to overthink what I was wearing. There may have been a few short runs where I was under-dressed but really it wasn't much of a problem since I was only running 3-5 miles. Last week I ran all of my runs outside, two of those days I was wearing t-shirts and actually one day in shorts! My long run days the temperatures were in the 40-50s which made for some good times, I really didn't think I would be running in just a long sleeve tech shirt and tights! Two of my long runs were over the Shamrock course and I have decided I really like running that course and loops. Running out and backs on the towpath are just dreadful, I seriously rather run on the treadmill!

Overall this month I would rate it an A. I ran all of the miles I was suppose to (113 miles to be exact) and I continue to be injury free. I was worried about my back and the longer miles but so far all of my PT and the exercises they gave me seem to be helping. I have been consistently getting 2 strength training days in. One on Tuesdays which I just do all the machines at the YMCA and the other on Thursday nights a kettlebell/kickboxing class also at the YMCA. I would like to see myself getting back to yoga at some point as well. Eating wise I realized at the end of the month that I wasn't eating enough for the training I was doing. January I felt okay but not great during the long runs, but this month I actually have been feeling so much better and more energy during the runs. I still could eat A LOT better but hey I'm eating more veggies/fruits and protein which I know is something I have to really be mindful of. Also after long runs I am NOT interested at all in the food. Last Saturday after my 13 miler I went out to lunch with my family at BJ's Brewhouse and nothing sounded good. I ended up just eating broccoli cheddar soup in a breadbowl and salad. Since we were celebrating birthdays too I had a piece of cake and ice cream (honestly it didn't really taste all that good but I still ate it). And then for dinner I had two bowls of cereal and that's it. I did have a bagel with peanut butter and string cheese before the run too but I didn't even eat all the calories that I should eat and then I had even more calories since I ran so much. BUT don't worry I think I made up for it on Sunday (which is usually when I eat EVERYTHING!) I'm almost ashamed to write this but I ate a bagel with peanut butter and a donut (thanks to a wonderful hubby who just had to get them after I ate the bagel!) for breakfast. I had leftover tacos for lunch. And then Charlie had another birthday party were I ate twoish slices of pizza, Doritos, and two mini donuts! Then we came home and Matt had made homeade pizza, I just had to have a slice of that. At least I also eat some veggies with dinner but seriously yikes! At least it's only one day!!!