Week 12 of Marathon Training

Whew! I have been super busy lately and haven't really been in the mood to post anything, instead I have just been stalking all of you while you post about all of the yummy and healthy things you've been eating, the races you've been running and generally everything else out there in the blogosphere.

But I figured this morning I would update everyone on how my training is going for my upcoming FIRST MARATHON!

I took a look at my training plan this morning, and I am well on my way. This is week 12 and I have 5 more weeks to go until the race. I have 3 more weeks until taper time.

On Sunday I ran my long run, which was about 12ish miles. I say this because stupid me forgot to charge my Garmin so it died mid-run. For some reason I just couldn't get my ass moving Sunday morning, so after a few cups of coffee and some toast with homemade PB, I got ready to walk out the door and picked up my Garmin....and it was blank. UGH.

So I waited about 15 minutes until it was a bit charged up and then headed out on the road hoping it would last. At about mile 7.5 I looked down and it had finally hit the dust. And it was strange, because although I have only been running with this thing since January, I felt like I was going to be lost without it! My immediate reaction was, "Crap, well what do I do now? Do I keep going?" Then I thought about how absolutely ridiculous that thought was and how I basically knew the rest of my loop and how many miles it was, so why was I fretting?

The run was kind of a struggle, but nothing really out of the usual for long runs. I have been feeling pretty strong lately in my runs, and I think it is because my body is finally getting into the sync of training. My runs during the week have been going pretty well and although I dread the long runs and they get boring at times, they're pretty much okay.

If it's a particularly good run, I will still have enough juice left to sprint in the final few miles. But if I don't, I'm not really upset about it. I have been doing pretty good at listening to my body, going with the flow, and just enjoying my solo runs through town, next to the water, or over the Ravenel Bridge. I look for dolphins, tourist watch, be on the lookout for super cute dogs...it's been nice.

I had yesterday off of running with intentions to do a Core Yoga workout last night...but that never happened. Matt cooked me dinner and then I just did some cleaning and went to bed early. I have been feeling a bit rundown so I was hoping to get a good night's sleep but I managed to toss and turn and keep waking up last night...oh well, I feel pretty good today.

I realized yesterday that I was not in the slightest bit sore from Sunday's run, and that kind of made me happy. I must be doing something right finally :) This week's training schedule is going to be pretty tough (as it will be for the next 3 weeks until I start tapering) but it will all be worth it on May 2nd!

This week's schedule:
Tonight: 5-6 Mile Bridge Run + Short Track Workout
Wednesday: Easy 8 Miles
Thursday: Hooray for Spring 6 Miler!
Friday: No running, hopefully some Yoga for Runners :)
Saturday: 20 Miles!!!!
Sunday: REST + Yoga

Although I have only done yoga twice since the beginning of March when I said I wanted to do yoga more often (man I just looked back at that post and realized I also said I wanted to lose 6 pounds in March! I think I conveniently forgot about that one...), it is starting to grow on me. I like doing it out on my balcony when the weather is nice. I wish I could get up early in the mornings to do it, but lately I just have not been getting up as easily as I usually do...

Looking back on my training so far, I have come a long way since January. I never actually thought I would be able to run 18 miles and not walk any. I never thought I would feel prepared for my marathon, and not scared out of my mind (although we will see how that goes sooner to the date). But as of today, I feel like if I keep up with my schedule and keep my during the week mileage steady, I will be as ready as I can be for this thing.

People have told me that I will get hooked on marathons after I run my first one. I'm not sure about that, but I definitely know that I'm hooked on this running thing...and I like it more every day.

Quick Update: Saturday's Long Run

Sorry I haven't posted all weekend, I have been so busy! I don't have much time but I wanted to at least give an update as to how my long run went on Saturday morning.

I didn't talk about it too much last week because I didn't want to jinx myself! Considering my past few long runs went horribly, I was hoping to just get out there and run as far as I could.

I had it in my head that I needed to do 17--anything over 15 would have been okay with me, but I had 17 in my mind as what I needed to do to be okay with my training situation. I set out with a newish course, a 4 mile loop at the beginning that brought me back by my building, and then an out and back course that totaled 15. I knew that if I made the loop longer than 17, I would have some room to add on if I was feeling strong.

I started out at 7:15 Saturday morning, which in itself was an accomplishment as I usually get out the door around noon, and the weather was cool and foggy. I was feeling a mixture of things as I started out, I kind of felt pretty strong but I also struggled for the first 4 to 7 miles to get in the groove.

Around mile 3 I really, REALLY had to go pee, and I was worried about where I could duck behind a bush (as downtown Charleston doesn't really allow for that) and as I was searching for somewhere, I glanced ahead of me, and like a beacon of light from above, I spotted a random Port-A-Potty! It was like a divine intervention. So I ducked into there and after that was set to go.

Around mile 7 I got to the Ravenel Bridge and was worried about how this mile + incline would do me. As I was making my way up, I noticed that I was actually running a good bit faster than I had been going previously! I started passing other runners and was feeling pretty strong. At the base of the bridge on the Mt. P side, I took my Triple Berry GU, got some water, and headed back up and over. I was now at about mile 11. This climb wasn't as easy on me and my legs were definitely feeling it.

Once I made it back over to the Charleston side of the bridge (mile 14ish) I had a choice to make. Do I take the longer loop home or the shorter? The shorter would bring me in around 16-17, where the longer would bring me in just around 18.

I chose the longer because I was feeling pretty consistent, and wanted to push myself as far as I could go.

I ended up finishing 18.0 miles like a champ!

My last two miles were my fastest, and I sprinted in mile 18 and finished that one in 8:58, for a total time of 3:05 and an average pace of 10:19. I was so proud of myself!!!

When I got home, I tried to stretch but my muscles weren't really cooperating, so I saved that for later and came in to suffer through a quick ice bath. Which I think has really been helping!

I don't have my splits to update yet, but all in all it was a GREAT run. I haven't even been that sore this weekend and today.

HOWEVER: (this is where the post turns negative) Last night I started to notice that my lower back was really bothering me on my right side when I bent down or turned to the right.

It got worse as the night progressed and was so bad by the time I was going to sleep I could only prop myself up in bed with 3 pillows and not move. This morning I took a hot bath, and brought a heating pad to work and it seems to be helping some, but I am not back 100% yet. I have my big test tomorrow morning so I won't be running tonight (i.e. I will be cramming like a mo fo), so hopefully by resting another day I will be able to run tomorrow afternoon.

I have had problems with my back before, and I think that this one was triggered by my run, but ultimately caused by my horrible posture. It also probably doesn't help that I am not strength training or working on my core muscles. That stops today!

Gotta get back to work, but here are some pics of my Gnocchi and Chicken Vegetable Soup that I made last week. The soup had kale, corn, okra, carrots, onion, rotisserie chicken and gnocchi in it. It was pretty good I must say, and extremely simple!

Hope you all have a fantastic Monday, and an even better week in running!

Listen to your body, not necessarily your mind...

I am not always the most motivated of runners. My number one bad habit is skipping a few days of running, and then paying for it dearly once I start back up again. My friend M who is running the marathon with me in May, likes to keep a day or so in between runs because she feels that her legs are fresher and she gets more out of each run that way. As for me, I would love to be able to do that, but taking even one day off is just such a slippery slope for me.

On Sunday, I ran my 12 miles and was feeling fabulous about it. I finally felt like I was getting into the habit of being the runner that I want to be in 2009 -consistent. So Monday came and I was scheduled for a rest day, that I had no problem taking, then Tuesday came which was my birthday!

Tuesday - Happy Birthday!
I had a good solo evening planning for myself on Tuesday, my bf had a night class and I was just going to do an 8 mile tempo run and then come home to study for my life insurance exam (that is getting closer and closer....) and basically just have a chill evening alone for the most part. I was kind of upset that I would be spending my birthday alone, but it was a Tuesday night and just another day.

So all day my mom was texting me happy bday messages, and kept insisting that I call her before I left work, which I thought strange. I kept telling her that I would be fine, after all I have been making it home on my own from work for a pretty long time now (I'm all growed up!). I thought maybe she was going to send me flowers, and she wanted to hear how they looked after they got here, even though I would obviously call her if I did get flowers, without her having to tell me too....so anyways, it was sketch.

Finally, it was closing time and she had sent me yet another text saying to "call me asap." Now, she had me worried. My mom is recently divorced and lives on her own, and has also just started going to the gym on her own after work, so there is no telling what could have gone wrong. Let me also add that she lives three hours away from me. So I call her.

Me: "What's going on?!"
Mom: "Oh nothing, just wanted to find out where I should take my baby out to dinner for her birthday in Charleston!"
Me: "You're not in Charleson."
Mom: Sqeals of happy laughter.
Me, thinking: This is going to mess up my training schedule! (But I don't really want to run anyways....) But this is awesome! My moms the best! FREE FOOD!

So she had surprised me, and they all (all being her and the bf) had lied to me all week, making me think I was going to be all alone on my birthday. It worked!

Basically, my mom is the best and drove all the way down here to surprise me for my birthday and take me out to dinner, which was fantastic! But of course, I missed my run Tuesday night.

Wednesday - Get Your Coach Potato On/Your Remote Ready
Enter Wednesday. I am sluggish from eating (way) too much Yo Burrito and Dos Equis at my bday dinner the night before, and I cannot concentrate on work. Plus I didn't get enough sleep because the old people in our building who centrally-control when the A/C is turned on, didn't have the A/C on so I sweat like a pig all night and kept tossing and turning (yay South Carolina sunshine!). Add on to all of this, that when I get home last night I know that the bf will be at another night class and I have the apartment ALL to myself, with a partially eaten bag of Cheddar Sun Chips...and you guessed it, I sat in front of the TV on my couch eating Sun Chips instead of running...and I enjoyed ever minute of it.

But I was pretty miserable come bed time and I had eaten, let's just say, way too much food that will go unmentioned lest you all think I am a fat pig. (I really like food, and that's probably why I like running so much because it enables me to eat food. A lot of food.)

Thursday - Sunshine and Butterflies!
Because I didn't run Monday, Tuesday OR Wednesday, I knew I had to get up and run this morning. I knew if I didn't get up this morning and go, I might not do it tonight as I have a meeting right after work.

So I got my happy self up at 6 AM and ran for 70 minutes at a very slow pace, because of course, I felt entirely crappy from having three glutton filled days off from running. While I was running, I was thinking about my training so far and what I had learned from it, and one central theme was running through my mind:

"I have learned to listen to my body, and not always my mind."

But what is that you say? Distance running is all about the mind? Well, not necessarily. Like I said before, when I miss a few days of running it is harder and harder for me to get back into it. If I listen to my mind, I can find one million excuses to not go out on a run. But then I think about how my body feels, and I realize that I just have to go out running to feel better. When I don't run my energy levels are low, low and lower, I feel fatter than I really am, my mind is not as sharp, I cannot concentrate at work and don't get as much done, and I'm generally just a more angry and annoying person to be around.

Another aspect of this realization is put in place after I have set out on a run. I used to always start out each run a little faster than I should, because it felt okay, and I wanted to hurry up and get it done with. Most of the time I would just crash and burn mid-run and end up either taking walk breaks, or cutting the run short altogether.

Recently, I have purposefully started out each run slower than I wanted to/could and in the last few miles I was easily able to turn up the pace considerably. My mind has been WRECKING my runs in the past, with all of these thoughts rolling around in there about how much this sucked, or how I had things to do other than running, how my legs hurt, how I just wanted to be anywhere but here....and I ended up running too fast and burning out too soon. I don't think I have realized that until now.

So I have learned to surrender to my body, and I listen to what it tells me now. It tells me to take it easy on myself when I haven't run, to let my body warm up and cool down, and to just chill out and enjoy it.

My run this morning was no where near quick. I think my average pace was even over a 10 minute mile, which is never somthing I let myself do. But if I had stuck to my plan of doing an 8 mile tempo run, I would have burnt out somewhere around mile three and limped home with my tail between my legs. (Or even worse, had a repeat of last week's puke session.) But instead I enjoyed the early morning air, relished the sunrise over the harbor, and didn't constantly check my pace on the Garmin. I just let myself run.

I think this is what has hindered me from being consistent in the past, and if I can stick to one thing in 2009 I hope this is it. I keep wondering what my marathon time will be, if I will be able to keep up with M, or if she will just smoke me. Now I know that I am not going to let msyelf worry about that. If I can just remain consistent, that is all I ask for. I know that everything past that will then fall into place.