Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon Training Recap Week 15

Monday I went to a new massage therapist and it was like night and day from last week's experience, thank god. He said that he didn't ever want me to be in pain that I couldn't tolerate for 10 seconds. There were a few times that I was uncomfortable for a 10 count but nothing like the week before when I wished we had established a safe word. 

He actually thinks my issues are stemming from my feet and worked my arch as well as a muscle that runs from the bottom of your foot to the inside of your calf and attaches at the inside of your knee, then starts up again and wraps around to the hip. My right leg was also considerably shorter than the left leg, so when he was done working things, that was back to normal. Apparently my right leg is my strong leg.

I left the massage feeling loose and optimistic about Bemidji.

Tuesday I had a book club with some friends and mexican and margaritas is not good pre-run fuel so I had another rest day.

Wednesday I set out for an easy 3 miles. I had some tightness in my left calf, but no pain. I'll likely just be doing easy 3-6 mile runs during the week and my taper-length long runs on the weekend up until race day.

I had planned to do my long run on Friday (I worked Saturday at the library this week), but I was really nervous that it was going to hurt. So I just enjoyed a lazy day with the pug. I wrote a ton of blog posts, read a book, and did some core work. So it was equal parts lazy and productive I guess.

Saturday I worked and then went out to one of Kyle's fishing buddy's housewarming party. While at the party I started having some stabbing lower back pain on my right side. My heart rate was crazy high and I started to feel nauseous. Neat. We ended up leaving around 10pm.

When I woke up on Sunday I was still feeling short of breath, and I thought it had to do with my allergies. They've been a pain the behind for the last few weeks. I did my usual hip/glute exercises and while I was waiting for my garmin to find a signal, I realized I was panting like a pug. That's when I realized I probably had a rib out that was effecting my breathing.

Luckily for me I had 12 pain free miles. They weren't anything speedy, but it was nice to run instead of hobbling like last weekend. My breathing was really off, and my heart rate was really high, but I'm hoping things will sort themselves during my massage tomorrow.

Most importantly: Bemidji is a go!!!

Lessons Learned from Marathon Training Cycle Seven

I've had quite a bit of time to reflect on my training cycle since I'm not spending a lot of time running. Harumph. I wanted to put my reflections in writing for my future marathon training planning.

• Marathon training cycle length:

I've had failures with the Pfitz 18/55 plan, but I thought it had to do more with the number of tough workouts during a week and not enough time to recover in between them. I decided to keep the length and do a plan from runners world with a speed workout/week and a long run/week. Attention: 17-18 weeks is way.too.long. to train for a marathon. In the future I'll stick to 10-14 and plan to be in solid shape before starting. I think I was in great half marathon shape starting the training cycle, and I feel like I was at my peak at the beginning of August. Oops.

I also struggled with motivation in mid to late August, and I think that's why my body broke down.

• Injury prevention instead of maintenance:

I totally remember this every time an injury comes around and then when running is all fine and dandy I forget. I need to make regular massage appointments, and I need to be better about cross training with cycling and yoga.

• Less frequent racing:

Because my training cycle was so long, I threw in quite a few races throughout to keep myself motivated. I think 10k should be my max distance. I raced my half PR during a marathon cycle so I keep thinking I need to do it again, but I need to remember that I sacrificed my first legit shot at sub-4 for that half PR. Tune up races--good. Goal races within a goal race training cycle--not so good.

Decisions, Decisions

The month of September has not been ideal for me, running wise. I started off the month running an 11 mile mid-week mid-LR and felt like I was flyyyyyying. By the time I showered from the run and headed off to work, my back was killing me. I took the rest of the week off in hopes that I could just complete my 10th consecutive Sioux Falls half marathon. I maxed out in icy hot back patches and daily ibuprofen dosage.

I made it through the race and felt great! I was my normal amount of sore after the race, got a massage immediately after the race, and spent some significant time foam rolling so I could jump back into peak marathon training. My IT bands gave me trouble longer than I had hoped, and I had a random ouchy in my left ankle. So I gave myself an extra day of rest.

And then I set out for my 2nd to last major long run two Sundays ago, and I didn't make it a full minute of running. Knee pain. NBD. I assumed I had some residual tightness in my IT bands pulling my knee out of whack. I'd get a massage Monday and be back on track.

Well last Monday I had a massage, and you know how that went. And I was out of commission the whole week. I attempted my long run Friday. I set out hoping to get in 3 hours/18 miles/20 miles depending on how the legs felt and what my pace was. Once upon a time I heard that runs over 3 hours do more harm then good for slower runners/injury prone folk, so being on the cusp of the 'I' word, I didn't want to overdo it.

My quads felt trashed from the get go. Which is bizarre because they were one of the areas not really worked during the massage. They felt like that tightness you get after attacking downhills (improperly in my case) or that tightness that sets in around mile 20 of the marathon. Not mile zero. Ugh. My pace was slow, but I didn't have any pain, so I was thankful.

I hit 9 miles right around 1:39 and decided 18 would be my mileage for the day. But then my hips started getting increasingly tighter. I stopped to stretch them pretty frequently. My left one was being a huge bear. And then my knee started feeling wonky. And then my stomach started getting pissy (I think I was drinking too much water when I was stopping to stretch). I told myself to just walk/run to get it done. Finally at 16.25 miles and just over 3 hours, I realized I was doing my harm then good because my form was so off. So I walked it in.

Two miles.

Ugh. New walk of shame.

I had a LONG time to think about what I'm going to do for Bemidji, and it's safe to say I had every thought from "this is NBD, I'll still destroy 26.2 miles!" to "I should just eat the $70 entry fee and focus on healing up and being ready for Houston in January."

I emailed the race director on Saturday to check the race transfer policy. I can transfer up until the 30th, but the half is full, so I'd have to do the 26k or the 10k. So I'm glad I have some time to figure it out.

I have another massage (insert the emoji with the teeth in a grimace here) scheduled for Monday morning, and I'm hoping he'll be able to give me some stretching suggestions and be able to tell what's realistic for Bemidji. I know a PR race is out of the question, but I would like to still go and complete the marathon, but only if I can do it mostly painfree. A marathon is painful enough without your joints giving you problems!

So TBD on the race I've spent 14 weeks training for. Ugh. Feel free to send me all your healthy vibes and any stretching/rehab exercises you've done for weak hips/tight hip flexors/tight adductors (my current personal diagnosis...we'll see if I'm right I guess!)

Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon Training Recap Week 12

Monday I took a rest and recovery day from a weekend of awesomeness. Sleeping in. Napping. Hydrating like a champ. Pug snuggles. You know, typical.

Tuesday I worked late, so I dug out a new pair of running shoes to hit the road for 11 miles. I wanted to run SO BAD when I was in KC, we passed so many cool running paths, so I was excited to get in a monster mileage week. Only 3 left until taper!

The run felt awesome, but my lower back was really tight toward the end. I was focusing on good running form, so I'm not sure if that was adding additional stress to my back or what. The last two miles  is on sidewalks instead of the trail, so I get stopped at traffic and I had to stretch my back each time.

Tuesday at work, I was in so much pain, I was actually crying out when I'd have to sit down or stand back up. I swear I've had every running injury in the history of the world except for back. WTF.

My back continued to hurt the rest of the week. I ibuprofened, and developed a new love affair with Icy Hot patches. OMG, life savers. The pain went away after Wednesday but I still had a lot of tightness and soreness all the way through Saturday when I went to pick up my race packet.

Since Sunday's half was my 10th consecutive at this race, I did NOT want to have to DNF it, but I was seriously concerned that was my fate. I talked to my co-worker and she said if I had to walk it, she'd walk the rest of the way with me. That's a friend. Hah.

I laid around all Saturday with an Icy Hot patch (FYI the knock off brand is not as effective, nor is it as sticky, spend the extra $ for the better quality, lesson learned) on my back, hydrated, and freaked out via text to any friend that'd listen. Thanks friends.

Sunday I woke up with a teeny bit of soreness, but nothing like I'd had all week. YAY! I still didn't know if running caused it, or if running just made it worse, but I was hopeful about the half!

My garmin died at 3.3 miles, and I still managed to stick close to my race plan of 6ish miles of long run pace, followed by 7 miles of picking it up. I didn't pick it up as much as I thought I did, but I was still really happy with my effort level.

Sioux Falls Half Marathon Training Run?

Well I had this blog drafted up a month or so ago, and after the GoFar Half Marathon debacle/poor performance and conditions I'm rethinking my game plan.

Option A:  Next weekend, I'm running my tenth consecutive Sioux Falls Half Marathon. After having just raced the Fargo half, I won't be racing Sioux Falls, but I would like it to be a solid marathon training run. I rarely sign up to run races instead of racing them, because $$$ I can run 13.1 miles for free. But because I'm trying to run this race the most years consecutively, I need to work it in to my schedule.

So I'm curious, what's your favorite marathon training workout for 13.1 miles?

I know Pfitz has a 13 mile long run with 8 miles at GMP. When I used the RiverRat Half Marathon as a training run this past spring, Jaseface suggested I do 3 miles at long run pace followed by 2 hard miles, until I finish the race. I would like to do a harder effort than that, however, as that was done knowing I was racing a half the following weekend, and wanted to be recovered.

Should I go with the Pfitz workout?

Is there another one you'd recommend for me?












OR

Option B:

On the drive home from Fargo, I was still pretty bummed about my race performance. I randomly looked at the extended forecast for the Sioux Falls half and learned that it was projected to be a low of 43 degrees on race morning.

Oh.

That may change things.

 I could re-attempt my game plan for the GoFar half in Sioux Falls. I have two weeks of peak training after the SF half before I start tapering for Bemidji. Is this racing too close to marathon race day? 5 weeks apart? Obviously Bemidji is my #1 priority, but I know a solid half race would really get my mental game straight and ready to tackle 26.2.

Help.

If the forecast changes at all (skewing towards hot or humid) I will immediately go back to Option A with no question.

Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon Training Recap Week 9

Week 9 was not my best week of training. It's Sunday night and I'm trying to not beat myself up about it as I write out this recap.

Monday I started off with a bang and knocked out 10 miles before work. On a roll!

Tuesday through Sunday I ran zero miles. Ugh. I was struggling with exhaustion and just could not sleep enough hours. It finally dawned on me during the weekend that it seemed similar to the Vitamin D deficiency I'd struggled with before. For some reason I just assumed I was getting enough Vitamin D from the SUN in the SUMMER to not need a vitamin supplement, but I guess I'd be wrong. I took my normal dosage Friday and Saturday and already felt dramatically better on Sunday.

But not good enough for a run, I guess. I had a REALLY RANDOM ache in my right ankle Friday night that reared its head again Sunday morning. Like I said, i haven't ran all week, and it didn't hurt at all on Monday, so it's probably nothing, but super cautious, always injured Jerbear was super cautious so as to not be injured and scrapped the run. UGH.

Sunday I was able to meet my running buddy Jenn for a long leisurely ride to get my heart pumpin' a bit.



Next up is B Goal Race Week, so I hope this week is a bit stronger, mentally and physically!

I had the following set as a separate post, but I think it makes the most sense to include it for this week's recap, as it's what I'm feeling this week and last. I often use this blog as a diary to go back and reflect on training, so it may be helpful to have this included. We'll see.
______________

After my 3k XC race, I was on runner's cloud 9. I performed better than I was expecting and the race and racing atmosphere left me wanting to go out and run all the miles. As races typically do. It also started to give me some of my racing confidence back. That I can fight in a race a bit. That not all my speed is dead. That my training is showing improvement.

And then a few missed runs crop up and I completely lost my mental game.

Whoa.

Ok then.

Jenn was giving me a text message pep talk about my upcoming marathon (I screenshot the whole convo to look back on during moments of need and pre-race when I'm freaking the eff out, as I do) and how she just knew that I was going to run sub 4. And I was like, cool, I don't know that. But I'm glad you do.

But it was just awesome to have that sort of assurance from someone who used to be the same exact g.d. speed as me and then went bonkers and shattered our PRs by like 30 minutes or something ridiculous like that. So yeah, I'll listen to her.

Because the marathon is such a weird beast. You can run, and analyze race predictors, and race and further analyze race predictors, but it's just SO HARD to know what your body is ready to tackle when you toe the line of 26.2. There have been times I was sure I'd finish the race with a 3 at the start of my time, but I never have. 

So right now I'm in the boat where I feel confident that I will run a PR this October. 4:12 will no longer be my best marathon time. Will that time start with a 3? I honestly don't know, and I still have some hard work to put in before I'll join forces with Jenn in believing her. But my god, is it nice to have someone believe in you and your dreams!

Feel free to give me some advice on how you silence your brain when the negative racing doubts creep in.

Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon Training Recap Week 6

I took a rest day Tuesday and started off my runs on Wednesday with a bang. I drove to the bike trail to run my tempo run and was all excited to snap a gorgeous picture of the moon as the sun was starting to rise. But as I got out of my car, there was a girl sleeping in the car next to me, and I was afraid she'd think i was snapping a pic of her. So here's my face instead, again.

I had seven miles on the schedule with five at tempo pace of 8:48. I didn't eat breakfast before this run and didn't bring any fuel along with me, and I really started to feel it the last two tempo miles. I was totally pooped. Hard early morning workouts require snacks, memo received. I still squeaked out an average tempo pace of 8:49.

Thursday was a rest day and Friday was supposed to be my 20 miler, but in looking at the weather for Friday vs. Sunday, it was a no-brainer to move my long run to Sunday. So I headed out for a hilly 8 miles Friday late morning to get in some heat and humidity acclimation with my hilly run.

Saturday was supposed to be an easy 5 mile recovery run to get me to 40 miles, but my knee was feeling slightly wonky after the hills on Saturday, so I opted to rest it up for Sunday's long run. Thankfully all was well for almost 3.5 hours of running on Sunday. Phew. Still wish I would've snagged a 40 mile week though!

I babbled all about Sunday's long run here, so I won't bore you again.

Long Run Euphoria

The scene: My messy living room.
The players: Me with laptop on my lap, Ollie snoozing next to me.
Setting: Sunday afternoon.

I'm currently sitting on the couch, compression socks on my legs to compress, spandex shorts on my booty to cover my inner thigh chafage (ouch, Mac Rogas, you FINALLY betrayed me!), empty Qdoba nacho bowl on the table in front of me, comfy, cozy.

This is what I like to call the runner's high of marathon training, aka long run euphoria. I tend to get a runner's high from long runs, regardless if they're successful or if I rode the struggle bus the whole g.d. time. But today, TODAY, I'm on the best kind of runner's high, the kind where you knocked the long run out of the park, and you're immediately re-amped for your training cycle and goals.

I woke up at 4:20am this morning. A cold front had moved in overnight (praise whomever you praise, yo) so getting up that early wasn't necessary, but Kyle and I both zonked out at 9pm last night, so the early bird catches the worm, and all that jazz. Besides, there's something about running when it's still dark out, that makes the miles seem like they're effortless. Like, you hit 6 miles in the dark and you feel like you're JUST starting or something.

Well, that didn't happen this morning.

I was supposed to do a 5 mile recovery run yesterday. I did 8 miles of hills on Friday, and I could not get out of bed Saturday morning to run before work. I also had the TEENSIEST amount of IT band discomfort after my hilly run, so I opted to take it easy and rest in preparation for my 20 miler.

I certainly felt those 8 miles of hills. For the first three miles of my long run. I was hitting 11:00 minute paces, and felt like I was running 10:00 minute paces. :/ Woof. I decided I'd ignore my pace and just run for time on my feet, as is the purpose for 20 mile runs. I could tell my form was off, so I decided to include 3 minute pickups every 20 minutes as I did during last week's 18 miler. They tend to get my form on the right track and activate my glutes.

After the first 3 minutes I could tell a world of difference in my form, and my effort was much less laborious, and I was picking up speed. Neat.

I was out of GUs last week so I placed a quick order through amazon for some more, and also threw in a bottle of salt pills. It was probably pretty dumb of me to try something new like that on a 20 miler, because I could crash and burn, but I did it anyway. I GU'd every 45 minutes, and took a salt pill every 60 minutes. AND I FELT AMAZING.

I normally get really nauseous toward the end of my long runs, and stay in that state for hours (or a full day) after. It's miserable. I felt so strong at the end of the run, that I deliriously almost contemplated running another 6.2 miles just to do a marathon fun run. And then I realized that would be stupid, but STILL. That's how magical I felt.

So maybe the excessive salt loss from sweat was a huge part of my stomach issues in past runs. Time will tell I guess, but I feel pretty darn good about marathon training with another eleven weeks to go.


First four miles 43:09
Second four miles 42:01
Third four miles 41:42
Fourth four miles 41:21
Fifth four miles 41:11

Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon Training Recap Week 5

My legs felt pretty crappy after my long run last Sunday, so I didn't get in another run until Wednesday morning. I think a combination of way too hot had a major effect on my muscles recovery as well as, my form still starts to suck majorly when I'm dying. So week 5's schedule ran Tuesday-Monday. 

Tuesday was another rest day, and Wednesday it was some miles before the sun. I met Jenn at the track for mile repeats. Unfortunately my stomach was really wonky, so I had to jet to the nearest gas station bathroom after our mile warm up and missed out on repeat number one. No biggie, Jenn had to leave for work earlier than I did, so surely I could get it done after she left! Except that the high school football players showed up for conditioning as I was doing repeat number three. 

My plan was to keep the first two slightly above 8 and the last two slightly below. I haven't run more than 3 repeats in forever, so I wanted to make sure I had enough gas for all four of them. Halfway through the third repeat, I realized my time on the track was coming to an end, so I pushed it harder to make up for knocking off one of the repeats. Hence the much faster, un-consistent final repeat. 8:09, 8:09, 7:49. 

I actually felt GREAT after the final one and felt like I could've knocked out another at that same pace if time had allowed. I guess we'll find out next time this workout shows up on my schedule!

The sunrise over the track was so pretty but my iPhone just couldn't do it justice.

And hot air balloons launched midway through my second repeat. I honestly considered stopping to take a picture because the balloons were RIGHT.THERE. but alas,  I was a good runner and kept going. So they were waaaaay up in the air four minutes later. Womp. Still a cool pic.

Thursday was a rest day, and Friday was six recovery miles under a hazy foggy sunrise. I took it really easy because I had 18 on the schedule the next day and since I started my workouts so late in the week, I had to run a bit farther the day before a long run than I like to do. I usually do 3-5 max.

Saturday I was up long before the sun. No more death by heat for this girl! I was up at 5, but (TMI alert) I was having major stomach issues, so I didn't get out the door until after seven. The stomach issues plagued me for the first half of the run. It was really humid, but much cooler, so I didn't drink much from my handheld until I took my first GU at 4.5 miles. I'm wondering if I was dehydrated already from my early morning stomach problems, and that made it worse? It wasn't fun.

I did 3 minute pickups every 20 minutes, and that really helped pass the time. Much nicer to focus on the next set of pickups vs. the next GU. I also knew I'd get to run into Jenn somewhere near my turn around, so I kept plodding along, shocked at how good my legs and energy levels felt.

I saw Jenn at 8.6 so we chatted for a minute before we took off in our own directions. I took a break from the pickups around this point because I GU'd and my stomach wasn't happy. I took in more straight water from a fountain and gave my Osmo nutrition a break, and my stomach started to cheer up. And my pace started to pick up. It was magical. 

I passed a dude around mile 13.5 and we ended up chatting for a couple of miles again. Unfortunately talking and speeding up while talking lead to more stomach wonkiness, so my finish wasn't as strong as I'd hoped, because I was trying to get my HR to come down.

But looking at my splits after in 6 mile increments, I'm pretty darned pleased. Consistency has NOT been my middle name so far with long runs, as I tend to be D-E-A-D from the heat/humidity and I tend to have major fueling issues, so the end of my runs suffer immensely for it. Not Saturday!

1:03:08 first six miles 1:02:39 second six miles 1:02:20 third six miles Sunday Kyle and I had a super lazy day. By the time I thought about doing my recovery run, it was so steamy out, I immediately threw that idea out.  Monday I got out before the heat advisory was in effect to get in 6 hilly recovery miles. Woof, so humid.

35.5 miles for the week!

Seen on My Long Run

This past weekend I tackled 18 miles as part of my training for the Bemidji Marathon. 18 milers are historically terrible for Jerbear, so I tried to do everything right in the 48 hours leading up to the run. Hydrating, compression socking, eating. I did the run solo, but I had some random interactions over the three hours I wanted to share.

• I saw a muskrat! At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was. It looked like a small beaver without the beaver tail. I wanted to investigate but didn't want to be attacked.

• Senator John Thune! I used to see him out running pretty frequently but haven't seen him in at least 2-3 years.
• A mama and teeny tiny baby deer. I once went to a wildlife park where you could walk and pet the deer, but not the baby deer. These baby deer were even tinier than those deer. So cute. So much squeeeee.
• A girl texting and running. I think I'd accidentally run into the river.
• Another deer.

And then while I was passing a dude around mile 13, I told him good morning, and we ended up running together for a few miles chatting away. I felt like I was going to die toward the end of our time together, and after looking through my splits during that mile, I see why. We were cruising at 10 minute pace and chatting away. Woof.

Marathon Training Starts Today!

Today is day one of my seventh cycle of MARATHON TRAINING! After a lot of reading and analyzing training programs, I decided to go with the same type of training program that I did for my first race in Green Bay (and still my PR). It's 17 weeks long. I normally prefer 14-16 weeks when I'm in good shape, but I have a few races planned in there and don't want to short myself on long slow distance runs.

I'm racing a 10k on the fourth of July (unless it's 1200 degrees, I learned my lesson on this race a few years ago), a half marathon in August (in which PR thoughts are already a-dancin' in my head), and the Sioux Falls half (my 10th consecutive time running!) in which I'll be running six at GMP.

I'll be running 4x/week for the first 10 weeks, and then 5x/week for the remainder of the cycle. I think this will help me stay consistent with my running, as I'll usually have a rest day after major workouts. During the past few Pfitz cycles, I would be so sore, I'd scrap a run to lower my risk of injury. Long run, tempo or speed session, and two 6-10 mile general aerobic paced runs.

Since I'm only running 4 days a week, I also want to try to throw in a 20-30 mile bike ride a week, weather permitting. I think this'll help with my strength and fitness without taxing my joints too majorly.  Fingers crossed I'll be able to keep getting myself out of bed to run before work, because it looks like it'll be a hot summer of training.

See you in 17 weeks Bemidji!