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.
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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.

Hardest. Workout. Ever. + 2-a-day(ish)

Wow I really left you guys in suspense, didn't I? Did she or didn't she do a two-a-day??? She didn't. :) By the time we had made dinner, I realized it was unrealistic to think that I would get a run in without feeling like revisiting my shish-ca-bobs (sp?) on the side of the road, so I put the kibosh on that idea.

After getting zero sleep (or so it felt) Tuesday night, I nixed my early run. EEK! I don't think that's happened since becoming a "morning runner." Go figure, once I decided to go back to sleep, I couldn't. Just my body further reminding me not to try to adjust its running schedule. Luckily I had time to do the run after work, and the weather was cooperating. Sort of. It was in the low 60s and on and off raining/misting.

I had 6 miles to do: 1 mile warm up. 3 x 1600 m @ 7:42 pace (YIKES!) with 800 m jogs in between. 1 mile cool down. The plan had actually called for an 800 m. job after the warm up and before the cool down, but that seemed a bit excessive. I typically don't need a "recovery" job after my warm up. :p Of course I added a mile to my easy run on Thursday so I wouldn't lose any mileage for my week. Go figure.

Going in to this run, I knew it was going to be tough. The 1600 pace was slightly faster than my 5k pace of my PR (24:02/24:04 depending on who you believe, haha) so I knew I was going to have to haul my booty to make my time.

Mile 1: I took the warm up mile nice and easy at a 9:31 pace. I quickly stretched out everything that needed to be stretched, and then got ready for pain.
Mile 2: 7:40. Weird. I feel like I could throw up after that. That was not fun. At. All.
Jog 1/2 mile: 4:54 (9:45 pace). Funny it's VERY easy to slow down your pace when you're dreading to get to the end of the 1/2 mile jog.
Mile 3: 7:45. I had some slight ab pain, but just kind of a dull, "hey, remember me? I'm still here...watch it...." sort of reminder. Thankfully.
Jog 1/2 mile #2: 4:42 (9:42 pace).
Mile 4: 7:36. I have never wanted to quit a run more in my life. Honestly. I was in pain. No pain that shouldn't be there, just pain at running at this pace for the 3rd mile. I had to talk myself out of not stopping for at least the last 1/2 mile of this, and am uber proud that I didn't. I honestly didn't think the pace would be this quick either. I thought I had slowed down to 7:50-8:00 because of how heavy my legs felt. As soon as this mile was done, I stopped and dry heaved for a good 3-5 minutes. Starting to become NOT A FAN of the post-run almost puke session. :(
Mile 5: 9:27. Cool down. Glorious, glorious cool down. You know what I love most about a cool down? It signals the END of the hardest workout ever.

That's a 7:41 pace for the 3 hard miles. WHOO!

Maybe I'm just a baby, but that's the hardest I've ever pushed myself, which is surprising. I was very competition while competing in sports in high school, and truly thought I was pushing myself to be better and faster than my teammates, a lot of times running with the boys because I was the fastest girl. But I don't ever remember feeling that "all out" mentality during a tough/hard workout. Oh well, it's nice to know that I have an extra gear there somewhere, it just takes some almost puking to get to it. :)

The best part of the run is that it was rainy, especially during the last 1/2 when I really needed to feel cooled down. On top of how much I sweat and how rainy it was, I was a sight to see when I got home. Taylor got to my place shortly before I was getting ready to shower. When I went into the bathroom to turn the shower on, he was confused, "Didn't you already shower?" Then it hit him, "Eeew, you're just the sweaty? Gross. Go shower." :D He loves his little sweat bug. Don't worry. :p
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This morning I was up and at em for an unofficial 2-a-day. Since it was less than 12 hours, I kind of count it as such, but I won't be offended if you don't. :) I just really need to prepare the ol' legs for running that close together for the Wild West Relay that is in one week! Whoa.

This run sucked. Bleck. I think my legs and stomach were still tired from the previous ass kicking run. It honestly felt like I had JUST stopped running those 6 hard miles and decided to tack on another 5 to the end. My legs felt heavy. My stomach felt jostled and borderline nauseous. I had to stop quite a few times because I was slightly lightheaded and dizzy. All in all, sucky run. I did make it home in one piece. YAY. :)

5 miles in 46:25 for a pace of 9:17.
1. 9:17
2. 9:17
3. 9:28
4. 9:24
5. 8:58

Pretty fast splits for a recovery run, but I honestly felt like I was running 10:30 mm. Seemed like I was just plodding along.

I kind of feel like I'm getting a little burnt out from running so much. EEK. I've dreaded my last 3 runs so far. I'm SUPER excited for the Wild West Relay next week, but unfortunately it fell during what should've been my "cut back" week on my 1/2 training program. Instead of doing 24 miles, I'll be at 31 still. I think I just need to remember to try to put a race every 4-6 weeks into my training programs, because it keeps the training runs from being to monotonous, and gives me something to look forward to in the short term. Someone please remind me of this comment when I'm making my 1/2 training for Dallas in December. Thanks!