Dallas Training Week 1

Monday Planned: GA+Speed 6 miles with 2 sets 4x150 strides
Monday Actual: Sick day from work. All the rest. Great way to kick off a new training cycle! Ha. 

Tuesday Planned: Rest
Tuesday Actual: Rest + core work.

Wednesday Planned:  GA 4 miles
Wednesday Actual: 4 recovery miles. Since I had been sick, I wanted to take this run easy. Plus Kristin was supposed to have 3 easy miles and I convinced her to do 4, so I made sure we kept them extra easy.

Thursday Planned:  GA 6 miles
Thursday Actual: 1 hour POWER a.m. 6 Recovery Miles p.m. My legs felt so heavy for this run. I attempted to push the pace the first couple of miles to shake out the legs and then it became apparent they weren't going to shake out. I opted to slow way down to just enjoy the run.

Friday Planned: Recovery 4 miles with 4x100 strides
Friday Actual: Coffee run 4 miles with 4x100 strides. I had Kristin's company for the first 3 miles and had to tackle the remainder solo. Boring.

Saturday Planned: Long run 12 miles
Saturday Actual: Long run 12 miles. This was not a fun run. Well, I should take that back, the first 4 miles with Chris and Melissa were a lot of fun. They had raced the 10k, so we kept the pace pretty comfy for the most part, and I assumed my crazy high heart rate was just because I was talking so much. The last 8 suckkkked. My heart rate was through the roof and I was running 10:45-11 pace to keep it at the TOP of my long run heart rate zone. To give some context, this summer, in the crazy heat and humidity, my HR would average about 15 bpm less at a faster pace. Clearly my body is still fighting off whatever crap I had earlier this week. Barf.

Sunday Planned: Rest
Sunday Actual: Rest. I had planned to make up Monday's miles on Sunday, but after Sunday's run, and a really high resting heart rate made me opt for the original planned rest day. Lots of hydration and rest to try to feel 100% again.

Total Mileage Planned: 32 miles
Total Mileage Actual: 26.3 miles.

Weekly Reads: Dry

Dry is the newest book by amazing ya author Neal Shusterman and his son Jarrod Shusterman. I was so excited to read this book and it really freaked me out how easily this could be a reality in my lifetime. I may or may not be stock piling my basement henceforth to prepare for the end of the world. I also drank more water while reading this book than I did when I was averaging 50+ miles per week during marathon training. Gulp.

Must read!

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.

Until the taps run dry.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbours and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

I am a Running Coach!

I am so excited to become the newest running coach at 605 Running Co. It's no secret that I love studying the sport of endurance running and using myself and my running buddies as guinea pigs as I try out different theories and philosophies of training. After some persistent, gentle nudging from some friends, I finally made the big ask to my friends at 605 to see if they needed some help with coaching. 

I can't wait to help some runners hit their goals, no matter how big or small. I've really enjoyed helping my BRF Toni hit some major PRs over the last couple of years, and without her nearby to obsess over her training, I certainly have some extra free time to obsess over others. I'll be taking my RRCA certification in the near future, and can't wait to learn anything and everything about coaching, especially as it challenges or confirms my current thoughts and coaching philosophies.

If you're interested in being coached by me, I'm taking on a few athletes to start. More information about coaching can be found here.

***Also, just to clarify, I haven't left my job at the library to pursue coaching. I guess a lot of people thought that was the case. No worries, I'm still shilling people free books all day e'ery day!

Twin Cities Marathon Recovery

The week after Twin Cities, I rested a lot! I foam rolled 2x a day, every day until Thursday when I was down to just once. I did POWER on Thursday and had every intention of joining the coffee run for my first recovery run but I smoked my knee on a chair on Thursday and there was some swelling and discomfort Friday morning when I woke up. Oops. I did get in a super easy 2 mile on Saturday and continued to rest on Sunday! #rest

Monday: 5 Mile Monday with Chris! I had hoped for 4-5 and after the first ten steps my legs felt really good, so 5 it was.

Tuesday: Rest day.

Wednesday: 605 Group Recovery Run. It was so gorgeous out so we went a little further than originally planned.

Thursday: Rest.

Friday: Coffee run! 4.1 recovery miles with Kristin.



Saturday: I was supposed to do a longer run, but I woke up before yoga and just felt like I needed to SLEEP so I went back to bed and bailed on my running buddy. I felt cruddy the rest of the weekend, so no run for me.

Sunday: More rest.

Weekly Reads: What If It's Us

I have been counting down the days for the release of What If It's Us. I love anything that Adam Silvera writes, and I couldn't want to get my hands on the one. The meet cute story was the most adorable thing ever. I loved that the story depicting their relationship wasn't picture perfect. It seemed real and honest and hard. I'd definitely recommend this book!

My rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.

Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.

But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?

Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.

Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?

What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?

What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?

But what if it is?

bRUNch Club

A few months ago, a group of running friends were all planning our first 20 miler of marathon training. I was pretty bummed that I wasn't doing this 20 miler with my BRF Toni, so to mark the milestone in a different way, I suggested we all go out for brunch after the run. A few other long run gals with shorter runs met up as well.

And thus bRUNch club was formed. We ate, we drank, we stalked our running friend Brittany's marathon finish from the morning and cheers'd to her PR.

It was thus determined that bRUNch club would meet monthly after a long run. The next meeting was after Melissa and my last 20 miler. It was a brunch club of two, but equally as delicious. We got the gang together yet again the day after the Twin Cities Marathon. Stay tuned for matching shirts, because what's a club without shirts? NOTHING.

Marathon Reflections

Leading up to race day, I was freaked out that I wasn't freaking out. I actually texted Toni that I was nervous about my lack of nerves. I sat and thought about it and realized that I was so at peace with the race weekend because I knew I had nailed my training. Almost 100% of the miles planned had been run. The recovery, foam rolling, massages, yoga, myofascial release, strength training, extra sleep--it was all there. I had made it through an incredible strong, intense marathon training cycle 100% healthy and ready to run. One thought kept repeating through my mind:

Whatever happens on race day, you are as prepared as you can be.

So many of my marathons I've gotten injured during, had to take time off, didn't have the time necessary to train, didn't have the base mileage necessary to do a marathon build, etc. etc. etc. It was impossible to show up on race day without a full blown panic attack NOT brewing.

Despite having a calm peace of mind and a ready to rock attitude, the stomach issues were not something I planned for. Well, let me be more specific. I am a runner who has a very sensitive stomach, and I spent a lot of time throughout the training cycle trying to dial in what I could eat the night before a long run, how early I had to get up to eat my breakfast, and practicing a fueling plan to best execute on race day.

I would wake up at least 2 hours before our long run to fuel to allow my stomach time to get ready to run. I hydrated like crazy the Friday before long runs. I discovered that beer makes my stomach angry (womp womp) and cut back on the delicious ones until post-long run. I figured out the GU strategy that works best with my stomach, and I figured out an electrolyte plan with Nuun throughout the hot and sweltering long runs.

Despite all of this planning, I wasn't surprised I had a stomach issue on race day. I had pizza for dinner the night before, as I typically do, and I hadn't even finished my meal before I was racing to the bathroom with a very upset stomach. I was up before my alarm with a very angry stomach. And not my normal nervous race/long run stomach, but a "I ate something I really shouldn't have" stomach. I hydrated like crazy to try to compensate for any fluid loss and hoped for the best. I used the porta potties 4 more times before the race started and drank even more water.

I started the race with a full bladder and quickly had to use a bathroom for a potty break. I had factored in maybe a 2 minute pit stop for a cranky tummy, as most of my LRs had included one bathroom break, and then my stomach would be perfect for the rest of the run. I honestly practiced "going" as quickly as I could during training so on race day I could be in and out and ready to go.

What I wasn't prepared for was the weird cramping that occurred. Was it from dehydration because of my stomach issues all morning? I drank a lot of water that morning, so that would be surprising. It was a really humid morning, and I did miss one water station. After that missed water station, I took a cup of water and gatorade at the next one. Was it the gatorade? I don't know.

I do know that I could not run one second faster per mile during the periods of cramping I was experience. I would have a little reprieve for part of a mile as the cramp would shift downward, and honestly I wish it would've just sent me straight to the bathroom instead of taking its slow ass time. By my estimation, I dealt with it for at least 10 miles of the race. Once I hit the bathroom in mile 18 I felt like a new woman and like someone shot me out of a cannon! I can't imagine how hard the hills at mile 20-23 would've been if I still had that stomach cramp. Uff da. I can tell you my time would've been significantly slower.

I am incredibly proud to have a "bad day" and run a 4:19. I've had "bad days" on marathon morning before and those races have been 5+ hours long. Going in to the race, I had every intention of walking away with a shiny new PR and was so excited to see by how much. I felt like a sub 4:10 was doable even if my legs didn't feel great right out of the gates. I really thought I'd land in the 4:02-4:05 range. So by comparison, yeah a 4:19 is a bummer, but I can't be upset with how well I dealt with the day I was given, mentally. Back when I was speedier, I was physically prepared to run "fast" (fast of course being a relative term, fast for me!) but I never had the mental strength to really put all the pieces together on race day. Keeping my brain about me is such a win, that I can't wait to see what happens when my body and mind are on the same page.