Carmel Week 9: Half Way There

Half Way There

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Realizing that I'm at the halfway point in my training brought about some sense of panic. The question I posed to my friends and coach was "How do I know how to gauge my ability to meet my goal if I'm running by feel without pace requirements?"


Although I'm enjoying my current program, it has forced me to change the way I think. For every run this session, I have taken the pace out of my view on my watch and have only looked at my overall time and mileage to know when to stop or turn around. I can honestly say that part hasn't been hard. I mean, who cares how fast I'm running easy miles? It's the speed work that has me wondering what the heck is going on.


The only speed workouts that have specified a certain pace, are my track workouts. The others feature words such as "steady," "challenging," "fast," "faster," and "fastest." Unfortunately, I've had to do most of these workouts on the treadmill because of the weather. In my mind, I've had to associate these terms with actual paces. If those paces end up feeling too hard or easy, I would adjust from there. Even with seeing my paces on the treadmill, I have no idea how to compare this to my ability to obtain my BQ goal.


Can you sense my freak out via my rambling right now?! I am trying to "trust the process," but we all doubt ourselves at some point. Here's what I do know:
-I'm still in love with running.
-I'm still super excited about running my next marathon.
-I'm absolutely going to be nervous on race day.
-I'm going to continue to stay dedicated to my training until I meet my goal.




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• 1/22: 8 miles, 8:55/mile; Bis/Tris, 40 minutes. Hill Surge Monday. Sarah and I had grand plans to conquer the Academy Park Trail hill. Although the roads were clear of snow and ice, the hill...not so much. We ran the scary cherry route to the top of the hill. When we entered onto the trail, we saw the snow, but attempted to go down to see if it was just slush. We immediately started slipping and decided it wasn't the safest thing to do. UGH. So annoying. I couldn't get this off my mind all day. I decided to go to the Y after work to run only enough to get in my surges. I just put the incline to 6.0 and ran my 10 surges.
  

  

  The shirt from my very first marathon! I found it while packing for our move.

• 1/23: 9.42 miles, 7:58/mile. Oh my. I titled today's workout the "4th Interval Struggle Bus." Workout: 10 minute warm up, [8 minutes challenging/3 minutes steady]x5, 10 minute cool down. I've done this workout twice before, but with just 4 intervals. Coach stepped it up a bit by adding the extra interval. Holy crap on a cracker. It made a huge difference and really challenged me. Normally, when I reach interval four, I can look forward to the cool down. This time, I had to worry about doing it all over again! This really got to my head. As I approached the fourth interval, I was getting belly cramps. I started feeling lightheaded and nauseous. What the heck?! I decided to slow down just a tad for this interval. Although it was a HUGE struggle, I somehow survived. I managed to feel better for the last interval, but ended the workout very excited that it was over. I went to a mat at the gym and just laid there for 10 minutes! LOL.
• 1/24: 10.02 miles, 9:02/mile; Shoulders/Stability workout, 45 minutes. The program said 60-90 minutes of easy running. Sarah wanted the longer run, so I planned two 5 mile routes so that Elizabeth and Britt could join us. Although I could tell my legs did speed work the day before, I actually felt decent and never wanted to stop running. The wind was a little cray cray at the start, but I didn't seem to notice it as we started running. I ended the run feeling pretty good about getting the miles. I'm racking em up so far this week!
  

  

  The Gahanna Wednesday morning crew. [Sarah, Elizabeth, ME, Britt]

   
• 1/25: 9.2 cycling miles, 45 minutes. I was debating what to do today for my cross training. I was super sore from my upper body workouts this week, but I wanted to give my legs a break. I just decided to hop on the bike for a REALLY easy spin. I was in a rock mood so listened to the entire Make Yourself album by Incubus. One of my favorites!
• 1/26: 6.21 miles, 8:21/mile. This was the run of rarities...10:30 a.m. on a Friday, 40+ degrees, sun, and Marion. All good stuff. I met Marion in Powell for the first part of her long run. I was slightly jealous as it was a great day for a long run! I just had too much adulting to accomplish before picking up the kiddos.
  

  

  So much glorious sun. [ME, Marion]

• 1/27: 20 miles, 8:54/mile. My first 20 miler of the season! We had a solid group of ladies today. We ran an 11 mile loop with Sarah for her half training, and the rest of us finished up with the forever dragging 9 mile loop. I'm pretty sure I looked at the distance a total of 20 times in the last segment. I did feel better than the previous two weeks, but I was SO tight the last half of the run. I forgot to bring my salt tabs, but did have a total of three gels throughout the run. When we were two miles from finishing, I was ready to get it done. I sped up a bit and actually finished in MP range.
  

  

  This was only part of the 20 mile crew! [ME, Heather, Amanda, Tamara, Katie]

• 1/28: 4 miles, 15:46/mile. Meg wouldn't let me throw her a baby sprinkle because she is way too humble. Therefore, I had to force it upon her. LOL! A large group of running friends got together to show her some love. Some walked, some ran. We brought diapers, wipes, gift cards, and ate/drank at Panera. So much love to show our Megan!
  

  

  Part of the party crowd.

  
  

  

  Sophie had some frosty ears!

  
  

  

  Bagels, eggs, and coffee, OH MY!

  
  

  

  We took over the party room.
  
  
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  I was slightly bummed that I felt so tight during my long run Saturday. I was sure I would feel like crud the rest of the day and sore the next morning. I was SO wrong. After going home, eating, and finishing my workout (leg exercises), none of my joints were sore or aching! I woke up the next morning with my legs feeling good! It definitely game me a mental boost after my mid week freak out.

Carmel Week 8: Unstoppable to Unsure

Unstoppable to Unsure

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James' buddy had a Mario Brothers/Poop Emoji birthday party.

After a rough week last week, I entered this week feeling a little more fresh. The snow wouldn't stop, so I got a lot of use out of my new YakTrax. The poor road conditions and cold temps also forced me to slow down the pace. It was probably the best thing for my legs this week. The YakTrax gave me fearlessness that allowed me to glide over the poor road conditions without feeling like I was going to fall on my butt. After a couple of easy snow runs, my legs killed my speed workout. I came out of it feeling great and wishing I had run faster. After two more easy runs, I had to conquer another long run. It wasn't that great and left me questioning my ability to meet my goal.

Silly fun.

• 1/15: 6.28 miles, 9:35/mile; Shoulder workout, 30 minutes. This was an interesting run. So much freaking snow on the ground. Sarah and I could only hope we'd make it out alive. I used my yak trax for the second time. Boy do those things work! Since it was hill surge day, I was a little nervous about doing them with the weather conditions. We found a hill at the end of a road that was fairly clear and decent enough to get the job done. Despite the difficulty running through the snow, this was actually a pleasant run.
  

  

  A bit frosty.

• 1/16: 8.52 miles, 8:13/mile. Workout: 10 minute warm up, 20 minutes steady, 15 minutes faster, 10 minutes faster, 5 minutes fastest, 10 minute cool down. This is the same workout I had three weeks ago. My goal was to attempt to run it just a tad faster than the first time. I ran it on the treadmill last time as well. That made it easy to determine my pace goals. The entire run felt to smooth! I couldn't believe it. When I finished, I almost wished I had pushed it a little more. Either way, I'm very happy with how I did.
  

  

  

  Practicing towards my goal of doing a handstand this year.

• 1/17: 9.5 miles, 9:23/mile; Chest/Back workout, 30 minutes. What a chaotic day! My planned group run was cancelled due to the pre-wind chill temps predicted to be in the negatives. It was actually 9 degrees which is totally doable. UGH. I decided I would just hit up the treadmill after work to get my 60-85 minutes. We are currently house hunting and have been heart broken 4 times already due to homes already being in contract. We FINALLY got a call to actually look at a house! I could not pass up the opportunity. Therefore, I had to cancel my running plans AGAIN. After drama and chaos I could have done without, Sarah told me she could join me for some post-work miles! No treadmill AND a partner...yes please! I completely failed to wear my night gear. It didn't cross my mind that the sun was setting and that we'd be ending our run in the dark. Our neighborhoods are still full of snow which made the run a little more difficult. We got the miles and felt like rock stars when we finished.
  

  

  YakTrax are amazing!

• 1/18: Yoga, 1 hour. After killing myself during the yoga workout last week, I opted for something a little more low key. I did a 10 minute core yoga workout followed by 35 minutes of restorative yoga. I then practiced some arm balances and inversions for another 15 minutes.
  

  

  Improving my wheel pose.

• 1/19: 6.04 miles, 9:06/mile. Easy miles with strides...although, my strides were more like "move your legs the best you can in this freaking cold weather." I didn't have any work, so I was able to meet Britt just after Jimmy left with the kids. We did the first 4 miles together before we split off so she could get some faster ones. I'm so happy to be finished with coffee in hand!
  

  

  Post run coffee in a mug is my favorite.

• 1/20: 18 miles, 9:18/mile. Meh. It was better than last week, but still not as great as I typically feel on my long runs. Slightly discouraging. I'm not sure if it's the weather or something else. Oh well. I met my lady, Lisa B, for the first 8.5 miles. I then joined CRC for their group run in Westerville. The group run was on the Alum Creek Trail which was still pretty messed up from the snow. There were some clear areas, but a lot of slick spots as well. I didn't wear my yak trax today thinking I wouldn't need them. I was supposed to run my last three miles faster with my personal goal being my marathon pace. The first was 8:17, but I kept slipping and sliding on the ice. The snow also made it tough to keep pace. I decided it wasn't worth a fall and slowed down for the last two. I still ran them under 9 minutes, but not even close to race pace.
  

  

  Also improving my eight angle pose.

• 1/21: 3.38 miles, 18:07/mile. After skipping my walk last weekend for a rest day, I was finally able to connect with Meg again. We met in New Albany for an hour stroll. The weather was finally appropriate enough for Sophie to join us.
  

  

  Completely pooped after her walk.

  
  

  

  Send up a prayer that this girl has her baby before February 17th! [ME, Meg]

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As the week ended, I just kept thinking about how happy I was that I still have 10 weeks to train for this race. For whatever reason, I'm not feeling super confident about achieving my goal. I think I'm getting the winter blues.

Our home starting February 27th.



Carmel Week 7: From Tired to Dead Tired

From Tired to Dead Tired

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A yoga first! Side crow pose.

Last week's weather postponed my long run to Sunday. Because that run included some snow, I was more sore than I'm used to dealing with after a long run. I hopped into this week not feeling as rested as usual. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was whooped! It took a lot of mental power to get through my Wednesday run knowing that I'd get a running rest day on Thursday. I just needed to pick a cross training activity that didn't tire out my legs! FAIL. Even though my yoga workout focused more on core and upper body, you can't really avoid working your legs. I felt like complete crap during my long run. Just a tough week overall.

• 1/8: 6 miles, 9:07/mile. Hill surge day. I forget the situation outside, but I don't run on the treadmill for fun, so it must have been stupid out there. I set the treadmill to a stupid easy pace for most of this run. I WAS TIRED! When I got to the last 10 minutes of my run, I incorporated my 10 hill surges by increasing the incline. I left this run wondering how I'd survive speed the next day. 
• 1/9: 8.91 miles, 8:10/mile. Icy roads and track took me to the mill again. I don't mind risking it for an easy run, but not when speed is on the plan. One of these days, I'll be able to do my track workout on an actual track. Workout: 10 min up, 9x800m w/400m recovery, 10 min down. I was instructed to run the 800s in 3:38. The closest treadmill setting was a 7:13/mile pace, so I went with that. It wasn't as horrible as anticipated considering how I felt the day before. I was still tired going into it, but I tolerated the workout well.
  

  

  Post run smoothie, y'all.

• 1/10: 8 miles, 9:17/mile; Bis/Tris, 30 minutes. Jesus take the wheel...or my running legs. I was so freaking tired when I woke up. Not as much sleepy as fatigued. I knew it would take all the mental power I had to will myself through 70 minutes of running. I'm glad I had some buddies to help me through it. I was motivated by the increased temps. Although, dressing for today confused me since I've gotten used to triple layers! Today called for all easy miles...thank goodness. There was only one section that was slightly slick, and our only near death experience was at the beginning. It involved a coon....CREEPY!!!
  

  

  A not as cold morning.

• 1/11: Core Yoga Video, 50 minutes. Cross training day. I wanted to give my poor legs a break after putting in a lot of miles the past four days. I opted for a yoga workout that focused more on upper extremity and core. Gosh it had me sweating!
  

  

  This was a pretty tough pose to hold!

• 1/12: 18 miles, 9:16/mile. About that long run (insert all the eye rolls). I told my pals that it felt like mile 22 of a marathon...but for 18 miles. Here's the situation. Columbus was supposed to get the crazy ice/snow storm Friday night, and the temps were drastically going to drop from the mid/high 50s to the 20s. WTF. Because of this, I decided it would be a good idea to get my long run out of the way. It was 57 degrees when I woke up! Shorts weather, baby!! I met Sarah at 5:30 a.m., and we set off for 6 miles before coming back for Brittaney. I was unusually tired when we started. I figured it was all in my head because Coach wanted me to try a carb depleted run. I was so freaking hungry. I tried to forget about how I felt assuming I was being mental. I think the humidity was a factor also. I quickly stripped to my sports bra because I was dripping in sweat. After the first 6 miles, I knew this wasn't going to be a good situation. I was toast already! How in the heck was I going to finish 12 more miles?! I felt so famished that I took a gel when we dropped her off after 10 miles. I was hoping it would help me in some form or fashion. IT. DID. NOTHING. O.K...8 more miles. I can do this. Up to this point the predicted rain held off. There were spotty drops here and there, but nothing significant. When Britt and I sat off for the rest, I got to the point that I had to stop for a few seconds. I just couldn't will myself to keep going. I ended up telling Brittaney to go ahead of me. I knew that I felt worse holding her back. She was kind enough to oblige to my request. At this point, I had run about 13 miles. My goal for the rest of the run was to turn my watch off of the pace setting so that I wasn't tempted to look, and then take the run one mile at a time. If I could make it through a mile, I gave myself permission to stop a few seconds and stretch. My freaking hips were so tight. It felt so good to give them a little stretch. I spent the next 4 miles trying my best to enjoy the misty sports bra run. As I approached 17 miles, I thought I might actually pass out. I prayed like never before that something would change. Seconds later, the sky opened, the rain started pouring down, and the wind was out of control. It felt like the temperature dropped in a matter of a minute. I stopped to put my t-shirt back on and made my way to my van. Normally I wouldn't like this change in the weather, but the rain and wind made it cold enough that my body went numb and I couldn't feel my pain! LOL. My last mile was 30+ seconds faster than the previous solo miles because I just wanted to be done. I went home, showered, made breakfast, and spent the next two hours drinking coffee, stretching, and relaxing. UGH. So glad that's over.
  

  

  Look how much I slowed down after 13!

• 1/13: Stability and chest workout, 30 minutes. Because my legs felt like crap yesterday, I saved my stability exercises for today. I added some chest exercises after finishing those. It made for a nice gym date with the hubs.
• 1/14: 6.3 miles, 9:41/mile. When I saw the weather forecast for today, I knew the right person to call. Katie mentioned to me recently that she loves a cold, sunny run. We planned a post-church run party with a special appearance by Noemi. I used the snow covered roads as an opportunity to try out my new yak trax.
  

  

  Post run selfie with my lady love.

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Side note: I don't want you guys to think I've been slacking on my strengthening. Zach incorporates a lot of leg and core training into my workouts. I just don't bore you with the details! Fortunately, it allows for me to focus more on upper extremity strengthening when I have a chance to lift...which is hopefully helping with my yoga!

Carmel Week 6: A Change in Mindset

A Change in Mindset

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Roop LOVES playing with Parker at Ms. Jane's.

Let's see if I can adequately articulate what has been in my head this week...

I've heard people say, "Think of your race as the reward for all of the hard work you've put in." I wanted to take that a step further and relate it to each week of training. Instead of getting nervous about my speed workouts, I want to look at them as my opportunity each week to get the crazy out and allow my mind and body to stay focused on the task. They are my reward for be disciplined with my easy runs!

I spent some one on one Starbucks time with my boy.

Update on my back: I think I mentioned that I hurt my upper back last week after trying to increase my resistance and doing too much work/lifting around the house. It was bothering me just a bit the first half of the week, so I avoided yoga and lifting arms just to be safe. I attempted a yoga workout on my cross training day and had no issues!

• 1/1: 6.2 miles, 8:54/mile. Hill surge Monday (10x10 seconds). More craptastic weather prompted me to hit up the gym for my workout. I wasn't really sure which incline to set the treadmill to for my hill surges, so I had to do a little testing on the first two. I ended up deciding on 6.0 incline with my pace ranging 7:14 to 6:59.
  

  

  A little New Year's cupcake baking.

• 1/2: 8.04 miles, 7:58/mile. Speed workout: 10 minute warm up, [8 minutes challenging/3 minutes steady] x4, 10 minute cool down. Again, due to weather, I did this on the treadmill. It was a tough one by the end!! My paces were as follows: WU- 9:13/mi, steady- 8:13/mi, CD- 9:05/mi, challenging interval paces- 7:24, 7:21, 7:19, 7:19. I had this same workout a few weeks ago and I was able to run it a tad faster this time! Per usual, I was ok for the first 2 1/2 intervals, but it started feeling tough after that. EEK.
  

  

  So tired.

• 1/3: 8.85 miles, 9:03/mile. Today was a simple 60-80 minutes of easy running. The past couple of weeks, I've been running closer to the 60 minute mark because I was either pooped or cold AF. This week, I had the opportunity to run in the sun. It was cold, but at least the sun made an appearance occasionally. I explored a couple of streets in Hilliard for potential future homes. No such luck on anything today.
  

  

  A bit nippy.

• 1/4: Yoga, 45 minutes. Today was cross training day, and I was dying to use my new yoga mat. I found a YouTube video and was brave enough to do it in front of strangers at the gym. I can't wait to wake up to sore muscles in the morning!
  

  

  
  

• 1/5: 6.12 miles, 8:59/mile. I took my legs to the treadmill for the THIRD time this week. Even though it's not the most optimal situation, I haven't hated it yet. Today's run was easy with 5x30 second strides in the last 10 minutes. To switch things up a bit, I took Amanda up on her offer to run at Lifetime Fitness. I'm looking forward to gaining 20 degrees on Sunday so that I can avoid doing my long run on the mill.
  

  

  
  

• 1/6: 3.27 miles, 19:09/mile. So f'n cold...so, so cold. I met Meg at Schneider's all bundled up for a 1 degree (not considering wind chill/real feel temp) walk. We were frozen to our bones, but we got donuts to help us with the mental part of that.
  

  

  Frozen toes and fingers...at least our faces felt good! [ME, Meg]

• 1/7: 16.25 miles, 8:46/mile. What a roller coaster long run planning has been the past couple of weeks! I opted to wait until Sunday after church because it was supposed to be in the low 30s. Heat wave!!! It ended up being low 20s and windy, but still better than single digits...especially since I was supposed to attempt some faster miles at the end. I met up with Amanda for my first 6 miles. We nixed my original route due to lots of snow. Amanda's not a fan of it (I will admit that it does irritate my piriformis a bit). We avoided the snow, for the most part, in this 6 mile section before meeting Brittaney and Elizabeth for the last 10 miles. Again, I had to alter the planned route due to the road/trail conditions. As we headed into New Albany, there were many sections that it was impossible to avoid the snow. The only time it truly sucked was when we got to the faster miles. You can only go so fast when running in snow! I was able to knock out a couple of miles in 8:33 and 8:32 despite the conditions, and finally a road mile of 8:03 to end the run. I'm confident that my other faster miles would have been in that area had they been on the clear road as well. Regardless, we had a great run and end to another week of training!
  

  

  [ME, Elizabeth, Brittaney]

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Well, 6 of 18 weeks are complete for The Carmel Marathon. If the current long run pattern continues, I'm guessing I'll be running 18 miles this week! EEK! Hopefully the weather will be a bit nicer (I'm not counting on it). 

A friend posted a link that compares your times to other runners. These were my results for my age group overall (using my PRs). I didn't realize until later that it had the female only option as well.