The week past: A 5 minute recap.

This past week has been c-razy. I’ve run, I’ve biked, I’ve swam, I’ve played soccer.

Want proof? Here’s a little recap:

Monday: 3.15 miles as part of the Somerville Road Runners weekly Bur-run. This is the first time I’ve run with this group, and it was awesome. They were very friendly and welcoming, and I’m pretty excited to put in a few more miles with them. I definitely pushed myself a bit harder than I normally would on a Monday. Especially a Monday that fell the day after a long run!

Tuesday: I biked to the pool, I swam at the pool, I biked home. I contemplated the ability of my bike route to be uphill both ways. I might live in a vortex, I’m not sure.

Wednesday: 3.5 miles with my running buddy. Neither of us were feeling it, and only the fact that we had made this running date got us out the door. That being said, we were shooting for 2-3 miles, and ended up doing 3.5. Sometimes getting off my patootie* and out the door is the hardest part.

Thursday & Friday: I rested. My legs were like giant overcooked noodles. This rest period may or may not have involved quite a bit of eating as well as a few delicious mojitos. I shall never tell.

Saturday: 7.2 mile bike ride. It was real hot and real humid, but I finished in about 33 minutes, which isn’t too shabby, especially since that includes a lot of stop lights and some rolling hills. I’m feeling pretty good for the bike portion of that pesky upcoming triathlon.

Sunday: I went for a very leisurely bike ride with my 9 year old cousin. He’s such an awesome bike riding partner, and I love going out with him. Of course, it often involves him “conning” me into mid-ride snacks. I also went for a quick run. 2.28 miles in 22 minutes. Not too shabby, but not the 7 miles I was supposed to have done. Major training fail

Monday: Soccer game. First game of Summer season, and the team we were playing were rough. Like two-handed shove to the back, and then a sarcastic “I’m sorry” rough. I had a great time, but boy am I feeling it today!

There’s more running, biking, swimming, and soccer on tap for the rest of this week. Plus the added bonus of my first open water swim, the Warrior Das, and The Boring Runner’s Sweat Your Thorns Off!

This late spring heat wave is good for something

So we're supposed to have highs near the 100 degree mark, which is just officially too hot to run. However, with a month to go until the DAM triathlon, I think it's a fabulous day for a swim.

During heat waves, triathlon training trumps marathon training. Every time.

Back at it again, this time for real

Okay, life has a way of getting in between me and my best intentions (not to mention any blogging that I might do).

Here are the highs and lows of life since my last post

Highs...

1. Ran, finished, and rocked the Philadelphia Marathon in November. It was my first marathon and I truly didn't know if I could do it. I wouldn't have been able to without friends to run with, my awesome roommate to cheer me on, and the sheer strength of will to power through a second half out and back (that nearly killed me mentally).
2. I studied for (and passed) my comps! Next station on the road to PhD land? Dissertation station.
3. I got to work with some truly awesome co-workers and students, which made the job of teaching that much more enjoyable.

Now for the lows...

1. I very nearly lost what little bits of sanity I have left during the process of studying for comps. Memorizing authors and arguments in preparation for a 5.5 hour written test is un-fun, to say the least. Which leads me to...
2. I haven't really done any working out since the marathon. A few runs, a few soccer games, a few sessions of yoga, but nothing really consistent.

This is going to change now (I guess), because another high/low is that I signed up for my second marathon. Yes, I will be running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th. Therefore shoelaces have been tied, glide has been applied, and I'm about to go get my run on.

Back in the swing of things

September royally sucked training wise. Between two weeks off for the knee sprain and a week and a half off due to plague like illness I clocked in 18 miles THE ENTIRE MONTH. By the end of the month I was fretting about all of the runs that I had missed, and whether this would mean I would have to bow out of the marathon.

I'm pleased to say that October has been much better training wise! Three weeks ago I went for my first long run in over a month, and was able to complete 7 miles before my brain got the best of me. I was supposed to run a 10 miler, but I psyched myself out and was only able to complete 7 miles.

Two weeks ago I ran a 15 miler. That's right 15 miles! That is longest distance I have ever run. Let me tell you, it felt great. I was exhausted and sore afterwards, but the entire run felt amazing. The weather was cool, I had a new route, and I had a new Garmin toy to play with.

My 15 miler is also when I tried out my new Asics, and I am pleased to say that I have found a pair of shoes that does not make my feet go numb! 4th times a charm running shoe wise, but I'm glad that the food numbness is gone. Having to cope with tingling and lack of sensitivity in my left foot during every single run was getting on my nerves (heh).

This past Sunday I ran an 18 miler. The first 15 miles were glorious, and I was in love with running and Boston. Because it was such a quintessential fall day I ran through the Arboretum. It was so picturesque. The leaves were bright on the trees and crunchy under foot. I saw blue jays and a giant hawk. My route also took me to the Esplanade, and since it was Head of the Charles this weekend, I was able to see a ton of rowers.

However, things took a sudden turn for the worse after mile 15. My left IT Band seized up completely and I had a sharp stabbing pain in my left hip. I ended up having to walk/hobble the final 3 miles home. This was particularly disappointing given how great the run felt for the first 15 miles. I was keeping around an 11 minute mile pace, the day was gorgeous, I felt great, and then BAM. Hobbled.

I'm getting back on the horse tomorrow morning with a short 3-4 miler. Here's hoping the hip is back in business so that I can get in some tempo work and rock my 20 miler on Saturday!

September Training Fail

I haven't posted in a while, mainly because there hasn't been much to post about. September has been a complete and utter training fail. I've run approximately 12 miles the entire month! Why is this you ask?

Well it started with me spraining my knee and having to take 2 full weeks off of most physical activities. How did I sprain it you ask? Well, I was playing indoor soccer, and for a few milliseconds I forgot that I was not Lionel Messi/Thierry Henry/most skilled soccer players, and I tried to do some fancy footwork. What happens when a semi-incompetent soccer player tries to do this? Well, she trips over the ball and sprain her knee, that's what.

So I was out for 2 weeks due to that awesome lapse of sound judgement. I had one week back on, in which I ran the final Ollie Road Race, and put up a 8.5 mile long run (as well as two soccer games). It was looking like I was going to get back into the swing of things until I woke up Thursday morning with what seems to be the world's worst viral infection. I have a fever, sore throat, clogged sinuses, an awesome rattling cough, I can't eat and I can't speak. This means that I have been unable to leave the apartment for days, let alone think about completing the 15 miler that was on tap for Saturday.

So with all this missed training, what's a girl to do? Obviously I have to re-evaluate my training plan, but how do I bounce back from a lost month? Especially when it's only 7 weeks from race day.

A Weekend of travel, celebrating and running

This weekend was my dear friend Beth's engagement party, which necessitated a trip to Brooklyn (the arm, it was twisted). I took the bus down Friday night, and was able to do a little catch-up with Beth (whom I do not see nearly as often as I would like to), watch Stomp the Yard, and have a refreshing glass of wine. All-in-all a pretty nice way to end the work week.


Saturday was scheduled to be my 10 mile long run, and I must say that I was a bit nervous about it. However, unlike the nasty 3-miler from earlier in the week, this run went brilliantly. My route took me through various sections of Brooklyn, including Park Slope and Prospect Park. The roughly 3.3 miles around Prospect Park was by far my favorite part of the run. In general, I love running in parks and green spaces. There’s just something about pushing yourself while communing with nature that is invigorating, especially when you’re a city girl who doesn’t see much of nature outside of the parks. I ended up finishing the 10 miles in 1:50, which is a bit over where I would like to be pace-wise. However, I have been consistently shaving seconds off of my pace on long runs, thereby giving me hope that it wasn't a mistake to register for the 4:15 pace group!

This was, in fact, the best run of my training thus far. I don't know if it was the fact that I had ready access to water, the fact that I'm trying my hand at mid-run refueling (the jury is still out on sports beans), or the fact that I was exploring a new place while running, but whatever it is this run left me feeling great about my training. Something direly needed in order to keep up morale after the last few weeks of bonking at the end of long runs.

The easy 3-miler that wasn't

I was supposed to do an easy 3-miler on Tuesday. This did not happen, mainly because the oppressive heat and humidity of the east coast summer returned with a vengeance. The day was sticky and hot, and I thought it best to not die on my run.

However, I did run my 3-miles yesterday, and it was painful. How is it that just last week I was thinking that 5 miles is a piece of cake, but this week I could barely manage 3? My legs were leaden, my calves were cramping, my hip was singing with IT band related pain. All this added up to a run that had more walk breaks than it should have.

But it's done, and there are more and better runs on the horizon.

Righteously sore

I ended last week with a bang, training wise. On Thursday, I did speedwork, and while normally I don’t mind speedwork, this week I got a bit over excited. In other words, I loved the speedwork a bit too much. Perhaps it was the two whole days of rest, perhaps it was the weather that was in the 70s and sans humidity, but I did my 1600 repeats at a speed that was much too quick pour moi. The first 1600 was accomplished in 9:03, and the second was in 9:20. I was supposed to finish them in 9:45 (which is my pace goal for Philly). Now one wouldn’t think running two miles quicker than anticipated would be a problem, but by the time I began my mile run home, I felt like my legs were noodles and my lungs were going to explode out of my chest à la alien.

I had a 9 mile long run on Saturday. I ended up doing three, 3-mile loops, and the first two loops were great. Loops one and two were done somewhere between 10 and 11 minute mile pace, however I totally bonked loop three. In fact, I bonked around the end of mile 7. Apparently anything over a 10k requires both water and fuel. I was hungry, thirsty, and had reached the very last of my reserves. This means that I’m going to have to learn how to 1) run with some sort of hydration pack and 2) figure out this whole GU, sport bean, refueling on the run thing. Obviously I can’t do the trusty soccer refuel of orange slices and Gatorade at half-time, but I’m going to have something out, because the runs only get longer from here!

I concluded the weekend with a 15 mile bike ride on Sunday. All of this end of the week activity has left me feeling distinctly sore. My legs are freaking killing me! I now make this lovely groaning noise when I try to get up after sitting for 20 or more minutes. It's very attractive, in a wildebeest sort of way. Here's hoping the three-miler on tap for tomorrow helps shake out the rest of the aches and pains!