I was waiting to post until after I ran today so I could give you an update. I played it smart and haven't run since Friday. I road my bike both Saturday and Sunday, did yoga on Monday, and biked again yesterday. I decided I would run today and Friday with a massage on Thursday. Today felt both good and bad.....I did 5.5 miles with 2 miles at marathon pace. My hip felt fine (yay!) and my shin felt much better (another yay!) however everything else just felt off.....I just couldn't get into a rhythm. But I'm not going to let it get to me.....for every bad run, a good one is waiting to happen :) Let's just hope that good day happens on Sunday!
I got an e-mail from my friend John today with a great pep talk.....just what I needed. John coined the phrase "Mission 3:40" that I love (note to self.....if the 3:40 doesn't happen this time, get shirts made with this for next time!). He told me to have confidence in my abilities and my training. Everyone always says to "trust your training" but I haven't fully understood that until now. With these last couple days off from running and a so-so run today, I really need to trust the strong training runs I have had and the miles I logged over the past 18 weeks and know those are what's going to carry me the 26.2 miles on race day....hopefully faster than think!
Now I just need to stop thinking about the weather....looks like its going to be a hot one!!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Taper Hypochondria Becoming Reality :(
One of the symptoms of Taper Madness is hypochondria (along with anxiety, restlessness, and self-doubt......its really a great time!). Many runners experience aches and pains during taper that they haven't felt before in training and freak out about them . People say its just the body's way of healing itself after the months of training.
The Taper Hypochondria has hit me hard this past week. Monday I went out for what should have been a 7 mile run but quit at 3.5 miles because my hip was tight and my left shin was really sore. I decided to take Tuesday off to rest and road my bike instead. Wednesday I decided to try running again and covered 6 miles still with some discomfort, but not as bad as Monday's run. I was feeling optimistic!
Thursday I took off too and got a massage. I told her about my aches and pains....tried to blame it on everything except the running (did I overstretch in yoga? was it the 9 mile bike ride?) She just laughed, told me to stop making excuses, and said of course it was the running! She said she wasn't worried about my tight glut as that's easy to massage (I think what she was doing to my left butt cheek could be considered assault in a court of law!). But she said she was worried about my shin....crap :( We both agreed that it wasn't the bone since that wasn't where it hurt. She said she thinks its the fascia (connective tissue) becoming inflamed and pulling away from the bone....that doesn't sound good! But we remained optimistic that with ice, Advil, and another massage next week that I should be good enough to go!
She wanted me to run on Friday to see how things were feeling. Overall it wasn't a great run, but my shin was feeling much better....again, not 100% by any means, but better. After much convincing from my running friends via e-mails and talks at work, I decided not to run my scheduled 12 miler this weekend and bike instead. No good will come of one more 12 mile run.....I'm not going to gain any fitness at this point and taking a couple days off the pounding will probably be beneficial. I am trying remain optimistic and think of this as a positive thing!
My calender at work this month features Deena Kastor when she ran Boston last year. I was looking at the picture on Friday and felt encouraged. See my friend John has started calling me "Deena" because he thinks I'm so speedy. After a few e-mails back and forth yesterday, I wrote this to John..."If Deena Kastor can take 6 weeks off running in 2005 (foot injury)and still win the Chicago Marathon then this 'Deena' can take a couple days off!" He completely agreed and told me that this break will actually help in "Mission 3:40". This is why I love my running friends....they make me laugh when I need it most!
I'm not going to say I'm not worried, because of course I am but its really out of m hands now. God has a plan for me and I have to leave this race in His hands. So ice and Advil will continue to be my best friends over the next few days and I just have to hope this Taper Hypochondria moves on to some other victim ASAP!! Off for a bike ride.......
The Taper Hypochondria has hit me hard this past week. Monday I went out for what should have been a 7 mile run but quit at 3.5 miles because my hip was tight and my left shin was really sore. I decided to take Tuesday off to rest and road my bike instead. Wednesday I decided to try running again and covered 6 miles still with some discomfort, but not as bad as Monday's run. I was feeling optimistic!
Thursday I took off too and got a massage. I told her about my aches and pains....tried to blame it on everything except the running (did I overstretch in yoga? was it the 9 mile bike ride?) She just laughed, told me to stop making excuses, and said of course it was the running! She said she wasn't worried about my tight glut as that's easy to massage (I think what she was doing to my left butt cheek could be considered assault in a court of law!). But she said she was worried about my shin....crap :( We both agreed that it wasn't the bone since that wasn't where it hurt. She said she thinks its the fascia (connective tissue) becoming inflamed and pulling away from the bone....that doesn't sound good! But we remained optimistic that with ice, Advil, and another massage next week that I should be good enough to go!
She wanted me to run on Friday to see how things were feeling. Overall it wasn't a great run, but my shin was feeling much better....again, not 100% by any means, but better. After much convincing from my running friends via e-mails and talks at work, I decided not to run my scheduled 12 miler this weekend and bike instead. No good will come of one more 12 mile run.....I'm not going to gain any fitness at this point and taking a couple days off the pounding will probably be beneficial. I am trying remain optimistic and think of this as a positive thing!
My calender at work this month features Deena Kastor when she ran Boston last year. I was looking at the picture on Friday and felt encouraged. See my friend John has started calling me "Deena" because he thinks I'm so speedy. After a few e-mails back and forth yesterday, I wrote this to John..."If Deena Kastor can take 6 weeks off running in 2005 (foot injury)and still win the Chicago Marathon then this 'Deena' can take a couple days off!" He completely agreed and told me that this break will actually help in "Mission 3:40". This is why I love my running friends....they make me laugh when I need it most!
I'm not going to say I'm not worried, because of course I am but its really out of m hands now. God has a plan for me and I have to leave this race in His hands. So ice and Advil will continue to be my best friends over the next few days and I just have to hope this Taper Hypochondria moves on to some other victim ASAP!! Off for a bike ride.......
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Going Green
Ever since I got my bike last August, I have wanted to ride to work. Unfortunately I work 20 miles away from my house so its not really practical. Plus I'm not allowed to ride on busy roads....remember the spill I took the day I got my bike??? I have a really ugly scar on my elbow that still looks pretty fresh and it happened over 9 months ago!
So if I can't ride all the way to work, I decided to ride part of the way. You see my company has an office about 4.5 miles from my house that runs a shuttle back and forth to my building....20 miles one way is not doable, but 4.5 miles I can handle!
Last week I tried this for the first time. I packed my work clothes in a backpack, put on workout clothes, and set off on my bike. It took me about 20 minutes to ride to our office....yes, I am a slow biker! I locked my bike up and jumped on the shuttle the rest of the way. It was a great way to start out the day....I got my heart pumping which woke me up and then I was able to relax on the shuttle without having to stress about driving or traffic. When I got to work I showered in our locker room and got ready for work. At the end of the day I did the reverse.....totaling about 9 miles of biking for the day.
This week is the Bay State Bike week (http://www.baystatebikeweek.org/) where bikers from MA are pledging to commute on bike over 50,000 miles this week in place of driving. I can't bike/shuttle every day, but I did today and plan to do it again Friday. That's about 18 miles of biking but 80 miles that I won't be driving in my car. I figured out that between gas and tolls I spend about $10 a day driving to work.....by biking 2x a week I am saving $20/week! That will add up....not to mention what it will do for the environment!
Way to decrease my carbon footprint!!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Pain in my butt!
So this is a new one.....Saturday's long run was literally a pain in the butt. Well, just the left side :)
To back up, I met John, Paul, Janette, and Dave (a new runner friend that was on Team BMC 2006) at Marathon Sports early Saturday morning for a run. They are all training for the Run to Remember Half Marathon the same day as my marathon. We ran and chatted the whole 12.6 miles....it was great to run with a big group again! Although most people don't consider a 12 mile run at 8am on a Saturday morning fun, but we really had a great time! I was planning to run 16 miles so I tacked on a couple extra on my own after they finished.
Overall I felt pretty good.....everywhere except my left side. My left butt was really tight for some reason.....never felt that before. Also, my calf and shin were a little tight....they are all connected somehow so I'm not surprised everything felt a little off. Miss Yoga Teacher Extraordinaire Janette thought it was my hamstring insertion point which makes sense because my hammys have been pretty tight lately. She gave me some stretches and pointers that seem to be helping. She told me what would be the best is to have Bryan massage my butt.....let's see if he goes for that one :) I'm thinking I stretched it a little too aggressively in yoga class on Friday night and that's what caused the tightness.....I've been icing, stretching, and foam rolling it and its feeling better today.
My two goals for the next two weeks before VT City are to (1) listen to my body and not push it too much and (2) get at least 8 hours of sleep each night between now and the race. I accomplished #1 today by stopping my run early because my left shin was really sore......I'm trying not to worry about it yet as its not bad and I have a massage scheduled for Thursday which should loosen everything up. Now I have to head to bed to accomplish #2!
To back up, I met John, Paul, Janette, and Dave (a new runner friend that was on Team BMC 2006) at Marathon Sports early Saturday morning for a run. They are all training for the Run to Remember Half Marathon the same day as my marathon. We ran and chatted the whole 12.6 miles....it was great to run with a big group again! Although most people don't consider a 12 mile run at 8am on a Saturday morning fun, but we really had a great time! I was planning to run 16 miles so I tacked on a couple extra on my own after they finished.
Overall I felt pretty good.....everywhere except my left side. My left butt was really tight for some reason.....never felt that before. Also, my calf and shin were a little tight....they are all connected somehow so I'm not surprised everything felt a little off. Miss Yoga Teacher Extraordinaire Janette thought it was my hamstring insertion point which makes sense because my hammys have been pretty tight lately. She gave me some stretches and pointers that seem to be helping. She told me what would be the best is to have Bryan massage my butt.....let's see if he goes for that one :) I'm thinking I stretched it a little too aggressively in yoga class on Friday night and that's what caused the tightness.....I've been icing, stretching, and foam rolling it and its feeling better today.
My two goals for the next two weeks before VT City are to (1) listen to my body and not push it too much and (2) get at least 8 hours of sleep each night between now and the race. I accomplished #1 today by stopping my run early because my left shin was really sore......I'm trying not to worry about it yet as its not bad and I have a massage scheduled for Thursday which should loosen everything up. Now I have to head to bed to accomplish #2!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
One word to sum up this past weekend's runs would be wet! Friday it rained during my 10 miler, Saturday it rained during my 6 mile recovery run, and last but not least.....Sunday it rained for my long run....my final 20 miler of this training schedule! Let's just say I have gotten really good at dodging puddles and my Boston Marathon jacket from last year has gotten a lot of use!
The last two weeks have gone well. The mileage is starting to wear on me and I am mentally tired. I have been doing all my runs and hitting all my paces, but its more of a struggle to get out the door every day to run. I think this is pretty normal.......after strictly following a training plan for 15 weeks, your mind starts to get a little tired! I really wanted my last long run to go well as a confidence booster going into taper. I waited to run until about 10:30am on Sunday because it was pouring earlier. The first couple miles felt comfortable and my legs didn't feel as heavy as they have recently. I felt really good going up the hills on Comm Ave and was able to pick up my pace to hit the last couple miles at goal marathon pace. I ran the first 10 miles at an average pace of 9:05 and finished with an overall average pace of 8:54.....not too bad! It was just the run I needed to feel strong and confident for Vermont City.
And now I am embracing my taper with open arms!! I'll cut my mileage back from 55-60MPW to 43 miles this week and then 32 the next week. In my past two marathon trainings, I dreaded taper.....it often comes with anxiety, restlessness, and hypochondria. This time, I welcome it because I know I have put my time in and my body needs the rest to get me at my best for the marathon in 3 weeks.
Total weekly miles = 58.15
The last two weeks have gone well. The mileage is starting to wear on me and I am mentally tired. I have been doing all my runs and hitting all my paces, but its more of a struggle to get out the door every day to run. I think this is pretty normal.......after strictly following a training plan for 15 weeks, your mind starts to get a little tired! I really wanted my last long run to go well as a confidence booster going into taper. I waited to run until about 10:30am on Sunday because it was pouring earlier. The first couple miles felt comfortable and my legs didn't feel as heavy as they have recently. I felt really good going up the hills on Comm Ave and was able to pick up my pace to hit the last couple miles at goal marathon pace. I ran the first 10 miles at an average pace of 9:05 and finished with an overall average pace of 8:54.....not too bad! It was just the run I needed to feel strong and confident for Vermont City.
And now I am embracing my taper with open arms!! I'll cut my mileage back from 55-60MPW to 43 miles this week and then 32 the next week. In my past two marathon trainings, I dreaded taper.....it often comes with anxiety, restlessness, and hypochondria. This time, I welcome it because I know I have put my time in and my body needs the rest to get me at my best for the marathon in 3 weeks.
Total weekly miles = 58.15
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Overdo update!
I apologize for not writing in a while, but things have been really busy lately. Sometimes I feel like my life is work, run, eat, sleep, and repeat! But I am not complaining because I love what I do and I love running.....sometime it all just leaves me too tired to blog!
Janette and I with Ryan Hall!
Deena Kastor looking strong
Deena again!
Magdalena in the lead
Lead pack crossing the Mass Ave bridge for the 1st time
So last weekend was loaded with lots of running. Saturday I had a tough marathon pace long run with 17 total miles. As I've said before most of the time long runs are done significantly slower than marathon pace, but twice during my training I have marathon pace long runs. I started out on my own and ran a 3 mile warm up....then I kicked it up to goal marathon pace for 14 miles. Bryan met up with me for the last 4 of the goal pace miles. As we started out together, he says "wow...this is how fast you've been running?? This is how fast you want to run the marathon in?? WOW!!" It made me smile :) The run felt pretty good....my legs were tired and felt a little heavy, but I averaged 8:24 min/mile!! I'm really glad this run went well and that I was able to hit my pace without too much struggle. It leaves me confident that with a good taper and race day adrenaline I will be prepared for Vermont in 5 weeks....aaaahhhhh!!
I learned that I need to be wearing sun screen on all my runs even in the middle of April....I am now sporting a nice sports bra tan line on my back and an iPod arm band around my left bicep. I must be more careful about this!!!
Sunday was the women's Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston and I could not have been more excited to go watch it. I met up with Janette early Sunday and the weather was perfect....sunny, but cool. The course was four 6 mile loops through Boston and Cambridge so we could see the runners about 10 different times. Deena Kastor (who I love!!), Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, and Blake Russell came in 1, 2, and 3 and qualified for the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. It was an exciting race with Magdalena leading by almost 2 minutes at the half, but Deena kicking it up, passing her at mile 23 and going on to win by 45 seconds....she is truly my idol! It was also awesome to see Joan Benoit-Samuelson run a 2:49 at the age of 50!! She was the oldest woman to have qualified for the trials......very inspiring.
One of the highlights of the day was meeting Ryan Hall, the men's marathon trials winner. We were waiting for the runners to come by and Janette saw him standing two people down from us.....we were star stuck!! I mean he is the top American male marathoner!! We got up some courage and asked to get our picture with him....he was so nice! Below are some of the pictures I took at the trials (click on the picture to view it larger).
Janette and I with Ryan Hall!
Deena Kastor looking strong
Deena again!
Magdalena in the lead
Lead pack crossing the Mass Ave bridge for the 1st timeMarathon Monday was equally exciting!! I was sad not to be running it this year, but excited to watch. It was a beautiful day for the race....not at all like last year's weather! I took the day off work so Bryan, Janette and I walked up to mile 21 (top of Heartbreak Hill right before Boston College) and set up camp. Watching the elites is always amazing, seeing Lance Armstrong cruise by was fun too, but we were most excited to see our friends. I trained a lot with John this winter so I was really hoping he'd have a good run. We saw him coming over the hill and he was smiling....good sign! We started screaming for him and holding up our signs. I ran a couple yards with him and he said he was feeling good and having fun. I was so happy for him....after last year and then Chicago last fall, he deserved a good run. By my calculations he was doing great on time and looked like he would keep it up for the last 5 miles. Next we saw Steph and she had an equally big smile on her face....another good sign! A few minutes later, Jeff came looking tired, but still with a smile on his face. I am so proud of all my friends for an awesome race!! John broke his previous record by 12 minutes....GO JOHN!!! Jeff and Steph both came in a little slower than last year but said they had more fun this time around....and that's all that really matters!
Overall it was a great weekend and just what I needed to keep me motivated over the next 5 weeks before Vermont.
Total miles for the week = 54.5!
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