I am a big believer in logging my runs. I've done it since I started training for my first marathon. And I track on paper, so I can pull out my file and flip through past schedules and past seasons. I love being able to look back and see how many miles I ran, and sometimes compare my times year to year on the same route/course. It's also interesting to see my list of what my current nagging pain is (none right now, knock on wood!) and how it relates to mileage. I used to log things like what I ate the day before, what I ate before the run, what I wore, etc., but now I've got that down to a science pretty much. So my log mostly now is miles and time, with notes sometimes for temp, route and/or pains.
My running week starts on Sundays with the long run. And on Mondays, I usually total things up for the prior week.
So I was shocked to see what the sum was for last week. 46.9. With no extenuating circumstances. Just 46.9 miles of running. Plus there was some boot camp cardio and weights in there. And a walk with my neighbor.
I never hit that much in a week last year. Last year, my biggest week was 46.1 miles, but it was the week before the Fourth of July, so there was a long run on Sunday and one the following Saturday, and the following week had no long run and was very low mileage. So averaging out those 2 weeks, my mileage was in the mid-30s. And it was still less than I did last week.
In 2009, technically I logged 47.7 miles in one week (less than 1 more mile than this past week), but it doesn't really count. It was marathon week and it was a Saturday marathon (St. George) (so 15k on Sunday, 1 on Mon, 7 on Tues, 4.2 on Wed, then off Thurs and Fri, then 26.2 on Sat). And that week of 47.7 was followed by a major recovery week with very low miles (St. George is a beating on the recovery end).
Back in 2008, I exceeded last week twice. One week was 53.3 miles, but with extenuating circumstances (long run Sunday and then the following Saturday b/c of some conflicting plans on Sunday, and the following week was very low mileage) (the two weeks averaged out in the low 40s). And one week was 47.1 miles (only .2 more than last week) and completely legit (long run of 21, rest day, 6.5 on Tues, rest day, 9.3 on Thurs, 1 on Fri, and 15k on Sat at an easy pace). And that week was followed by a week in the low 30s.
The big difference with last week is that I'm still more than 2 months away from race day. In the past, when I've been around 45 miles in a week (w/o having 2 long runs in the same week), it's always been close to race day.
This week, our schedule is I think about 48 miles. I'm actually afraid to look and confirm exactly what the projected miles will be. That means I'm going to have two weeks averaging out in the mid-40s.
Oh my. Hold on, this might be a wild ride...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Tracking
I was in a hurry to finish my 14 miler this morning because I had a big date with the laptop. I was in a rush to track friends running the Houston marathon.
The friend I was most interested in following was making his second serious sub-3 attempt. Crazy fast!! Though of course I know, all running speeds are relative. Anyway, this guy tried in Chicago this year, with crappy weather, and slowed the second half, missing his goal by just a little.
Well, this morning we had unseasonably warm temps for our 14 miles here. I was excited for the break that we've had for about a week now. Today I actually just wore shorts and short sleeves. Awesome fun for me running 14. Not so awesome for people running 26.2 and even further south!
I was happy to see his finish -- 3:00:11. I worry he'll be disappointed, but it was a PR for him and less than 15 seconds slower than he wanted... Crazy impressive in the first place, but even more so given the warm temps, the humidity, and oh, the icing on the cake, rain. Ugh! I'm so proud of him for working so hard and digging so deep.
So we got to step back this week, which was nice. 14 miles. Smooth sailing all the way, though my "problem toe" is going back to its normal bad self. This toe has bothered me for something like 7 years. No idea why. Middle toe on my right foot. Seems to blister easily at the very top. And after my 5k PR in the fall, the toenail turned black. That shocked me, because I was running long runs at the time and had no problems with losing any toenails. But running a 5k at a hard effort did it in. Anyway, the blackish toenail has been hanging on. It's just been discolored and mildly tender to the touch for about 4 months now.
Well, after today's run was the first time it actually really hurt. Oh well, just more of an inconvenience than anything. I'll take a funky toe over any real pain any day!
Oh, meant to vent about one other irritating thing.
I mentioned before that I got plane tickets for Christmas from my husband. He'd booked through Amerian Express travel. This is for our spring trip -- Dallas to Pittsburgh to Boston to Dallas. And we're still planning to purchase Boston to Italy and back to Pittsburgh, then Dallas. Well, our Pittsburgh to Boston flight has been shifting in time since it was purchased. 5 mins later, 5 mins earlier, etc.
Well, yesterday AmEx travel called my husband to say the first leg of the Pittsburgh to Boston trip was being delayed so we'd miss our connection to Boston. So they wanted to put us on a later flight, but that won't work since we're going to Boston the day before the marathon and I want plenty of time for expo and carbs and sleep. AmEx was going to look at other choices for us and get back in touch with us.
So I've mentioned before too that my husband works on Sundays and has to get up very early (4:15). It works well for me, since I get up at 5ish for my Sunday long runs. It's actually easier for me to get up when I know he's up too.
Last night one of my best running friends had a party for her husband's 40th. We went out for dinner, which is rare for us on a Sat night -- I like eating the same stuff before a long run, and we both like to go to bed early. But we went to the dinner and had an awesome time. Hubby left early to get to bed, I stayed to enjoy dessert and socialize more, knowing I could nap today if necessary. I got home around 10:30 and went straight to bed.
Hubby's cell phone rang at almost midnight, waking us both from a dead sleep, and at least putting my heart in my throat. No good comes from a phone call in the middle of the night anymore (when I was younger there used to be amusing drunk dials, but now that I'm older, it only means bad news).
Surprise! It was Am Ex travel with some other flight options. I was incredulous! I kept telling him to call them back tomorrow. He was almost incoherent because he was so disoriented and sleepy. He was trying to get off the phone. He asked her if she knew what time it was. He asked her where she was, and she said India. He said, well, I'm in the middle of the US and it's midnight here and so I'm going to have to call you back.
WTF??? I mean, if our flight were in less than 24 hours, I would not only understand a midnight phone call, I'd appreciate it. But our flight is more than 2 months away!!! WTF???????
So I see a nap in my future, now that I'm almost done tracking my final friend in Houston.
The friend I was most interested in following was making his second serious sub-3 attempt. Crazy fast!! Though of course I know, all running speeds are relative. Anyway, this guy tried in Chicago this year, with crappy weather, and slowed the second half, missing his goal by just a little.
Well, this morning we had unseasonably warm temps for our 14 miles here. I was excited for the break that we've had for about a week now. Today I actually just wore shorts and short sleeves. Awesome fun for me running 14. Not so awesome for people running 26.2 and even further south!
I was happy to see his finish -- 3:00:11. I worry he'll be disappointed, but it was a PR for him and less than 15 seconds slower than he wanted... Crazy impressive in the first place, but even more so given the warm temps, the humidity, and oh, the icing on the cake, rain. Ugh! I'm so proud of him for working so hard and digging so deep.
So we got to step back this week, which was nice. 14 miles. Smooth sailing all the way, though my "problem toe" is going back to its normal bad self. This toe has bothered me for something like 7 years. No idea why. Middle toe on my right foot. Seems to blister easily at the very top. And after my 5k PR in the fall, the toenail turned black. That shocked me, because I was running long runs at the time and had no problems with losing any toenails. But running a 5k at a hard effort did it in. Anyway, the blackish toenail has been hanging on. It's just been discolored and mildly tender to the touch for about 4 months now.
Well, after today's run was the first time it actually really hurt. Oh well, just more of an inconvenience than anything. I'll take a funky toe over any real pain any day!
Oh, meant to vent about one other irritating thing.
I mentioned before that I got plane tickets for Christmas from my husband. He'd booked through Amerian Express travel. This is for our spring trip -- Dallas to Pittsburgh to Boston to Dallas. And we're still planning to purchase Boston to Italy and back to Pittsburgh, then Dallas. Well, our Pittsburgh to Boston flight has been shifting in time since it was purchased. 5 mins later, 5 mins earlier, etc.
Well, yesterday AmEx travel called my husband to say the first leg of the Pittsburgh to Boston trip was being delayed so we'd miss our connection to Boston. So they wanted to put us on a later flight, but that won't work since we're going to Boston the day before the marathon and I want plenty of time for expo and carbs and sleep. AmEx was going to look at other choices for us and get back in touch with us.
So I've mentioned before too that my husband works on Sundays and has to get up very early (4:15). It works well for me, since I get up at 5ish for my Sunday long runs. It's actually easier for me to get up when I know he's up too.
Last night one of my best running friends had a party for her husband's 40th. We went out for dinner, which is rare for us on a Sat night -- I like eating the same stuff before a long run, and we both like to go to bed early. But we went to the dinner and had an awesome time. Hubby left early to get to bed, I stayed to enjoy dessert and socialize more, knowing I could nap today if necessary. I got home around 10:30 and went straight to bed.
Hubby's cell phone rang at almost midnight, waking us both from a dead sleep, and at least putting my heart in my throat. No good comes from a phone call in the middle of the night anymore (when I was younger there used to be amusing drunk dials, but now that I'm older, it only means bad news).
Surprise! It was Am Ex travel with some other flight options. I was incredulous! I kept telling him to call them back tomorrow. He was almost incoherent because he was so disoriented and sleepy. He was trying to get off the phone. He asked her if she knew what time it was. He asked her where she was, and she said India. He said, well, I'm in the middle of the US and it's midnight here and so I'm going to have to call you back.
WTF??? I mean, if our flight were in less than 24 hours, I would not only understand a midnight phone call, I'd appreciate it. But our flight is more than 2 months away!!! WTF???????
So I see a nap in my future, now that I'm almost done tracking my final friend in Houston.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Something's Gotta Give
Good run this morning. We had 10 on the schedule, though the route ended up only being 9.7. Score! It was particularly nice since I had a hearing at 9.
Anyway, the plan today was 3 miles easy, then 5 miles in heart rate zone 2, then 2 miles easy (back in zone 1). Unfortunately, due to a minor math error and/or my forgetfulness, I had the wrong numbers in my head for zone 2. I was consistently 2-3 beats above that, putting me in zone 3. Oops.
It's starting to feel easier as I start getting back into my training groove.
But this morning, my coach asked all of us how many days per week we're running. The schedule we have is 5 days with an optional 6th. Double oops. Pretty much everyone answered 5. One person said 6. Then he got to me. 3 good ones for sure, and 4 I think, but I'm trying to rearrange a bit to be at 5 and I do cross-train or do something else. Uh, oops.
What to do?
The schedule from our coach goes like this:
Sun - long
Mon - rest
Tues - group run, usually 8-10
Wed - solo 6-8 depending on week
Thurs - group run 10, often including some speed
Fri - rest or optional sixth run day, seems to be about 5 miles
Sat - solo 6-8 depending on week
My current schedule is this:
Sun - long
Mon - boot camp with hubby, usually I skip any running involved on Mondays
Tues - group run as scheduled
Wed - boot camp with hubby then run home (2.8 miles home, and I can add on some, plus running a varied amount at camp)
Thurs - group run as scheduled
Fri - boot camp with hubby (sometimes involves some running, never over 2 miles)
Sat - lazy, lazy rest usually
So here's the problem. I love going to boot camp with my hubby. It's something we have done together for so many years. If I go to camp, there's usually time to run a few miles afterward, but it's tough to run more than about 4 because of the whole "work" thing.
And I love taking Saturdays off since it's the only day of the week I can sleep in. But it's cold enough now that I could run in the afternoon on Saturdays, but that means working out 7 days per week, and I'm paranoid about overdoing it (not to mention lazy).
What to do, what to do?
Realistically, maybe I need to skip camp on Mondays, I don't really get much out of it if I'm not doing any of the running and I also try to skip any leg-intensive exercises so that my legs can recover from the long run. But I also need to get in those Wed miles, and that might mean skipping camp twice in a week, which means no workout time with hubby, and a big waste o' money.
I'm okay with just having whatever running we do at camp on Fridays be my optional miles.
I need to start getting the Saturday runs in 100% of the weeks. Especially now because I can do them whenever I want given the weather. In the summer, it's fairly critical to be done running by about 7 because it gets oppressively hot, but with our current temps, I could run at the hottest part of the day and it's still only in the mid-60s (and this is unusually warm, most Saturdays it probably won't even be that warm).
I just have to figure out Mon and Wed. I love being at camp with my husband. And I'm paying for it.
So switch to 7 days per week and just get to the office fairly late on Wednesdays and do the Wed run after camp?
As I mentioned before, after my blender disaster, we are using a new blender. For breakfast, I usually do an English muffin with pepper jack cheese, and a smoothie (usually spinach, frozen fruit (strawberries and cherries, sometimes adding things like peaches, pineapple or rhubarb)). Our new blender has these cool travel cups, which I tried using for the first time this morning.
I think I can speed along my morning routine by using the travel cup and taking the smoothie with me when I get in the shower. It worked well this morning. It reminded me a little bit of being in college or law school when I'd drink while getting ready to go out -- drinks were cheaper at home, it was fun to have a beer or something in the shower, and it was fun to get to the bar already buzzed.
So maybe for the next few weeks I try that. Saturday runs as scheduled. Wednesdays camp and running and late for work. Mondays camp with no running, or skipping camp entirely if I'm getting too sore or too tired.
If I can force myself to do Saturdays, that will get me to 4 days every single week. And if I can pull the double on Wednesdays, that will be my 5th day. And then the bonus day will be Fridays, whenever running is included at camp.
One other possible solution is to start running at night on Wednesdays. Our group has this cool social run that starts next week Wed. and lasts for 6 weeks to prepare for the St. Pat's 5k, which is my favorite race EVER. I have a bunch of friends who go for the 6 weeks and I could pretty easily get in 6 miles with the group.
The big obstacle is that our toughest run of the week is Thurs mornings at 5:15 (maybe soon to be starting at 5:00, coach is having us vote). So I'd have to go very, very easy on Wed nights in order to bring it on Thursdays.
Might try that for a couple weeks and see how it works out. Still very unsettled...
Anyway, the plan today was 3 miles easy, then 5 miles in heart rate zone 2, then 2 miles easy (back in zone 1). Unfortunately, due to a minor math error and/or my forgetfulness, I had the wrong numbers in my head for zone 2. I was consistently 2-3 beats above that, putting me in zone 3. Oops.
It's starting to feel easier as I start getting back into my training groove.
But this morning, my coach asked all of us how many days per week we're running. The schedule we have is 5 days with an optional 6th. Double oops. Pretty much everyone answered 5. One person said 6. Then he got to me. 3 good ones for sure, and 4 I think, but I'm trying to rearrange a bit to be at 5 and I do cross-train or do something else. Uh, oops.
What to do?
The schedule from our coach goes like this:
Sun - long
Mon - rest
Tues - group run, usually 8-10
Wed - solo 6-8 depending on week
Thurs - group run 10, often including some speed
Fri - rest or optional sixth run day, seems to be about 5 miles
Sat - solo 6-8 depending on week
My current schedule is this:
Sun - long
Mon - boot camp with hubby, usually I skip any running involved on Mondays
Tues - group run as scheduled
Wed - boot camp with hubby then run home (2.8 miles home, and I can add on some, plus running a varied amount at camp)
Thurs - group run as scheduled
Fri - boot camp with hubby (sometimes involves some running, never over 2 miles)
Sat - lazy, lazy rest usually
So here's the problem. I love going to boot camp with my hubby. It's something we have done together for so many years. If I go to camp, there's usually time to run a few miles afterward, but it's tough to run more than about 4 because of the whole "work" thing.
And I love taking Saturdays off since it's the only day of the week I can sleep in. But it's cold enough now that I could run in the afternoon on Saturdays, but that means working out 7 days per week, and I'm paranoid about overdoing it (not to mention lazy).
What to do, what to do?
Realistically, maybe I need to skip camp on Mondays, I don't really get much out of it if I'm not doing any of the running and I also try to skip any leg-intensive exercises so that my legs can recover from the long run. But I also need to get in those Wed miles, and that might mean skipping camp twice in a week, which means no workout time with hubby, and a big waste o' money.
I'm okay with just having whatever running we do at camp on Fridays be my optional miles.
I need to start getting the Saturday runs in 100% of the weeks. Especially now because I can do them whenever I want given the weather. In the summer, it's fairly critical to be done running by about 7 because it gets oppressively hot, but with our current temps, I could run at the hottest part of the day and it's still only in the mid-60s (and this is unusually warm, most Saturdays it probably won't even be that warm).
I just have to figure out Mon and Wed. I love being at camp with my husband. And I'm paying for it.
So switch to 7 days per week and just get to the office fairly late on Wednesdays and do the Wed run after camp?
As I mentioned before, after my blender disaster, we are using a new blender. For breakfast, I usually do an English muffin with pepper jack cheese, and a smoothie (usually spinach, frozen fruit (strawberries and cherries, sometimes adding things like peaches, pineapple or rhubarb)). Our new blender has these cool travel cups, which I tried using for the first time this morning.
I think I can speed along my morning routine by using the travel cup and taking the smoothie with me when I get in the shower. It worked well this morning. It reminded me a little bit of being in college or law school when I'd drink while getting ready to go out -- drinks were cheaper at home, it was fun to have a beer or something in the shower, and it was fun to get to the bar already buzzed.
So maybe for the next few weeks I try that. Saturday runs as scheduled. Wednesdays camp and running and late for work. Mondays camp with no running, or skipping camp entirely if I'm getting too sore or too tired.
If I can force myself to do Saturdays, that will get me to 4 days every single week. And if I can pull the double on Wednesdays, that will be my 5th day. And then the bonus day will be Fridays, whenever running is included at camp.
One other possible solution is to start running at night on Wednesdays. Our group has this cool social run that starts next week Wed. and lasts for 6 weeks to prepare for the St. Pat's 5k, which is my favorite race EVER. I have a bunch of friends who go for the 6 weeks and I could pretty easily get in 6 miles with the group.
The big obstacle is that our toughest run of the week is Thurs mornings at 5:15 (maybe soon to be starting at 5:00, coach is having us vote). So I'd have to go very, very easy on Wed nights in order to bring it on Thursdays.
Might try that for a couple weeks and see how it works out. Still very unsettled...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Dessert for Dinner
I think over the years, with more and more bad marathon weather days under my belt, including of course Chicago 2007, I've come to realize that if I put my whole life into training for a PR for months leading up to the race and then I encounter bad racing conditions, I am overwhelmingly bummed. Instead of looking at the fun I had while training or how much stronger I got or something, I'm disappointed not to have a new race PR to show for my efforts (plus I'm usually pissed to have spent vacation time and money traveling to the race). So my solution is to avoid feeling like training is taking over my life as much as possible. Sure, I'm not going to go out on a Saturday night when I have to run 18 or 20 miles at the crack o' dawn on Sunday. But I still want to do fun things!
So last night we went to the Dallas Wind Symphony with one of my best friends and her husband in their box. The performance was Feste Romane, and with our love of all things Italian, it was particularly great! Two downsides -- dinner and bedtime.
Dinner was my bad. I got stuck at work and had to go straight to the concert and meet hubby and friends there. I should have thought to heat up my emergency can of spaghettios before leaving work, but I didn't. So I got to the concert and was famished by the first intermission. I got in line for food and then realized my choices were limited to say the least. Tons of alcohol and coffee choices. For food, my choices were two kinds of cake (Italian cream, which probably had nuts, and chocolate, which I actually don't love in cake), brownies, cookies, or bread pudding. Not exactly what I had in mind for dinner.
I chose bread pudding. At least it was raisins and bread... So that was my dinner. Not good fuel for an easy 6 miles this morning. But I really don't want to complain about it. I try to remember all those years when all I wanted for dinner was dessert. Nights when I'd beg my folks to let me skip the meal and just have ice cream. I was convinced that when I grew up, I'd eat dessert for all my meals and never have to eat anything else. Oh, growing up isn't much fun. Now that I actually want good food for dinner and not just sweets, when I'm stuck eating just sweets for dinner (which is thankfully rare), I try to look at it as a concession to younger me. Just living the dream!
And then there was the timing issue. Usually on M/W/F, we go to boot camp. Class starts at 5:30, so I get up at 5 and move quickly. On Tu/Th, I run and we start at 5:15 and it's further away, so I get up at 4:40. And that's just me. Hubby has to be up even earlier because he needs extra time to get ready. So basically, on any weekday, the first alarm in our house goes off at 4:30 at the latest, sometimes earlier. Because we like our sleep, and I suppose since we haven't been married that long, we go to bed early, early, early. I'd say on any weeknight, I'm always asleep before 10, usually closer to 9.
Well, last night at 10:30, the symphony was just ending (and it took us a long time to get home b/c of a lost purse issue I had (don't ask, I have it now)). It was after 11 before I got to sleep. Not good for an alarm going off at 5, particularly since I'm used to solid sleep.
So we decided to skip boot camp this morning. I had 6 miles on the schedule anyway, so I think this is going to happen more and more frequently in the next few months. It just seems like a lot to do boot camp for an hour and then run 6 miles. I'd say 90 minutes is really the longest I like to exercise before work. Sure, I can stretch it to an hour and 45 minutes sometimes, but that just feels like a lot before work.
With this new schedule, on Wednesdays, there are lots of weeks where we're supposed to get in 5-8 miles, so I might have to skip camp those days.
Anyway, I slept in until just after 6 and then ran from home. I thought about grabbing my ipod and just running the trail, but thought it might be a little more interesting to run on the streets to downtown, and then run back on the trail. So no music, since it doesn't seem safe to me to listen when there are cars around. But in my mind, alarm bells are starting to go off when I think about my attitude this morning toward running on the trail. It's way too early in the season to be getting bored with the trail by our house. I guess that's the downside of going from fall marathon training straight into spring marathon training...
So last night we went to the Dallas Wind Symphony with one of my best friends and her husband in their box. The performance was Feste Romane, and with our love of all things Italian, it was particularly great! Two downsides -- dinner and bedtime.
Dinner was my bad. I got stuck at work and had to go straight to the concert and meet hubby and friends there. I should have thought to heat up my emergency can of spaghettios before leaving work, but I didn't. So I got to the concert and was famished by the first intermission. I got in line for food and then realized my choices were limited to say the least. Tons of alcohol and coffee choices. For food, my choices were two kinds of cake (Italian cream, which probably had nuts, and chocolate, which I actually don't love in cake), brownies, cookies, or bread pudding. Not exactly what I had in mind for dinner.
I chose bread pudding. At least it was raisins and bread... So that was my dinner. Not good fuel for an easy 6 miles this morning. But I really don't want to complain about it. I try to remember all those years when all I wanted for dinner was dessert. Nights when I'd beg my folks to let me skip the meal and just have ice cream. I was convinced that when I grew up, I'd eat dessert for all my meals and never have to eat anything else. Oh, growing up isn't much fun. Now that I actually want good food for dinner and not just sweets, when I'm stuck eating just sweets for dinner (which is thankfully rare), I try to look at it as a concession to younger me. Just living the dream!
And then there was the timing issue. Usually on M/W/F, we go to boot camp. Class starts at 5:30, so I get up at 5 and move quickly. On Tu/Th, I run and we start at 5:15 and it's further away, so I get up at 4:40. And that's just me. Hubby has to be up even earlier because he needs extra time to get ready. So basically, on any weekday, the first alarm in our house goes off at 4:30 at the latest, sometimes earlier. Because we like our sleep, and I suppose since we haven't been married that long, we go to bed early, early, early. I'd say on any weeknight, I'm always asleep before 10, usually closer to 9.
Well, last night at 10:30, the symphony was just ending (and it took us a long time to get home b/c of a lost purse issue I had (don't ask, I have it now)). It was after 11 before I got to sleep. Not good for an alarm going off at 5, particularly since I'm used to solid sleep.
So we decided to skip boot camp this morning. I had 6 miles on the schedule anyway, so I think this is going to happen more and more frequently in the next few months. It just seems like a lot to do boot camp for an hour and then run 6 miles. I'd say 90 minutes is really the longest I like to exercise before work. Sure, I can stretch it to an hour and 45 minutes sometimes, but that just feels like a lot before work.
With this new schedule, on Wednesdays, there are lots of weeks where we're supposed to get in 5-8 miles, so I might have to skip camp those days.
Anyway, I slept in until just after 6 and then ran from home. I thought about grabbing my ipod and just running the trail, but thought it might be a little more interesting to run on the streets to downtown, and then run back on the trail. So no music, since it doesn't seem safe to me to listen when there are cars around. But in my mind, alarm bells are starting to go off when I think about my attitude this morning toward running on the trail. It's way too early in the season to be getting bored with the trail by our house. I guess that's the downside of going from fall marathon training straight into spring marathon training...
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