The Long Weekend...

Last weekend (yes the one that just ended yesterday) I took an unscheduled weekend off from training and went home. The trip itself wasn't unscheduled. It had been in the works for a while as a belated Valentines Day celebration trip. But the break from Pittsburgh Marathon training (and not doing a long run last weekend) definitely wasn't planned, but it was well needed...

The truth is my body is tired and I'm tinkering dangerously close to pushing myself into "overuse injury territory". I've been there before. In fact I've been there so often that I recognize the signals long before I reach that dreaded destination. But now that I'm approaching year 5 as a runner I'm wise enough to force myself to stop before I get too close. The wisdom doesn't erase the frustration and disappointment I feel though. And despite knowing that not pushing the limit was the right thing to do, I still feel sad that I'm not getting the mileage completed.

I've never had an uneventful marathon training cycle; probably because running doesn't really come naturally for me. I mean, I wasn't the last one picked for races/relays in school, being picked second to last wasn't much better. So when I started running in 2013 I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. This year, and this training season has been no exception...

This training cycle I've been feeling exhausted... all the time. Despite getting a full nights sleep I still don't wake up feeling rested. And, to add "injury to insult" (so to speak) I'm having shin splints and other areas of concern that are more tender/sore than normal. Some of my usual fixes haven't been implemented yet, i.e. I haven't focused on cross training and strength training as much as I should; I foam roll about as frequently as I'm able to achieve a sub-11 minute per mile pace (in other words, rarely); and every day I set ambitious hydration and nutrition goals only to be undermined by my sweet tooth (and salty tooth... and "any kind of red wine" tooth).

In isolation (and moderation) any of those things probably aren't horrible per se... but the combination is certainly not ideal. And unfortunately they have all been the background tapestry of my marathon training. I have just about two months to go before Pittsburgh so I still have time and (fortunately) I haven't veered completely off course, but I'm definitely not as far along as I would like to be. So the time to auto correct is right now; and after my long weekend off I'm refocused and re-energized...

The next two weeks will have 4 days of running each week, followed by three weeks of 3 days of running per week. Then in April I go back to 4 days of running and before I know it Race Week will be here! My swimming will also pick up steam (in terms of frequency but not necessarily intensity). I'm capping my swimming workouts at 60 minutes (with a minimum duration of 30 minutes). I decided to focus on duration for cross training because I want to ensure it's adding to my overall fitness without making me too exhausted to complete my runs. And I'm definitely keeping my commitment to have a solid rest (and sleep in) day.

So the countdown is on... 2 months to go (just about), which means I have 4 really long runs, 4 moderately long runs, and my taper runs left. I've got this!

You still have time to sign up and join me in Pittsburgh in May! Register (via the link below) and use my discount code (YOUNGDSGPM18) for any of the race distances!

(register here)

What do you do when your training isn't going according to plan?

Do you find it hard to stay motivated and focused during long training cycles?

How many running vs. cross training days do you complete each week?

DNF...

At some point in our running careers most of us have had a DNF ("did not finish") for a run. Usually the acronym is reserved for not finishing a race, but for me I use it when I don't finish my designated mileage for my training runs as well. I've (fortunately) never had to DNF a race, but training runs... that's a completely different story.

Today was one of those DNF training run days. My legs felt like lead from the very beginning; and between not getting enough sleep last night and being mentally exhausted from a very long, equally frustrating work week, I just could not push myself to do more than 6 (of the planned 10) miles.

I've been trying different strategies to work on mental preparation for my runs and my races because 9 times out of 10 the problem is less of a physical limitation and more of a "I'm not confident that I can do this" limitation. Mental training is hard. Especially since I'm not one of those overly confident individuals to begin with. And when it comes to running I doubt myself a lot.

This morning there was an "awkward yeti" type battle between my various organ systems...
Brain: Can I get through 10 miles?
Legs: I'm tired
Heart: I want to go back to bed
Stomach: I'm hungry
Brain: Well...
Legs: I'm still tired
Heart: I'm really sleepy
Nose: *sniff*
Stomach: Is that fresh baked bread?
Nose: *sniff sniff*
Stomach: *grumbles*
Brain: Well...
Heart: If I was sleeping right now I would be so happy
Brain: Fiiine
Legs: No I think I can
Brain: Too late I'm done. Let's stop at 6 miles
All: YAY!!!!!!

So I stopped at 6 miles. I was running with Mimi who continued on to complete the remaining 4 miles (after we took a quick post-run pic)...

Considering I did a (virtual) half marathon last weekend and I have the Tropical 5K and Miami Half Marathon next weekend, I'm not upset that upset about my DNF training run today. I may do a few miles if others from my running group want to hit the road tomorrow morning. If not, I might just sleep, or swim, or sleep, or do some weight training, or sleep.

This week (so far) I've done two 4 milers and two 6 milers. The distance sets were almost identical...

I'm trying to focus on incremental measurable goals for each week so that I can track my improvement (and not get thrown off by any one run). This week, for example, the group increased our run:walk intervals to 90s:30s and my personal goal was to maintain a sub-12 mins/mile average pace for all my runs (mission accomplished). Next week the running duration won't increase, but the new pace goal will be sub-11:45mins/mile. Each week will have a new goal and I will continue to set new weekly goals once I have accomplished the goal of the current week.

I'm doing the same for cross training. My goal was to swim twice this week for a minimum of 30 minutes each session. I only got through one 30 min session (on Monday) so next week I will aim for the same 2 swim session goal 💪.

What are your plans for this weekend?

Any races planned for the rest of January?

Did you accomplish all your training goals this week?

This Is The Year...

I'm declaring my marathon PR from now. I'm not going to let my own self-doubts (that are sure to creep up) stop me. I'm not going to let the (ridiculous) negative comments from people stop me. And I'm not going to let the fact that the pace I need for my PR goal (which I have not seen/sustained for a while) stop me. This is the year of my marathon PR. One of many probably hopefully.

link

2015 was a good (albeit injury filled year) for running, and 2017 showed good promise for the shorter distances...

But 2018? Well this year is the year that surpasses all other years. This is the year of PRs! The year of my running goals. The year that I take back the passion and dedication that I allowed to get lost in the abyss of doubts, demands, and declining commitment. 

It's going to be a GREAT year. I can just feel it!

What are you looking forward to this year?

Do you have any specific goals for your running/training?

Do you love The Awkward Yeti comics as much as I do?

Training Tips & Sunday Specials...

Today's Training Tip: Do not eat a pint of ice cream and go to bed late the night before a long run. 

I was exhausted and sluggish for this morning's long run. I can deal with "running while tired" (I've done that before) but running while tired and loaded with 720 unnecessary sugar calories was not the best idea. In any event I got it done. I still can't figure out how to turn off the auto save feature on my Garmin vivoactive (if you happen to know please tell me because it's the most annoying thing) so my run was saved in two segments: 3.77 miles "before the restroom break" and 6.45 miles "after the restroom break" for a total of 10.22 miles:

(average pace: ~ 12:00 minutes/mile)

Overall it was a decent run (even though I felt like I was slowing Mimi down)...

And after the run I went home, took a shower, and went back to sleep for a few hours. I gave Kai strict instructions to wake me up again at 11:45am so that I didn't sleep the entire day; and when I finally got up we went for a special Mother-Daughter lunch date at one of my favorite restaurants...

(@JAlexander's)

Tangent Thursday...

It's a Tangent Thursday kind of day! 

Currently on my wish list...

(this medal hanger from Sport Hooks)

I'm going to wait until I've completed at least 50% of the races before I order it (so by the time I finish Berlin in September). And then I think I'm going to have to put Tokyo on the books for 2018 so that I can start balancing it out 😉). 

It's hard to believe that I'm talking about all these marathons when I can remember my first real race (a 5K) like it was only yesterday...

And now here I am actively pursuing the World Marathon Majors and a 2017 running streak...