The Happiness Project...

Too often I've found myself faced with disappointments. Whether that be with performance, or pace, or how my legs feel during/after a run etc. I know that's not unique to me as a runner (we've all been there at one point or another) but I've definitely dealt with them often and, it seems, with increased frequency recently.

To be fair, it is entirely possible that my unwavering commitment to elevated expectations is directly proportionally to the frequency with which I am disappointed. And some would say that an "expect nothing" philosophy would unburden me of the daunting weight of unmet goals. But if I approached my running (or my life) with that view... what would be the point? Yes, I want to be happy with my running, but I am most happy when I meet the running goals I set for myself.

That being said... I decided to cancel the Chicago Marathon this year.

The decision was not easy (although I have to admit it became a lot easier when I remembered how much I suffered with blisters during Summer training last year). But once I made it... and cancelled my hotel reservation... I was sure it was the best decision for me.

The reality is my body needs a break and I refuse to have another disappointing marathon experience. I've trained hard for all of the marathons I've done and my current statistics do not contain the type of motivation and encouragement I need to start training for another one (at least not right now):
# of full marathons completed: 4
# of marathon training cycles with injuries: 3
# of marathon finishes over six hours: 3
# of marathons where I got injured on the course: 3
# of times those injuries included my left knee: 3
# of times I cried after the marathon was over: 2
# of times I cried during the marathon: 4
# of marathons I still want to complete (Plan A goal): 22
# of marathons to reach my Plan B goal: 9
# of marathons to reach my Plan C goal: 3

The 2018 Chicago Marathon would have been my 5th marathon and a good option for a marathon PR (since everything about the event is amazing)... but I need a break.

So instead of focusing on a Fall full marathon I've decided to focus on a Fall half marathon and aim for a PR at that distance. This goal is now the mission of my Happiness (running) Project for 2018. On my way to achieving a half PR, I've also decided to throw in a 10K PR, a 15K PR, some goals for strength training and swimming, and an optimistic (while still being healthy) goal range for weight and body fat %.

I've got 7 months to get all that done... let the challenge begin!

Training restarts next week (as in the week starting on Monday May 21st) and I've tentatively created a diverse plan for myself as a starting point to what the rest of the year is going to look like. There are a lot more cross training activities included in the plan (each one with a different goal) and I'm limiting my running days to 3 days per week. I'm still going to do my group runs with my running BFFs Mimi and Suzanne as they train for Chicago, but I'll do less mileage for the long runs (since I'm focusing on a half marathon PR).

2019 will come with its own set of goals (and yes, I'm already planning for what next year will look like), a lot of which will depend on if I get into the London (or Tokyo) marathon. I'm really hoping for London since it will give me more time to train and would be less likely to disrupt my revised goals/plans for 2018. Because I always have a Plan B... I contemplated trying to get a marathon PR at Big Sur if I didn't get into London (but I revised those thoughts when I read the course description... I'm not a fan of hills right now). Then I thought about the New Jersey marathon (which is the same weekend so training would be the same), or even the Prague marathon (on the first weekend in May).

I still haven't decided.

One thing I do know is that the next time I start training for a full the goal will be to PR (not just finish), and as a result the choice of event will be significantly impacted by course difficulty, weather, and the potential for an overall amazing race experience. Training for "lucky marathon #5" will also be designed to my specific needs... which I'm about 90% 75% sure I'm fully knowledgeable of.

Anyway, for right now my focus is on getting stronger, faster, and healthier... and earning my half marathon PR. All that's left to do is pick a goal race (in December).

What does the rest of 2018 look like for you?

Have you ever had to start from scratch with your training?

What was your favorite half marathon?

A Match Made In Training Heaven...

You know what's better than running? Well, nothing. But you know what's almost as great as running? Cross training! And I'm not just talking about the dynamic stretching that most of us runners do say we do before our runs. I mean an actual cross training activity that's fun, non-impact (or minimal impact), and one that helps strengthen all those under-used non-running muscles.

My go-to cross training activity is swimming. When I do it consistently I really feel an improvement in my endurance level. But, to be honest, it's also the activity that I opt out of a lot. When I feel like my body needs rest I'm more likely to skip a cross training day than I am to miss out on a run...

I'm even worse with body weight strength training and CrossFit type activities cause let's face it... squats suck, burpees will kill you, and no box is low enough for me to jump on it without immediately falling off.

The problem with being inconsistent with cross training (mainly because I'm not good at it) is that I will NEVER be good at it without being consistent. I really have no excuse because consistent cross training with steady improvement will help me run better and stronger. And when I’ve stuck with it during my marathon training I’ve noticed those exact results.

Over the past few years and training cycles I've complied a list of my top 7 cross training tips that (when I actually follow them) have proved to be beneficial. My goal is to follow them as I train for the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 6th because I have some serious PR goals for that race...

Hopefully some of these tips will help you when training for your next big event!

1. Choose a cross training activity that you LIKE to do

Nothing is worse than dreading your workout. And, if you choose a cross training activity that you hate, you're less likely to do it (and certainly less likely to do it well). Try and incorporate a form of cross training that you like to do! Make it a "break from running" that will ultimately help improve your running.

2. Cross training should supplement (not impede) your running

If your cross training activities are too intense then you essentially won't give your body enough time to rest and recover. With marathon training "time on your feet" matters a lot. However, if your muscles are sore from your running miles AND sore from all the minutes you spend cross training, then eventually you'll be too sore to do anything at all! Cross training should complement your marathon training, not detract from it.

3. Schedule cross training with the same commitment that you give your training runs

It's easy to give in to the temptation to skip a cross training day. Try not to. Make it an essential part of your overall marathon training plan and tackle it with the same commitment that you do your runs. Of course, if your body needs rest or you're injured then take the time off you need. But don't skip cross training just for the sake of doing so. It's important so treat it as such.

4. Join forces with a friend for extra motivation

You know how those miles fly by when you're running with a friend? Well cross training can be even more enjoyable when you're working out with a friend. Use the opportunity to motivate each other while simultaneously supporting each other. Whether it's one more rep or one more lap in the pool, help each other get it done!

5. Avoid impact activities that don't allow your legs to rest

Running works specific leg muscles and they need rest. Doing high (and even moderate) impact activities can inhibit your ideal "leg rest" period. Try to incorporate cross training activities that work different muscles and are less taxing on your legs. It's especially important to work on strengthening your core and upper body (as those areas tend to be neglected when marathon training).

6. Track your progress just like you track your miles

Who doesn't like setting a goal and accomplishing it right? Cross training goals are important. Start off by determining your baseline (e.g. How many pool laps can you swim without stopping? What weight can you lift for strength training? etc.) and aim for steady incremental improvements. Do you max out at 20 squats? Aim for 25 the next time. Can you swim up to 800 meters? Aim for 1000 the next time. Focus on gradual improvement and celebrate those accomplishments!

7. Don't forget the goal is to become a stronger runner!

At the end of the day when you’re training for a marathon your goals should be to finish strong and injury-free. And, for many of us, we also want to finish as fast as we can while ensuring those first two goals are accomplished. Cross training should always focus on those end goals. It should be fun and, just as importantly, it should be beneficial.

Since we are at the official start of training for the Pittsburgh Marathon (did you guys do the kick off training run last Sunday?) now is the best time to figure out what cross training activity (or even a couple of activities) you're going to do to get ready for the big day! And if you still haven’t registered yet, use my discount code: YOUNGDSGPM18 for $10 off your registration fee (you can register HERE).

I look forward to seeing you on the course!

What’s your favorite cross training activity?

How many cross training days do you schedule in your half/full marathon training plan?

True/False: Squats are worse than Burpees (my answer – TRUE!)

Consecutive Days of Running...

I completed 193 consecutive days of running. One Nine Three. But now...

I made the decision to listen to my body and not my stubborn desire to be a part of the Running Streakers Hall of Fame (I'm actually not sure if they have one... but they should). So I haven't run since Wednesday, in order to rest my ankle, and today was my first attempt at cross training since the streak ended...

I've also been icing my ankle on and off for the past week and it's wrapped up with an ACE bandage most of the time...

Jumpstarting The Weekend...

I was able to find my way to the gym this morning! I actually woke up around 3am and could not go back to sleep, so I figured it would a good idea to get a strength training workout in. Initially I was going to run after the gym but the air was nice and cool outside so I used the one mile run as my strength training warm up...

(not a bad pace for a 3am run 😊)

I was exhausted after and gasping for breath, so I did a cool down walk and was finally able to take a post-run selfie...

And then I went to the gym. I have a routine that I normally do on the leg press that's based on this...

Running, Strength Training & Putting The Pieces Together

Today started with a 10K training run with my running group...

(We had a new member today... Welcome Mimi!!!)

After the run we had a quick group meeting/strategy session to discuss our 2017 running goals and current scheduled races. Post-run meetings like these are best conducted with the assistance of Starbucks...

Our group is definitely growing and evolving, and as it does the delicate art of balancing competing priorities becomes even more important. Especially for our group because we took a very grassroots approach to starting it and recruiting members. One of my main priorities for 2017 is getting a half marathon PR. Fortunately most of the group is hoping to improve their pace also. Our biggest challenge will be getting everyone to their ideal pace at a rate that will facilitate all our race goals. 

For example, I have a half marathon every month (for the most part) up until June; however my training for Berlin is supposed to start at the end of May. Since there will be some overlap between my half marathon race schedule and my Berlin training, I want to get my half marathon PR before the latter starts. Which means I have a little less than four months to achieve this goal. It seems like a lot of time... but it's not. It's certainly doable, but the time frame doesn't allow for much room for error. 

The Last 48...

In the last 48 hours I've spent a lot of time "working out" in a way that's scientifically equivalent to several hours in the gym...

Of course, some people argue that the study isn't true...

(haters)

I only found the first study to be personally useful so I followed the advice in the Bruce Lee quote on the Science for Life website (circled in blue).

Unfortunately I'm not training for a wine drinking marathon, although that should totally be a thing (that's probably not 100% healthy though.... probably). Since a "wine marathon" isn't currently on the schedule I decided to go to the gym today. Plus, I realized how lame my excuses for not training have become...

Treat Yourself Tuesday

Today was "Treat Yourself Tuesday" (I totally made that up by the way, but I think it should be the next big social media campaign). In honor of this momentous occasion I decided to treat myself to whatever I wanted today. Well... as much as I wanted to treat myself to another day off, I still went to work because "Treat Yourself Tuesday" does not supercede "Pay the Rent Wednesday" or "Provide for Kai Every Day" ;)

I've been emotionally marinating in a stage of chronic sadness for the past several days weeks. Some days have been better than others, but most still suck. The simmering sadness has affected both my training and my blogging (which you probably already knew based on the inconsistency of both). The cause(s) of this chronic state are irrelevant to this post so I will spare you the details, but the point is I'm trying to cheer up, hence the newly proclaimed "Treat Yourself Tuesday" (TYT for short).

The first order of business for TYT was to head back to the gym. So at my former usual 3am hour I was immersed in a world of indoor hiking expeditions on the Stair climber. I did that for about 20 minutes and then I did several reps on the weight machines and air squats with dumbbells. Hopefully I will have the motivation to get back into the habit of regular cross training...

Ten Days To Go & Trying to Stay Motivated...

My Sarasota Half Marathon Relay is coming up in 10 days!!! and this is the medal I can look forward to...

(I know...so pretty right?!)

It hasn't really been a great training week. Actually the past few weeks haven't been great. I've tried to run a few times and I swam a few times, but mostly I've been doing strength training. I'm learning how to squat. It's a struggle and I'm not that great at it (you know how the whole "try not to fall over with the 45lb weight bar" thing can be a challenge). I hope I get better though because I don't want my trainer to think he's wasting his time, and the strength training is supposed to help me stay injury-free. That's the goal at least.

This morning was a swimming day...

Weekend Recap...(oh and Happy Monday!!!)

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I'm feeling very accomplished (as I type this at 5am) because I already finished my swimming workout for today...

5Ks & Weights...

Since I ran on Sunday, Monday was a mandatory rest day. And then apparently so was Tuesday. I was tempted to take another "rest day" yesterday (not because I needed it, just because I didn't feel like doing anything) but I got up (at the crack of dawn) determined to do a 5K run. When I got outside yesterday morning and started my warm up walk (1/2 mile lap around my complex) I saw that most of the street (sidewalk?) lights were out. I immediately got nervous. It's weird because sometimes I'm out there running at crazy early hours in the morning and I feel fine. Like I'm invincible. Like I dare anybody to come mess with me! (I'm totally kidding, that's not an invitation). But yesterday I was nervous. Whenever I get that gut feeling that I should not be outdoors, running, in the dark, alone, I stop and go back inside. I live in a safe neighborhood but still... you just never know.

So instead of a Wednesday morning run I ran in the evening...

(Why can't all my runs be like this?)

1.5 Miles ~ 10.5 Hours ~ 12 Inches ~ 2.5 Weeks...

So yesterday morning, in a moment of brilliance, I clicked the "run" icon on my Garmin instead of the "swim" icon, as I dove into the pool. And by "dove" I mean gingerly lowered my body into the frigid pool water. And by "frigid" I really mean lukewarm (but for me if it's not HOT water then it's cold water). I didn't realize my mistake until 0.23 miles into the swim when I looked at the watch and discovered the distance was being tracked in miles and not meters.

I decided not to adjust it because I was worried I would lose the data for the distance I had already completed (although in hindsight I really could have just saved it and started a new session). Anyway, at the end of the 1.5 mile swim (yes one and a half miles; and yes it took forever) I eventually saved the session. When I got home I spent several minutes trying to convert the session from running to swimming, and the distance from miles to meters, on the Garmin Connect website. It worked for the former but not for the latter so my OCD went into overdrive...

(See?! Nothing is rounded!)

The Week Behind & What Lies Ahead...

In the past week I've been to my Chiropractor three times and my Sports Medicine fellowship trained Orthopedic Surgeon once. They both have given me the "ok" to run (yay!). My Chiropractor said "just don't overdo it" and when I responded with a blank stare he clarified and said "start with 3 miles and slowly increase from there". My Sports Med doc said "no long runs". He didn't catch the blank stare so he offered no further clarification...but he did say I could run every other day.

In addition to mileage reductions I have to start "intense physical therapy" for my current injury diagnosis: Right Trochanteric Bursitis and IT Band Syndrome. That starts on Wednesday of this coming week. And there was also a change in my prescribed anti-inflammatory medication. Sigh. It sounds like a lot doesn't it?

I'm approaching this whole thing with renewed focus and determination. I will be running in the Chicago marathon this October. End. Of. Story. In keeping with my renewed focus I was trying to find motivating stories of marathon runners to keep me from getting discouraged and came across this one...

**If Fauja can do it at age 89, then I can do this at age 35 right?**

The Year of The Full: Chapter Six - What the Doctor Ordered...

Nowadays I try not to over think my aches and pains. That's not true... I totally over think them. But sometimes I wonder if I went from one extreme (assuming the pain is not a big deal when it actually is (which is how I was last year)) to the other (assuming every ache and pain is an issue when it isn't). I guess in the grand scheme of things it's better to assume the worst and find out nothing is wrong, than to assume nothing is wrong and end up not being able to run for a long period of time...

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Last year I ignored my hamstring pain and I ended up with months of physical therapy and even more months of regret. Not to mention the cost of therapy, medication, the registration fees I lost etc...

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Going to Bed Satisfied...

{I wonder how many people clicked on the blog title thinking this post was going to go in an entirely new direction? Hmmm...}

A while back I posted that I was going to implement a new bedtime for myself (read all about it HERE). It isn't going well. The bedtime still exists, I just find myself distracted with a million things and as a result end up going to bed way past it.

And of course the likelihood that I will skip my gym workout is directly proportional to how late I stay up the night before. Needless to say I was up late last night (blogging and reading other blogs) and completely skipped the gym this morning...

Going to bed satisfied means waking up determined

Not even one?

The humidity was already more than 90% by the time I got up to go to the gym at 4am this morning (did I already mention that I'm not looking forward to training in the Summer?? The humidity is going to be dreadful!) Since I haven't done any significant strength training in a while I decided to focus on that this morning. As always I did a leg workout. I plan to incorporate upper body strength training into my routine, but probably not with the weight machines. Instead I'm going to try and do push-ups.

Sadly, I can't do a proper push-up. Not even one! It's very distressing because the fitness gurus that I see on social media make it look so easy. But when I try and do it there is some type of invisible anti-gravitational force preventing me from "lowering my body in a controlled manner"...

I do more of a "stay up on wobbly arms until I collapse face first on the floor" movement

Finally! A Friday Morning Victory...

There has been a raging battle between my desire for more sleep in the morning and my desire to get up and go to the gym. Sleep has been winning. A lot. But this morning the gym finally had a victory...

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I was up early (really early by recent standards, but at the "regular" time based on my typical gym sessions)...

But I wasn't the only crazy person in the gym at that time. It only looks that way in the pictures because they don't really want you to take photos or videos in the gym (so my compromise is: No photos with other people in them)...