I got there! 22 miles done!

This has been the toughest marathon training season yet, so I'm thrilled to say that I've reached the taper point. I completed my 22-mile run this morning with MIT.

I met early with Team 12, which again put my wakeup in the 4:30 range. I set out with Michele H., Kate, and Ruth, a half marathoner who was joining us. We ran 5.5 miles in one direction, stopped back at OhioHealth to drop Ruth off and be tortured by a bake sale, and then continued 5.5 miles in the other direction. This made it really easy to break the run up mentally, something I've really struggled with at this slower pace.

I'm too exhausted to do a mile-by-mile recap. I was in great company the entire way. I got the usual disheartened feeling at Mile 13 of being completely exhausted but nowhere near done, and the last five were really tough but I powered through. I was bummed that I didn't get to do a journey to The Shoe this year but it was nice to have a change of scenery!

I'm experimenting with a Gluten Free diet for a variety of reasons, which are well thought out and legit. (Plus, like, Miley Cyrus did it and she got so skinny... jk, jk). Kim B. has been so helpful, she's gotten many texts from me while I'm lost in the shelves of Kroger! (Which I've actually found to be the best of our two stores about labeling).

So, that brought about a problem for the run! Before every single long run I've eaten pasta the night before, a bagel with almond butter and preserves the morning of, and a bagel after. And Michele's email said something to the effect of "treat today's run like race day, don't have anything new." Well, unfortunately, there was lots new.

Last night for dinner I did broiled tilapia with a GF sauce and potatoes. This morning I had my almond butter and preserves on a GF english muffin, which wasn't horrible! And since I couldn't have a bagel after, I went for a snickers bar instead! Man it was hard walking past those bagels though! (And a bake sale, for that matter!) I did take 3 Clif Shots during the run which unfortunately might contain gluten, but I've done well otherwise.

Tonight, I have ice cream and wine, two things that are totally acceptable :)

Bring it on, Mr. Pig.

Taper time

PHEW!!!

The worst part of marathon training is officially over! I did my 22-mile run early Thursday and now I'm in taperville.

Overall it's been a very good season. I'm a lot more confident now. There were some bad days, but I knew I could complete every long run, and I did.

It was strange doing my longest run without MIT. I'm going to watch some friends in the Akron Marathon Saturday so I was up at 3:30 a.m. to do my long run. My friend Jamie came along for the first 16, then I was on my own, but she was kind enough to lend me her iPod since mine was dead.


The run went well. We started in downtown Granville with the plan to split it up into four parts, using our cars as a hydration point in between.

This reinforces the best advice I can give for these long hauls: Break the run up mentally. Just worry about getting to the next hydration point. It will make things so much easier!

First we went east from downtown and onto Raccoon Valley road. This part was kind of rough because of the hills. We did six miles out and back. As usual, for the first three I was achy and mentally overwhelmed because of what lay ahead, but Jamie and I talked the whole way and that really helped get my mind off the task at hand. It was really, really dark out and my headlamp did nothing for the fog.

After the first leg we went on the same sidewalk I've gotten to know really well. I was feeling better for the second leg, and felt strong getting back to the car at the halfway point. The third leg was rough, my legs got heavy and I was mentally and physically exhausted.

Jamie had to leave after Mile 16 so I was all by my lonesome. I was able to speed up but those last six were rough. I went down to the bike trail and ended up having to stop twice, but I did it!

I had the goal at the beginning of the week of running 45 miles. That is clearly not going to happen, but I'm happy I was able to get the long run in. I'm proud of myself for listening to my body on Tuesday. I was going to run six, but after about three steps I knew I had to take the day off and rest so I turned back.

Wet

Poor Mizunos.

Every Saturday MIT run has been an adventure. There was that day we went out in -2 degree weather, that day where ice pellets were bouncing off our faces, that day where the trail was too icy and we had to rough it up all those hills instead, etc...

And today: Water water everywhere.

It was pouring rain, though that eased off toward the end. Some of the puddles were 50-75 feet long and 6" deep. We did 16 miles, which took us all the way to OSU then back to Thomas Worthington High. My shoes and tights were caked with mud at the end. Our pace coach, Randy, suggested that we loosen the shoe up all the way and stuff it with newspaper, so that's what I did.

Despite the nasty blisters on my feet, I had a lot of fun today. The last two miles were really hard, thanks to my team for pushing me through. I started to make myself crazy checking my garmin all the time, so for the last 4 I tucked it under my jacket sleeve and made myself ignore it.

Edit: My splits were: 11:52, 10:18, 10:57, 10:58, 10:31, 10:16, 10:27, 10:41, 10:33, 10:34, 10:50, 10:47, 11:25, 10:32, 10:33, 10:02

I actually got a second pair of shoes Friday, Zoot's, that I can't wait to try out. Hopefully I'll get out in them for recovery Monday then I'll do another post.

I'm starting to settle in to a new Saturday routine that I love. (continued)

Head games

I have trouble doing long runs solo.

(Oh, and warning: This is going to be an incredibly wonk-ish post)

My legs can take it, but my brain can't. There's something about the knowledge that I have 8-10-12 ahead of me that makes me unable to do even two.

I haven't had that problem in awhile because of MIT. Having other people around is both the motivation and the distraction I need to get through the long miles.

Life got in the way and I didn't get my miles in Tuesday, so I decided to tack on an extra mile to yesterday and today's runs. That made 8 and 6. And it was beautiful weather for Central Ohio in March, so I took it outside.

The mental block hit right away both days. But this time, I beat it.

My problem was, when I start those runs my brain is saying: "It's either run 8, or run 0. I don't think I can do 8, so therefore..."

So, as I started out my 8, I kept repeating to myself... "If I can only do five today that's fine. If you start to feel tired, no big deal."

Wednesday wasn't bad at all, today was a little tougher -- I was pretty tired through the whole thing but survived (at a sub-10:00 pace, nonetheless!)

Despite not being able to run Tuesday I had a very good week. Did a slow 3-mile recovery Monday, then the 8 and 6. Did spin class tonight and lifted Monday and today. Tomorrow I'm taking off and I have (gulp) 16 Saturday. Providing I complete the long run that will give me 33 for the week.

8 miles in sub-zero temperatures

BURR It was cold this morning! Accuweather forecast for Worthington for when we were running is to the left. I repeat, burr!

A girl in my group had it right, it definitely takes a certain kind of person to get out there on these types of mornings. I never would have considered myself that kind of person, but there I was.

We did 8 miles in 1 hour and 26 minutes, giving me 23 miles for the week.

I wore my MIT jacket, a long sleeved tee and a long sleeved tech tee. I wore a pair of athletic pants over the Under Armour compression tights I bought yesterday.

Normally you start off cold and warm up quickly, but not today. One mile in... freezing. Two miles in... still freezing. Three miles in, I didn't even want to stop for water, cold drinks of any kind were not appealing in the least. I went for my Gu Chomps, and those were frozen... completely inedible!

The girls all had frosty hair and eyebrows. My Garmin couldn't take the cold, it kept going back and forth between 5 and 9 mph.

After we turned around at three I was just numb. By mile four I'm starting to get some feeling back in my chest and thighs. By mile five I can feel my arms and legs. It wasn't until mile six that I can say I was at all comfortable.

I was going to stop at six but a girl in my group talked me into doing an extra two. Why not, it took so long to get warmed up, might as well keep going!

Burr. And yes I know I lived in Maine for 2.5 years, but still, BURR!!!

Not sure on the plan for next week yet, I'm exhausted, time to curl up with a book in my nice warm bed (which it looks like I'll be sharing with two stubborn greyhounds, one of which has made a nest with all my blankets.)

Here's the beauty of going to MIT every Saturday morning: I get my run out of the way first thing, then I get all my other errands done on the way in. By noon I am done done done done done for the weekend!

22 miles this week!

Today I decided to be slightly foolish and jumped two weeks ahead in my training schedule. Actually, it's more like switching to a training schedule for a marathon two weeks ahead of mine, at least for now.

Most of my pace team is training for a race circa the beginning of May. The others training for Cleveland are doing the entirety of the long runs with them, so I decided to as well. Today I was scheduled for 7. I ran 9. And felt awesome after. 

I'm deviating heavily from my training program during the week. I'm swapping a shorter run for a hills day, and another shorter run for a cross training day.  The remaining two runs I do Monday and Wednesday, with Sundays and Fridays off.

The training schedule calls for six days running, but Coach Randy said that wasn't really necessary. Maybe I'll try swimming on Fridays, once the crowd at the Y tapers off (it's already starting too).

I passed 20 miles this week for the first time since Salt Fork. Here's the graph:

I am incredibly worn down. This week was long and exhausting on several fronts. To tired to tag and link this post up, I'll finish that up tomorrow. Tonight is all about the red wine and crime dramas. Later this week I'll do a post about food. I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joes tonight, and got some goodies that I'm really excited about.

So not ready for Salt Fork... but haven't I said that before?

10 mile trail race, what on earth was I thinking! The Salt Fork run is next Saturday. 

Then again, I made this post about a week before the Nu Race Trail Run, and this post shortly before the Indian Run. 

Before the Nu Race run, I simply wrote: "Yalp"

Before the Indian run I wrote: "I think I'm in over my head."

After the Nu Race run I wrote: "My first 1st place finish!"

After the Indian Run I wrote: "I can't believe I did it in under an hour"

And believe me, I was saying similar stuff before my first 5k. So yea, I'll be fine! 

Redemption!

There's nothing like being paranoid about being lost, dodging traffic and having a running buddy to make 11 miles seem like nothing. I am feeling 10,000 times better!

Ok, it wasn't that bad. It was just enough to keep me distracted to complete the distance. It was probably just about 11 miles.

I was meeting up with a friend from work to run. Since I wanted to get a long run in, I ran 3.5 miles to her house, ran 3.75 miles with her and then did the 3.5 back. Most of it wasn't bad, I just need to find a few good side streets in between Waterworks Road and the road leading up to her place so I can stay off Mount Vernon and 21st Street. Not very pedestrian friendly, but that was only a short ways.

I think I have a nasty blister, otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.

Abstract bricks

Every time I've failed to complete a run I've known I was doomed within the first two miles. It's actually pretty good motivation... because once I make it past those first two I know I'll make it the rest of the way.

I hit a wall today, though. I went out for my first 12-miler, per the training program, and I just couldn't do it. Couldn't make the legs function. I survived the first mile, albeit barely. Forced myself to stretch for five minutes. Made it another half mile beyond that, and then my legs just quit. Felt like I was wearing giant bricks instead of shoes. I was achy, nothing in particular, just really, really tired. So that makes my weekly mileage a pathetic 17 miles.

I know I'll have off-days from time to time. Still it's discouraging!

I thought I did everything right... ate carbs out the wa-zoo yesterday, took yesterday off from any activity, drank Gatorade beforehand, etc. So what went wrong? It could be any number of things.

24 miles logged this week

What a beautiful fall morning... I did 10 miles in Granville. Slight soreness but it's tolerable.

I logged 24 miles this week over 4 runs, and surprisingly that wasn't my highest week to date... a couple weeks ago I totaled 24.7. Both Monday and today I pushed my long runs a little further because it has just been so nice out, managed 8 on Monday and 10 today. On Wednesday I did hill repeats on the treadmill and my legs seriously hurt so I barely eeked out 3 Thursday.

Saturday mornings in Granville are marvelous. The farmers market is always packed, there are a ton of people out on the bike trail and there's this wonderful little coffee shop with great fair trade blends. Such a stark contrast from Newark.

I've been feeling really good on my long runs... usually I fall into a good rhythm after the first 2, around a 10 minute pace, and the rest of the way is a breeze (as long as the iPod is charged up... the Hold Steady's new one is my latest favorite). I need to find some hillier routes for my shorter runs, though. Dawes is always good, I'll try to get there next week.

I'm shaking things up, trying to decide if I want to move up to 5 days of running or stick with one day on the elliptical.