22 miles done, and time to taper

Today, I realized that the marathon is totally in the bag.

I had my 22-mile run with MIT. Toward the end, I was hurting, really hurting,  but ultimately I could have kept going for 4.2 more miles. And, coming off nearly 3 weeks of maintenance, I know I'll get it done.

In a backwards way I'm glad it was humid out. This was our first really humid run, so now I'll know I survived it come race day. Heck, we've had every other type of weather.

The run was fun, the coaches took shifts so the 3 of us running 22 had company the whole way. I remember getting a pit in my stomach at mile 8, realizing I was only halfway done. Mile 14-15 took us up and around OSU stadium so we had the fun distraction of watching the pre-game shenanigans. I started to feel really tired around Mile 18, Mile 19 felt like an eternity. After the last water stop we had 1.5 left, and somehow I found the energy to really push it in -- I think my brain and body wanted it to be done with.

22 miles in 3:49, average pace of 10:26. Splits were: 10:52, 10:27, 10:47, 10:37, 10:32, 10:34, 9:03, 10:02, 10:29, 10:19, 10:34, 10:28, 10:32, 11:17, 10:44, 10:29, 10:53, 10:26, 10:42, 10:26, 10:08, 9:15.

That gives me 44 miles for the week, my highest yet.

Maybe I'll update later with some more stats... I'm curious to see what my April total will be.

Hitting the big 2-0... Now, I feel better

Today, I got up at 4:30 a.m. and ran 20 miles. Mentally I'm feeling great, race day is approaching very quickly and getting past 20 was a huge confidence-boost for the 26.2. Physically, my legs feel pretty much like you'd expect them to feel after running 20 miles.

This week was also my first 40-mile week.

The Cleveland Marathon is now 35 days away. May 15. Just over a month from now.

Most of the full marathoners were going early so I sucked it up, woke up at 4:30, and was at Thomas Worthington at 6. The first 9 miles were very peaceful, we ran on the Olentangy Trail to the gazebo, up through Worthington Hills and back to the school. Worthington Hill wasn't that bad the first time. The fatigue started to hit as we went up the hill to the school.

We met up with the full 10:30 MIT crew at 8 back at the school and headed out again. Things were starting to get sore, but I was distracted for the next three miles because the whole group was with us and they, just starting out, had a lot of energy.  (continued)

I'm still alive, sorta

I'm still alive, I'm still around, I've just had to take a hiatus from blogging for awhile. Life has been pretty nuts, I'm in the process of moving so I've been doing a lot of packing and cleaning. Work has just been pretty nuts with the Kasich budget, and marathon training is just kicking my butt.

After the second 18-miler I just got into a real rut. I was exhausted all the time, everything hurt while running, it wasn't enjoyable at all. Then a nasty cold forced me to take a few days off. Now I'm back, and today was one of those run-past-the-turnaround-point-without-even-noticing runs. And tomorrow: 20 miles. I'm ready, I'm confident.

Cleveland marathon in 36 days. I'm ready!

Yasso, Death Valley, 18 miles, and a very tired me

I won a book and got it autographed.

I've been neglecting my blog all week. I'm not dead. Actually, I'm in pretty good shape and quite healthy. Just been tired. And busy. In a nutshell, if I haven't been passed out exhausted, I've been packing up in hopes of finally leaving my crappy apartment. And, as much as I love MIT, I'm looking forward to finally getting off road at Alum Creek tomorrow.

First things first -- Bart Yasso spoke to MIT last week and he was amazing. He was so remarkable, had so many stories (Bare Buns run, Beth?)

And yea, I thought the Warrior Dash was crazy?  Bush league. He had some hilarious stories from the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley.

After we got to run with Bart for a bit, which was just fantastic, though I really didn't get to talk to him, there is photographic evidence of the experience!

I'm the one in the blue jacket waving my arms.

Saturday's run was wonderful, but insane. It was our first 18-mile day. Me and another in our group, Bill, started out behind so we ran sub-9:00 miles to catch up with the rest of the 10:30s. We slowed to regular pace for awhile. Our group shrunk considerably after the halfs turned off, and we were down to 4 by the turnaround. Then someone took a spill, so I ran ahead with Bill from the group. We were definitely headed back fast -- we ended at a sub-10:00 pace. I also tried Gu, it wasn't bad.

Here are the splits: (There are a lot of splits)
8:23, 8:58, 9:32, 10:16, 11:06, 10:08, 10:24, 10:10, 10:12, 10:11, 10:12, 10:12, 9:59, 10:08, 9:43, 9:22, 9:12, 9:56.

That gave me 36 miles for the week, a new record.

I felt great during and after the run. I was feeling good through lunch, through my dentists appointment, through shopping at Easton. Took the dogs for a walk, relaxed and watched a movie, didn't even need my usual nap.

And Sunday morning... crash. Seriously, I woke up way late in immense pain. Everything hurt. And I was so tired. I remember lying on my couch, and the alarm went off to switch laundry, and it took a good half hour to get my lazy butt up to do it. Monday wasn't any better, getting out of bed to go to work was rough. I eeked out 3 miles on the treadmill at a 12:00 pace. I woke up Tuesday with random cramps in my legs. I took the day off. Wednesday I went 6 on the bike trail, felt good during and immediately after but the soreness came back. I felt good doing three with Lizzie the dog yesterday, but my knees were hurting after. Today I'm feeling better. I haven't done any lifting or spinning this week, and I only did one yoga class.

I'm giving up on New Rules of Lifting for Women until after my marathon, it's a good program but it's just too cumbersome right now. A friend in my pace group recomended a body weight routine I'm going to try (thanks Kim).

Thankfully, it's a taper week, so I just have 10 tomorrow, and I'll end at 22 for the week (as opposed to last week's 36).

Instead of going to MIT, I'm doing the Conquer the Creek Trail Run at Alum Creek tomorrow morning. I'm really excited, though I've been neglecting my hill training (another thing that's probably going to take a backseat until marathon day). I think it will be good for my legs to get off the pavement too. Tonight I'm headed over to the Banyan Leaf Spa at Cherry Valley Lodge for a massage, a Groupon deal. That will help too.

The race is 6.5 miles, so I'm meeting up with a friend I met at the Granville Winter Run for a 3.5 mile warm up. I've never been to Alum Creek before, should be fun.

Next week the long run is 18 again, then the week after is 10. I'm finally transitioning onto the proper training program!

I'm hoping to move very soon, my apartment is way too much for me. I've been sorting through everything I own and getting rid of a lot of stuff, trying to simplify. I want to stay with my landlord, plus I'm still under a lease, so I'm hanging tight until he has something else open up. I feel so unsettled right now, hopefully that will change soon! 

Cleveland Marathon... 57 days!

Bart Yasso is coming! Bart Yasso is coming!

All of us in MIT have been stoked for weeks, Bart Yasso, the head honcho at Runner's World magazine, is coming to Columbus. He's going to speak to us Saturday, then run with one lucky pace group. Mr. Yasso, if you're reading this, please pick the 10:30s.

I hear good things about his book too. I won a copy on the Columbus Marathon's Facebook page, and I can't wait to read it.

This is a peak week in training so I've been putting in a lot of miles. I'll have 36 when the week is done, I did 3 Monday, 8 yesterday, 4 today and 3 tomorrow. Then, 18 Saturday -- last stop before 20, but we'll have a couple taper weeks first.

I've just been feeling really good this week. I had a wonderful run last night in Granville, I even pushed it up the Denison hill at the end (and got slightly lost getting back to my car).

I finally heeded the advice to get a second pair of running shoes. I picked up a pair of Zoot Ultra Speed's. I ran in them twice this week. They're really light and seem to have the right amount of cushioning. It's giving the Mizuno's a chance to breathe too, which I think is helping, I haven't had shin pain all week, before that it's been pretty chronic.

A friend of mine in my pace group and I have already vowed to tackle the Columbus marathon in the fall, so that means I have no choice but to survive Cleveland... in 66 days!

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)

Groupon for self defense classes

If you're in the Columbus area, check out today's Groupon (and if you're not on Groupon use this link to get signed up so I get credit!)

It's for Ohio Krav Maga and Fitness, an intro class and 10 fitness/self-defense classes for $35. They have locations in Gahanna and Westerville, and I've been wanting to try something new!!

Anyone want to do it with me?

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.