LR2B - T-minus 11 days

That my last entry was about my no good very bad long run is a great example of how no good and very bad I have become with documenting things.

Since that entry, written at the tail end of February, much has transpired and here I am cruising through Taper Town with my most intense month of training behind me. After that bad run, I was very anxious about how March was going to go and thankfully, 75% of it turned out to be fine. The other 25% was the week after the no good long run, during which I felt exhausted, sore, and completely sluggish. BFF Steve and I chalked it up to a bout with over training syndrome; after all, I had just run my highest volume mileage week in more than a year.

[Never mind that my highest mileage week in a year was a measly 32 miles...]

Taking it easy for a few days and trading roads for trails for my long run the next week seemed to do the trick for my body, but I had still had to work to convince my mind that I really could pull off the rest of the training. Mother nature helped out a little when she got the memo that it was in fact still winter/early spring and NOT early summer. Cooler temps helped immensely as I ticked my way through March, building a bit of confidence with each successful run.

Before I knew it, I was facing down the biggest week of training: a Yasso Test on March 20th; 10 miles on March 22nd, and my one and only 20 miler on March 25. Back when I made my plan, I remember filling in this week and feeling like it was going to be impossible to execute. At the time (waaaaay back in January), I was doing 20 mile weeks and that was hard enough.

[That waaaaaay back thing was sarcasm, by the way]

I tried really hard to weasel my way out of the Yasso test. I was afraid to do it because I had just had a great long run that had done much to restore my confidence in my ability to successfully complete a marathon and the last thing that I wanted to happen was to follow it with a big fat fail of a Yasso test. As every runner knows, the physical aspect of the sport (while difficult) is the easier thing to build up and the real test is whether you can train your brain into believing you can achieve what you need to.

Kit, however, would not allow me to weasel out of the Yasso. I begrudgingly met him at the track on Monday morning.

[If you don't care about the technicalities of running, skip this next part you'll be really bored. It's safe again after the picture.]

If you're not familiar with the Yasso Test, here's a really basic primer. It is named after the Official Mayor of Running, Bart Yasso, whom I've had the pleasure of running and post-run breakfasting with multiple times. He had a habit of running 800s and discovered a pattern that his 800 lap time and his marathon finish time correlated almost exactly; the Yasso Test thus became a marathon finish time predictor.

Here is how it works. Let's say you have a goal of running a 3 hour, 45 minute marathon (3:45). To test whether you are physically prepared, your goal with the Yasso is to complete a track work out that consists of 10 - 800 meter intervals complete in 3 minutes, 45 seconds each, with a rest period of similar duration between each.  So:

Mile warm up
800m in 3:45
Recovery jog for 3:45
800m in 3:45
Recovery jog for 3:45
[repeat until you've done it ten times]

It sounds complicated, but it isn't really.

It doesn't sound very difficult to execute either. For the first few laps, it feels pretty reasonable indeed. The pace is usually slower than speed work and thus you are fooled into thinking that the Yasso Test is easy as pie. But by the time you get to the 8th, 9th, 10th 800, you realize it is no joke.

Though I haven't said it "on the record" before, my goal for Boston is to run a 3 hour, 45 minute marathon. Initially I just wanted to come in under four hours, but based on the paces I have been able to keep during long runs, the 3:45 felt like it fell pretty easily within the realm of possibility. Therefore, I needed to run each of my 800s in 3 minutes, 45 seconds. It felt daunting and impossible but as it turns out, I'm in much better shape than I thought...

Instead of being the confidence basher that I feared, the Yasso turned out to be a huge boost, showing that I'm apparently capable of maybe even a 3 hour, 35 minute marathon. I could hardly believe it.

The Yasso was followed by a really glorious, and more conservatively paced, 10 miler on Wednesday - which also happened to be my birthday. Kit and I did a point to point route that covered pretty much all of our favorite places: Nickel Bridge, Riverside Drive, Belle Isle, Canal Walk, Flood Wall, and new favorite place, the Tyler Potterfield "T-Pot" Memorial Bridge.

I wish I could say that my 20 mile long run was awesome and that I felt fantastic but I didn't. It wasn't as bad as the no good horrible run, but it wasn't great. The last four miles were a real slog; my left adductors were really just done with me starting at mile 16, which made my left knee start to hurt as my gait suffered through loss of control of those left thigh muscles. The left side continued to bother me and on the following Monday, for the first time during this training cycle, I opted to not do my run. With the real work behind me and a slightly wonky knee going on, it wasn't worth the risk to insist on completing those 8 miles. So I didn't. I'm slightly perturbed about it, as I had been perfectly on track until that point, but better safe than sorry. I've worked far too hard to risk it all by being stubborn now.

Just 11 days away now, it still seems completely surreal that I am going to be running the Boston Marathon. Not only because it is Boston, but because 6 months ago, I could hardly complete 30 minutes of run/walk. 9 months ago, I was on crutches and crying multiple times a week out of frustration, pain, and fear that I would never run again.

That I've come so far in so little time is mind-blowing to me. When this started, my only goal was to get to the finish line on my own two feet, and to hopefully not have to walk any part of the marathon. I never imagined that I would feel confident enough to say that I think I can run a 3:45 in Boston. Truly, I believe I could run a 3:35 an re-qualify, but I also think that would be very painful and not fun. I would rather enjoy this experience so I am not aiming for that goal.

I am now allowing myself to get excited about this. I have been holding back because the specter of injury haunted me throughout the training cycle. It felt like this could all be taken away at any second, without rhyme or reason, just like in May.

It could still be... I am become that crazy, 2 weeks out from a marathon, paranoid runner who hand washes constantly to avoid illness, who won't go on the trails for fear of turning an ankle, who won't go for a bike ride for fear of cars/falling off, who won't walk around shoeless in the dark for fear of stubbing and breaking a toe.

[And I might be already obsessively checking the weather forecast, multiple times a day, through  multiple weather services. Right now the weather looks spectacular, by the way. Sunday night low of 40, partly cloudy and high of 54 on race day.]

So while being excessively careful, I am also plotting how we will spend the time in Boston, made pre-race dinner reservations, and lined up entertainment/touristing. I ordered my race day top (Boston Blue of course), and even a new pair of run sunglasses because I decided I did not want my current pair to be documented for all time in my Boston debut photographs. I've read through my passport and race day guide and started my race-day gear pile.

Nope, I wasn't AT ALL excited on the day my passport and guide finally arrived.

I'm trying to suppress talk of the race in every day conversation. I don't speak of it unless someone else brings it up (except in the case of Husband and Kit. Sorry guys...). Obviously this is a big deal for me but not so much for everyone else in my life.

That being said, I probably will post a few more thoughts that I want to get out before I go; in particular, how this training cycle was different than all the others and the full story on the TENEX surgery that I had and what the recovery was truly like from the standpoint of an active person/athlete. Unfortunately, injury - and in particular plantar fasciitis- is such a common experience for runners that I want to share my experience in hopes of helping others who are suffering from it and trying to make decisions about treatment and understand what recovery can look like.

LR2B The Official Plan

A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed and saw a post from the Wrightsville Beach Marathon - "16 weeks to race day!" and it struck me that if there were only 16 weeks to Wrightsville, there were only 20 to Boston.

And that meant that I needed to get my butt in gear by a) starting to actually run again; and b) getting a training plan put together.

I knew I'd be running again with the Winter Marathon Training Team (WMTT/formerly Spring Marathon Training Team), the same group that I've trained with for the past three winters. So, I pulled up last year's training plan and used it as a reference as I created one of my patented Frankenstein marathon training plans.

I have no delusions of running hard in Boston. I just want to run the whole thing and hopefully finish in under 4 hours. Starting from zero and having just 16 weeks to get myself back to marathon is incredibly daunting... especially when you are still running scared like I am and not 100% pain free.

With this in mind, I've created the most baby steps beginner plan ever. As I have in the past, I am running only three times per week. I will not, however, be using the Run Last Run Faster formula of speed work/tempo/marathon pace long runs. They will all just be steady runs with the only goal being completion. During previous cycles, I've been mindful of not increasing mileage too quickly, but I haven't paid super close attention to the % increase in mileage week to week. This time I was very careful to try to keep it near the prescribed 10%. This was challenging, given that I am starting in such a sorry state in terms of mileage per week.

The team will run three 20-milers; I am doing just one. I'm keeping my Wednesday run to half the distance of the long, and Monday (formerly speed work day) will be a 4-5 miles, for the most part.

On non-running days, I'll be sticking with spin class, cycling outdoors (weather permitting), perhaps swimming, strength training, and at long last, a return to yoga. I'm allowing one day completely off per week - Friday.

Here's what it looks like (click to enlarge):

All in all, I will run just 376 miles during the 15 week training cycle. It seems insane, I know. But the truly crazy thing is, that is all that I ran last spring on my way to the BQ at Wrightsville. That gives me some level of comfort... until I remember that last winter I was at my running peak - completing 20 milers with a 7:50 average and running 6:20 miles during speed work sessions.

Needless to say, I'm a far cry from that now. 376 miles seems woefully inadequate but to be frank, I have messed around with this plan as much as I could and I just can't add anything in without the mileage increase being too much. I just have to have faith that my huge base hasn't completely eroded during my time out and my fitness level will be good enough to get me not only to the start, but the finish of the marathon on less than 400 miles of training.

I spent the month of December trying to build a base so that I would feel comfortable joining the Boston team for my first long run (10 miles) on January 7. The first week I ran 13 miles, then 14, then 15, then 17. My pacing has been for the most part around an 8:05-8:15/mile average. I don't strive for anything in particular, I just do what feels most comfortable and natural.

I miss running fast.

I had decided my test to see if I was ready to join the team would be an 8 miler - this was the distance for the first official Boston team run scheduled for 12/31, which I would miss because of travel.

8 miles sounds like nothing, but I hadn't run that far since the beginning of June. On Friday, December 23, I ran 8 miles at an 8:10 overall pace, giving me the boost of confidence I needed to feel ready to start with the team in January.

There you have it. Onward...

Road to Redemption Omnibus: February

I’m horrible at regular updates.  Therefore, this is really long – but nobody cares except me and I said I’d track this training cycle so darn it, I’m tracking it!

Week 5 (Jan 31 – Feb 6)

Monday – Speed work on the docket: 2 x 1600, 2 x 800. Goal paces were 6:41 for the 1600s and 3:13 for the 800s. You know sometimes within the first half mile of a run you know it’s just not going to happen? That was this run. At the end of the warm up mile I knew things were not going to go as planned. Here is how things panned out:

First 1600 – 6:47 (eh)

Second 1600 – 6:55 (bad)
First 800 – 3:23 (worse)
Second 800 – 3:35 (terrible)

 C’est la vie.

Tuesday – Yoga, per usual. At this point it was so long ago that I can’t remember any specifics from the class. Oh wait. Yes I can. I remember that I felt very tired and weak even though the routine was not one of Penny’s most challenging. It was during this class that I began to think that the random cough I’d been having for two days was developing into something more sinister.

Wednesday – Switched things up for this tempo and headed to south side instead of our normal north bound route. I had written in my training calendar that we were to run 6 total miles: a 2 mile warm up followed by 3 miles at 7:04 and 1 cool down mile. Since the night before, my illness had progressed and I felt way less than great when I met Kit in the parking lot and then proceeded to absolutely bomb this work out – or so I thought. Feeling very sorry myself and looking for an excuse or reason as to why I did so terribly for the second run in a row, I pulled out Run Less Run Faster to recheck what the tempo target pace was supposed to be for the work out.

Lo and behold, I had transcribed incorrectly and my goal pace for the tempo miles was 7:14 NOT 7:04. So in reality, I had managed to make goal. Thank goodness, because I was really starting to feel like a failure.

Thursday – I skipped spin. I hardly slept and felt terrible in the morning.

Friday – Felt even worse. I spent the day trying every possible remedy to relieve/cure cold including chicken noodle soup, Emergen-C, Airborne, and green tea with honey. None of it worked.

Saturday – Long run day with 16 miles on the schedule. I woke up feeling terrible and with a very low grade fever. But being the stubborn, bone-headed runner that I am, I headed to meet up with the training team anyway. My irrational thoughts included: “Maybe you can run this cold out and burn it off with a good workout” and “You’ve had two really crappy runs this week, last week got screwed up because of the blizzard, so you can’t miss this long run or the entire training cycle will be in the toilet.”

A few miles in, I knew I wasn’t going to be running the full 16. At the mile 4 water stop, I was so out of it that when Coach Shawn came over to say hi and give me a hug, I didn’t even realize who was hugging me until after it was over. Observations from my teammates included, “Kathryn, you aren’t running like yourself. You feel ok?” and this gem by Kit: “I can sense that you are suffering over there.” Despite my sickness, I was somehow maintaining between an 8:00 and 8:15 pace for the first 8 miles. But by the second water stop, I knew I needed to head straight back. In my fevered brain, I somehow thought that running straight down Monument Avenue from Monroe Park to Willow Lawn was only 2.5ish miles, which would bring me to around 11 for the day and that would be fine. Unfortunately, Monroe Park to Willow Lawn is actually more like 3.75 miles straight down Monument Avenue. And they were the worst 3.75 miles that I have run in a very, very long time. At every intersection, I stopped even if I had the light. I actually sat down on a retaining wall to take a break. I managed to will myself to keep running by playing the old “just get to the next traffic light and then we can take another break” trick. I haven’t done that in years.

Even though I felt that I must have been running a 10:00+ pace, the last three miles were an average of 8:30. I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier to finish a run than I was that day. Trying to do a 16 mile training run when you’ve got a fever, full on cold, and it’s only 20 degrees is really not a smart decision.

Total Weekly Running Mileage: 25.4

Total Overall: 138.72

Week 6 (Feb  7- Feb 14)

Monday – For some reason , I had the delusion that I was going to do the prescribed speed work (10 x 400) after work, even though I was in terrible shape. I was loathe to miss another training session and frustrated that I was suffering through an illness that was preventing me from running yet again. In fact, I had more than a tiny crisis in confidence after deciding that I should not do the run. I was certain that I would never be able to ready to run Wrightsville at goal pace and felt like quitting (truly).

Tuesday – No longer having insane coughing fits, I went to yoga and felt pretty good. When I left I thought that maybe I was fit enough to run a marathon in a few weeks and that the illness wouldn’t set me back too far. Maybe.

Wednesday – Ladder tempo run with Kit, with slightly modified pace goals given my lingering Typhoid-Mary status. I really REALLY needed a win and thank goodness, I got it. Things were a little bit uneven – the progression was not exactly perfect – but I did manage to increase my speed over the six tempo miles. When we finished and I caught up to Kit I said, “OK, maybe I can do this after all.”

Thursday – I opted once again to just sleep in and skipped spin. I’ve always been bad at sticking to cross-training.

Friday – Rest day; spent the day mentally prepping myself for 18 miles after having done nothing but run 8 miles during the week.

Saturday – I surprised myself. Honestly, I can’t remember what my goal for the long run was other than to finish it. I wasn’t feeling confident after nearly 2 weeks of sub-par training. The beginning of the course was mostly downhill and we ended up going too fast. What goes down must come up, and after what felt like a nearly vertical uphill at mile 8, my legs were protesting loudly. Thankfully the next 10 miles were relatively flat and forgiving, except for the last three which were headed due west… which also happened to be the direction from which a very strong head wind was blowing. Even Kit was feeling a beat down by the relentless wind and happily agreed to duck onto cross streets to “stretch” once or twice during that last three mile slog. Despite that, I finished with an overall average of 8:05 and felt immensely redeemed.

Total Weekly Running Mileage: 26
Total Overall: 164.72

 

Week 7 (Feb 15 – 21)

Monday – SNOW RUN! We were treated to about 4” of perfect powdery snow. Kit and I decided immediately that a snowy trail run > our planned speed week session, so we met up around 7:30 am and ran a point to point on the Buttermilk Trail, making first tracks in many sections. There is nothing more magical than a quiet snow run on the trails.

 

Tuesday – Yoga

Wednesday – Time for the first mid-week 10 miler of the training cycle. How I used to dread these runs; I remember during my first season of MTT, I looked ahead in the training plan and when I saw those 10 mile Wednesday runs, I wanted to just cry. Nowadays they don’t scare me so much anymore. This was a tempo run, 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 8 miles at 7:49 in the middle. Usually we try to stay pretty flat on tempo run days; Kit made the route for today and he thought he was sticking to the flats but as it turned out, there were quite a few moderate hills. We still met our goal (I actually finished with a 7:45 average) but when we finished, I declared that Kit was fired from the position of route-creator.

Thursday – I persuaded myself out of bed and went to spin class. ::pats self on back::

Friday – Rest day, spending most of the time fretting about the next day’s 20.

Saturday – When we originally devised our training plan, Kit and I had planned to run a 3 hour 30 minute run on this Saturday. The idea was that we’d spend the same amount of time on our feet that we would on marathon day and thus be prepared for all for all of the aches and pains that come during that last 30-40 minutes of a hard marathon effort. However, after last Saturday’s pacing fail (going out too fast and losing time from mile 15 on) and knowing that we are both pretty incapable of slowing up more than 10-15 seconds from our usual territory of 7:55-8:05, we changed our plan. We figured that if we ran for 3 hours, 30 minutes we would probably run 24 miles due to that inability to slow down; and running 24 miles wasn’t really necessary.

 I started researching alternative long run strategies that can mimic race day conditions/serve as marathon readiness tests and landed on the McMillan’s 3 Marathon Predictor Workouts and decided that instead of the timed run, maybe we should try a fast finish long run. After much back and forth, Kit and I decided on a 20 mile run, average pace goal of 8:00 (my race pace), with a negative split as follows:

Miles 1-5 goal pace 8:05

Miles 6-15 goal pace 8:00
Miles 16-20 goal pace 7:55

The first 13 miles or so were pretty much identical to a large segment of the Richmond Marathon – decidedly familiar territory for Kit and I (and really, most of the training team). In the cue sheet for the route, I actually wrote <bunch of crap we know> for that section of directions instead of taking the time and space to write out a bunch of turns that we know by heart at this point.

The whole thing went really well. After showing GREAT restraint during the first 5 miles, we may have run too fast for the rest (ok… we DID run the rest too fast) but it felt good. As Kit’s marathon goal pace is lower than mine, he opted to go it on his own for the last four and try to ratchet things down to a 7:39 pace. In an effort to try to keep myself from chasing him, I waited at the mile 15 water stop and gave him a good 2 minute head start so that he’d be far enough away that I’d never have a hope of catching him and the temptation to try would be less. It didn’t really help… I ran my last five miles in 7:39, 7:42, 7:48, and 7:37, and 7:58.

But the important thing was that I felt GREAT throughout the entire run – and that I accomplished my fast finish goal. The first half of the run was at an 8:00 average; the second half a 7:49.

For the rest of the day I was in a great mood. I wasn’t that tired and did not take my usual post-long run nap after I got home and showered. I did some house work and read a while, marveling in the fact that it didn’t feel at all like I had run 20 race pace (or faster) miles that morning.

And then I tried to go up the stairs. Suddenly, I could not lift my left leg. It felt like there was no strength at all in my hip or glutes. In my mind, I visualized that something had torn or come loose; some ligament completely slipped out of place and was flapping in the proverbial breeze, useless. I tried stretching, massaging, but I couldn’t find a place that hurt. It just seemed to be useless. When I went to bed, I had to haul my left leg up after me and then couldn’t lie on that side. I lay there, inwardly panicking while Googling the symptoms of hip fracture on my phone.

Talk about going from high to low.

Sunday – I could once again lift my leg on Sunday (a good sign) but there was definitely something still off about it.

Total Weekly Running Mileage: 37

Total Overall: 201.37

 

Week 8 (Feb 22 – 28)

Monday – Given the weirdness going on in my left leg, I did not have high hopes for speed work (yet again). It was a weird session, too: 2 x1200 followed by 4 x 800. Shockingly, I managed to hang in at pace for the 1200s and then, with the weird pain increasing deep in my left hip joint, decided to stick with Yasso pace for the 800s instead of the RLRF pace (3:30 per 800 versus 3:13). I ended up with something in between:

1^st 800 – 3:19

2^nd 800 – 3:21
3^rd 800 – 3:20
4^th 800 – 3:17

Tuesday – First thing in the morning, I was in to see BFF Steve. As I described my terror at not being able to lift my left leg on Saturday night, he didn’t seem nearly as alarmed and informed me that with SI joint dysfunction, weakness in the affected leg is really common. That was news to me; other than the very first time this issue ever came up back in 2013, I’ve never experienced anything like what had happened on Saturday. A quick check revealed that sure enough, my SI joint was literally stuck in a weird position and therefore had made all of the associated muscles and connective tissue really unhappy.

That night I went to yoga per usual and as we worked our way through a series of standing balance poses that I normally nail, I immediately found my balance was awful thanks to a high level of fatigue in my hips and glutes.

This SI joint is going to be the death of me.

Wednesday – Tempo Day! Tempo run day has definitely become my favorite run of the week. Since I fired Kit last week, I created a quick and flat north side jaunt. Goal: 7 miles, 5 tempo miles at 7:19. Result:

Mile 1 (warm up) – 7:45 (ha!)

Mile 2 – 7:12
Mile 3 – 7:19
Mile 4 – 7:19
Mile 5 – 7:17
Mile 6 – 7:14
Mile 7 – 8:20

Bam.

Thursday – Back to my usual laziness; skipped spin, this time employing the “don’t want to inflame my left hip” excuse.

Friday – Rest day that I didn’t really deserve considering the skipping of spin.

Saturday – “Drop back” week to 16 miles; but a tough 16 miles they were. We crossed the Nickel Bridge today and then ran the hilly part of Riverside Drive during the first half of the run. Pacing was all over the place and discipline was generally out the window… fastest mile was Mile 12 at 7:29 and slowest was Mile 14 at 8:14. Overall average worked out to be 7:49, so it is no wonder that I felt completely zapped by the end.

Sunday – The weather was beautiful, so I dragged Husband out for a little walk in the afternoon.

 

Total Weekly Running Mileage: 31
Total Overall: 232.37

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So there you go. A very up and down month indeed. During the first two weeks of the month, I went through a number of days when I was just sure that there was no way in hell that I would ever be ready to make my goal at Wrightsville thanks to so many missed training runs. There were times when I really did think that I should just call it and give up this one.

Thankfully, just when I felt like I was ready to throw in the towel, the next day I would be right on target with a work out goal. After the 18 and then the successful fast finish 20, my confidence was buoyed and by the end of the month, I felt like it was possible to get the 3:30 in Wrightsville.

Road to Redemption: Week 4

Monday: The snow was over, but a snow plow had still not graced my street with its presence and based on Sunday's sometimes-harrowing run, it was obviously that my regularly scheduled program of speed work was not going to happen. Around noon, the snow plow came through and Husband and I celebrated by making tracks to have Mexican for lunch with friends, complete with margaritas.

His and hers

After all that Mexican and another day of sitting around doing nothing, I decided to try a some You Tube yoga at home. My training buddy Lauren had recommended this yoga routine so I decided to give it a try even though any past attempts to do exercise at home by watching videos have generally been epic fails. As it turns out, the 45 minute was not bad at all; not as challenging as Penny's class, but still a good workout. In a day of sloth, it was a welcome spurt of activity.

Tuesday: Despite the fact that we should have known better (and a 2 hour delay for work due to continued bad road conditions), I met up with Greg, Lauren, and Kit in the near West end to attempt the week's speed work session. Our plan was to run up and down Grove Avenue, a main thoroughfare that was pretty well cleared and we assumed would be pretty deserted at 6:30 am. On the way there, I put myself on autopilot and took a wrong exit, so I was running late. As soon as I arrived at the meet up point and got out of the car, I knew it wasn't going to happen - the parking lot was an ice skating rink, black ice was everywhere on the street, and everything that looked like snow was really ice topped slush. The four of us stood there looking like we'd just been told the world was going to end, repeating out loud over and over that it was smarter to forgo the workout than end up falling on ice and having a serious injury. After doing this for about 10 minutes, we left. Frankly, I'd rather get fat and slow than run on a treadmill, a device that definitely figures into my personal hell, so I didn't work out at all that day.

Wednesday: Thanks to warm(ish) temperatures on Tuesday afternoon, there was some good melting action and we decided to tempt fate again with a morning run on Wednesday. We abandoned any idea of speed work or tempo paces and ran a careful 7 miles, still managing a decent average pace of 8:15.

Thursday: Things were finally cleared up enough for a post-work tempo run. Both Kit and I had itchy legs, so we added an extra mile on to the planned 7 miles (1 warm up, 5 @ 7:49, 1 cool down). Those itchy legs meant that we failed spectacularly with pace discipline. Observe:

The 8:18 at the end was more because of a ton of snow obstacles than anything else.

Friday: Rest day. 

Saturday: 18 miles planned with the training team. Our route was one of the toughest of the season , as it included running all the way down to the river, back up to the downtown area, and then up one of the steepest hills to one of the highest points in the city (Church Hill, which was probably the most scenic and infamous spot on the course at this past September's UCI Bike Championships), back down to the river AGAIN, then back up to downtown AGAIN. Here is the elevation chart.Church Hill was mile 7.5. The dips on either side are down to the river and back up again.

The goal for this run was an 8:00 average with a mildly negative split second half. It was pretty cold this morning and again, we failed rather miserably at pace discipline during the first 7 miles. We were supposed to be running 8:06 averages until mile 9 and well... we were sub 8:00 except for the climb up Franklin to Church Hill. Somehow we did manage to really push it through the back half of the 18 and did run a negative split. Mile 18 was the fastest mile at 7:53. 

Both Kit's and my Garmin went slightly insane when we were downtown (tall building interference?) so the splits were a little off, but when I checked out our average at the end of the run, I was thrilled and surprised to see this:

There's a wonky mile in there, but I don't care. The perfection is too awesome.

Sunday: Rest day. My quads are reminding me that yesterday included some intense down hills as well as those up hill climbs.

Total Weekly Running Mileage: 33.12
Total Overall: 113.32

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After dealing with snow and ice all week, the forecast says that Monday's high will be 70 degrees (!?!?!).

Please Jesus don't let it be 70 degrees on race day.

Road to Redemption: Week 3

Monday: 6.5 miles of speed work. It was just a little bit cold on Monday {sarcasm}. Air temp wasn't that bad but there was a bitter wind blowing, which not only took your breath away with its chill but also added resistance to what was already a challenging workout. A one mile warm up was followed by 6 x 800 with rest intervals at 400. Goal was 3:13 for the 800s. Here's how it went:

1st - 3:09
2nd - 3:09
3rd - 3:15
4th - 3:10
5th - 3:14
6th - 3:17

Not perfect, but not bad. I'm happy with it, especially considering the conditions. Once we were finished, we walked around the track gawking at the pretty ice puddles and then smashing them with glee until we all suddenly got really cold and booked it back to our cars.

Tuesday: Vinyasa. It was freezing outside again and I think that kept a lot of the fair-weather gym goers away because class was not nearly as crowded. Penny had a ton of balance poses in store for us including two of my favorites: King Dancer and the Lotus series. There was also my least favorite (FOR THE THIRD WEEK IN A ROW): Warrior 3. Hate that pose.

Wednesday: 7 miles of tempo work. I was dreading going out on Wednesday morning. Air temp was 15 and felt like 9. About 3 miles in, I realized that the thing about running is that if you're doing it right, it's never cold when you're running. 15 degrees feels like 60 when you're busting your butt. Thankfully the strong wind that had been blowing Tuesday evening had died down so at least we didn't have that to deal with. Our route was a new one for tempo and included a few "inclines" that were a touch challenging, but I am very satisfied with the results for the three tempo miles - a 7:08, 7:03, and 7:02 (goal pace was 7:04). That first mile started on the steepest incline of the route (excuses, excuses).

Thursday: Spin class! In my new shoes! I initially had some trouble getting clipped in and had to ask the guy next to me for some help. Embarrassing, right? I managed to get clipped in and enjoyed the class immensely.

Friday: Rest day/impending blizzard prep day. In hindsight, I should have accepted Kit's invitation to get in our 16 on Friday before the storm hit. I declined because when I got off work on Thursday I was so excited about the office being closed on Friday that I celebrated with some very non-long-run-friendly food and didn't even think about the possibility of running the next day.

Saturday: Blizzard. I sat on the couch and watched a lot of Netflix.

Sunday: The snow finally stopped, but we haven't seen a plow come through yet and most of Richmond remains a disaster area. 16" of snow may as well be 30" in Richmond; we are very ill-equipped to deal with this amount of snow. Even though I know full well missing one run isn't going to completely sabotage training, I was feeling very anxious after having done nothing but sit around, eat junk food, and watch Netflix for three days. So I got in Stella (Subaru for the win) and slowly navigated my way out of the untouched neighborhood and hopped onto the blessedly clear Powhite Parkway to meet Kit in Carytown to see how many miles we could run in 1.5 hours.

I was an interesting and exhausting run, to be sure. We got quite a few "wow, more power to you!" calls from pedestrians (the joke is on them - they were shivering and we were sweating; if you run you're never cold); more "What the HELL are you doing?" looks from drivers and other pedestrians than I can even count; and a few unfriendly horns. A few of the main roads of the Fan and Museum district had 1.5 lanes cleared. We ran against traffic in the .5 lane, which made some drivers rather unhappy. The sidewalks were impassable and the traffic had more than enough room. There were plenty of people walking in that .5 lane too.

The side streets were an absolute disaster. They looked like deserted snowy wonderlands compared to the main streets with the irritable drivers, but thanks to melting, refreezing, and the fact that they hadn't been plowed and cars had been packing down the snow, they were more like ice skating rinks and definitely not for running.

In the end we ended up with 10 miles and were thoroughly exhausted by the end. It wasn't 16 miles at an 8:00 pace like we needed, but we also didn't fare too badly, average 8:40 despite the snow, ice, etc. Something is better than nothing, I suppose.

I didn't take any pictures because I'm sure you've all seen snow before. If you're like us and dealing with the blizzard and subsequent fall out, you probably don't WANT to see it anymore.


Total Weekly Running Mileage: 23.5
Total Overall: 80.2
-----------

The weather is probably going to continue to impact training this week. The track where we usually do speed work is no doubt still snowed under and likely the only thing that will clear it is the sunshine we'll get over the next few days. Judging by photos on Facebook and news reports, any hope of side streets being clear any time soon is pretty slim, which will make finding safe alternate routes for fast running a challenge.

Road to Redemption: Week 2

Monday: 6.2 miles of speed work. This session, in a word, sucked. 1 mile warm up, 3 x 1600 with 400 RIs, and 1 mile cool down. I did not hit my target pace for the 1600s once. The goal was 6:41 repeats. The closest I got was a 6:46 for the first 1600 followed by a 6:52 and a 7:01. This is where things like running your long run 40 seconds on average too fast is not a good idea. It comes back to bite you on Monday.

Tuesday: Vinyasa yoga with Penny. Another packed class but another great one.

Wednesday: 7 mile tempo run. I was not feeling confident about this after Monday. Goal was 1 mile warm up, 5 tempo miles @ 7:19 pace, and 1 mile cool down. It was cold and there was a stiff breeze. But we did it. The tempo miles were right on target or slightly under. I really needed the ego boost. It was great. Unfortunately my SI joint is being pesky and I was in pain for the rest of the day.

Thursday: Spin class with Becca at 6 am. I can't tell you how much I wanted to just adjust my alarm/hit snooze when it went off at 5:08 am. There is just something about having to be somewhere (ANYWHERE) before 6 am that I just can't handle. If it's 6, I'm good. If it's 5:50, I'm not good. That extra 10 minutes slays me. Anyway, I scolded myself into going and I'm glad I did. I forgot how much I love Becca's spin class. She uses music very effectively and I her encouraging yelling coaching. One phrase that she uses often is "Strong, powerful legs. You're building them!" and she always encourages us to keep pushing to think about why we're here and what we want. I kept thinking about Boston. I want Boston. And it worked - I powered through pretty well today.

Friday: Hallelujah praise Jesus, it's a rest day!

Saturday: On tap: 14 mile long run. The goal: An overall 8:00/mile pace with overall negative split. I found a negative split calculator and popped in the target finish time, selected a "moderate negative split" option with first half slower than second, and got some recommended paces mile by mile. It recommended running 8:05 for the first 7 miles and then slowly ticking off 1 to 2 seconds for the last 7.

Per usual, we had a LOT of trouble running 8:05 despite a lot of "Hey, we should slow down" and "HEY WE SHOULD SLOW DOWN!" Running a slightly faster first half only meant that to get the negative split we had to push even harder at the end. It was a slog, but again we were successful. First 7 miles were at an average of 8:00, back 7 were 7:47 with the last mile at a 7:24! Overall average 7:54.

Hello negative splits.

Sunday: Rest day! I sat on the couch under my awesome fleecy sweater blanket and watched BBC nearly all day.

Total Weekly Running Mileage: 27.7
Total Overall: 56.7

--------------------------

This was a good week of training. Monday stunk, but I was able to put that out of my mind and keep on keeping on. Not every run is perfect and that is ok; continuing to push is the important part.

I also had an article published on RVANews this week; it is about the importance of being properly fitted for running shoes and what to expect when you visit your local shop for a fitting. Big props to Jeff Van Horn, who spent a good hour and a half talking with me and doing a very good job pretending I was a brand new runner who had no idea what I was doing (Jeff has fitted me for just about every pair of shoes I've had so that was quite an act).

Friday I had the day off thanks to Lee Jackson Day (if you're not from Virginia ,don't ask). I decided to get over my fear and embarrassment of being a noob and went to a local cycling shop to finally obtain spin shoes. I've been thinking about getting a proper pair for more than a year but immediately felt overwhelmed and afraid that I was making a bad choice when I researched them on Amazon. Inevitably I'd put some in my cart, then delete it all a few hours later. Finally, my BFF said, "Why don't you just GO TO A STORE and have them help you??"

Duh.

I went to Coqui Cyclery, neither of which words I can pronounce so don't ask me to, and had a great experience. The expert in attendance pointed me to a basic pair of spin shoes that were on sale for $40 (woohoo!!). Clips were another $13 and the Expert installed them for me. Not too shabby for $55. I left feeling very happy that I had found a better deal than I had on Amazon and I also didn't have to waste hours trying to figure out how to properly install clips. Now I'm actually looking forward to trying them out on Thursday morning.

Me? Looking forward to spin class? That truly speaks to the power of new gear.

Road to Redemption: Wrightsville Beach Marathon

I'm resurrecting my poor little blog. Hello, how are you? Did you miss me? (Probably not.)

That's ok though.

In truth, the point of this blog has always been more of a memory jogger for me than anything. If  I don't write it down somewhere, I forget that it happened. And if I forget it happened, then it may as well have not happened at all.

I would like to forget what happened last September very much, but this won't make much sense if I don't provide a little bit of an update. So here it is.

In September, I went to Erie and ran the Erie Marathon. I was attempting to get a 3:30:00 to guarantee my entry to Boston because I had a bad feeling that my 3:33:40 from earlier in the year wasn't good enough. Kit went with me. He was also trying to BQ.

For 20 miles I was doing great and on target. I met two great gals (Katie and Carmel) and we all pushed each other hard. The best thing about Erie was meeting them and running with them for 20 miles.

Katie in blue tee, Carmel in black, me in blue tank

Then I did some really bad math (for the record, 8 times 6 is NOT 42 and it is also NOT a good idea to try to do simple math in your head at mile 20 of an all-out marathon effort), decided I had plenty of time, and walked for 2 minutes then stopped and stretched because my quads were completely shot.

Did I mention that 8 times 6 is NOT 42?

When I crossed the finish line, it said 3:34:42. When I looked down at my Garmin and saw a matching figure, I couldn't comprehend why my time was not at all what I wanted.

It was because 8 times 6 is 48. Not 42. I did not have any time to spare. Certainly no time for walking or stretching.

Kit did BQ with a 3:23:(and some change I can't remember) - taking 20 minutes off of his previous PR. Which is amazing. I was so damn proud of him that day. I still am.

Two weeks later, on September 21, I applied to Boston. I used my Shamrock time of 3:33:40.

On September 30, I got the news that I wouldn't be running Boston. Kit wouldn't be either. And worst of all, Lauren, the first in our band of close running friends to qualify and the one with the widest margin, didn't get in either.

In October, I ran a little point to point trail race from Broadnax to LaCrosse, Virginia. I placed second. Kit placed first. As in, he won.

It was a little race. But it still felt really good to kick some butt.

In November, Kit and I started and finished the Richmond Marathon together - something we have never managed before. We've started plenty of races together, but never finished one together. We aimed for a 3:45 and we ran a 3:45. It was the best marathon experience I've ever had. A perfect, sunny, beautiful weather day. Running side by side, step for step with my best friend and enjoying every moment.

Photo by Jesse Peters

So here we are. It's January. Like over 4,000 other Boston rejects, I have a fire lit under me. I am ready to go out there, train harder than I ever have before, and qualify for Boston with a margin so huge that I will be guaranteed my rightful spot at the starting line in April 2017.

Kit and I are both signed up for the Wrightsville Beach Marathon on March 20th. This is our redemption race. Our screw-you-BAA-let's-see-you-deny-me-again race. I'm aiming for that 3:30:00 again. It's a 3:20:00 goal for Kit.

We've cobbled together an 11 week plan (unorthodox, right?) that combines the Spring Marathon Training Team long runs with Run Less, Run Faster speed work outs and tempo runs. All pace goals are based on a marathon time of 3:25:00. Per usual, I'm running three days a week and adding in a day of Vinyasa yoga and a day of intense cardio cross training (spin or aqua jogging or swimming laps).

We're also trying a few new things. One of them will be to complete a long run for time on feet rather than distance; time on feet equaling the total amount of time the marathon will take to run. We're going with my goal time of 3:30 and expect to run around 23-24 miles. In Erie, I felt great until I hit the three hour mark - which also happens to be the longest amount of time I ran during our training (which topped out at a 21 mile long run). I'm hoping that pushing to complete 3 hours and 30 minutes of running will help my body be able to cope better with the last 30 minutes of the marathon.

I am (VERY BEGRUDGINGLY) trying to clean up my diet, cutting back on sweets and alcohol while adding more vegetables on a daily basis.

I'm also committing myself to not slacking on the cross training. I definitely slacked near the end of the Erie training cycle. Who knows if it hurt me - we'll never know - but I am determined to go into Wrightsville stronger than ever.

In December, I caught a terrible cold and barely ran for two whole weeks. I came into January and the first week of training with a lingering couch and not in my best shape. It's been a rough start, but last week at yoga on Tuesday night, something clicked in me.

I am ready to do this. I am ready to push myself; dedicate myself; be uncomfortable; do something hard; not eat so many donuts.

I'm coming for you, Wrightsville.

I am also going to commit to keeping better track of my training. I can't improve if I can't see where I've been.

So here is what happened in week 1.

-------------------------------

Monday - 6 miles of speed work at Mary Munford. 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400 with 400 rest intervals. I have no idea what my pace was because it was cold and I was wearing mittens that caused me to screw up my Garmin during the first 1200, so I gave up and left it off. Target pace was 6:30/mile for the speed intervals. It felt hard and it was hard. To be expected for the first speed work session of the season, especially coming off an illness and a 10 mile running week.

Tuesday - Vinyasa Yoga with Penny.

Wednesday - 8 mile tempo run. This was only supposed to be 6 miles (2 warm up, 2 at 7:04 pace, 2 cool down) but we missed a turn thanks to my bad navigation skills and ended up running 8 miles. This was also hard, but not as bad as Monday. And I would remiss if I didn't mention that the "feels like" temperature was a whopping 10 degrees.

Thursday - 60 minute spin class; my first in I can't even remember how long. It was really, really, really hard. I was watching the clock the whole time... and I have a lot of work to do.

Friday - rest

Saturday - 15 miles on the Virginia Capitol Trail. The goal pace was supposed to be 8:34 but we let ourselves get swept up in a much faster pace, ending up with an average of 7:47. This might sound like a good thing, but it is not. Pace discipline has been a huge struggle and continues to be. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Practicing negative splits has got to be on the agenda for Saturdays.

Total Running Mileage: 29 miles

I'm not going to lie - at the end of this week I was exhausted and very grateful to do nothing but sit on my couch and unfortunately watch the Redskins lose their play off game. Hard training has also reawakened my appetite big time. I am hungry ALL THE TIME and it is only week 1. Not a good sign; it's going to take serious self control and discipline to not eat a bunch of junk.

But I've got that axe to grind and it's keeping me going.

On to Erie

Kathryn here for what has apparently become my typical quarterly check in. Honestly, I really miss blogging and hope I can kick start myself into it again. When you have a very demanding day job that is writing based, it is hard to come home and get excited about writing some more.

But I digress.

So, what am I up to? What a silly question! I'm training for a marathon, of course. To be more specific, the Erie Marathon on September 13th.

Why Erie? Well, after the initial elation of qualifying for Boston in March, I've become more and more paranoid that my time just isn't quite fast enough to guarantee entry. It's really hard to explain to people that yes, I qualified for Boston but no, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to get to run. The more people I had to try to explain this to, the more worried I became that come registration day, here would be no slots left for people who beat their time by a mere 1 minute and 20 seconds.

What's more, Kit also has Boston on the brain and is determined to qualify for 2016. He helped me get there during the winter training cycle and now I'm determined to help him get his BQ. Erie is known for its high percentage of Boston qualifiers and is the last marathon within the window for 2016.

It took me a while to be convinced to go for it... mainly because a September marathon means running our highest mileage weeks during the oppressive heat and humidity of a central Virginia August. Doesn't sound like much fun to me... but then again, if we can successfully do that, Erie is going to feel like a relative run in the park.

Now here I am, sitting 4 weeks into what has so far been a brutal training cycle. June has been unusually hot and humid for us, leading to some miserable miles. I'm following the Run Less, Run Faster plan, which calls for some very demanding paces for speed work and tempo runs. On MTT Saturdays, Kit and I have to arrive early to add on mileage because we are two full months ahead of the training schedule for the Richmond Marathon... and we also run the majority of our miles at race pace.

Per usual, I've been fighting the ongoing and seemingly never ending battle with my SI and piriformis. In May, I tried active chiropractic therapy - a combination of PT, chiropractic adjustments, active release therapy, and graston technique. I'm honestly not sure if it helped or not. At the moment I'm suffering from a pretty severe flare up, so I'm probably in a more skeptical mood now than if I had been writing this a few days ago. At this point, I'm almost willing to try voodoo if I thought it would actually help.

Despite that and the less than desirable weather, I think I'm making some real progress in speed and acclimating to the humidity and heat. This past Sunday we ran 14 miles at a 7:54 average. Speed work intervals are hovering around 6:30 pace, tempos in the 7:15 range. Eights are now a conversational pace and 8:15s are "taking it easy." Every run has a purpose and is challenging - and it shows.

Unlike the winter/spring training season, I'm actually doing my cross training this time. Swimming is my go to at the moment and getting in a mile is comfortable again. I'm mixing things up by using a pool buoy and kick board, trying to break up the monotony of freestyle. Last week I tried aqua jogging for he first time and the two words that I can use to describe that experience are "frustrating" and "exhausting." It's very odd to "run" as fast as you can yet go pretty much nowhere. But it was a nice change from swimming laps, so I'm thinking of adding the class in once a week.

It hasn't been all serious though. There have been fun group runs, trail runs, a 10k PR, and plenty of stupidly smiley photos that are making people wonder if I am in fact putting forth effort.

Monthly Trail Run
Photo credit Jesse Peters

Monthly Trail Run
Photo credit Jesse Peters

Stratford Hills 10k PR

As Kit said on Monday, when I was so exhausted after Sunday's 14 miler and speed work on Monday morning that I went to bed at 8:00 pm, "Training hard is hard."

Yep. It's true. But it also feels good to push myself and see results.

So there you have it. Nothing much has changed in my corner of the world - still here, still running.

Erie Marathon Training Stats, Weeks 1 - 4
Miles so far: 122.5
STLY: 133.75 (hmm... interesting!)

The Road to Steamtown: Weeks 17 & 18

Week 17 was my highest mileage week of the cycle:

3 run for 36 miles
No cross training

After a great speed work session on Monday, I suddenly found my right knee hurting when I went down stairs. Of course knee pain is just about every runner's worst nightmare - the stereotypical injury that nobody wants. I figured it was thanks to all of the hard running I had done the week before and decided to take it easy with no cross training.

I was nervous about the 20 (who isn't) both because of my knee, which never got worse but was still a little bit squeaky every now and again, and because the weather forecast wasn't what I would call ideal. The forecast being sunny and high 60's.

Thankfully, the miles somehow flew by. I didn't push things and hung out with some of our 20 mile virgins instead of flying to the very front of the pack with Kit and Lauren, who must have had jet fuel for breakfast because they tore it up. It was really fun for me to stay with Jadee and Brian as they finished their first 20.

Immediately after the run, a group of us hit the Dairy Bar. I devoured a chili cheese omelet, biscuit, hash browns, and bacon. Oh and a cookies and cream milk shake.

That night we gathered again to celebrate at Hardywood Brewery, where we were all miraculously walking normally and had enough energy to stand around and debate bad movies

The Midnight Crew

And then I took the train straight to Taper Town:

3 runs for 24.75 miles
2 miles of swim


Running miles logged so far: 584.15
STLY: 531.0

The pesky knee pain stuck around, but didn't keep me from running my speed work on Monday and enjoying a nice south side run with Kit and Greg in the early morning on Wednesday.

For Saturday's run, I decided that instead of taking it super easy for my last long run before the marathon, I would push myself. This isn't typically what you are supposed to do during taper, but my theory was that I wanted to run fast, feel tired, and make myself keep going despite wanting to slow - things that I am going to have to do next week if I can achieve the goal that I want to.

Luckily, Coach Shawn was apparently also in the mood to run fast and suffer - he, Kit, and I ended up running at an average pace of 8:16 and we definitely had one or two sub-8:00 miles in there. The crazy thing is that Shawn ran 20 this week and was running Kit and I into the ground even though we were only doing 12!

I was perfectly exhausted when we finished - and starving later that day. I guess that's what 12 tempo miles will do to you.

So this week I'm supposed to do speed work on Monday and 5 miles on Wednesday and then nada until Steamtown on Sunday. I think I am going to slightly amend to a Tuesday swim and Wednesday 5 mile tempo followed by an easy 3 on Friday morning instead.

Hard to believe that at this time next week I will have finished my third marathon. The summer and September went by in a surreal blur. Part of me is really glad that I'm getting the marathon done this month, but another part of me feels strange to not be on the same schedule with the rest of the team.

Despite that, I'm feeling confident. At the end of my training last fall, I ran a total of 550 miles. I am already sitting at 580 miles, and expect to top out at 590 total. Though my knee is being a little weird, I'm not too concerned about it. I think this week of "rest" will be all it needs. My SI isn't giving me the trouble it was last year and everything else feels great.

Now all I need to do is make it through the next 7 days without getting sick or hurting myself - too bad I don't have a bubble.

The Road to Steamtown: Week 16

What a week!

4 runs (including 2 races) for 34 miles
1 mile swim

Running miles logged so far: 523.4
STLY: 506.05

Training highlights:

• New 5k PR on Tuesday, when I participated in the Amazing Raise 5k. This is a fundraising race where each entrant runs for their chosen non-profit in hopes of nabbing a cash prize for best in age group. I ran for my beloved Richmond Symphony and really made an all out effort. For the first time ever during a race, I felt like I might actually get sick from over-exertion, but I didn't and was so bound and determined to give it my all that it didn't stop me either. Unfortunately, my 23:04, though a PR for me by 2 full minutes, was not a winner in my age group. Turns out I had the women's overall winner (who did an 18:43) as well as the next 4 top women in my age group (lucky me). I finished 6th of 122 in my age group but 10th female overall, which I feel pretty proud about. And did I mention that this was not a flat course? No indeed - very hilly actually.
• Wednesday featured my first ever twofer. Kit and I hit Riverside Drive in the morning. Along the way I twisted my ankle/foot on the Pony Pasture trails, even though there was no visible obstacle. Being the stubborn person I am, I kept going. (But it only hurts when I'm not running - I swear!). Iced it all day at work and then met up with a gaggle of folks at the Sports Backer's open house run. Marcey and I did a nice little 3 miler, giving me the grant total of 12 for the day.
• Bonus run on Friday morning 'cause the weather was just too nice to pass up!
• Second PR of the week at the Philly Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. Perfect weather, nice course, and made myself a new running buddy who helped me rock out the last 7 miles of this race (featuring two sub-8:00 miles, one being mile 13!). A more detailed race report to follow.

Training lowlights:

• My problematic and apparently incredibly weak left ankle has got me on edge. I opted not to run with my ankle compression sleeve at Philly because it has a tendency to cut into the bottom of my foot, but I feel like I need some kind of support for Steamtown. So... I'm not exactly sure what to do. I meant to go grab an AOS ankle brace at the local medical supply store to test it out before this weekend's scheduled 20 miler, but I haven't had the time and already logged this week's miles (meaning no test run before Saturday).

Other than that, I'm feeling incredibly strong and confident about the marathon right now, which is great. Bonus that the weather has suddenly turned into fall and thus far, the week's runs have been my favorite kind - crisp and cool.

The Road To Steamtown: Weeks 8-15 (?!?!?!)

First and foremost, I am still alive and I am still training for the marathon.

Running miles logged so far: 489.45

STLY: 469.85

So, what on Earth happened to me back in July?

Where do I even begin...

July

The week after I wrote my last update, I took it easy. After a 30 mile week, I dropped to 14.5 miles. No speed work, an "easy" test run of 4.5 miles mid week, and a scheduled 13 mile long run that was cut short thanks to a giant thunder/lightening storm. I am still shocked that MTT allowed us to go out at all that morning - it was storming when we arrived and even though it stopped briefly, we knew thanks to radar that another round was coming. We were 5 miles in, running next to a golf course, when a huge thunder clap came out of nowhere and warning sirens on the golf course went off. We opted to seek shelter on the University of Richmond campus and made it to a student commons building just as things really opened up. After the worst went through, we decided to run back the way we came because hey - there was no other way to get back. It was absolutely pouring the entire way back. Not fun.

The following week (also my last week on my previous job... more on that later), my anxiety about my foot hit the limit. I went to Dr. Cutter on July 30  at 9 am for X-Rays. The X-Rays revealed that my pesky 4th metatarsal was fine, but there was clouding on the 5th that concerned him. Next stop? An MRI that afternoon. More later on what to expect from an MRI. Let's just say I was clueless and ended up being surprised by the process.

And the bill.

Anywho, I got my MRI at 3 pm and was back in Dr. Cutter's office looking at the oh-so-fascinating images of my foot bones and such by 4 pm. The verdict? My bones looks beautiful (thank God) but there was a lot of swelling and fluid in the ball of my foot, indicating a slight sprain.

But Doctor, can I still run?

Yes, I could. Woo hoo!

Surprise MRI: $550
Peace of mind: Priceless.

August

Started nicely. I started my new job on August 4th, which was a stressful but happy change.

Husband and I were in Baltimore for the Cardinals vs. O's series the weekend of Aug 9 -10, so I took the opportunity to run with the Baltimore Pacemakers group, as I had before. It was a very nice run and a great chance to catch up with my instant-friend, Barbara, who I met and clicked with at last year's Shakeout Run with Bart Yasso before the marathon. (I took a photo with Barbara but apparently when I did the new iPhone update it ate all of my pictures and I can't find it...awesome.) She has me nearly convinced to try a triathlon next year.

The week of August 18th, Greg, Kit, and I were doing our Wednesday longish run - a mix of roads and trails. During the trail portion I kept stepping wrong and my ankle would wobble a bit. And then I bit it - big time. I actually just sat there for a few minutes as the pain flooded through my left foot, thinking that this was it - I was done. The irony is that I fell not on the actual trail but on a little cut through of beat down grass and dirt that is perfectly root-and-obstacle free.

The guys sprang into action, offering for one to run back and fetch a car and for one to stay with me. I told them to just wait a minute. They pulled me up after I collected myself (I did not cry, though I came close), and I walked it off for a few minutes. Bleeding EVERYWHERE from a cut on my knee and covered with dirt. Being the boneheaded girl that I am, I insisted we run back to the Y. Which we did.



Running it back on the 9th Street bridge after biting it.



Bad ass trail runner.

My twisted/sprained foot was tender to the touch and ugly as all get out, but it didn't hurt to run. So... I kept running and logged a total of 26 miles that week and 30 the following.

Aside from getting a new job in August, Husband I also finally sold our house out in the country and were in the process of purchasing our new home (inspections, addendums, appraisals, mortgages... oh my!), which is in Richmond proper. As anyone who has ever gone through the process of purchasing a home knows, it is one of the most stressful life events. Throw in a demanding new job and the peak of marathon training on top and you can imagine what kind of stress I was under.

And unfortunately for us, things were not smooth. Our intended move in date (Labor Day weekend) had to be delayed because of shenanigans with our buyers' USDA-backed loan, which didn't clear the process until ten full business days AFTER the original closing date. We were living out of suitcases at my in-laws house for a week because our previous residence was fully packed and unlivable. My anxiety was so high that I was sick to my stomach (literally), which caused missed training runs, I wasn't sleeping well, and had no appetite. Basically I was a walking ball of stress from September 1 through out closing date, September 11.

The reschedule also meant that I was going to miss an 18 mile training run on September 6th. It turns out that was lucky for me, as it went down as THE WORST RUN IN THE HISTORY OF MTT thanks to extremely high temperatures and humidity. We were moving that day, so I still got plenty of exercise. But a week that was supposed to include 33 miles had just 15... 5 of which were a casual jaunt with Marcey on our first ever KBP + HMR Labor Day Run.

Which brings us up to last week (whew!)... and my first 20 miler of the training cycle. To say I was more than a little worried about my ability to pull of 20 is an understatement. But, thankfully, things went absolutely beautifully. The weather cooperated (overcast, in the high 60s). The route was challenging but one that I don't mind. I ended up getting separated from the main posse, but grinding out the hills of Riverside Drive and tackling the Lee Bridge by myself wasn't so bad. I finished in under 3 hours, feeling quite accomplished. Nothing hurt except my feet - which I expected. I knew my shoes were done but hadn't yet been able to locate my new pair (still in a box somewhere...).

Feeling on top of the world, I met a bunch of Team Midnight at the local dessert restaurant, Shyndigz, where we all ate cake for dinner.

For reference, the cup behind the cake is a pint glass.
(Meaning, this cake is HUGE)

Then that night, the shit hit the fan - literally. At 8 pm, I sent Husband downstairs to switch out laundry. He came back up to our bedroom, where I was organizing the closet, to inform me that the bathroom had, in his words, "Exploded."

The main sewer line into the house had backed up and there was literally sewage in my house. At 8 pm on a Saturday night.

TWO DAYS AFTER WE CLOSED.

Cue frantic calls to emergency plumbers, home warranty company (completely unhelpful, in case you're wondering), and real estate agent. The plumber arrived at 9 pm and left at 2 am ($165/hour... you do the math), having cleared the blockage for the night but informing us that we had root infestation in the main line and that it would have to be replaced. Oh and guess what? NONE OF IT is covered by home owners insurance, home warranties, or the municipal government. That means we are possibly looking at thousands of dollars worth of repairs. After having just spent thousands of dollars to move.

So... it's been fun.

But the good news is that our new home is located in a prime spot for runners. I have easy access to the James River Trail system and Riverside Drive, which is probably the most picturesque place in all of Richmond to run. So much so that it is on the marathon route and 75% of the photos that you see accompanying articles about the Richmond Marathon are ones taken on Riverside Drive.

Like this one.

Easy access means that this is less than a mile away from my door step.

Kit and I have embarked upon two runs from my house thus far. We always be sure to run east on Riverside, just as the sun is coming up over the river. It is absolutely breathtaking - and it reminds me that all of the stress and anxiety have been worth it.

Three Weeks to Steamtown

This brings us to today. September 18.

So far this week, I PR'd the crap out of a 5k on Tuesday night with a 23:04. That's 2 minutes off of my previous PR and on a hilly course too. I finished 10th out of 431 females, 6th in my age group, and 68th overall. I'm pretty proud of that.

Then yesterday morning, my lame foot gave out again during my run with Kit. I didn't fall, but there was that searing pain (same as August) and I had to stop then walk it off. Truly, I have no idea what even set it off... the trails are very flat and relatively obstruction free in Pony Pasture. The lovely bruising is back, but again, being me, I am running on it all the same. We finished that run and then last night I did 3 more with Marcey at the Sports Backer's open house celebration. My self-diagnosis is that the ligaments are just so loose that where a normal person's foot would recover after hitting something uneven, mine just decides to roll completely. I'm going to try to track down some strengthening exercises but other wise am carrying on.

Teresa and I are running the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half this weekend.

Then there's a 20 miler. Then a 12 miler.

And then the marathon on October 13.

I'm feeling confident at this point, especially after last week's 20. That evening I was having a bit of piriformis pain but it was gone on Sunday. No residual soreness what-so-ever. I guess that means I'm doing something right, even though I feel like this training cycle has been less than ideal.

But through all of this craziness, I am more thankful than ever for the run. It was the only constant in my life throughout the past 6 weeks. No matter what was happening, I knew one thing would be there for me, unchanged. And it was.

So onward we go... 24 days til Steamtown.