Boston Training 2020, week 2. The time when December was brown.

Week two was no problem. Basically as unexciting as one could wish for.

I had a couple treadmill runs, which will continue to be a trend as long as I continue to work until well after dark.

In the theme of discontinuing my habit of leaving speedwork until the last moment, I did 6x400 at 7:48 early in the week. Hey, gotta start somewhere!

I did manage to hit the actual road twice, in the first time in a very long time. Luckily, one of the outdoor days was my "long" run, which (at 8 miles) was not terribly long. However, it should be noted that it was my longest run in a training cycle since September 12th (again with the "you have to (re) start somewhere!)
Currently, the snow levels are almost non existent. The roads are in great shape.
(this will come to an end, there is a foot of snow in the forecast. barf.)

Brown December evening

We did a great hike of Webster, Jackson and Pierce on Boxing Day. The weather was just outstanding (30, no wind, just amazing.) We cruised around the loop in exactly 5 hours. The next day, this caused me to feel like I had run a half marathon. (totally counting this as downhill work!! Not really. But I'm sure it counts for something.)

Well this is nice!!!!

Anyway. That's it from week 2. Pretty standard stuff. Low mileage still, low intensity. I plan to add a reasonable number of miles on this week, not that I have had a month or so of consistent running.

Stats:
Total miles: 22.4
(plus 9 hiking miles) Long run: 8
Coldest Day: Not cold enough to mention, or remember. A few days when it was legit 40. 
Snow: Nope
Random: I'm really delighted in the sub-culture of Vizsla owners. We all get "it." If you have ever found your dog on top of your car, or refrigerator, you get it too. Plus, you really never knew how much "help" you DID NOT have, until you have a a little Vizsla helping you with EVERYTHING. I love her. 

Boston Training 2020: Week one. The time I wrote a boring recap.

Week one was uneventful.

I ran 21 total miles, a "long" run of 7, and a few short (400) repeats. Everything was done on the treadmill this week, because I was working until well after dark.

Things, in general, felt fine. My treadmill has been having some technical challenges. The incline has become uncalibrated (I'm not sure if that is what it is called, but you get the idea.) I have not been fretting about it, but I have been amused to find myself running up a quite steep incline when it is set at zero. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to make it out onto the roads pretty soon.

It has been two years since I have not attempted a mid winter marathon, and hence, the first December where I am not well into training. We will see how fit I feel come April (I certainly imagine that 18 weeks can get the job done.) After the summer fiasco, my first goal is to simply stay healthy. My second goal is to Qualify for 2021.

Stats:
Total miles: 21
Long run: 7
Coldest Day: Cold, one day with a high of 12 which was terrible but short lived
Snow: The first "real" storm of the year, on Tuesday, with about 3-4 inches
Random: I often think back to my early days of running and remember feeling so impressed and proud of myself for hitting milestones- first 5 miler, first 10k, first 13.1!! I kind of miss that, one really looses sight of how impressive just running a few miles is, when one has been doing it for a while.

Beginning the countdown to Boston 2020

I'm about 90% sure that next Monday is the day that we begin the 18 week countdown to Boston. 

For the past 6 weeks since MCM, I have in no way, shape, or form been training hard (or at all.) This is the first time in two years that I do not have plans for a mid winter marathon, and hence, my training has not begun yet. 

Yes, skipping a mid winter race means leaving all my eggs in one basket for a 2021 BQ in Boston. This is not my favorite approach, but after having a fall race I really didn't feel it was wise to begin training again in November. Especially after being legitimately injured for the better part of the summer. 

I have run just a bit in the last few weeks and (other than being remarkably out of shape) things feel good. This last training cycle for MCM was 90% pure crap. Hopefully, this time around is better. Every training cycle tends to have its own challenges, and I'm sure this one will be no different! However, hopefully I don't have/make the same issues/mistakes twice. 

I'm going to be cautious during the first several weeks, and not ramp up my mileage too quickly. It's easy to want to begin training with a "bang" and I'm sure that would be an idiot move after basically sitting around eating cake since October.

While winter training can be tedious because of lack of daylight, snow covered roads, and frigid weather I have historically found it to be more pleasant than summer training. I do NOT miss the heat, humidity, or the need to drink 200 gallons of water just to survive (and then to feel as thought I a going to float away, or barf.) 

An obvious thing that should keep me from having unexpected ailments... We don't hike NEARLY as much in the winter (we will probably hike twice, to be honest.) So, not only are weekends free and open for long runs, but I don't run the risk of smashing my foot and shin to bits while blazing up and down massive mountains. (I suppose this is a blessing. but I miss hiking at the moment so it is also a curse.)

Reflecting back to my Boston training last year, I went into that race very fit and ready to go. I wasn't 100% on board with my physical or mental training prior to Hyannis in February, but developed a strong base and was able to really crank up the training after that. A setback (with my back) a couple weeks before was of no impact, because I had done the important work. 

So, thoughts for the upcoming training cycle. 

-Keep a closer eye on my back/hip pain that tends to flare up in snow shoveling season

-Stick with what has worked for Boston in the past. (which, in a nutshell is basically "work.") But to be specific, the combo of speedwork/downhill repeats/and long runs at slight up-tempo have worked. I tend to keep my long run pace juuuust under 9:00 miles. My race pace is like, 8:15 I believe, so I easily could set off on a long run closer to 9:30's. However, I have found that upping the pace just a touch allows me to run fewer miles each week. 

That's where I'm at at the moment. I'll report back in next week at the start of week one. 

Mt Moosilaukee: #29 of NH 48 August 31, 2019

In a very, very delayed hike report Eric, Ellie and I wrapped up the summer season of hiking with Mt. Moosilauke on August 31st.

We were nervous about parking because I had read reposts about people having to park a mile or more away from the trailhead. We got there late (8:00) but lucked out, and we were the 13th car to park on the road. For this trail, you can't park right smack at the trailhead, but instead, park along the road that leads to the Lodge (and trailhead too. all roads lead to the trail.)

Gorge Brook Trail for us

We headed out in some perfect weather. The really hot, summer weather had moved along, but it was still quite comfortable. The sun was shining, and it was shaping up to be a solid day.

After easily locating the trail (as well as an area that is NOT to be used for parking) we were on our way.

Just don't park here

While the first stretch was slightly steep, and a little rocky, it moderates quickly.

Slight steep at the start

Right off the top, we met many youth on their way down from a sunrise excursion. There were quite a few of them- evidently, it was orientation weekend for Dartmouth, and this event was being celebrated in the Lodge.

The number one thing that Eric and I noticed during this hike was the excellent trail condition. Basically, one could not hope for a more pristine trail. The footing was lovely, the signage was just adorable, and the hike was surprisingly straightforward for a 4k footer.

I loved the unusual signs

And do you get a nicer trail than this?? Rarely.

Right around mile 2, we popped up over a few trees for a nice view.

Hello lovely day!!!

This was a trail with elevation gain (obviously) but it was broken up so nicely by flatter sections, that it never felt like torment.

Ellie loved it too

Honestly, the entire hike was met with a lot of praise from us. Great trail, very manageable, nothing tricky, and such perfect weather!

More scenic overlooks around mile 3.

Pretty

About 15 minutes after the previous shot was taken, we came across a cairn big enough to make a hiker ahead of us question whether or not we had reached the summit. While we had not, perhaps this pile of stones could be considered misleading.

This is not the summit

The really cute signage continued, as we moved higher.

Yes, I was a fan

Even though we had a little ways to go before the summit, things were opening up nicely and the views became better and better.

We have climbed almost ALL OF YOU (well. not really)

We could see the summit in the distance, and (much to our dismay!) we could also see the clouds. Kind of a lousy break. While it was not socked in at the summit, it was indeed overcast and VERY windy and cold.

The final push!

It was a very busy summit. People coming in from all sides, which is to be expected on the last big weekend of the summer.

Ellie thought it was too cold for this. 

 At the summit there were several rock walls (so thoughtfully placed) one of which we huddled behind for a bit while we had a snack.

Windblock

It was not warm

Yeah. Too cold to hang. Certainly a jarring temp change in the final 1/4 mile or so (a good way to remind people to never leave the layers at home, even in august!)
We headed out via Carriage Road, in order to see a different route on descent.

Just look at that trail. And those cairns! Not gonna get lost here. 

Needless to say..... The chatter about the perfect trail never ceased. You just don't see such perfection all that often! (here's the thing- there are many, many thoughtfully maintained trails in the White's. But this one was honest to God easy. And you rarely get THAT!)

We took a quick out and back to south peak for another view.

Off we go to South Peak!

From here, we could easily see where we just had been!

It was nice of the cloud to lift for a moment!

Really not a bad day over here

Still windy. Look at Ellie's ear

And then, down we went through a tiny forest.

Always taking the tiny tree pics

The Carriage road trail used to be literally a Carriage road, as there was once a hotel on the top of this mountain. I mean seriously, how much more "The Shining" could we possible get here??

Take your Carriage to the Overlook......

The final leg of our journey was on the Snapper trail, which is a great name for a trail, if you ask me.

From here, we could easily hear the bedlam that accompanied the orientation weekend festivities at the Lodge. There was quite a bit of bass pumping music, and with the way sound carries, we basically felt that we were in the midst of things (ideal? no. reality? yes.)

When it comes to water crossings, we encountered none that were not nicely taken care of by some sort of bridge. I'm sure that there would be some extra h2o here and there during the spring melt, but all "major" crossings seem to be covered.

Obligatory bridge pic

So anyway! We made it down, and the sun came out. Typical.

Whatever

At this point, cars were parked for an actual mile along the road. It was insane. We parked out butts in our chairs and met the entire Northeaster Cross Country team when they got dropped off. It was a bit of a madhouse actually.

This goes on, and on, and on. 

This ended up being our final 4k footer of the summer season. It was a great way to finish up- a super straightforward hike, with an excellent view. Nothing sketchy, technical, or brutally challenging at all. I must admit, this is a hill that I would suggest for someone early on in the 48 4k journey.

Stats:
Strava data: (we take this with a grain of salt) 
-elevation climbed: 2,676
-miles covered: 8.3
-elapsed time: 4:31 (a solid, solid 30/40 minutes minimum of faffing along today.)

Difficulty: Very little. A SOLID choice for 4k footer once you feel comfortable covering mileage. Excellent signage, lovely trails, perfect conditions. You will never, ever question where you are on this trail. Nothing technical, nothing horrifically steep. Exposed summit could be dreadful on a day with heinous weather, otherwise would be a splendid choice. 

Views: Great views even with clouds 

Bugs: Nope but honestly, it was too late season for most bugs

Dog friendly trail? Absolutely 

Marine Corps Marathon 2019: The one where we all drowned

It has been a week since my Marine Corps Marathon experience. I could make this a short post, and say that it has taken me a full week to dry out! (but I won't do that. that would be too easy, even though it is true.)

So yes. 8 days ago I was prepared to take on the challenge of a marathon on the most undertrained legs I have ever lined up with. I had zero expectations, zero time goals, zero plans, and only hoped that I would not be unpleasantly surprised with an uprising of my previous injury at mile 16. (why 16? because that was my longest run for this training cycle. and was on September 12th. So, yeah...)

The forecast was cycling from being ominous (warm, heavy rain) to terribly ominous (cool, heavy rain, thunder, disaster, certain death.) So, I filled my bag with throw away clothing of one sort or another, threw my hands up and said "whatever" (spoiler: overpacked)

I met Danielle and Tyler (her very tall husband) at the airport at some god forsaken hour. For the first time in the history of EVER, I was actually the first one to arrive. I proclaimed that this would be the ONLY race that I would win all weekend.

An uneventful flight landed us in DC just before 8 (AM. told you it was early.) We successfully dropped our bags at our comfortable, convenient, and reasonably priced hotel (Courtyard Marriott Crystal City. There were many choices in the area, and this one was pleasant.) We then called an uber to take us to the expo (or, Danielle did. I managed not to buy a single uber all weekend because I am a terrible moocher/bad person.)
By the time we got to the expo there may have been some whining about being hungry. I will not deny or confirm if this whining came from me. But it might have.

Mission: breakfast

Rage hunger aside, we made it happily and swiftly through the expo. None of us were in the mood to part with cash (except for Ubers) so it was not a lengthy trip. As far as expos go, it was decent. Fast bib pick up, a good number of shopping opportunities, none of which we utilized. This expo was not on the scale of Boston or NYCM, but was certainly more impressive than Philly and Hartford.

Must Do. Can Do. Will Do. (get out of here and eat bacon!)

The remainder of the day was spent eating (YAY!!!) checking the weather (BOOO) doing a little sightseeing (But not tooooo much!) witnessing a hobo fight!!! (they hugged it out???) and touring several grocery stores (which I rarely do, so fun!) Oh, and we also took adult naps which are possibly the most underrated activity (and very important if you have been up since 2:30 AM)

Not a very busy day today...

After meticulously designing our morning outfits (so many plastic bags. duct tape. ponchos.) We were in bed before 9:00. Except Danielle who woke suddenly, and angrily, and proceeded to sleep walk around doing something critical that only made sense to her. Normal activities, all in all.

Morning dawned.
And by dawned, I mean it was pitch black dark until the absurd hour of 7:20 AM. WTF?

We were BY NO MEANS wishing to spend hours outdoors. Danielle, the cruise director extraordinaire, had calculated exactly what time we should depart to make it to the race start on time. And not one minute before.
We donned our race attire.

This is reality. Ridiculous.

At 6:30 we walked from the hotel to the busses that would take us directly to the start.
(straightforward 0.4 mile walk)  We found an amazingly long line, in decidedly steamy conditions. The layers started to come off early.... We lined up with 10,000 other people in a parking garage, and it was far from cold.

600 degree parking garage. dry though, so that's good

In pretty short order we were on the bus for the trip to the pentagon.

Gotta have the bus selfie

OH, AND IT WAS POURING. As we reached our destination, I expressed my concern regarding the long porta potty lines, the deluge, and the amount of time we had prior to the 7:55 start (we reached the Pentagon area just after 7:00) Danielle, in a stroke of pure genius, said "don't leave the bus. we are going to use the bathroom that is ON HERE!!" And THAT is what we did. Sooo smart, the bus driver was totally cool with it, and it saved us standing in a loooong, sopping wet line.

From there, it was quite a long walk. Down a road we went (sweating all the way) through security and a huge parking lot, and into the masses of runners. Feeling a bit disoriented, we concluded that we would simply follow the crowd to the start. (it was just a little bit of a cluster. nothing major, but lots of people/bad weather/chaos.)

Danielle's cruise director status was rewarded when we made it (close enough) to our corral just in the nick of time. Layers off, and in we went just like sardines. Cozy cozy, moist and sweaty.

Pro tip: if you plan to run quickly be very certain to line up at the absolute front of your corral. We did not do this. If anything, we were closer to the 4:00 hour area.
For the first two miles, it was jam packed. Total gridlock. On top of that it was pretty wet, very hot (it was well into the 60's from the get go) and randomly uphill. Pretty disgusting. I was feeling a premonition that it was going to be a fairly hideous day. Danielle said "I'm really concerned about overheating" just before we were separated by the hoards of humans. And yes, I was feeling the same way (especially as we trudged up what seemed to be and endless hill.)

Luckily just after mile 2, what had been going up, FINALLY headed down. My legs got it together, and things began to feel as good as one could hope for. Even better, the rain basically stopped and it was *almost* dry for several miles. I had a quick stop at mile 3 to pee, and then I was off again.

As un-crowded as it got

I ran along with very few thoughts until mile 7. At that point, I realized that I had reached the mileage of my "longest run" in weeks. Thankfully, I was feeling fine. Very shortly after that, I was able to locate the 3:50 pace group. I had no specific time goal in mind, but decided to stick with them until I was no longer able to do so. I certainly had doubts about my ability to maintain a sub 9 pace for 18 more miles. Around that time, we began to get some serious weather. The skies opened up in complete deluge several times between miles 8 and 15, and steady rain in between downpours kept everyone nice and damp. The conditions were so warm that I had no worry about hypothermia, but it was simply impossible to do more than focus on the ground one foot in front of ones feet. I needed windshield wipers.

While I realized that we were passing lovely landscape (the river, the Mall, many monuments) I was just not able to take any of it in. The weather was an all consuming problem, and at one point became so extreme that the roads simply turned to rivers!!!

This was after I had passed through this area- but it is a good summary of the conditions

(I will come clean and say that this is not at all the worst conditions I have run in. That award goes (easily) to Boston 2018. This was ridiculous, but I never feared for my health. Maybe my mental health, but not my physical health.)

At mile 20, while leaping over lakes, I slowly edged ahead of the 3:50 pace group. I had no intention of scampering away from them, it just seemed to happen. I expected to see them again shortly, but my motto for the race was to "run each damn mile the way it needed to be run" and that particular mile needed to be faster. I never saw them again (although I found someone from the group at the finish- and determined that they did not start when I did, so we were basically running different timelines.)

The masses of runners from earlier in the day somewhat lessened as the race went on, but it was extremely crowded for the majority of the race. It wasn't until mile 21, around the 14th street bridge (the infamous "beat the bridge" bridge) that the streets really opened up.
Of course, as one would expect, this is also the time when my legs had had enough. Done running. Sore and stupid. I basically sucked it up (as the skies opened up YET AGAIN) and decided to keep on trudging. I really feel compelled to mention how hard it rained. Just when you would think it could not actually, possibly rain any harder: it would. That is how it went. A person could not possibly have become more soaked, with rain such as that!

The final 4 miles were dumb. Mostly because my legs had ceased to work. I saw Tyler somewhere around mile 22, and he promised to locate us with dry clothing at the finish. I also saw fellow Mainer Jaimie around this time, which was fun because it's hard to find friends in a crowd that large.

With 1.5 miles to go, the sun came out in absolute blazes and the temps absolutely skyrocketed. I said to some guy "well, this is fun. I preferred the rain." he looked at me like I had two heads.

Anywhoo. With every step feeling like torture, I ran (we use that term loosely) the final COMPLETELY UPHILL stretch and finished. 3:51:13. Quite respectable, given my lack of long runs/speedwork/training. I was quite satisfied. The only reason that I continued to run those last few miles was out of pure stubbornness, a quality that I actually find useful on a regular basis. I was in no shape for such an excursion.

Done! And now to find watermelon.... 

My main concern was how damn hot it was. Just boiling! I skipped all scenic photos and beelined for the water and shade. After a LONG walk to the where the finishers party was (on legs that were just incredibly shitty) I discovered that small tubs of watermelon were being passed out. With zero thought, I promptly ate 4. What happened next was this. Tyler located me in the throngs of people, which must have been a real chore. And (like the fun person I am) I promptly announced that I was planning on being sick soon, and needed to the care of that. He offered to take photos. I declined. I dry heaved a little and then sat sadly on a curb until I recovered.

Thankfully, things improved quickly after that little fiasco. I felt better. It was a nice day! I was sopping soggy wet. Danielle finished and fought the crowds to find us! We took selfies.

Winners!!!

Then we escaped the crowds and headed back to the hotel to take wet nap baths (as we were both departing for various locations and we had no hotel room shower....)
I was deeply offended to discover that my bad weighed considerably more than it had on the trip there. I assumed removing a significant number of throw away garments would leave me with a lighter load. I did not take into account the weight of absolutely sopping race kit and shoes. Gross.
I made it to the airport, and (annoyingly) it was a lovely day...


Despite the mess, I would say that this is the best big fall marathon I have attended. I liked the course (the puddles and white and yellow lines sure looked nice) The race was run in an organized way and transportation was pretty straightforward for a big city race. This race was less expensive to attend than Boston, or NYCM in both entry fee (it is not a major) and hotel (about half price from Chicago, for example, and so very much less than you would pay to stay in Boston or NYC.) Flying from Portland was a piece of cake, and took less than 90 minutes (we paid about $280 for tickets if I remember correctly, which was annoyingly expensive for a quick trip.)

The aftermath was pretty painful. Thankfully, no sign of my injury even thinking of making a comeback! Just days upon DAYS of being more sore that I can remember being post marathon since my first Boston (those hills get you the first time.) Considering my training, it was to be expected.

So here I am, in recovery mode, with Boston training looming on the horizon. It is too bad that this training cycle didn't come together well enough for me to claim a 2021 BQ last weekend, but I knew that would not happen. It looks like I am going to have to get after it in Boston yet again, if I want to participate in 2021.

Good things about this race:
-Pretty friendly lottery . I don't know anyone who did not get in!
-One of a kind. It is a rare day that you get to run past so many national monuments, and then be given your medal by a Marine! Very fun experience.)
-DC is a user friendly city, and shockingly quiet which none of us expected.
-Many choices for lodging, food, beers
-Many runners, you will never be lonely
-Start and finish are essentially in the same place. No point to point logistical hassle.
-solid medal. and (this year) nice shirt for participants. this seems NOT to be the case yearly (see 2018 for an example...)

I had to find proof of how bad the 2018 shirt is. BAD. This bad. 

-I imagine that if you have close ties to a Marine/are one, this would be a very moving and emotional race experience. It certainly is unique.

Bad things about this race:
-If you require frequent hydration, carry your own. There are a couple long pauses between water stations (which are otherwise excellent. also, several food stations)
-If you did not bring a cruise director (I did!) navigation to things like shuttles could take a moment to figure out. (if you don't know the city)
-big hill in final 0.1 mile. That sucks.

Training for Marine Corps Marathon: Week one million

Lame training cycle. Check. 

Marathon one week away? Check. 

I plan to "participate" rather than "race". 

Seriously.  What a weird freaking summer. 

And now, to pay thanks to the show that has saved my life since being stuck on the bike trainer.

How do I feel when I consider running/crawling 26.2 in a week?

Except I am

It's fine. I got hurt. I lived. 

Right?

And now... I'm going to just go. run. walk. drink beer. 

I have never gone into a marathon in such a state. 

I have NO idea. None

People keep saying "of course you are going to run fast! you always do!" 

And I'm like "hahahah but really"

Because, no

Anyway. No time to worry. Here we go. And....

Ever. In. My. Favor.

And in other news: my leg really is fully healed for which I am very thankful. 

Training for Marine Corps Marathon: Week 16

This should be the first taper week after. long, arduous summer of training. 

Since that didn't really happen, I'm looking at a marathon in 13 days while shaking my head a bit, and saying "what the hell is THIS!?" 

That being said, things are generally fine. 

What is fine:

-My leg is 100% pain free. I am healed.

-I had a very successful 1 hour 5 minute run on Thursday, with no ill effects. 

-I clearly am not overtrained! Yay

-I have succeeded in creatively training, and making lemonade out of lemons (as one does)

What could be better:

-Well, I could be a good bit more fit.

-Like, a great great deal more fit.

Last week was another good one, with a lot more running than I have been able to do. If this marathon was in 8 weeks, or even 6, I would be cautiously optimistic. 

But it is in 13 days. SO I AM VERY OPTIMISTIC. Yes I am.

I'm optimistic that I will finish.

I am optimistic about running each mile the way it needs to be run. 

I am cheerfully optimistic about having a solid adventure.

I am certainly optimistic about running a new course in a city that I really enjoy. 

Seven years ago me would already be re-injured trying to pull off a late in the game 20 miler. Seven years ago me would also be pretty stressed out, and probably a touch negative about the way this training cycle played out. Actually, seven years ago me would be losing her shit. 

Present day me seems to have learned some lessons, both in rolling with the punches, and in being more chill. Because I have accepted where I am at. Total peace with it. 

No, it's not ideal conditions for a BQ. But, I am now healthy and have created a good fitness base for winter training. 

I am about to run a race that many seem to consider one of the best, and this is exciting! Perhaps I will be able to enjoy it a bit more, with no real possibility of speed records on the horizon. 

So, what did I do last week?

Tuesday: 

30 minute run

30 minute bike

Thursday:

1:05 run

2 hour bike

Saturday:

40 minute run

30 minute bike

Sunday:

20 minute run

20 minute bike 

Training for Marine corps Marathon: Week 15

The unique training continues. It was a pretty busy and exciting week, but pretty active (thought not in the traditional "countdown to the marathon" way.)

Tuesday was "mile repeat" day on the bike. A 1 hour 20 minute workout, with 6x7 minute repeats that were uncomfortably hard. 

Tuesday was a 45 minute bike workout, and 15 whole entire minutes of PAIN FREE running!!

Wednesday was "long run" day, with a whopping 25 minutes of running (!) and 2 hours on the bike. 

On Thursday I traveled to Aspen, for several wonderful days with my sister. 

We were SUPER active (despite the elevation that she lives at- over 8,000 ft!) 

We did a total of 14 miles of hiking, and 14 miles of leisurely biking (but at altitude, still a workout!) Of course, we also rode gondolas, took scenic drives, enjoyed local food and beers (as well as sunsets on her deck, which offers the most incredible scenery!!) The two of us just happen to be active people , so the days were delightfully jam packed with adventure. 

Just a casual lake at 11,000+ feet

LOVE MY BIKE????? 

So, normally this would be the start of tapering. Given the lack of abuse that cycling workouts give your body, I plan to more or less chug along for the next couple weeks. My hope is to get my running time up to about an hour this week (like, an hour for one run) and see what happens. I am operating 100% pain free currently, and I plan to continue that trend. 

Training for Marine Corps Marathon: Week 14

So, to answer the unasked question:
It IS weird to train for a marathon without running. But it is happening! Who knows what this will lead to on race day, but I'm certainly putting in the effort.

Last week was a pain free leg week 100% of the time. I haven't said THAT in a while! Despite the pleasant surprise of a pain free life, I'm not trusting the little bugger.

Workouts:
-I spent 4 hours and 55 total minutes on either the bike, or elliptical (only 1:10 on the elliptical, as I must go to the gym to use the stupid thing.) (like, all week not in one go. duh)

-I did a 30 minute strength workout. go me.

-On Sunday, I ran for 10 minutes!! Miracle!

What I'm noticing, is that the time I am spending working out is not as high as it would be on a peak week if I was able to run (and was heathy, etc etc.) Honestly, I was about an hour short of total time this week. Part of this is due to my warm ups and cool downs being much shorter on the bike. If I ran mile repeats, my warm up would have been comparable (about 20 minutes) but I would have had a 20-30 minute cool down. On the bike, it was basically 5 minutes. On peak week, I also would have been running for about 40 minutes longer than I elliptical-d/biked for my "long run" attempt.
Honestly, these are not my normal forms of exercise and I DO have a background fear of sustaining some stupid secondary injury if I just go "ALL IN" too hard. So this is what it is, and where I am at. Enjoy following along on my cluster fudge adventure....!

I'm doing my best to replicate, on the bike, what I might be doing on a run.
For example, I did some speed work of 3x10 minutes at a challenging pace.
My "long run" was 1:10on the elliptical, and 1:10 on the bike.

Seriously. I have no idea what I'm actually doing, but I'm gonna wing it and see what happens. I'm certainly putting in solid work, and getting a sore butt out of it!

Training for Marine Corps Marathon: Weeks 12 and 13

Week 12, on paper, went almost as planned. However, it did not end as planned!!!

The week started off fine, I had an easy recovery run on Monday and things were feeling good.
I headed out on Wednesday with a plan to do a few mile repeats- I was shooting for 4, as my speedwork mileage has not been high. It was the warmest day we had had in a while, and HUMID AF. I felt genuinely dreadful. My calves returned feeling awful like earlier in the season (like, tired/crampy) but my stomach was the real trouble maker. I felt progressively more nauseated as the workout progressed, and after the 3rd repeat I called it a day. GROSS.

I actually had a really good long run on Thursday. The calves were a touch rough at first, but it was an overall good run, on a nice day. The 8:44 pace felt pleasant, and I was really optimistic.

On Saturday I went for a short, easy run. Nothing of note occurred, it was actually an extremely boring little outing.
And as soon as I got home, my troublesome shin/calf turned into CRAP. I was pretty surprised by this event. While it had not been feeling "perfect" it was far from what I would call an "injury."

WELL. When I awoke on Sunday still LAME AF, I declared myself injured and put myself on the DL.

So, Week 13 consisted on some bike trainer miles, and a looooooong horse show with a shit ton of walking. The crap leg was CRAP until Saturday the 21st when it suddenly snapped out of it and stopped hurting completely.
The other weird thing that's happening, was that my foot was super sore as well. Basically, my leg hurt from the arch of my foot, through my calf and shin. I am old, it is a shame.

I don't really trust it at this point. I have no plans to take to the pavement to test out it's integrity for several more days. Or maybe a week. Who knows!

So here's the good news:
-Crap leg does not hurt at all anymore. At any point. Not when I get up. Not when I walk. Not at all.
-Crap leg is really just being a bitch. I never could "pinpoint" a spot of pain, there was never swelling or bruising, I never actually did anything stupid to myself other than living my best life.
-I can do other activities
-I'm smart enough to FULL stop when something stops being a little annoying, and becomes stupid

The bad news:
-Despite this clearly not being a sprain/stress fracture, it still sucked.
-I do have a marathon in a month.
-I did take 2 weeks off in august, to try to mitigate this issue, and it clearly did not work. Hence the trust issue!

Well, the other good news:
-I'm not at all stressed about this
-I'll go to the marathon anyway
-I'm not sitting on my butt
-Luckily, while I do enjoy running, I do not require it. I can exist happily on no running.

This has put my notion of an MCM BQ on hold, but I am still feeling confident that I can show up healthy at the start, and talk myself into finishing. Shit happens, and this is really not a very big deal in the big picture.

After all, there is a HUGE macaroni and cheese festival (who knew this was a real thing!!) in DC the day before the race, and that alone is worth the trip!

Training for Marine Corps Marathon: Week 11

Somehow, I have no recollection of last weeks training.

From what I recall (foggily) It was another nice, cool week of training and my calf/shin was reasonably cooperative. I managed to do all my workouts and fit in a small hike.

I shall now refer to Strava.

OK right. It was a good week!

I started things off on Monday with a treadmill run because it was a cold, rainy mess. Normally, this would REALLY not be a good way to begin the week (I am REALLY over the treadmill) but it was actually a solid 5 miler.

I did 6x800 for probably the 300th time this season. Every time I do this workout, I have plans to up the length of the repeat the following week. THEN, something happens to keep me from doing that. So anyway, they were fine, and hopefully this week does not such and I can run some damn mile repeats.

I ran a 15+ long run on a gorgeous day. 68 degrees, dry, sunny and wind. Doesn't get better, and the whole run was very solid.

Massive post run beer, haha

We did an 8 mile power hike on Saturday. This was NOT counted as a run, even though we ran some of it. A rugged 3500+ of elevation too. It was our first time this season in the Northern Presis, and they never disappoint.

Heyyyyyy

Sunday was another gorgeous day, and I finished the week up with a pretty casual 10 miler.

So it was a decent week. The next couple are going to be really challenging. Work is insane, I mean INSANE. (like, 10-11 hour days 6 days a week and then Finals, which is basically a week long.)
I'm pretty determined to get the work done. Marathon time is drawing near, and I certainly can not afford another significant break at this point. (and then, I'm traveling early October... so lots of potential pitfalls. noooooooo!!!!)
The cooler weather is making me feel much more like myself. (and at the same time, fills me with dread because it is going to suck when it is suddenly 85 again!)
And as far as my calf goes.... It is no worse. It hates it when I am on my feet teaching for hours at a time, but it needs to suck it. I literally have no time to listen to its bitching.

Boston registration is this week. I'm looking forward to seeing what the cut off times are, after the qualification standards became tougher this year. Clearly, I would love to mosey to DC and low key (on low key training, haha) BQ. I think the next two weeks will be really telling in whether or not that is a reasonable goal. I have 9+ minutes in hand for 2020, so I am confident that I'll be lining up on April 20th.

Stats:
Miles: 38
Hottest day: Not hot at all. No hot days. Pretty chilly. 
Longest run: 15+
Hiking miles- 7.9