Road to Boston

Ok, this is the first marathon training day that really didn't go the way I had planned.

 I woke up and my stomach was killing me.  That's pretty unusual for me.  So I kinda procrastinated on my running - - which usually I try to do first thing in the am.  And honestly, I was a little afraid to leave my house because of the pain.  I didn't want to run 4 miles and end up far away from home and vomiting or anything else that comes with a stomach problem.

So finally, I decided to just give the treadmill another try.  Ugh.  I ran two slow miles.  Then, eeked out another slow mile.  Then I had to sit and rest.  My stomach really wasn't sooo bad.  But my legs just felt sore and tired and blech, and then combining that with the boring treadmill and the stomach -- I just didn't have the mental oomph.  I did five miles and called it a day.  

 Disappointing. 

Got my long run in, and frankly even surprised myself after feeling so under the weather yesterday.  I just do a LOT better running outside than on a treadmill.  I don't like the feeling of the treadmill, never mind the boredom.

The first mile today wasn't so great.  Dog had to pee.  I had to pee.  Dog had to pee.  Wore a shell and was broiling.  Took off shell and somehow managed to pull out some very long elastic string out of it.  Which dangled and annoyed the heck out of me.  So I had to stop and try to wind it up and knot it.  But once I got all the annoyances out of the way, the next 12 miles went well.

The last mile - - well for me, the last mile is always up this pretty long hill, so it's never fun.  But it really is the only way to get back to my house!  I trudged up it.

Overall, did 9:30's.  Nothing to brag about, but that's how I was feeling today.  I'm taking Sasha's advice and RESTING tomorrow. 

Ahhh.  Rest.

Definitely feels good to rest after my long run yesterday.

Back to resting. 

Today was a nice slow trail run with friends (12:12 pace).  I do this loop quite often, and it is super hilly, but with my friends we just chat the whole way, and it makes the whole thing much more enjoyable.  Trail running really is my favorite, but I don't like the extra time it takes me to get it done.

Well, I must confess that after three beers on the 4th that I was pretty dehydrated going into this run.  I thought I was running the way I felt, but truth be told, I probably was going a little faster than necessary.  It seems like I love to run that first mile too fast.  Need to break that habit.

Sleep.

I need more of it.

Today, I needed to run early because there really was no other time to run, and I was DRAGGING myself out of the bed.  I ran how I felt, which apparently was slow (9:33's).  Perfect.  That's the speed I'm supposed to be running anyway.  

My legs felt pretty good on the run, I just felt sort of systemically tired.   Hope I can catch a nap or something today. 

This week, I'm upping my daily run to 8 miles, but it is a step back week for my long run, so overall, I should be running a tad less then last week.

Good run.  First time trying new Asics shoes.  I liked them pretty well.  Sadly, I sort like my shoes better when the cushioning is shot.  Not sure why, but I like a very firm shoe where you really feel the road.  Nonetheless, these felt okay.

 Pace was 9:04.  I know I'm supposed to be running slower.  Sigh. 

Pace was 9:01.  Okay, again, I need to get some control on my pacing.  But I'm delighted to be feeling good on my runs.  Not fabulous, but good.  Usually it is EITHER I feel weak on the cardio side or just systemically tired, OR my legs are sore/tired/stiff.  Neither of these issues was severe today, but I felt more leg tired than cardio tired.

lol . . .okay, this was my step back week so my long run was a measly 10 miles.  I'm laughing because I decided to do this run with a friend - - 5 trail miles and 5 regular miles - - and this time, the pace was a in too much control.  Granted, the trail run is extremely hilly, but an average pace of  12:00 min/mi for the whole run tells me that we were really poking!  Oh well, it was probably good for me.

OMG, I never have runs like I had today.  It was all systems go big-time.  Nothing hurt.  I felt like I was slowly gliding along, and then much to my surprise I found I was running 8:50's, which is my goal marathon pace.  If I felt like I did today in the marathon for twenty miles, I think I'd actually really qualify for Boston . . .lol . . .I'm sure there isn't much chance of that, but something was just "on".  Until the very last mile when I suddenly really needed a restroom badly . . .but up until that, I was running on air.  Surprising after my so called long, hilly run.  

Picked the perfect day to have off.  I had to go see my son play baseball at 8:00 am at a location that was 45 minutes away.  And now we are having a massive thunderstorm.  Just a nice day to not be squeezing in a run . . .

This upcoming week, I'm sticking with 8 milers daily, but have a true long run on Thursday of 15 miles.  I'm a little worried about the following week as we are going on vacation.  Hope I can get in all the running I need to without incident. 

Today was a hilly (rolling) 8 miles that I ran at an average pace of 9:21.  I wouldn't say I felt on top of the world or anything, but I do feel that I'm acclimating to the greater mileage and feeling like 8 miles really isn't so hard anymore.  

My quandry is whether I should move to 9 miles per day next week.  I feel ready, but I'm out of town on "vacation".  If you call a vacation taking my son to play baseball for a week . . .lol.  I am concerned about where I will run and when I will squeeze it in.  The long run will be 17 miles. Yikes!  For some reason, running long on my home turf doesn't scare me, but away from home kinda does.  Even though I guess technically I could come up with a loop and do repeats.  

Sigh.  My gut feeling is to stick with the 8's and make sure I get my long run in, and then move up to 9 miles per day the following week. 

Today was awesome.  I did a combo road/trail run, and the first 2 miles are downhill followed by 4 flat trail miles and then 2 miles of mostly gradual climb.  I felt awesome.  It's definitely my favorite 8 mile run (I have quite a few different ones!) just because it feels so easy, and it is pretty, and it is in nice little 2 mile sections, each of which feels like nothing.

My average pace was 8:46.  Oops.  Too fast.  But I did pick it up more at the end when I still was feeling very good.  Nonetheless, it was too fast.  I better be careful on these next couple of runs so I feel good on the 16 miler on Thursday.  I have a really nice loop all planned out. 

9:13 min/mi average pace.

9:27 min/mi.

A pretty hilly long run!  9:39 min/mi.

All this week was a vacation for me which is why my blog is so woefully boring.  So, please skip ahead to the 25th if you actually want to READ anything.  I got to run in Cooperstown all week, and I must say, it was lovely.

It was wierd doing this long run in a strange place.  I had this very odd feeling that for the first 8.5 miles I was running downhill the whole time, so I was dreading the turnaround.  And then, when I turned around and ran back, I still felt like I mostly was running downhill.  It was very strange!  

 Sasha's advice has really been helpful for me.  I used to DREAD the long runs so much because all week I'd be running easy and then here would come this monumental run where I'd be shuffling along.  Now, running 8 miles every day, I'm so much better prepared for the long run.  I actually felt great on this 17 miler and had no soreness the next day.  I mean I was happy to stop at the end of it, but it really didn't feel like a huge effort.

I'm moving up to 9 miles per day now.  I was a little tiny bit worried today as I felt a teensy tiny twinge in my hip.  I've had hip issues in the past, but this seemed sooo minor.  Sometimes I focus in on the tiny pain because there isn't a big one!  Hopefully it is nothing.  My long run will be a "step back" this week, so hopefully boosting to the 9 daily miles won't be a huge deal.