Tuesday:7.5m intervals 12 x 400s @6:07/pace, 25 min core
Wednesday:7m easy 9:40/pace
Thursday:Rest
Quick check in! Saw the orthopedist yesterday and my knees look fantastic. No major issues. He thinks i may have either a small bone bruise on the lateral side, or a possible minor tear of the meniscus. He wasn’t worried about either because I wasn’t in pain and said I would have experienced a lot of swelling and pain if it tore (which i did not have any swelling.) He gave me the go ahead to marathon train and prescribed ice to the knee after running for the next several weeks as precaution. Yay to that!
And cheers to the weekend! I’m so excited to finally get back to a long run! Wish me luck and enjoy the picture dump below.
OH and thanks again for everyone who has donated to my fundraising page for the National MS Society–exceeded the goal of $500, so i’d like to hit a new goal of $1000! https://fundly.com/run-for-ms
Gotta appreciate the attempt to smile while carrying a heavy weight up and down hills… #IneedtodoanotherSpartan
One from the Chicago wedding…If only all bathroom mirrors had this cloudy texture to it…
I mentioned on Instagram this was a rough week for running. It was 100 degrees and humid all week. Every run felt 10000x times harder than they should have and to top it off, my knee wasn’t liking impact this week. I cut Saturday’s run short and eliminated the double long run this weekend. I’m getting it checked out this week because I don’t want to start marathon training with an injury!
Other than the 5:30am alarms for runners to beat the heat and get the early miles in (we are a crazy bunch aren’t we?) I feel like summer is a great time to be more social and get outside! I’m happiest when I’m charging my solar powered batteries.
Ate hot dogs and had a few brewski’s at Nationals Park for a great night game…
July 11-17 Recap
Monday:20min core, 20 min shoulders/triceps
Tuesday:7m easy 9:14/pace
Wednesday:6m easy 9:30/pace
Thursday: 9m easy progression 9:00/pace
Friday: 20min legs (resistance band work, glute/hips)
Saturday:11m long 9:24/pace
Sunday:12.1m long 9:09/pace
Total Mileage:45.1
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July 18-24 Recap
Monday:5000m row
Tuesday:8.3m easy 9:00/pace
Wednesday:20 min core
Thursday: 5m easy 9:50/pace, 25min shoulders
Friday:6.1m easy 9:24/pace
Saturday: 11.3m long 10:38/pace
Sunday: Rest
Total Miles:30.7 (low miles because of knee)
What are your go-to summer activities?
Has anyone tried REI’s (or another running/fitness) group event?
Just as planned, I dipped my toes into a speed session last week. An 8 mile run with five of those miles at a 7:30/pace tempo. That went well. The next day I did my usual body weight leg day which consisted of about 20 minutes of very basic exercises: light weighted squats (40lbs), TRX balance lunges and TRX pistol squats. I don’t know if it was the combination of speed & strength but Saturday I was still feeling sore legs…
When the alarm buzzes on a Saturday, usually 6:00am, the first thing I do is press the ON button for the coffee to start, then I take LE out for her walk and to get a feel for the outside temps to prepare for my run.
sleepy pup
Once we get back I chug a large glass of water, move onto coffee, check emails and blogs while i stretch out my legs.
I try to multi-task as much as possible while i’m waking up so I can get out the door in 30 minutes. I’m not one of those people that can just roll out of bed and run. When i do that i feel like i’m sleep running or something. I like being alert so coffee and stretching will do that real quick.
Once my eyes finally wake up, i pop the contacts in, get dressed and grab what I need for a 2+ hour run.
I drove about 20 minutes from my house to scout out a connection trail for the ultra i’m running next month. I was happy to find that Rock Creek Trail has been updated with a lot of signs, port-o-pottys and lights have been installed in a dark under pass. The trail itself feels super safe, easy to navigate and there are plenty of fountains and toilets.
Now I can tell you about how craptastic these two weekend runs were. I’m not joking when I said my legs were sore. Every single step I took over 15 miles hurt. I was hopeful that they would loosen up in the first few miles. Nope. Maybe this side stitch will go away. Nope. My muscles tightened for approximately 19,000 steps. And i felt every single step. The side stitch was there from mile 3 to 13, which resulted in a lot of walk breaks. I am always humbled when I see 10:XX miles blink on my watch.
But hey, these long runs are no joke. Cumulative fatigue is a real thing and the hard runs during the summer will make a strong runner for the fall. I didn’t mentally give up. I knew my legs were just tired. <—if that’s not ultra marathon mentality I don’t know what is.
Sunday I set out for 7 miles. Again, i was hopeful my legs would feel better. They didn’t. It was another slow, hot run. There was nothing I could do but enjoy Hello, From the Magic Tavern podcast and look forward to Monday, a day off from leg work.
After the run, I got out my calendar to mark the number of weeks until Philadelphia Marathon and whoa, I didn’t realize training starts next week! I’ll be following the Hansons Marathon Method (advanced) this training cycle. I’ll slightly adjust the long runs until the ultra is done in August, then follow the plan as closely as possible after.
I’m excited about this marathon. My first ever marathon was a 4:28 in Chicago when I was underprepared and undertrained. The last I completed was Chicago again in 2014 when I was extremely burnt out from work and personal life issues. I completed it in 3:50, which was a huge PR, but it was a stressful time to attempt a marathon.
Now i’ve got the mileage and strength to back me up. I’m happy at home and in work. This all adds up to a good time to try the marathon again. Cross your fingers and stay tuned for all the highs and lows of marathon training.
Last Week
Monday:Rest
Tuesday:6m easy 8:40/pace
Wednesday:8m tempo (2m warm up, 5 @ 7:30/pace, 1m cooldown), 45 min upper body
Wednesday:8m tempo (2m warm up, 5 @ 7:30/pace, 1m cooldown), 45 min upper body
July 4th weekend were spent in Chicago for a birthday and a wedding. Friday morning I loaded up a few bags & LE and drove to the midwest! I made it in early enough to grab hotdogs & fries and head to a local NWI (northwest Indiana) fireworks show #Merica. Also just because I have to say it, the midwest does fireworks right. Best show i’ve seen in years. DC you need to step up your game, it’s quite embarrassing being the nation’s capital.
Saturday morning started with an easy eight mile run. I was so thankful this was a cutback week. I’m finally feeling these 40+ weeks! My best friend Marie (she’s been on the blog a few times before) was due with her first baby boy on July 4th. She invited me to her last ultrasound that morning. I missed so much of her pregnancy so being there at the last appointment felt very special.
Everything seemed like it was going well, we were discussing brunch and catching up on life. The doctor stepped in the room and let us know Marie’s amniotic fluid was extremely low so they had to move her into labor & delivery. I think the doctor’s exact words were, “We’re going to get things moving along.” Which made us both a little confused. Marie needed to hear exactly what was going on. The doctor clarified that she was about to be induced!
I hung out with her while she made calls and facetimed her family. My sis-in-law Trish came up to the hospital to bring food and keep us company for a few hours. Marie’s mom made it up to the hospital soon after and I felt better about going to the wedding. Induction takes a while and the doctor was confident she wouldn’t have the baby until the next day.
I rushed home to change for the wedding and headed to Chicago!
The venue was at City View Loft and was so pretty! We had a blast catching up with family and the bride and groom looked amazing!
The weekend just kept rolling on… the next morning at 9:00am Marie had her baby and little Philip entered out world!
I made a quick stop to the hospital to drop of gifts and meet little Phil then took off to the cottage for Josh Raycroft’s 30th birthday and 4th of July festivities!
Josh on the left
Pro compression socks for all sports! (or recovery from wearing heels all night!)
The next day I turned around and drove back home. That was a FAST weekend!
Last Week
Monday:35min legs (deadlifts, kb swings, front squats, lunges)
Tuesday: 7.5m easy 9:48/pace
Wednesday:10m easy 8:55/pace, 20 min shoulders/core
Thursday:6m easy 9:23/pace
Friday:Rest
Saturday:8.6m easy 8:51/pace
Sunday:Rest
Total Miles:32.1 (cutback!)
Have you had a day or weekend with several life events?
Monday:35min legs (95-125lb deadlifts, kb swings, front squats, lunges)
Tuesday: 7.5m easy 9:48/pace
Wednesday:10m easy 8:55/pace, 20 min shoulders/core
Thursday:6m easy 9:23/pace
A few randoms for Friday! I took LE to a dog beach in Downs Memorial Park (Pasadena, MD). It was so much fun to see her in water.
It took several attempts to force persuade her to come all the way in the water, but once she was in she seemed to enjoy it. I know now that she is definitely not a water dog. We can rule out any sort of retriever or lab mix I may have once thought she was. Swimming did not come naturally to her at all.
She couldn’t figure out how to use her back legs while swimming which was a real funny thing to witness. Her legs just kinda floated up as she pedaled with her front paws.
It was a great day at the beach, and i’ve been craving an ice cream cone ever since… don’t ask me why but beach and ice cream just sounded good. I have yet to satisfy this craving though. 😦
When I got home and cleaned her up she passed out pretty hard. Life of a dog right?
Random running fact for the month of June – I hit an all time high mileage of 170.5! Ultra training is packing on the miles. OH and i finally pulled the trigger and i’m in for the Philadelphia Marathon!
shesgoingthedistance.com 