Vermont City Marathon: Training Weeks #5 and #6 — the Vacation Edition

February 20, 2017 - Mel

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to Vermont City Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

vermont marathon training blog runner
Things seen on my recent runs — including an amazing riverfront trail in Tampa, a water stop on the trails in Iowa, a “jogging” track on a cruise ship, and… alligators?!?!

One of the best parts of having a running coach is the ability to adapt my training program when life (and fun) comes first, like during vacation. I like the balance of working out on vacation — and running outdoors always helps me explore a new city or neighborhood. Being gone for 8 days though was TOUGH. And I can tell you that running on a cruise ship is even tougher (particularly if you experienced a day-long nausea spell at sea and drank too much definitely). This was my 3rd adventure on The Rock Boat — and this was my favorite boat so far — but this post is only about my marathon training adventures. 😉

I worked around my travel days, making airport days my rest days. Though I had 6 scheduled workouts (4 runs and 2 cross-training) during my trip, getting in only 3 runs was still a success. All things drinking and sea sickness considered. My goal for for the next couple of weeks though is to get back into my cross-training and strength training because I’ve let those important workouts slide. I also hope to get in a better blogging routine and return to weekly training posts.

Week 5 was a drop-back week, and I had a Tempo and Easy runs before vacation — and two easy runs while I was away (one with Strides).

MONDAY: Rest Day

TUESDAY: MY TREADMILL IS FIXED!!!!! Good lord that took way too long. ProForm finally sent out a technician, and both the motor and control board were replaced. And my first workout back on the ‘mill was intervals (one additional than the prior week) — alternating .75 mile fast and .25 recovery. I’m aiming for consistency on these — and running based on effort level.

Warm-up mile: 11:31
1: 9:21 / 10:56
2: 9:39 / 10:59
3: 9:24 / 10:57
4: 9:35 / 11:10
Cool down: 10:40

Finished up with a runners-based core workout.

WEDNESDAY: 3 easy miles + plank work

Average 10:36 pace

THURSDAY: Travel Day (and Rest) — WOOF! Such an early flight!

vermont city marathon training blog ambassador — SHORTS! And testing out my new Saucony Triumph ISO 3.

FRIDAY: 55 degrees in sunny Florida! Some older gentleman runner laughed at me for wearing shorts & tee shirt — he was bundled up completely like it was winter or something. hahah

My training plan called for a 40-minute easy run, ending with Strides.

4.45 total miles / 42:40 / 9:36 average pace

Splits: 9:39, 9:51, 9:31, 9:35, 9:40 [.14]

Strides (4×20 sec):
7:43 / 9:36
7:49 / 13:02 (not sure what happened here?? Thanks, Florida!)
7:09 / 10:13
7:36 / 9:50

SATURDAY: Boat sickness caught up with me, and I had to skip my “long” run. Only 5 miles on the plan, given that it was a cutback week; but 5 miles that I could NOT do (besides, you know, even keeping food down).

SUNDAY: I was feeling better, but skipped the Strength workout on my training plan and enjoyed all the wobbly stair climbs at sea.

Week #6 at a Glance — and almost back to my normal schedule (and surroundings):
Easy Run, Tempo Run, Long Run, Recovery Run

cruise ship running mexico blog — Running on a cruise ship is NOT easy!

MONDAY: Ran on the cruise ship, which was super hard, super hot and super windy. Got 2 miles in before giving up (4 miles on the plan).

Average 11:39 pace

TUESDAY: Skipped my strength workout again (I know, I know) – but I did SO MANY STAIRS on the boat, you guys!

WEDNESDAY: Rest Day – and Debarkation Day (booooo!)

THURSDAY: Outdoor running on the paved Sarasota trails – such a great place to run (and flat!). I was working it for those high effort level paces, and felt like I was going to puke near the end and had to slow up. Felt really, really easy though considering how fast my paces are (all things relative).

Iowa blogger running in Florida trails sarasota — Stoneybrook Nature Trail in Sarasota, Florida.

5:00 total miles / 48:30 / average 9:42 pace

Splits: 9:38, 8:59, 9:14, 9:42, 10:56

FRIDAY: Travel Day back to Iowa (and a scheduled rest day)

SATURDAY: Woke up early to join the group run, but ended up staying in bed a little later. Instead, I drove to the Greenbelt Trailhead near my house. It was 48 degrees in Iowa in the AM (got to around 60 when I was done). What a beautiful day for a long run! 🙂

vermont city marathon training fuel blogger — Time to figure out double digit run fueling!

This pace felt like I was running an effort level 7 for majority but I was moving soooo slow – yay, vacation hangover! I also am testing out how running on Cytomax feels. I used it on the course during my first marathon, so I’m interested in how it may aid my energy and performance for the duration of the race. In training, I’ll take a couple sips after 30 minutes, and then a few more every 15 minutes.

10 total miles / 1:48:09 / 10:49 average pace

Splits: 10:34, 10:55, 10:52, 10:47, 10:41, 10:44, 10:46, 10:43, 10:39, 11:25

vermont city marathon blogger — Solo long run on the Greenbelt Trail

SUNDAY: Recovery Run + Strength Workout

2 easy miles / 22:40 / 11:18 average pace

Made up for the absence of cross-training by doing a kettlebell-based strength workout following my run. I also had an afternoon massage, which was the perfect addition to my recovery day.

Back to work and normal life and training schedule commences!

WEEKLY RUNS: 3 (week #5) + 4 (week #6)
WEEKLY MILES: 13.45 (week #5) + 19 miles (week #6)
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 77.36 miles

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Vermont City Marathon: Training Weeks #3 & #4

February 6, 2017 - Mel

vermont city marathon ambassador blog running

It’s been a rough start to marathon training. I missed two of my runs in training week 3 and generally felt defeated at anything I attempted (thanks, PMS!). I don’t want to make a habit of having every other week be awful, so I’m letting it go and reconfirming my dedication to the remainder of this 20-week cycle. I’ve got vacation coming up and “destination runs” to plan — and there’s no time to feel bad about missing a couple workouts (or complaining about my STILL-broken treadmill). I used Week #4 to get recommitted to my goal and determined to get all 4 of my runs completed.

So since Week #3 was mostly a bust, here’s how Week #4 of Marathon Training went:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Tempo Interval Run + Core
Wednesday: Easy Run + Strength
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long Run with Fast Finish
Sunday: Recovery Run + Core

MONDAY: Mondays are my usual rest day — alternating bi-weekly with a call with my running coach. I always have a good takeaway from our chats and she truly keeps me honest, accountable and POSITIVE!

TUESDAY: The last couple weeks my speed workouts have been on Tuesdays, and… if I’m being honest, it’s HARD after having a rest day. Though I’ve somehow lucked out with every other Tuesday having some crazy ice or likewise weather concern.

Week #4 was a longer tempo interval (1200 repeats). I don’t really know how this type of workout translate yet into marathon pacing, but it keeps me focused on my running effort levels and awareness of when I’m pushing myself to a faster pace. Though sometimes I feel like I’m running much faster, which can be a little deflating. I try to remind myself that even a 10- or 15-second increase in pace is faster.

I didn’t complete my Core workout post-run, since I was surprised at the door with a glass of wine and a diamond. As far as excuses go, that one takes the cake, no? lol

Mile warm-up [10:31] Speed intervals: 9:47 [400 rest: 10:38] / 9:52 [10:53] / 9:49 [10:48] — I like the consistency!
Mile cool down [10:47]

WEDNESDAY: ARGH, this week was SO COLD. I didn’t realize until I was back inside that it was only 10 degrees. But man, it felt even colder. I couldn’t finish my entire three miles because I couldn’t warm up (no thanks to you, $140 thermal North Face pants), but completed a respectable 2.13 miles given the conditions. I had to get into a hot shower immediately to get warm, so I didn’t do my strength workout either.

2.13 miles / average 9:48 pace

THURSDAY: Yoga Roots at LifeTime Fitness — this week’s class was probably my favorite session so far, since returning to a regular yoga routine. The instructor was in a sassy-but-silly mood and I laughed (at him and at myself) a lot during practice. But I felt better afterward then when I entered and really felt like I “blissed out.” It’s a wonderful feeling!

FRIDAY: YAY! REST DAY! We went out to celebrate and I had my once-a-year steak. haha

SATURDAY: I’m really enjoying the weekly Striders group runs — despite the 7:30 am start — and it’s been awesome running with and getting to know some great people and the Des Moines city neighborhoods. The Saturday morning events always have at least 2 routes (a long and short route) and sometimes an in-between third option. There is usually a water stop worked into the map at the shorter distance turn-around (though we somehow missed it this weekend).

This week I had 8 miles on the plan, with a Fast Finish for the last mile. It worked out well, as I was with the group for the 6-mile short route and finished my workout around Drake University again. I DID THE FAST FINISH — and actually felt really, really good (but, cold OMG WINTER).

Splits: 10:23 (1) / 10:17 (2) / 10:47 (3) / 10:32 (4) / 10:40 (5) / 10:56 (6) / 11:45 (7 — oops! forgot to pause my watch when I went inside to use the water fountain!) / 9:22 (8)

I also got myself an Orange Mud seat wrap for the new car. For some reason, all this fleece-wearing in winter makes me super sweaty and I don’t want that stank to invade my vehicle. Is that how “moisture wicking” works? It’s weird. I love that the seat cover transitions into a wrap to help you change with some modesty outdoors (or, in my case in the summer, my work parking lot). Also, it comes in hot pink.

SUNDAY: Easy recovery run, followed by a Core workout. I will say it again, how much I HATE having to bundle up for the temperatures for only a 20-minute run. Last week I went to the gym’s treadmills before my massage, which worked out well; this week, while it was sunny, I cursed my way through the cold outdoors again. I love winter better when it snows.

2 miles / average 10:19 pace

WEEKLY RUNS: 2 (week #3) + 4 (week #4)
WEEKLY MILES: 9.7 (week #3) + 17.1 miles (week #4)
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 44.91 miles

I have a cutback week for this upcoming week, and have already packed for all my planned runs and workouts while on vacation (and yay, some vacay running buddies!). Once I get back, the double-digit long runs begin. ?

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Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #2

January 23, 2017 - Mel

Because of the upcoming double digit distances this training plan, I worked with my coach to swap my long runs to Saturdays to participate more often with the Capital Striders (the Des Moines area running community) group runs — which are, painfully, at 7:30 am. I did something similar in my last marathon training and getting the long run over with early Saturday seemed to work well for me. Though getting up at 6 am on a Saturday is definitely not the easiest, I usually take a nice afternoon nap — and I wait to do my Sunday recovery run in the afternoon.

Week #2 of Marathon Training Plan looked like this:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Tempo Interval Run
Wednesday: Easy Run + Strength
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Recovery Run + Core

Iowa blogger run marathon

My treadmill is still busted, despite receiving two replacement motherboards from ProForm. So, that meant a couple evening runs in the dark after work and ALL of my runs this week outdoors. The whole situation is totally irritating seeing as how we’ve had the equipment for less than a year AND purchased a 4-year warranty — and bundling up just to do an easy 20-minute outdoor run pisses me right off… but I’m working through it. But if I don’t get a promise of a replacement treadmill by next month, I’m REALLY going to lose my shit on someone.

Monday: GLORIOUS REST — and another recognized holiday at work — has me feeling finally (mostly) back to normal. We got a crazy ice storm in the Midwest on Monday, but the above-freezing temps melted mostly everything away overnight.

Tuesday: Short run — 3 miles, followed by an at-home kettlebell-focused strength workout.

Average 10:25 pace

Wednesday: Tempo Intervals — 6x400s (with a mile warm-up and mile cool down) in my secret stretch of sidewalk near the backside of my development. I love it; it’s a near-perfect .25 mile block (a little over, actually) and only slightly uphill that I just run back-and-forth.

Finishing these intervals was TOUGH, and I slowed down quite a bit on the last set. Looking forward to seeing myself get more consistent for a full set.

Thursday: Yoga Roots at LifeTime Fitness. Some weeks I love this class and others I hate it. I guess that means it’s working. Recently the instructor changed the programming to hold poses for 10 breaths instead of 5 — and holding some of the poses are really, really hard. The instructor tried to adjust me in triangle and I nearly collapsed.

Friday: Rest Day! I ended up meeting some friends after work for happy hour at Wellman’s Pub.

Saturday: I had 6 miles on my training plan, so I joined the Capital Striders group run (at 7:30 am) for the short route (which ended up being about 5 miles). After my running friends departed, I explored the Drake University campus to finish out my last mile. It was a pretty nice day in Des Moines, and I can’t believe I got my ass out of bed that early.

Average 10:21 pace

Des Moines running group blogger

Sunday: Easy 20 minute run — and despite it being 37 degrees, it felt REALLY really chilly.

Average 10:11 pace

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 16.1 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 18.11 miles

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Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #1

January 16, 2017 - Mel 1 Comment

It’s here, it’s here! Marathon training has begun. I can honestly tell you that I was excited to see a tempo run as my first workout of the plan (and also told my coach to remind me of that further on in training). But that workout didn’t happen. And neither did my mid-week easy run or my yoga class or my weekend long run.

When I got sick over the weekend, I messaged my coach asking when to do certain workouts based on my symptoms. And the short answer was: Use your energy to get better. And it was definitely the right decision as I battle whatever cold/flu combo sickness that has knocked me on my ass.

That said, I am committed to seeing through these 20 weeks of training — despite conditions seemingly conspiring against it (yep, treadmill is still broken despite them sending a new replacement motherboard). I intend to train hard though and do what I need to do to complete my workouts when I am fully capable to do them. This week, unfortunately, was not that week.

iowa run blogger winter running buff — Winter Warrior!

Week #1 of Training looked like this on paper:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Tempo Interval Run
Wednesday: Easy Run + Strength
Thursday: Yoga Roots at LifeTime
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long Run with Capital Striders
Sunday: Recovery Run + Core

Skipping to the weekend, I was finally well enough get through an at-home Strength routine on Saturday and an easy run on Sunday (before this giant ice storm came through, thankfully).

Iowa runner 180s tights winter running blog — Warmest winter running tights.

WEEKLY RUNS: 1
WEEKLY MILES: 2.01 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 2.01 miles

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Looking Forward to 2017 (and the Big Goal Failures of 2016)

January 9, 2017 - Mel

Hooray! Marathon Training Week has arrived! I’m starting off my 20-week training cycle with a Rest Day (duh) after a few weeks off of training (two weeks off running altogether) and working a lot on strength and attending regular weekly yoga classes. This seemed like a good day to reflect more on last year’s goals, as I set off for new achievements in 2017.

A lot of things changed in 2016, including the goals that I set for running. For starters, I had no idea in setting these goals that I would be living in a different place; so by March when we made our big move to Des Moines, I knew it would take some time to not only adjust but also get back into a running grove. Strangely, I spent the early part of 2016 dealing with some weird knee pain during my runs and then another 6 months or so of a foot issue – I was convinced it was a stress fracture. Though an x-ray showed nothing… and it basically stopped bothering me after that same doctor’s appointment. WEIRDNESS. In any event… these were my 5 Goals for 2016:

Run a 2-hour half marathon
700 miles for the year
Run another full marathon
Do a Ragnar or 50k
Run in costume

WELP.

I did PR my half marathon, but I have another 12 minutes to shave off before meeting that 2-hour goal.
I ran 512.97 miles in 2016, and while an increase over the 28.18 miles I completed in 2015, it was not anywhere close to 700!
Maybe if I trained and ran that full marathon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There were no ultras or Ragnars for me — but I did discover trail running!
And I never had enough confidence to be in costume during a race (though I did have a lot of fun this year).

I didn’t feel like this year was one big failure though AT ALL. I really enjoyed most of my race experiences and the challenge of trail racing completed a really awesome year for me. I left 2016 feeling REALLY accomplished and ready to take on bigger challenges this year.

So what’s next?
What’s that saying: If at first you don’t succeed, try try again? I had a lot of fun getting faster this year — when a PR slaps you in the face multiple times, there’s no way to not feel a sense of accomplishment from all the hard work. This year while I’m not quite so focused on time goals, I do want to be sure that I realize my full potential.

And that’s what I plan to do: TRAIN HARD.

Oh yeah, and in 2017 I’ll find myself in a new age group and being called things, like, a Masters runner.

That said, my 2017 goals look pretty similar to 2016:

running-goals-for-2017

I have a pretty full running schedule for the year (with accompanying PTO already requested), and I’m really excited about how this year will unfold — particularly the destination races that I’m registered for. I’m running 2 marathons in 2017 (Vermont City and Chicago), so there’s a good chance of maybe possibly getting a marathon PR (Though it’s not really my focus this year, I know sometimes these things happen organically).

Chicago will be something of a training run for MY FIRST 50K. Yep, I signed up for the GOATz 50k that happens in October. Several people in my trail running circle have said it’s a great beginner 50k. Plus there is a really amazing trail running community in the Omaha area!

I’m signed up for my first Ragnar race in March — with complete strangers (well, with internet friends who I haven’t met yet IRL)! I have a lot to learn still about these races and I’m sure the experience will push me out of my comfort zone in a completely new way.

Another goal this year is to volunteer and continue supporting the running community in different ways. I intend to sign up for a race day Cheer or Aid Station to support my fellow local runners and be more involved with organizations like Girls on the Run and the Courage League. I participated in Girls on the Run this fall as a Running Buddy, and it was an incredible experience; I really want to focus on giving back even more next year.

Mileage goals? Meh. The miles will come, and I know a year with two marathons and a 50k will likely push me over the 1,000 mark in 2017. But I’m going to let all that come naturally. I was intentional with my race scheduling to allow for some down time, with plenty of recovery weeks to prevent burnout and injury.

I may or may not gain enough confidence to wear a costume in 2017, but I want to encourage those who do. I want to be surrounded by people who challenge me and who can also make me laugh and help pass the miles — because there will be a lot of them this year! I’ve already made some amazing connections being part of the BibRave community as an ambassador in 2016, and I get the opportunity to continue that partnership in 2017. Likewise, I’m already looking forward to exploring more trails with the CS Turkeys and gaining All The Knowledge about running an Ultra.

This is going to be an awesome year! But first… MARATHON TRAINING.

Accountability (b)Log: Fall Fun!

November 17, 2016 - Mel

When my coach inputted Fall Fun! into my training schedule a couple weeks ago, it made me smile so hard. So that’s what I’ll be dubbing the next couple months of my accountability posts. I’m not likely to post every Monday until I get back into marathon training next year.

Fall Bonus: I made the decision to keep my coach, despite not having any time goals for my Fall & Winter races. I really like having one less decision to make and, personally, having someone schedule all of my weekly workouts is very valuable to me. Plus, I like her a lot — she keeps me motivated, focused on my successes and she’s always available to ask on any question. 🙂

Even though I’m in some sort of “off season,” I’m using this “off season” to get stronger in preparation for marathon training next year. I still plan to run 4x a week regularly with long runs or races on the weekend, but amp up my cross- and strength-training (helloooooo, two-a-days!).

ALSO: As I’ve mentioned, I’m doing a 100-mile Challenge for November with the Capital Striders.

I hit my 50-mile mark at the halfway point!

capital-striders-des-moines-100-mile-challenge-half-way

IMT Des Moines Half Marathon: Training Week #12 (Race Week) and Recovery

October 29, 2016 - Mel

I took a break from posting, along with my Recovery week(s). Here’s a quickie wrap-up from my last and final week of training for the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon.

dsm-marathon-header-2

Let’s list all the things I did during my Taper Madness:
So. Much. Laundry.
Meal Planning for an entire workweek
Made an extra treat for our workplace “tailgating” food day (these Buffalo Quinoa bites with a yogurt-gorgonzola dip — so good!)
Signed up for more races (haaaaaaaaaaa)

Week 12, though, was all about mentally and physically preparing myself for race day. Everything this week was an easy run, and I started all of my easy runs with 10-minutes of foam rolling. (Friday, was more like 8-ish minutes because I was just impatient to get my run over with… I KNOW, I KNOW.)

MONDAY
Rest Day — and my last call with my coach before the race. Though it was an easy week for running, she still gave me some work to do, to prepare mentally and help visualize my success at the race. One exercise that I really enjoyed was going back through my training spreadsheet and picking out every hard workout and good run. Despite an entire training cycle of high temps and humidity (and bitching and moaning), I had a lot of successes on my list.

TUESDAY
Easy Run + Strides = 2.4 miles

WEDNESDAY
Easy Run (forgot my Strides, whoops!) = 2.0 miles

THURSDAY
Rest

FRIDAY
Easy run + Strides = 2.2 miles

SATURDAY
Rest Day — and Expo!

SUNDAY
Race Day for the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon — read my Race Recap! = 13.3 miles

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 19.9 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 217.26 miles

That’s a lot of miles! And that’s exactly why I took an ENTIRE week off of running immediately following the half.

Up next: While I do have several races coming up (including two half marathons), I’m not training specifically for any time goals. My Accountability Mondays will look a little different in November, as I attempt a 100-mile Challenge for the month; the rest of my training will be getting me stronger to jump into Marathon training at the beginning of next year.

IMT Des Moines Half Marathon: Training Week #11

October 11, 2016 - Mel

EEEEK! I’m less than a week away from the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon!

des moines marathon signs run blogger — The signs are up!

Week #11 of training was part of my “taper time.” And because the Taper Crazies get you when the mileage is down, there is a LOT of time for reflection (and apparently, meal planning, as I’ve been pinning and prepping up a storm for the week). To be honest, after I finished the Heartland Half Marathon, I felt like all the stress of running a PR race for Des Moines lift. Then I realized this week THAT I NOW HAVE TO BEAT THAT TIME. I know it still won’t be a 2-hour half, and my work is not done yet, but I am positively EXCITED to put all the good things that I’ve learned this training cycle to WORK. And it will be work.

Is this also where I tell you that I’ve signed up for another half marathon in November? In addition to the trail half that I’m doing in December? Because yay, RUNNING SEASON IS HERE!

MONDAY
Had a wonderful 60-minute sports massage — they had this amazing upgrade that included an IcyHot rub-down and hot towels wrapped around my legs. OMG, it felt so nice. And I made sure that I was on the schedule for October 17, too. 🙂

Otherwise, for the day after a half marathon, I was a little stiff in the morning (after sitting for a few hours), but it passed by the end of the day.

TUESDAY
Rest Day – and Drake & Future concert at night (keeping me up until after 1 am ?)

WEDNESDAY
Having 4 hours of sleep the previous night and somehow surviving my workday, I swapped my tempo run to Thursday and completed my easy run Wednesday night.

Easy run: 2.66 miles in 30 min
Splits: 11:11 / 11:16 / 11:20

THURSDAY
Tempo run — in between an easy one mile warm-up and cool-down — and these speedy miles were fun. My last speed workout of this training cycle, and I was really pumped.

Splits: 11:42 / 9:25 / 8:54 / 8:12 / 11:41

FRIDAY
Rest (forgot to foam roll, whomp)

SATURDAY
Woof, dead tired legs for my Saturday afternoon run — an easy 3 miles, ending with some Strides. The immediate post-run recovery felt really hard, and I was really out of breath for a while.

Splits: 10:51 / 11:11 / 11:18

Strides (20 sec sprint x 20 sec recovery)
8:03 / 9:36
7:51 / 9:30
7:42 / 8:58
8:05 / 8:12

SUNDAY
My plan called for 6 miles at an increasing pace after 3 miles. I started later than I intended, and I got through 5.13 miles before I ran out of time before our morning plans. It was another rough start on the legs, but by the end I kept wanting to sprint. Man, I feel SO READY for this race!

Splits: 10:24 / 10:45 / 10:39 / 10:09 / 9:10
Total time: 52:06

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 15.8
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 197.36

Wow, the realization that I’ll have over 200 miles in this training cycle just blows my mind. And I got the laundry to prove it!

des moines marathon training run blogger laundryday — So. Much. Laundry.

IMT Des Moines Half Marathon: Training Week #10

October 6, 2016 - Mel

Little late getting this week’s post out — especially as I was out WAY past my bedtime on Tuesday and still feeling like I’m catching up from traveling over the weekend. YAWN. Thankful for a recovery week!

TEN WEEKS went by so quickly. I’m two weeks away from my goal race, and prepared by… running another half marathon. Yep, I had a 14-miler on my schedule for the week, so I took a little road trip to run the Heartland Half Marathon in Omaha, Nebraska. I’ll admit, I had a lot of confusion up-front as to WHY have a 14-mile training run when you’re only running 13.1 — my half training in the past maxed out at 10 miles — but I trusted the plan and my coach and her reasons for making my life miserable. I also listened to my coach when she told me to take it easy on myself if I felt like the cumulative fatigue got to be too much (spoiler alert: it has).

On the schedule:

Two easy runs
One speed workout — Pick-ups!
A half marathon…
Err, I mean, a 14-mile long run
Strength + Core workouts

MONDAY
Rest Day and foam rolling!

TUESDAY
It’s still crazy to me that my mid-week easy runs are 50-minutes long. I mean, I’m crazy impressed with myself that I’m following through on what I used to consider an extraneous workout.

My easy run was followed up by a core workout: 4.3 miles at 11:12 average pace

WEDNESDAY
Pick-Ups! These are still one of my favorite speed workouts to do. Wednesday’s challenge was 2 minutes of speed, followed by 2 minutes of recovery jog (x6). On my pick-up days, I also do a 10-minute warm-up and cool down.

Total workout was about 4.3 miles. My fastest 2 minutes (the last sprint) was at an 8:42 pace.

THURSDAY
Supposed to do my strength workout tonight, but felt like I needed the day off (my coach said I could!) 😉

FRIDAY
Rest day – and packing for my run-cation.

SATURDAY
Easy 30-minute shakeout run in the morning — I woke up SO EARLY and didn’t have to — and totally didn’t feel like unpacking my Garmin from my suitcase, so I let the treadmill record my workout. Got in 2.55 miles at a 11:46 average pace (woooooooo, that felt slow).

SUNDAY
Ran the Heartland Half Marathon, since I was scheduled to aforementioned 14 miles (my +1 actually ended up being around .7) — read race recap! I had a really GREAT experience in Omaha, and I had a great race!

And now… it’s TAPER TIME!

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 24.8
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 181.56

IMT Des Moines Half Marathon: Training Week #9

September 26, 2016 - Mel

I can’t believe that I’m 3 weeks away from race day of the Des Moines Half Marathon. I still have one (really long) long run before it’s Taper Time. Now is a great time to reflect on what has been going really, REALLY right this training (consistency, for starters) and really, REALLY wrong (ugh, the weather). I had a great conversation tonight with my coach, and I definitely feel stronger as a runner. I also love the accountability and growth that a partnership with a coach has brought me.

One area that I haven’t quite figured out this training cycle is my nutrition — I am literally all over the place in terms of eating habits and what fuels me on runs; some days things seem to click, and other days I feel like complete crap. I ran my 10-mile race on my usual breakfast and felt amazing — but that definitely was not my same experience doing my 12-miler run this week (though, I did run later in the afternoon). It’s all part of the practice, though (not perfect, but better).

My workouts got flipped around a little bit this week, since I needed to take my rest day on Thursday — date night! — my runs felt really good midweek, but I was TIRED for my strength workout by Friday, pumped up again by Saturday morning (I was up SUPER early) and then all motivation was lost again by Sunday.

WEEK AT A GLANCE:

2 easy runs
1 long run
1 tempo run
1 (marathon) yoga session
1 strength workout + 1 core workout

MONDAY
Rest Day and a good amount of foam rolling before bed.

TUESDAY
5 miles at an easy pace + core workout

54:47, 10:57 average pace

WEDNESDAY
Tempo run — 1 mile at slower-than-easy pace, then 3 miles at a 10k pace, followed by 1 mile at my easy pace. For my training this cycle, I’m learning all about finding my different effort levels — rather than running solely on pace. And this run was a lesson in finding some of those different gears. It was interesting to see how much effort I had left while I was running those 3 middle miles. I know that effort won’t always feel the same from day-to-day, but it aids in boosting my confidence when I get caught up in breathing heavy and sweating and feeling like I can’t maintain a pace… or feel like I’m doing to die.

Splits: 11:24 / 10:25 / 9:06 / 8:35 / 11:26

THURSDAY
Rest day

FRIDAY
Strength day – definitely felt weird to do strength on a Friday night, but I didn’t have any plans after work, so I just jumped right into it when I got home. I added jump rope as a warm-up to my regular strength workout a couple weeks ago to work on some flexibility, stability, and single-leg strength and balance. And I felt TIRED before the workout even started. It felt like I was doing the movements for the first time in weeks. This 30-something was in bed by 9pm ON A FRIDAY. #nowine

namasday-lifetime-des-moines-yoga-sun-salutations — Something other than a treadmill pic. ?

SATURDAY
Woke up super early, so I could participate in the Namasday celebration at LifeTime in Des Moines: 108 sun salutations at sunrise, poolside, and in celebration of the fall equinox. It was a beautiful morning — they even had a ukulele player! — and the practice really helped me focus and find balance in a hectic week. For the first time ever, I found yoga to be meditative, and I did majority of the sets with my eyes closed.

Coming down from that peacefulness, I did my 30-minute easy run on the treadmill at LifeTime, ending with a few sets of strides. It was difficult to do my strides at the gym, as it was slow to increase speed; my treadmill at home is a lot more responsive.

32:40, 11:07 average pace

SUNDAY
The 12-mile run that I did NOT want to do. I woke up at 7am with a splitting headache (which is still lingering today), and a run just wasn’t how I wanted to start my day. So I pushed it to do later, after I felt like I finished laundry and some housekeeping. I battled myself at every mile — trying to talk myself out of doing the entire run. But I did the entire run. I feel tired and sore – I guess exactly how I should feel having run a 25-mile week! (I don’t often feel sore, so I’m chalking this one up to doing yoga on Saturday).

Splits: 11:36 (1) / 11:38 (2) / 11:27 (3) / 11:19 (4) / 11:19 (5) / 11:27 (6) / 11:30 (7) / 11:43 (8) / 11:16 (9) / 11:34 (10) / 10:59 (11) / 9:39 (12)

There might be an epsom salt bath in my future. Like, now.

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 25 miles (!!!)
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 156.76 miles

Heartland Transplant

accountability Monday