Marathon Training - Week 18 Wrap Up

Oct 15th-Oct 21st ~ 41.8 Miles

Day 119 ~ Rock-n-Roll St. Louis Half Marathon (2:15:03 PR)
Day 120 ~ REST
Day 121 ~ Boot Camp and Run (3.1)
Day 122 ~ Run 9.25 Miles
Day 123 ~ 70 Min. Dance
Day 124 ~ REST
Day 125 ~ 12 Mile Long Run

Meal prep this week - Mediterranean Chickpea Quinoa Bowl

Coming off my AMAZING weekend in St. Louis and a five hour drive home left me exhausted. My body needed sleep in its own bed. My belly needed food that was clean and in my normal diet. I needed time to chill and get my routine back. I wanted to take my extra day off catching up at home (i.e. cuddling the kitty and the hubby.) Soooo... I skipped my recovery miles and my Monday dance class. I love that class so much, but my legs were done.

Tuesday I did speed work, which I figured out later might've been a bad idea. Why? Because Wednesday evening, the day after Tuesday evening, I did nine miles that were a little harder than they should've been. Granted, it was a bit warm out and I had worked alllllll freaking day long, but my legs were the problem. They were tired, and they stayed tired, even through two more days of rest. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Wednesday's run immensely. But tired legs are tired legs. Achy muscles are achy muscles. As a result, I didn't run Thursday. I still did my dance class because movement keeps us from getting stiff and achy, but I took it easy. Friday, I stuffed my face with my favorite pizza and I went to bed early like a good girl.

When I texted my friend Kirsten about Saturday's run, I told her, "It's just twelve miles." Like that was easy or something. Truth? I was simply letting her off the hook for an early morning, but it struck me as funny, and quite insane, that I... the girl who never wanted to be a runner.. actually said twelve miles was easy. What the hell is happening to me?

At 4am on Saturday morning, I still firmly believed that the twelve miles wasn't going to be a thing, that this was easy stuff. I'd done that distance a million times. Well, not a million, but at least like twenty. The run wasn't perfect, but not bad. There were a few points when I got in my head. Something small would hurt or I would get tired, and I went to that I can't do this place. Then I would tell myself to suck it up and stop being a wimp. I passed landmarks that let me know I was getting close to the end. I went up and down hills. I was mentally over running up hill, but still physically able to do it. I probably should've slowed down some, but I didn't. I was fine. I was going to be okay. And I was. At the end of the day, the miles were done and I felt strong. Physically. I'm still trying to figure out the mental training part...

At this point, I'm on the fence about how Saturday is going to go. Just so you know, it'll be the first time I've crossed the twenty mile marker. It's a scary milestone. I mean... two years ago, I was excited to have finished a 10k without dying, and that race left me hurting so damn bad I took about six weeks off from running. Three years ago, no one would've ever convinced me I could run anything. I was doing good to walk two miles on a treadmill in under an hour. Today, I'm on the verge of becoming a bad ass. The body really is capable of amazing things.

"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."

~ Bill Bradley

Marathon Training - Week 17 Wrap Up

Oct 8th-Oct 14th ~ 18.8 Miles

Day 112 ~ Recovery Miles (4)
Day 113 ~ Dance
Day 114 ~ Boot Camp and Run (3.1)
Day 115 ~ Run (8.5)
Day 116 ~ REST
Day 117 ~ REST
Day 118 ~ Rock~n~Roll St. Louis 5k

Meal prep this week - Cold Spicy Thai Shrimp Bowl

Okay, so... I'm going to cheat a little, because I'm not supposed to talk about what happened this past Sunday on this post, but... well, I'm like a kid at Christmas. I just can't help myself.

My friend, Amber, and I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri this weekend for a fun girl's weekend of running. Yes, I said running and fun in the same sentence. Yes, I've lost my mind, and I'm totally cool with that. Anyway, I'm bursting at the seams right now. I finished my half marathon in 2:15:03!!! That's a seven minute PR (personal record.) My splits were insane. Somewhere around half the miles were run at a sub 10:00 minute/mile pace. For a half marathon!!! That's 13.1 miles!!! What the what??? And the 5k the day before was done in less than 31 minutes and I wasn't even really trying. I just didn't stop running. Seriously! What the what!?!

(As you can see, those aren't negative splits, which is what you really want, but I think that's hella consistent for the hills and the distance. Oh, and don't look at mile 7. First time in my life I had to take a potty break on a race course.)

"Trust the process. Your time is coming. Just do the work and the results will handle themselves."

~ Tony Gaskins

That quote. So. Much. Truth. Through the nagging of my much much wiser friends, I've learned a few lessons. One, and probably the most important one, was to SLOWWWW DOWNNNN during the training runs. I thought I was making myself faster, but I was only making myself hurt. So, I started slowing down, except for Tuesday, which is kinda sorta speed work day. Obviously, I'm not committed to that. Sometimes I get it done. Sometimes I don't. Either is okay with me because I do boot camp on Tuesday morning.

Another thing that people will tell you, and that I FIRMLY believe holds true, is do the cross training. Don't skip it. Even if you have to skip a shorter run day to make time for the cross training, do it. It helps. My first half marathon, little more than a year ago, I finished in 2:49 and some change. I couldn't walk for two days after. Sitting on the toiled made me cry. Everything hurt. Last weekend, I ran 16 miles and danced after. I'm just saying. 

If you learn nothing else from my mistakes, learn those two things: slow your roll, and don't hate on the squats, lunges, burpees, and planks. 

"Some women are lost in the fire. Some women are built from it."

~ Michelle K., Some. 

Marathon Training - Week 16 Wrap Up

Oct 1st-Oct 7th ~ 30.7 Miles

Day 105 ~ Recovery Miles (4)
Day 106 ~ Dance
Day 107 ~ Boot Camp
Day 108 ~ Run (6.4)
Day 109 ~ Dance & Run (4.1)
Day 110 ~ REST
Day 111 ~ Long Run (16)

MEAL PREP THIS WEEK - Chickpea, Carrot, and Dill Salad (Yummy!)

My brain is sooooo not online. I'm looking at the pictures from last week and it was a pretty damn good collection of seven days, if I say so myself. It was the first time I've broken 30 miles in a week. I'm not exhausted. My body doesn't hurt. All good signs.

I had family in town and she let me drag her to the gym with me (that's her in day 106.) She didn't die... and doesn't hate me. Life is good. I turned her on to Cari's dance class... which is on YouTube as FitnessFiveO. I provided the link to get you there.You can thank me later.

The best feeling yet came after the sixteen miles on Saturday. We'd just finished running, had walked it off/stretched it out. I had to take Kirsten back to her car. We did the same as last time. I let her sleep in and picked her up at mile 4. Anyway, once we finished, we were back in the car and Missy Elliot was playing. It was "Let Me Work It"--a favorite to run to. I was dancing before I got in the car, then dancing in my seat as we pulled away. She said to me, "you're on top of the world right now, aren't you?"

First instinct... grin like a loon. 

Yes, I was on top of the world. 

I had a major runner's high.

Runner's High: a feeling of euphoria that is experienced by some individuals engaged in strenuous running and that is held to be associated with the release of endorphins by the brain.

~ Merriam Webster

Yes, I've felt that feeling lots of times. Every time I conquered a new goal or achieved something I didn't think was possible, I got this all over excited feeling that made me want to cheer and dance and jump and scream... and sometimes run a little more. This time was different. It was a runner's high, mixed with realization, mixed with achievement, mixed with I CANNOT BE STOPPED!!!! I ran sixteen freaking miles... for the second time in my life. But this time, I wasn't murderous by the end of the fourteenth mile. I wasn't silently screaming for my friend to shut up. She knows I love her. I wasn't miserable at the end of my run. I wanted to celebrate!!!

So now is the time when I look at that last sixteen mile run and I do the mental hopscotch, bouncing back and forth from one emotion to the next. I get in my mood where I'm tell myself if I can do sixteen miles, I can do twenty-six-point-two. Then, alternatively, I tell myself that I didn't want to do anymore when I got to the end of the run Saturday. I was done. How the hell am I going to add ten more miles to that? Then I go back to well, I wasn't mentally prepared for more. I was mentally prepared for sixteen. 

Truth? I think I'm prepared to go twenty-plus miles. I know at least one of those long runs is going to be torture. I'm okay with that. I think I'm a lot stronger than a couple of numbers on a device. I know that I've committed to this and failure isn't an option. I have committed to something remarkable and I honest to gods plan to see it through. 

"What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable"

~ John Green

Marathon Training - Week 15 Wrap Up

Sept 24th-Sept 30th ~ 28.4 Miles

Day 98 ~ Rest
Day 99 ~ Recovery Run (4.0)
Day 100 ~ Boot Camp & Run (3.1)
Day 101 ~ Run (7.1)
Day 102 ~ Dance & Run (4.1)
Day 103 ~ REST
Day 104 ~ Long Run (10)

MEAL PREP THIS WEEK - Greek Pasta Salad

There's not a whole lot to report this week. My spirits were up. I've had a bunch of great runs this week. The body and mind were both in a really good place. Well, there's good to report. LOL

Sunday, my best friend in the entire world was still here and we were nursing some pretty healthy hangovers, so I didn't do anything but lay around and eat lots of foods. I didn't beat myself up over pushing the recovery miles back a day because my mind needed the day off as much as my body did. It ended up being totally worth it, and the break in seriousness for a moment did my soul wonders.

Monday, it was hot and gross, but I did my miles and got to wear a shirt that I'd been too uncomfortable to wear previously. It didn't flatter my figure and didn't hang low enough and exposed too much skin, but when I put it on Monday, it looked and felt great. I was proud.

My hundredth day of training landed on Tuesday, which I celebrated with 3 hilly miles through my neighborhood and fifty-five minutes of my normal morning boot camp. I was good and exhausted by the end of the day, the kind of exhausted that leads to a great night's sleep and a renewed day after.

Wednesdays with Daniela are becoming a new favorite of mine. It's a long mid-week run filled with laughter and general getting shit off our chests. I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's nice having people to run with who have done the full marathon, who have the experience to give good advice, and Yella is probably as real as they come about it, all while managing to not scare the crap out of me. Her zeal for hills matches my love for those wavy concrete mounds through suburban Memphis... and pushes me to keep going even when my heart feels like it's about to pound out of my chest. She's really great at making one suck it up.

That brings us to Thursday--my personal favorite day that ends in Y. Again, it was hot as Hades out, but that didn't stop me from running four miles around Germantown. I took it nice and gentle, simply because I didn't want to be too drained for my dance class. I mean... c'mon, it's dance class. Favorite night of the week.

Friday night, we practiced fueling at my absolute favorite pizza joint in the entire city. It's on rotation with three other restaurants. The point of this--for those who don't know--is to test my pre-race meals and see how my stomach is going to react each one prior to those long runs. My stomach LOVES Pyros. Just saying.

Saturday's long run began before the sun came up. I ran with a friend, Amy, who is trying to get back into her groove. The ten miles went fast for me. I'm not sure how much I pushed her because she didn't complain, whine, or yell at me. I'm incredibly vocal and will tell someone with colorful language to slow down before I die. She did none of that to me. Runkeeper went haywire on me, so we ended up walking more than I liked to, but the important thing was getting Amy close to her goal pace. I think she did great, and after it was over, we chilled on the patio at Starbucks with coffee and food. It was a great way to end the week, I think.

"Fit is not a destination. It's a way of life."