Marathon Training - Week 10 Wrap Up

Aug 20th-Aug 26th ~ 23.7 Miles

Day 65 ~ Breakaway Bardog 5k (3.1 - 10:00 pace)
Day 66 ~ WRWM Coaching (2.78)
Day 67 ~ Rest (Doc's Orders)
Day 68 ~ Base Miles (6 miles)
Day 69 ~ Rest
Day 70 ~ Rest (Red Robin DGB Burger with Fries and Onion Rings for Fuel)
Day 71 ~ Long Run (12 miles)

FOOD PREP MEAL -  Cold Spicy Thai Shrimp Bowl

After running really hard Sunday, then obligations that kept me from resting on Monday, I decided to skip the extra-curricular gym activities this week, and just let the anti-inflammatories do their job. I continued going to the chiropractor as ordered as well. So there's not much meat in the way of physical activity this week. I will say that thanks to the rest and actually listening to my body, I had a stellar run Saturday morning (after I got past the mental part of it, which I will talk about in a minute.)

I changed my strategy this weekend on my long run. In the past, I've done the long runs with a quarter mile run interval/one minute walk interval. I thought my running too hard during that quarter of a mile was the reason I was finding myself so exhausted, and I think that might've been part of it, but I'm also thinking it had more to do with all the stopping.

A co-coach of mine was telling the beginner women that slowing down to the point your heart-rate drops significantly essentially makes your body have to warm up all over again, and that will tire you fast. So I marinated in this thought for a little while and I adjusted my own run. It paid off. I didn't skip or shorten a single interval. I'm thinking next time I get on the pavement for a long run, I might even try one mile run/one minute walk. I know I'm capable. I've run nine miles without stopping before. But I also want to be smart and find whatever is going to work for me come game day. I. Must. Finish. Failure is not an option.

I've also found that I might have a little superstitious side when it comes to night before fueling. My best half marathon time ever (2:22) was fueled by Red Robin. I'm not even kidding. The first time I met my 2:30 half marathon goal (2:29 in Greenwood, MS.) I'd fueled with Red Robin. Call me crazy, but I see a trend. I'm laughing as I type this, by the way. I had zero stomach issues. Even Saturday I was 100% comfortable for 90% of the run. Sooo... what was up with the other 10%, you might ask? It was all mental.

So, I'm going to go ahead and put this out there, because talking about it face-to-face with people doesn't work. It makes me all watery-eyed and I HATE being all watery-eyed. But I am very lonely. Incredibly lonely. Not because I don't have awesome, supportive people in my life, but because I'm looking for something that I lost when I moved away from Mississippi. I have a best friend down there. She's the kind of best friend I have my own language with, one who can finish my sentences and relate to me on even the most unrelatable level. She's the one who I can absolutely share my space with and enjoy every second of it. She doesn't run. When I say I'm going to run, she's like "Okay, you do that, Pookie. I'll be right here." And that's totally okay with us because she knows I love running and she loves me and that's all that matters. I rely on her. I know I can rely on her. I know if I say "Pookie, I need you, get your ass up here," she'll do everything in her power to make that happen.

I didn't realize how badly I needed a running "Pookie" until Saturday. The 19th, I ended up running the last two miles fighting tears because I was alone. It made the entire run miserable. Saturday, I spent the first two miles of the run in that same headspace. I was ready to say screw the marathon, screw the training. I wasn't going to do it anymore. I was prepared to turn around, go back to my car, and never show my face in the running community ever again. Honest to God, had Rich and Julianne Tutko not been there with big, warm hugs when I came running up to the next turn, I would have marched my ass across the intersection and gone back to my car. Nothing sucks worse than trying not to cry while trying like hell to breathe. It's scary. I've never hyperventilated before, but I imagine it's just as scary.

I say all the time that I'm a solitary person, that I don't need people, and for the most part, I still consider it true, but it's hard to feel like you're on the outside of a "tribe" you're supposed to be a part of. I've been finding that when I'm out on these long runs, I feel very much like I'm an outsider trying to fit in. That's when I need my Pookie. I don't need a group of people who smile and ask "how're you doing?" just to make small talk. I need someone I can look over at and ask "am I going to fail" when I get in that bad headspace, and have them tell me "hell no, you're a beast." That's what I'm missing. Unfortunately, there's not too many people who want to get up before dawn on a Saturday and follow me for distances in the double digits just to tell my crazy ass I'll be okay.

Marathon Training - Week 8 Wrap Up

Aug 6th-Aug 12th ~ 19.8 Miles

Day 51 ~ Recovery Miles, 22 Mile Cycle
Day 52 ~ Rest
Day 53 ~ 50min Bootcamp, Therapy Run
Day 54 ~ Painful Run
Day 55 ~ BENCHED (11 Min HIIT)
Day 56 ~ Rest (Or visit a chiropractor)
Day 57 ~ Long Run (10 miles)


Not every chapter of our lives will be a good one. Some days we'll see sunshine and rainbows for as far and wide as the eye can see. Some days, no matter how hard we search, we can't see past the grey skies. That was pretty much my week. And I just realized that my post last week started out much the same way. I guess it's safe to say I'm in a funk. 

It's no coincidence that you don't see a bunch of pictures of me drenched with sweat and smiling from ear to ear. I just didn't have it in me this week. I wanted to put on my big toothy grin and get through the pictures, simply because it seems to be more inspiring when people see you having fun. But that's not real. Don't mistakenly think I'm saying running isn't fun. It is. Besides my husband, it's probably one of the best things that's happened to me. It's just hard to explain and I'm trying hard not to sugarcoat anything. Not even the mental aspect of this journey.  My first promise to myself was to do this blog for me. So when I go back and relive this journey--for whatever reason I need to--I'll have an accurate account of everything. So in the spirit of being real, this week sucked for me, both mentally and physically.

So... about that chiropractor. 

My therapy run on Tuesday did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do. I was supposed to hit the pavement and clear my head after I let my emotional state keep me locked in the house Monday evening. As soon as I started running I knew it wasn't going to be good. By the time I got to the 1.5 mile mark, my entire left leg hurt. I'm talking from the hip to the bottom of my foot. Something wasn't right. I'd hurt myself. I wasn't going to be able to do the full marathon. I'd screwed up. I'd over-trained. I didn't do something right. I thought I was doing everything right. What. The. F$%@!?!?!

By the time I got back to the house, all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and cry.

I soaked and iced and wore compression, and I knew that Wednesday night I could run with the beginner ladies and go super, super easy, and those ladies always cheer me up. I needed all of the above, but I swore if I felt the least little bit of pain I would stop. So I went out Wednesday evening and everything felt okay enough. I didn't run hard. I finished 3.25 miles and life was good. 

Come Thursday my left leg hurt all over, just walking wasn't comfortable, not to mention the popping that has been coming and going for awhile was LOUD. I was scared again. Scared enough I desperately started searching for an orthopedic doctor. Every time I hit the wall of receptionists and found myself trapped at another road block, I nearly lost it. I was on the verge of panicking while my dreams of success where slipping out of my hands. (Yes, I really am this dramatic.)

Of course, like most people in the modern world of too much information sharing, I took to Facebook looking for recommendations from other runners. Very specifically, I needed a doctor who I could get a damn appointment with and someone who wasn't going to tell me I couldn't workout or run, because neither of those were an option. My friends suggested this chiropractor in Lakeland, TN--Dr. Aaron, they called him. Or Dr. Wonderful according to my friend's kid. Admittedly, when I left his office on Friday, I agreed with her. I can't remember everything he said, but I know he said I have some IT band issues and some inflammation of my Anterior Tibialis. All I know is he was saying all these Latin words while bringing the pain down on my leg. My husband paid attention to the words. I drooled all over the chair.

At the end of my session with Dr. Wonderful, I was cleared to run my ten miles on Saturday, with the caveat that if starts to hurt, pull back. I honest to God listened. I took it super easy the first three miles. When I was sufficiently warmed up, I picked up the pace for the next few miles. The hills in Germantown aren't friendly. We fought. I'll say I won more than I lost. At mile 9 I was feeling phenomenal. The only thing that would've made the run better was less humidity. And I felt every bit of that 100% humidity between mile 9 and mile 10, in the depths of the Greenway's lush green jungle like atmosphere--breathing was almost impossible, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed every single mile.

Next week, we'll see what the orthopedic doctor says about my leg...

"A champion is not made when he succeeds; a champion is made when you look back at the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months, he has spent preparing." ~ Eliud Kipchoge