MCM Training: Week 4

After my previous week with two days off, I should have felt rested, but we had lots of company and I probably consumed more alcohol than during a regular week, so I was feeling sluggish.

Here's what week 4 had in store for me:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: Intervals
Thursday: 6
Friday: 5
Saturday: 13
Sunday: 4

And the week actually turned out like this:

Monday: 6
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 3
Thursday: 3
Friday: 1200 w/u, 4x 400 FK (400), 800 c/d
Saturday: 11.5
Sunday: Off

Lately it's been really rainy here:( On Monday, I headed out with the Weasel in tow for a nice 6 miler on base. It was drizzling when I left the house, and by the time we were parked on base, it was really coming down. Thank goodness for the rain shield! We started off at a decent pace, but nearing the 2 mile mark, Reagan had to potty. We stopped at a building and took a pee break. Then we went back out in the rain and finished the rest of the scheduled run. My shoes were SOAKED!

Tuesday was not much better, weather wise. But I had my SW buddies with me, so logging 5 in the rain with company wasn't so bad.

Wednesday was another run on the Air Station. I had good intentions of going 5, but since I had put off my run that morning (again due to rain), I didn't get started until about 3:00. It was brutally hot and humid. I wasn't feeling great, so I cut the run a bit short.

Thursday was a short run in the neighborhood that was again cut short. We were running late for a photo session on the beach!

Friday was another run with my favorite SWs! We were already scheduled to do intervals, so I just did the proscribed workout.

Saturday's long run wasn't great, but did provide amazing weather. I started at 4:40 and was finished and showered before the Weasel even woke up! My right knee was bothering me a bit (I think I banged it on something earlier in the week), so I was happy with 11.5.

The week's total mileage was 31.76, bringing me to a plan total of 125.41 to date. Bring it on week 5!

MCM Training: Week 3

With two weeks under my belt, I started to feel a bit more confident. One of the biggest hindrances to my training has been the heat, and this week was no exception, but during this week, life took over and I ended up with 5 days of running. No worries, it was still a great week, plus that's what the plan called for (just not back to back:).

Here's what week 3 was supposed to look like:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: Intervals
Thursday: 4
Friday: Off
Saturday: 15
Sunday: 4

Week 3 actually looked like this:

Monday: 5
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 1m w/u, 1600 TK (800), 800 TK (400), 6x200 FK (200), 800 c/d
Thursday: 14
Friday: Off
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 2

Monday and Tuesday were great runs, mainly because my FIL was in town and he took stroller duty! Wednesday's was a bit odd. I woke up early with the Weasel and logged the warmup and the first 1600 interval. Then I headed back to the house where I dumped the stroller and the Weasel with FIL and her Uncle Geoffrey. I went back out into the neighborhood to do some more intervals, and though it was already hot, they went pretty well.

On Thursday morning, I awoke at 4:30 and was running by 4:40. I downed half of a Honey Stinger Waffle prior to running and set a full bottle of water + some Honey Stinger Chews at the top of my street. I logged 8 miles in my tiny neighborhood which was quite a feat of boredom. By the time it was light enough to hit the main road, I was more than ready to finish. But I kept going, sipping water and eating a few chews for energy. This was a good run. I was soaked when I finished, but the temps were never unbearable and that made waking up super early totally worthwhile.

On Friday morning, we were up early, but not to run:) On that fine, HOT morning, Jason, Fil and I hit the golf course for 18. It was a wonderful break to my training routine. Then Saturday rolled around and it was time for the Weasel's 2-year old birthday party. No time to run then either.

Sunday hit and I missed my running window in the morning. We ended up having a crab feast around 1:30 (Well, everyone else did, but I ate pasta since I'm allergic.) and then we had to say goodbye to Uncle Geoffrey since he was heading home. I had already had a glass of champagne, but I really had an itch to lace up, so I went out for a quick 2 miles (averaged a 7:43 pace) and called it good.

Week 3 was a success!

MCM Training: Week 2

With the first week under my belt, and lots of fellow SW posting on FB about their own accomplishments (in their plans), I was feeling confident going into week 2.

Week 2 was supposed to look like this:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: Intervals
Thursday: 5
Friday: 3
Saturday: 12
Sunday: 4


In reality, I should know that I will almost always be running Monday, Tuesday and Friday for sure. I try to get my long runs in during the week, so we don't miss family time, but that's not always possible since we're potty training and hauling the Weasel with me is rough for 10+ miles.

Here's what Week 2 actually brought:

Monday: 5
Tuesday: 1m w/u, 2x (1200 TK (600), 800 TK (400), 400 FK (200), 1m c/d)
Wednesday: 4.01
Thursday: 4.01
Friday: 3.05
Saturday: 11
Sunday: Off


Tuesday's interval workout was a HOT one. I arrived at our SW workout about 35 minutes early, knowing I wouldn't have time to get the entire workout done. I did the warmup and first round of intervals, took a break to meet up with the SW and then continued the rest of the plan. I had to walk the rest periods between the last couple intervals, but it was nearing 9am and getting too hot. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 4:45, grabbed half of a Honey Stinger Waffle and hit the neighborhood roads until it got light out. That's tough because my neighborhood it TINY! From my house to the furthest point back is .8 miles. I managed to get 4 in the hood before grabbing my pre-staged water bottle for a quick sip and heading out on the main road. I headed out for a couple miles in one direction, turned back to grab some more water and a couple Honey Stinger Chews to finish out the 11. It was just shy of my goal, but my longest, successful run in a while and I was feeling good. I did manage to get several blisters, but they didn't affect me too badly.

On a whim, I had purchased a Chilly Pad cooling towel at Bed, Bath & Beyond earlier in the week. I decided that Saturday would be a perfect day to test it out. I ran the entire 11 miles with it and felt pretty good. I'm not sure how effective it was because I finished my run before the sun actually got high enough to see, but I think I'll be trying it again.

Me and my Chilly Pad nearing the finish. 

Week 2 was over and I was feeling great. My total mileage for week 2 was 33.57. The plan total to date is 62.4. 

MCM Training: Week 1

I just started Week 4, so to say, "I'm behind" would be an understatement! As July approached, I was still struggling to find a plan that didn't scare the living daylights out of me. With the help of my husband and my friend/running partner, Jill, I finally narrowed it down to a mix of a couple plans (Runner's World Intermediate, ING Beginner, and my own comfort).

July 9th was D-Day. My first week was supposed to go something like this:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 4 easy
Wednesday: Intervals
Thursday: 3 easy
Friday: 3 RP
Saturday: 13
Sunday: 3 easy

My actual first week looked like this:

Monday: Intervals (1m w/u, 1x1200 HP (400), 2x800 TK (200), 4x200 FK (200), 1m c/d) 
Tuesday: 4.32
Wednesday: 9
Thursday 3.09
Friday: 4.11
Saturday: 3.03
Sunday: Off






As you can see, I didn't really "stick" to my plan overall. But I did log some miles, so overall, I was happy. The heat has been kicking my ass. Thank goodness I did the intervals with Jill and her husband, my Tuesday and Friday runs with Stroller Warriors, and my Wednesday long run with my friend, Nicole! Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have made it through any of those workouts.

The long run for the week was now well planned by me. I saw that Nicole was planning to run at the Air Station, so I tagged along. I had the Weasel in tow and her potty too, we started too fast, plus we ran the first 5 on a trail. That made for a rough first half. At the 5 mile mark, we stopped for water and a potty break for Weasel. She didn't go which was frustrating and stopping just made it harder to start again. Nevertheless, we continued along the paved roads, with me begging to stop a few more times. As we came up to the 6.5 mile mark, we had the choice to turn left and go back to the vehicles, or turn right and add on another 2.5. It was a battle in my own head, but we turned right. We got to the vehicles and I was DONE. But Nicole said, "I'm going to finish 9." So after a minute of feeling lousy about failing so miserably to get my mileage in for the week, I finished out 9 myself.

One of my awesome SW running partners, Nicole, looking amazing after what I thought was a TERRIBLE run!

So Week 1 finished with a total of 28.83 miles. And while I didn't stick to the plan exactly, I did get a good start and learned some valuable lessons. 

Lesson #1: Stop wearing cotton t-shirts and start putting those dry-fit tops to use.

Lesson #2: Run earlier in the day whenever possible.

Lesson #3: Just because you don't nail the plan, doesn't mean it was a wasted week. Move on and don't dwell on your bad runs.

Struggling to Finish

In my younger, pre-child days, I used to love the heat. I would happily lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement at mid-day in search of a good sweat. Oh how I long for those days.

Lately it's been in the mid 80s by early morning when I start my runs. I stupidly dress in a cotton t-shirt (I'm changing that) and barely make it to the finish...sometimes I just cut my run short. It's frustrating. Especially since I've just started my marathon training. If I can't make it to 10 miles, how on EARTH am I going to log 26.2?!

On my run yesterday, I had a goal of 10. (The plan said 13, but I jumped into the plan without carefully assessing it, so I was tailoring it a bit.) We started off doing the first 5 miles on a nice shady trail. The temp wasn't terrible, but the humidity left us running in a cloud. I was drenched by mile 2. Miles 3 and 4 were on a trail full of larger rocks and muddy pits (it had POURED the night prior). It took every bit of effort to just finish that trail, but I did it and our mile splits were right on track....

Then we stopped for Weasel to take a potty break and drink some water. That's where it got ugly. Just starting to run again was painful. I'm not even sure how many times I stopped to take walking breaks! At mile 6.5, we passed our vehicles. It took an act of God to keep me from turning left and calling it a day, but we just kept running. We made the loop and arrived back at the cars at mile 9. I quit right then and there. I couldn't fathom running yet another mile. I was ANGRY with MYSELF.

But then I came home, stripped off my clothes that looked as if I had been swimming in them, and cooled down. It's just one run of many. There will be so many more that I can't let this one be the defining event of my training. I will switch to more breathable material. I will slow my pace at the beginning in hopes of maintaining my endurance to the end. I will NOT give up.

This is just my way of venting, so thanks for letting me do just that. Hope your training is going better:)

Not One of My Best...

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Last Saturday, Stroller Warriors participated in the second race of the Have to Half series. It was brutally hot despite our early (7am) start, and I was thankful I hadn't signed up for the full race! Instead, I planned to log a short 7 with some friends. I lucked out and got the morning off from stroller duty while the Weasel slept in. 

The run started off ok. We tackled some hills for the first 2.5 miles and it wasn't terrible. I was running with my biking water bottle in hand as a test for some of my longer runs. Overall, it wasn't difficult to hold the bottle and run, but in the future, I think I'll look at different options. I've gotten so accustomed to running with the stroller and having a place for everything, that I am spoiled:)

We turned onto a nice shaded trail and took a quick break to say hello to some of the ladies manning the water station:

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

We kept a decent pace along the Greenway trail, but I was hurting and had gone a little quiet (typically I try to talk for most of the long runs I do). As we neared mile 6, I told the group I most definitely HAD to slow down, but urged them to go ahead. Naturally, they slowed their pace with me and just encouraged me along! I LOVE MY STROLLER WARRIORS! We took a short walk break and managed to finish out 7 miles, but it took every ounce of effort I could muster. I wasn't happy with the results, but it was over and I was thrilled.

Self-portraits post-run...how I felt, and how I was trying to pretend I wasn't hating every minute of it!

In a hurry to get back to the weekend, I headed home without properly stretching...MISTAKE! I wasn't too sore after, but I know just taking 10 minutes to stretch would have made a world of difference. Then later in the day, I hopped back on Facebook and saw some awesomely inspiring stories from some of the ladies who had finished their first half marathons! I couldn't believe they had covered twice the distance with smiles on their faces! Here are some of the pictures from the event:

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Hand towels on ice to cool down the runners...what a great idea!!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 One of the wacky ladies who created the Have to Half series! 

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 Now this gal is inspiring! She's a mother of 3 who had 2 in tow during most of this race. She even stopped twice to nurse the baby!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 Mini Warriors out to show their support!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Leading the pack...here's Jane and Jen running as though it was a nice cool 60 degrees!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

As if running a half marathon isn't difficult enough, try adding a double stroller...for the ENTIRE race. Go BRE!!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 Candice finishing her first half marathon! 

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Whitney and her husband tackling her first half! She did awesome!

If this doesn't inspire you to get over those bad runs and leave them in the past, I don't know what could!

Brick It!

For anyone that’s ever done a triathlon or any training for a multi-sport event, you are familiar with the concept of the “Brick Workout.”  The idea is to do a bike workout immediately followed by a run. Or a swim, followed by a ride.  This is awful because your legs literally feel like bricks (or sometimes Jell-O).  Although it is completely evil, it is a necessary evil if you want to improve your overall times.  It helps your body get used to the transition from bike to run and can also help you improve your transition time between events. 

Source

For anyone new to this, here’s the basic gist (taken from this site):

1. Work up to it. A brick is for those who have been training and can complete the run and bike distance planned in the brick.

2. Make sure the brick isn't scheduled too close to any planned races. Bricks are very good training workouts and are very hard on the body. There should not be any races planned within two weeks of a brick workout to allow plenty of recovery time.

3. Get all the gear needed ready. Fill water bottles. Get your running shoes set up for when you come off the bike and are switching to running. Place anything else needed for the run, such as energy gels, next to your shoes.

4. Wear clothes comfortable for both sports. One of the points of a brick is to practice transitions for triathlons or duathlons. Any switching of clothing costs time in a race. Making the routine as close to it as it will be on race day is extremely helpful.

5. Drink plenty of fluids. Since this workout usually takes longer than biking or running alone, it is very important to drink enough. Also, bricks are a great time to practice race-day nutrition if you are training for a longer-distance race, such as an ironman.

6. Focus on the transition from bike to run. Since most duathlons and triathlons require it anyway, keep your helmet on until the bike is racked, or put away. Then take off your helmet and bike shoes, if you didn't remove them while still on the bike. Get your running shoes on and get going. This is a great time to test how your feet will react to running without socks! It saves about 40 seconds of transition time.

Source

7. Force the run at first. It never feels good the first 100 yards or so. Most of the time it feels like your legs just won't work. The normal rhythm will come, but until then just force leg turnover and warm your legs up. You will most likely surprise yourself when you review your Garmin and find out you were actually running faster than you thought you were. 

While I haven’t found the pool here on base yet, haha, I do have my bike and indoor trainer here and plenty of area to run.  I’ve only forced myself to do this workout twice because it felt so awful both times!  I suppose there’s only one way to make it less horrible though – do it more often! 

What do you do to motivate yourself into completing a workout that you really, really do not feel like doing?