I don't know what week it is.

I had a near perfect running week, and didn't have time to write about it thanks to work craziness. And a random pain starting on Monday that made me have amnesia.

So I need to focus on the good.

I had a great tempo run earlier in the previous week (5 miles at marathon pace). The bike trainer went well, then I screwed up my watch for my speedwork. I got frustrated and just made up a workout. Needless to say, it wasn't my best run.

I put off getting my flu shot because I usually feel yucky for about two days after, and I needed a root canal this week. Oh boy, this week was going peachy keen.

The big question was how was 20 for the second time going to go.

I had an awesome running buddy for the entire 20. It misted rain almost the entire which wasn't bad because it helped break the humidity. The coaches were nice to us And my brain didn't turn to mush at mile 18 like last time. And I remembered to leave my watch on, so the trusty Garmin really said 20 miles this time.

Just realized that I hide the marathon option when I set up Garmin Connect because I would NEVER run a marathon. Whoops, time to change that setting.

How would I rate the run?

Well, maybe not exactly.

But I was able to move better after this one. I even took Little Dude to the Fall Festival at his old school. Now, I wish I could have moved like this, but that just wasn't gonna happen.

More later on how I recover from these long runs.

Anyone else feel not so good after getting a flu shot?

Felt bombdiggity lately?

 

Jilly Bean

How did I get to week 17?

Or more importantly, did I survive the tooth escapade and 20 miles?

The answer to both is yes, but what a week it was.

When this is in your reality, people might think you are nuts.

And the answer to that is definitely I am nuts. And yes, I did wear my socks in the ice bath for two reasons. The most important was that I couldn't even bend over to take them off after that LOOOONG run and I thought it might be a good buffer from my always cold tootsies. Overall, I didn't have enough ice, but I think the torture session helped.

I'm not gonna lie. 20 was tough. The coaches advised me to maybe only try for 16-18 after missing the long run, but I had my running peeps and I really wanted to knock it out. I had a backup plan if the wheels fell off to cut the run short. The problem was that the wheels stopped talking to my brain the last mile and a half.

So the good was: I had awesome people to run with; I didn't find myself starving at mile 15 because I ate a Chia Bar (Chocolate Peanut Butter) and it had just the right amount of protein to ward off my grumbling stomach; and I did 10 of these miles at race pace.

And the bad: I did 10 of these miles at race pace (what was I thinking); Westham Climb for way too long at the halfway point (are the coaches trying to kill us); guess my form was shot because I set my ITB on fire at the end; and my brain could only process right, left, right, don't get hit by a car for the last 2 miles.

But it's done until a week and half where we do it again. Can I really run for another hour after completing 20? I think I can, but I have got to work on my mental toughness. I'm missing out a mental prep workshop tonight. Hopefully a teammate can pass along the Cliff Notes.

Before the 20 miler, the rest of the week went really well. The tooth escapade might have put me into forced rest that my body needed (just could have used more sleep).

I managed one cross-training day and two great runs. And a whole lot of sushi with a side of rice for my second cross-training day. I completely agree with Kathryn on the eating 24/7 thing.

And I'm loving my new Sweat Pink shirt. More on Sweat Pink soon. Please ignore the red pink face.

Do you eat more than Gus, gummies, pretzels, etc are on your long run?

What are mental tough mantra, tips, cues, etc for these long runs?

I'm starting Mile Markers next. Any other book recommendations for motivation?

 

Jilly Bean

So what happened to September

I hit a milestone ... or just a number few want to admit to. 40

So you celebrate all weekend long with mimosas, chocolate and lots of friends. I had an awesome birthday celebration.

And another milestone ... 18 miles that is.

How you spend the next day after 18 miles.

And then work got crazy, and I did the best I could.

And then my tooth decided to mutiny. Make that two temporary crowns, then a delayed reaction leading to 3 sleepless nights. Who would have thought that not one, but two, powerful pain killers wouldn't touch tooth pain. The third one finally did the trick and I was able to sleep and eat, but missed my 19 miler.

That was one sad week. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

So, I'm off to try 17 or 20 miles tomorrow morning, or whatever happens.

 

Jilly Bean

Marathon Training - Week 11

I stink at blogging, or more specifically, the consistency of blogging.

I freaked out about running 16 miles. And then never said how it ended up. I know you've been waiting on the edge of your seat.

Sarcasm aside. I made it. Getting up at 4:15 on vacation to meet a perfect stranger (through a local running club) to run through the PITCH black streets of the Outer Banks to run 16 miles.

Thank goodness for angels, because that is what the wonderful woman, K, is after hosting me for this run. After we started, she told me that this was a recovery run after her 50 km race last week.

Huh? Say what? What have I gotten myself into?

Well, she was awesome. We had great conversation, got to see the sun rise, and easily tackled the first 8 miles. She started not feeling so great shortly before 10, but stuck it out with me for 12.5 before making sure I knew where to go for the rest. She was inspiring and I'm thankful to have met her.

So, this is where I'm supposed to tell you it was rainbows and unicorns for the last 3.5. It was not. The humidity struck and I ran out of water. But in the end, it was done. I even clocked 9:08 for the last mile because I was like a horse who could smell the barn. All I really wanted to smell was bacon because I was also hungry.

I might have even called my sister to make sure my family had left me some bacon and eggs for breakfast before coming home. And there may have been a threat involved if it was gone when I got there.

Here's the sweaty selfie with a canal backdrop that made we want to jump in or maybe just sit for a while in those bright chairs.

I couldn't wait to take a picture before chomping down, and yes that is a cran-pomegranate mimosa, and it was AWESOME. And I might have washed this all down with sour cream and onion Pringles after this. Guess I needed some salt.

And the biggest surprise of all was that I felt pretty good the next day. Packing the car with lots of stairs probably helped to work the soreness out.

So, maybe I can do this marathon thing. This run made up for the sucky 10 miler last week and Tuesday's sweatfest.

Week 11 is in the books. No cross-training happened, but longest run yet did.

 

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16 miles

I'm definitely going to be saying WTF (where's the finish) tomorrow morning.

This will be my longest run so far.

I'm on vacation and meeting someone from the local running group at 5 am. I don't do 5 am.

And the forecast is for cool rain ... and I didn't bring a long sleeve shirt.

If it's pouring, I'm not going. But I'm gonna try.

 

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A Virtual Half and Marathon Training - Week 9

The only thing worse than coming back from vacation is getting ready for vacation. I feel like I am running two weeks behind, and guess what, I am on anything that I didn't have to do before vacation.

So here goes.

The core workouts have become non-existent. And I miss them. Gotta figure out how to make it happen.

Cycling as cross-training has continued to be great.

And then I was scared to run 14 after last week's awesome run. Luckily, I met up with Emma from A Mom Runs This Town who is our local Moms Run This Town Chapter Leader. She coordinated the Running Mad Virtual Half/10k/5k for us. And she slowed down to run with me and two other girls for the half. Thanks Emma! I got there a little early to try to add up to 14 (ended up with 13.6, longest run to date). It was hot but doable, and we had Baker's Crust for breakfast.

I had to steal this photo from Emma of part of our crew.

And here's the cool stuff we got.

So glad to meet some new runners and have time to chat with friends while working out. Double bonus.

 

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Quick Shamrock Tail

This weekend was not quite what we excited temperature wise. The high today was 40 with a feels like 32-34 for most of the race and windy.

But the real thing that matters is that I finished my first half marathon and broke two hours thanks to smart training and a flat and fast course. There are many other people and things to thank, but I will get to those in another post.

So, for now, a couple quick pics.

 

Official time was 1:58:21.

After an early wake-up, 13.1 miles, lots of other walking, cheering two basketball teams to a loss, room exchange debacle at the hotel, finally a shower, and dinner, this girl is ready for bed at 9:30.

Glad I'm not working until 5 pm tomorrow.

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Long run done ... 12 miles

Even with a stressful week at work, I had a fairly good run week.

A 6 mile progressive run on the treadmill for Tuesday and a 5 mile treadmill run on Wednesday were on the schedule. About half way through the 6 mile run, I realized I have been loafing on my paces during the week. Most of my long runs have been faster than the during the week runs. Time to pick up the pace. Well, that's what McMillian tells me.

So I picked it up for an average pace of 9:39 for Tuesday by bumping up the speed each mile. I have to say the faster I went, the better and easier it felt. On Wednesday I decided to start out faster and it was pretty much 5 miles of a sucky run, but I averaged 9:27.

I was trying not to be head case, but 12 miles had me worried. Eleven was tough. So instead of staying home and resting up, I had a late dinner date with my bestie and the girls to celebrate two birthdays. I behaved with one glass of wine and a fairly well-balanced dinner. No greasy food, and only one small piece of dark chocolate infused with chili for dessert. Unfortunately, I didn't head to bed until midnight with an alarm set for 6:30. Ughh!

Most of my buds were dropping back to the 9 mile group this week ... and I forgot my music. Luckily, my normal partner was able to do the full 12 with me. She had a tough week & didn't hit her weekly runs. All went well until about 11 when I felt the crazy ITB "awareness." I realized I was getting lazy with my form and cadence, so I paid more attention to finish it off. I will say that I knew we would hit 12 miles before the parking lot. I told L that when the watch hit 12, I was done. No room for over-achievement today.

I felt strong after the run ... much better than after 11. Here's the only photo of the day, another L & I from a local mom's group. She is going to do awesome in her half next week.

I did need an almost 2 hour nap to recover after watching my Tar Heels get obilerated by the Hurricanes.

Do you use McMillian or other pace calculator?

If you do, how often are you successful in hitting all your goal paces?

I need to work on this more consistently.

Does anyone else's Garmin have crazy estimates for your calorie burn?

I do wear my HRM, and it reported I burned 13 calories for each of the first 2 miles. Are you kidding me?

 

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Long run catch up

My first 11 mile run weekend was a little chaotic thanks to a winter storm that blew through the mid-Atlantic. Thankfully the run was cancelled early Saturday morning due to snow and icy sidewalks. Very little off the beaten path gets cleared in our town. Not enough bad weather to need lots of snow equipment. Everyone usually waits for it to melt.

We the long run postponed until Sunday, a friend and I ventured out later on Saturday for our 4 mile recovery run a day early. The roads were fine, sidewalks were still iffy. The route was nuts, but good chatting time with a friend and 4 miles done. It takes out and back to a whole new level.

Fast forward to 9:30 on Sunday morning, and we were off to conquer 11 miles. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it was a tough run. It was an out with a loop and back down a long road where we were on sidewalks (not my favorite surface). The loop was through a park which had a great frozen pond, but I didn't think my running partners would appreciate the photo stop. I also forgot to restart my watch after a brief map checking stop, so I lost about 0.4 mile. And I want that 0.4 on the record.

I wasn't worried about pace. I just wanted to get it done, so I was pleasantly surprised on how close I was to a consistent pace. And I finished strong at the end. When we stopped, my first thought was "Snapalicious" to describe how my hamstrings felt. Glad it was done, and I knew I could have gone longer.

The next week is a roll-back week so I could rest a bit before ramping up to 12. Tell me why I want to do this again.

Oh yeah, to accomplish something new. And to push myself out of a comfort zone. Definitely pushed on this one.

 

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Conquering a new distance

New longest run. Done.

9 miles. I'm not going to say that it was easy on the knee, but definitely better than the hilly option that I avoided like the plague. I have to say that I love how this group works. It was a small group today because several regulars were a Ragnar Relays. How cool is that? Everyone waits at the SAG so the group stays close together. And the leader circled back with about 2.5 left and ran in with us. Everyone was so nice and supportive of a newbie hitting a new distance.

After some coffee and breakfast, I spent some time on the foam roller and an ice pack. Thank goodness I had some errands to run so I could keep these legs moving. And the hubby was left to take down the outside decorations. Shhh! Don't tell him this was the plan all along. He is getting me back by being gone all day tomorrow for the Redskins game.

Well off to sit my butt in a comfy chair with watching Les Miserables. Better not forget the tissues.

 

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