So today was the last run for week 14 and I ended it with a "14 mile" run.
On Monday I enter the dreaded week 15. Week 15 is the most running you do in a single week. 5 Monday, 10 Wednesday, 5 Thursday, and 20 Saturday!
Today was a rainy, cold day and while I wasn't dreading my run I wasn't jumping for joy to do it either. I really enjoyed the route I took and planned my hydration better so I didn't have another repeat of last week. I took it easy and didn't care about my watch constantly beeping to tell me I was behind my 8:20 pace. Even though I wasn't on pace I was consistent and felt great-I was having a great running day (despite the rain and cold).
At mile 10 or so I started to realize how wet and cold my shoes and clothes were but figured I only had 4 miles to go so I'd be fine. At mile 11 I started to get excited because I was a 5K away from a warm shower. As I turned onto a road to begin my final 3 miles it happened-A ROAD CLOSURE! I thought maybe it was just closed to cars and I could sneak through on foot-NOPE! There was no way around it so I continued the only way I could realizing this detour would add at least 2 miles to my run. While I was feeling good I didn't think I had 2 extra miles in me especially when I took into account my final 2 miles were uphill (with a few flat parts). I decided the only way I could get this done was continue on with this detour (because I had no other option) and then when I hit 14 miles on my watch I'd simply call my brother to pick me up because he lives a block away from me. I considered walking the last 2 miles home but thought, "I'm warm because I'm running, if I stop running to walk I'll get cold really quickly since I'm soaked".
Thankfully my 14 mile run ended at the base of the 2 mile hill I'd have to climb had it not been for my new genius plan. After I stopped my watch I reached into my running belt to retrieve my phone from the ziplock bag I protected it in and hit the home button so I could call my brother....that's when things got interesting. I looked down at my phone and it said, "your phone has been disabled for 58 minutes." I was shocked then realized what must have happened. Somehow I must have hit the power or home button which made the keypad to put your password in appear and with the jostling from my run I must have hit several wrong passwords attempts to eventually lock myself out...I must have done it a lot for it to lock me out for 58 minutes. (I wanted to take a screen shot-damn lockout!) At first I laughed then thought, "shit, I can't call Scott...how am I going to get home?" I had not choice...I was walking the hill. I decided to walk up the steepest parts, but I started to get REALLY cold-I was shivering! I took the hill up a good 3/4 of a mile and when I got to a flat part I realized I had to run because walking was making me colder and running would warm me up and get me home sooner. My legs felt like I was running on 2 broken tibia while wearing lead weights on my feet. I wanted to die! (Side note before I get to what happened next: since my brother and his family live a block away I often see them while I'm running and they beep at me to say hi) As I'm "running," so I can get warm/home quicker, I hear someone behind me honk and whistle and I think, "SCOTT! I'm saved!" I turned with childlike excitement thinking I'm saved when I realize it's not my brother....it's just some creep. (Note to all readers...this tactic does not work to pick someone up...I know, I know you'd think it would, but it doesn't. I have been honked/whistled at tons and I've never dated anyone who's done it to me ha ha) Despair set in again since I was still freezing and in some decent pain. I pushed it as best I could yet the distance didn't feel like it's ending. I heard my phone ring and filed with hope as I saw it's my mom. I went to answer thinking she could help rescue me....turns out you can't even answer calls when your phone is disabled so I had to press on.
I guess I'd appreciate this feature if my phone had been stolen, but I was wet, cold, exhausted, and in pain so I hated this feature today. Eventually I made it home and my phone finally allowed me to try to unlock it-successfully this time! Regardless of everything that happened, I still felt like it was a great run!
"Relish the bad training runs. Without them it's difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones." -Pat Teske
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
It's All Relative!
We all know the phrase, "Someone's got a case of the Mondays" from "Office Space," but I'm happy to say that when you are 14 weeks into marathon training that is NEVER a phrase you will utter for Mondays are the best!
For most training programs Monday is your short run. Today was a GLORIOUS 5 mile run, a quasi quick and easy run. The only problem with your Monday run is fear...today for a good chunk I thought things like, "I can't wait until 2.5 miles cause I'll be 1/2 way done." from that thought came, "holy crap 5 miles on race day means I still will have 21.2 miles remaining....I might die." (or something along those lines ha ha) When I start to think like this I think about my favorite Friends episode when the girls are playing the guys in a game called, "It's All Relative." I repeat this phrase when I find myself getting overwhelmed by things like a 5 mile run because it IS all relative. Take the weather recently...we had a 60 degree day and were breaking out our flip flops....if it were early September and we had a 60 degree day we'd be looking for our Uggs. It's All Relative!
No 5 miles ISN'T a lot when you are thinking about the full distance of a marathon, but when you are exhausted from life in general and add on to it the physical and mental demands of training, 5 miles can be a killer.
We all have something going on that has us exhausted and/or pulled in a million directions with a million things to do, but the key is to take things one at a time and not get overwhelmed with things out of your control. If you are like me you need to prioritize and remember you can't be everywhere at all times for everyone and yourself so you do what you can do and be okay with that. I'm trying to do that right now and it's not always easy!
Author's Note: I'm writing this post on my couch at 7:00pm fighting to keep my eyes open because everything has my burnt out, but I also know that I have too much to do to go to bed at 7:00pm Grading papers and getting my spare room prepped for the painter will have to wait until tomorrow ha ha
You need to prioritize. If you can't get to everything or do everything, that's okay. -Julie Chen
For most training programs Monday is your short run. Today was a GLORIOUS 5 mile run, a quasi quick and easy run. The only problem with your Monday run is fear...today for a good chunk I thought things like, "I can't wait until 2.5 miles cause I'll be 1/2 way done." from that thought came, "holy crap 5 miles on race day means I still will have 21.2 miles remaining....I might die." (or something along those lines ha ha) When I start to think like this I think about my favorite Friends episode when the girls are playing the guys in a game called, "It's All Relative." I repeat this phrase when I find myself getting overwhelmed by things like a 5 mile run because it IS all relative. Take the weather recently...we had a 60 degree day and were breaking out our flip flops....if it were early September and we had a 60 degree day we'd be looking for our Uggs. It's All Relative!
No 5 miles ISN'T a lot when you are thinking about the full distance of a marathon, but when you are exhausted from life in general and add on to it the physical and mental demands of training, 5 miles can be a killer.
We all have something going on that has us exhausted and/or pulled in a million directions with a million things to do, but the key is to take things one at a time and not get overwhelmed with things out of your control. If you are like me you need to prioritize and remember you can't be everywhere at all times for everyone and yourself so you do what you can do and be okay with that. I'm trying to do that right now and it's not always easy!
Author's Note: I'm writing this post on my couch at 7:00pm fighting to keep my eyes open because everything has my burnt out, but I also know that I have too much to do to go to bed at 7:00pm Grading papers and getting my spare room prepped for the painter will have to wait until tomorrow ha ha
You need to prioritize. If you can't get to everything or do everything, that's okay. -Julie Chen
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Hindsight Is 20/20
Hindsight is 20/20...obviously, but it's really annoying. ha ha
Time and time again I am being bombarded with this issue....
I love my Brooks Trance 11 & 12 so when I went back for shoes for this marathon I thought it would be easy...just pick up the newest Trance in stock or if there wasn't a new model get the 12s again. That plan was fine-until I did that! My favorite shoe store told me it had changed slightly, but I thought it would be okay and they didn't have any 12s in my size. I started to train with them and found myself complaining week after week to my chiropractor about shin and ankle pain. I started to look online for my old shoe without any results. Apparently I wasn't the only one affected my this shoe change. By this point EVERYONE was sold out of them and fear set in. I didn't want to go to a new brand of shoe and risk anything. I wanted my tried and true running shoe. Finally, I called Brooks and complained about the new model AND I asked them to, "call me if they happen to find a pair laying around the office" (<---no lie, I really did this ha ha) I started to call random running stores with the hope someone, anyone, had a pair in my size. I was in luck, I found a store that had a pair!!! As I sat on the phone in shock I thanked her profusely...she interrupted my thanking to share that she also located another 2 pair at their other store and she told me she'd get those for me also.....Needless to say I bought her a best friends necklace to share with me ha ha! Had I known a new model was coming out and would be changing my perfectly good shoe I would have stocked up. It felt a little like the Seinfeld "Sponge" episode trying to get my hands on any and hoarding them ha ha Seinfeld Spongeworthy Clip
Today I will be taking my new running shoes out for a training run with a girls running group from the town I teach in (they are training for a 5K in town the day before my marathon so I, sadly am not able to do the race, but I will train with them and go cheer them on on race day). I'm super excited to run with this students are share my love of running with them...although after my run yesterday it could be ugly.....Perfect segue into my next hindsight is 20/20 story....
As I have made it VERY clear, I have not enjoyed a lot of my training for this marathon. Between my attitude, the cold/snow, injuries, the time of year etc. it has not been a pleasant experience. I've been following my training program pretty closely, but nothing like my 1st training. (That DNF post I made during my Chicago training is laughable now since I find just getting out for the run a success...finishing the exact mileage isn't killing me.) So perhaps yesterday's run didn't go well because leading up was kind of a mess. It was my birthday on the 14th so I gave myself a week in which I could eat as I pleased and worked out as I saw fit. (I did do all my runs, but I skipped yoga, skipped my ab challenge I've been doing, and I didn't lift that week) add to it I was fighting off some illness. The 15th was supposed to be a long run of 12 miles....being the day after my birthday party I only did 7. My other runs for that week were pretty spot on because I knew I needed the miles for a big 18 mile run on the 22nd. Yesterday's long run was the 18-a fairly big one in the training program I follow. A few things happened on my "18" mile run to which hindsight would have been helpful....
1) runners should NOT drink venti vanilla lattes prior to an 18 mile run...ya just shouldn't ha ha. At mile 4 I was beyond hating myself and just wishing I'd puke so I had an excuse to stop running.
2) While it is not NEARLY as hot as the summer training where I stashed water and Gatorade SEVERAL places along my route an 18 mile run is an 18 mile run and you need to stay hydrated regardless of the temperatures.
3) In the 2nd grade I played "The March Wind" in "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice" and I remember running around the stage with blue fabric representing the craziness of the weather in March.....(Please see photo below ha ha) I experienced said craziness yesterday. Sure, it looked beautiful out, but the wind was AWFUL. It was in my face the entire run. Anyone who had the "pleasure" of seeing me last night enjoyed my lovely wind/sun burned face. (in hindsight I'd also wear sunblock) Doing the 18 miles was scaring me so adding in the wind made this run so much harder-I was exhausted. (PS please don't forget that it is hill central where I live....great for training, but so tough) Some people say, "Wind is great resistance training!" Sure, but this was no ordinary wind...again please see the "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice" photo below ha ha (I don't know how hindsight could have changed the wind, but it was pertinent to add to the story to better understand the disaster that was my run)
4) My watch....my awesome sister in law is an athlete (and by athlete I mean she's run the Boston Marathon-among other marathons, and did the Lake Placid Ironman weeks before her wedding and did an AMAZING job) to thank me for watching me niece and nephew a few times she got me a sweet Garmin running watch. I love and hate this thing equally. This watch is exactly what I needed. It tells me just what I want without overwhelming me and making me over think running. At the same time I perseverate on this watch though I really try not to. I have preset my pace so it alerts me if I'm going too fast, too slow, or if I'm on pace. I'm trying to get a feel for my pace, but I am a very inconsistent runner. (my inconsistency in running is part of the reason I'll be running with a pace group for the marathon....I'll get into that later) Due to some hearing surgery I had a few years ago I have sonic hearing so even with my ipod on I hear this watch go off to alert me if I'm on pace, ahead of pace, or behind pace....I can't not look when I hear it beep at me. I have to say I've been ahead of my pace (8:20) a lot recently....well that is on my shorter runs. Yesterday, I was doing great...then the winds really started to take a toll on me. I swear, in the beginning, my miles were sub 7:50 with a constant "ahead of pace" alerting me on my wrist, but as the miles and wind pressed on I think I saw my watch flash, "girl, I don't even know if you are picking up your feet" at the end. ha ha The watch REALLY started to make me feel badly about my pace so I stopped looking at it. In hindsight, I should have just run without caring about my speed. Long runs aren't meant to be run at race day pace. I have to admit, this run REALLY made me start worrying about my ability to qualify for Boston. (Tho last night, while whining about my run, my friend Amy told me I will qualify if I just change my attitude...she might be right) If hindsight wasn't 20/20 and I knew now if I'll be able to maintain an 8:23 min mile and stay with my pacing group and qualify for Boston this whole training thing would be easier and I'd be a lot more pleasant since worrying all the time would end! Damn you hindsight!
“To paraphrase Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear, and all those guys, "I wish I had known this some time ago.” -Roger Zelazny
Don't Forget To Share My Blog AND "Like" My Blog Page On Facebook-Blog: My Name Is Kelly, And I'm A Runner
Time and time again I am being bombarded with this issue....
I love my Brooks Trance 11 & 12 so when I went back for shoes for this marathon I thought it would be easy...just pick up the newest Trance in stock or if there wasn't a new model get the 12s again. That plan was fine-until I did that! My favorite shoe store told me it had changed slightly, but I thought it would be okay and they didn't have any 12s in my size. I started to train with them and found myself complaining week after week to my chiropractor about shin and ankle pain. I started to look online for my old shoe without any results. Apparently I wasn't the only one affected my this shoe change. By this point EVERYONE was sold out of them and fear set in. I didn't want to go to a new brand of shoe and risk anything. I wanted my tried and true running shoe. Finally, I called Brooks and complained about the new model AND I asked them to, "call me if they happen to find a pair laying around the office" (<---no lie, I really did this ha ha) I started to call random running stores with the hope someone, anyone, had a pair in my size. I was in luck, I found a store that had a pair!!! As I sat on the phone in shock I thanked her profusely...she interrupted my thanking to share that she also located another 2 pair at their other store and she told me she'd get those for me also.....Needless to say I bought her a best friends necklace to share with me ha ha! Had I known a new model was coming out and would be changing my perfectly good shoe I would have stocked up. It felt a little like the Seinfeld "Sponge" episode trying to get my hands on any and hoarding them ha ha Seinfeld Spongeworthy Clip
Today I will be taking my new running shoes out for a training run with a girls running group from the town I teach in (they are training for a 5K in town the day before my marathon so I, sadly am not able to do the race, but I will train with them and go cheer them on on race day). I'm super excited to run with this students are share my love of running with them...although after my run yesterday it could be ugly.....Perfect segue into my next hindsight is 20/20 story....
As I have made it VERY clear, I have not enjoyed a lot of my training for this marathon. Between my attitude, the cold/snow, injuries, the time of year etc. it has not been a pleasant experience. I've been following my training program pretty closely, but nothing like my 1st training. (That DNF post I made during my Chicago training is laughable now since I find just getting out for the run a success...finishing the exact mileage isn't killing me.) So perhaps yesterday's run didn't go well because leading up was kind of a mess. It was my birthday on the 14th so I gave myself a week in which I could eat as I pleased and worked out as I saw fit. (I did do all my runs, but I skipped yoga, skipped my ab challenge I've been doing, and I didn't lift that week) add to it I was fighting off some illness. The 15th was supposed to be a long run of 12 miles....being the day after my birthday party I only did 7. My other runs for that week were pretty spot on because I knew I needed the miles for a big 18 mile run on the 22nd. Yesterday's long run was the 18-a fairly big one in the training program I follow. A few things happened on my "18" mile run to which hindsight would have been helpful....
1) runners should NOT drink venti vanilla lattes prior to an 18 mile run...ya just shouldn't ha ha. At mile 4 I was beyond hating myself and just wishing I'd puke so I had an excuse to stop running.
2) While it is not NEARLY as hot as the summer training where I stashed water and Gatorade SEVERAL places along my route an 18 mile run is an 18 mile run and you need to stay hydrated regardless of the temperatures.
3) In the 2nd grade I played "The March Wind" in "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice" and I remember running around the stage with blue fabric representing the craziness of the weather in March.....(Please see photo below ha ha) I experienced said craziness yesterday. Sure, it looked beautiful out, but the wind was AWFUL. It was in my face the entire run. Anyone who had the "pleasure" of seeing me last night enjoyed my lovely wind/sun burned face. (in hindsight I'd also wear sunblock) Doing the 18 miles was scaring me so adding in the wind made this run so much harder-I was exhausted. (PS please don't forget that it is hill central where I live....great for training, but so tough) Some people say, "Wind is great resistance training!" Sure, but this was no ordinary wind...again please see the "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice" photo below ha ha (I don't know how hindsight could have changed the wind, but it was pertinent to add to the story to better understand the disaster that was my run)
4) My watch....my awesome sister in law is an athlete (and by athlete I mean she's run the Boston Marathon-among other marathons, and did the Lake Placid Ironman weeks before her wedding and did an AMAZING job) to thank me for watching me niece and nephew a few times she got me a sweet Garmin running watch. I love and hate this thing equally. This watch is exactly what I needed. It tells me just what I want without overwhelming me and making me over think running. At the same time I perseverate on this watch though I really try not to. I have preset my pace so it alerts me if I'm going too fast, too slow, or if I'm on pace. I'm trying to get a feel for my pace, but I am a very inconsistent runner. (my inconsistency in running is part of the reason I'll be running with a pace group for the marathon....I'll get into that later) Due to some hearing surgery I had a few years ago I have sonic hearing so even with my ipod on I hear this watch go off to alert me if I'm on pace, ahead of pace, or behind pace....I can't not look when I hear it beep at me. I have to say I've been ahead of my pace (8:20) a lot recently....well that is on my shorter runs. Yesterday, I was doing great...then the winds really started to take a toll on me. I swear, in the beginning, my miles were sub 7:50 with a constant "ahead of pace" alerting me on my wrist, but as the miles and wind pressed on I think I saw my watch flash, "girl, I don't even know if you are picking up your feet" at the end. ha ha The watch REALLY started to make me feel badly about my pace so I stopped looking at it. In hindsight, I should have just run without caring about my speed. Long runs aren't meant to be run at race day pace. I have to admit, this run REALLY made me start worrying about my ability to qualify for Boston. (Tho last night, while whining about my run, my friend Amy told me I will qualify if I just change my attitude...she might be right) If hindsight wasn't 20/20 and I knew now if I'll be able to maintain an 8:23 min mile and stay with my pacing group and qualify for Boston this whole training thing would be easier and I'd be a lot more pleasant since worrying all the time would end! Damn you hindsight!
“To paraphrase Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear, and all those guys, "I wish I had known this some time ago.” -Roger Zelazny
Don't Forget To Share My Blog AND "Like" My Blog Page On Facebook-Blog: My Name Is Kelly, And I'm A Runner
Monday, March 10, 2014
Thanks Daylight Savings Time!
Maybe it is daylight savings time giving me more daylight, getting back to blogging last night, or the warmer weather today, but as I sit in the waiting room at the chiropractor's I realize today is the first time in a VERY long time I'm looking forward to my training run! (it also doesn't hurt that today is only a 4 mile run ha ha!) Whatever the reason I'm hoping this is a sign of positive things to come!
.......
After I finished at the chiropractor where I complained that walking down stairs was close to torture (and where I may have yelped a few choice words as he adjusted me and worked out adhesions) I felt a great deal better about my sore/fatigues legs and I felt ready to take on the run I was, amazingly, not dreading!
........
I set out into the "warm" March afternoon with the sun preparing to set on the gorgeous day we had. Wearing shorts and a light running jacket was incredible and reassured me that better weather and better outdoor training was right around the corner. The path I ran wasn't hilly but it was right for me and the place I've been mentally and physically with my running. I had pain but I felt great knowing that each mile I ran was giving me splits I could maintain and get me to my BQ time. One could argue that running an 8:11 mile is easy when you are only running 4 flat miles, but I can counter with the knowledge I did my run on a day where I winced walking down steps....
........
After I finished my run I walked a bit to take in the setting sun and positive feeling my run left me with. I'm going to continue to take the good with the bad and since I've been having so many negative feelings I wanted to take the time to share this great experience I had today.
I even took a post run selfie to remind me when I'm have a bad run that days like today make it all worth it!
-
Happy Running!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
On The Run....
So yes, it's been quite a while since I've blogged...the truth is "blog" has been on my to-do list for a very long time, but it's been hard. Everything has been hard relating to my training. I also hate writing negative posts, but finally I remembered my goal was to chronicle my ups and downs of training and while it sucks, the truth is this training has had a lot of downs.
The weather has been oppressive making running outside, for the most part, only happen for distances higher than 7 miles (I say 7 miles because my gym only lets you run on treadmill for an hour and it takes me a few minutes less than an hour to run 7 miles ha ha)
I had no idea how hard training in the winter would be. It's FREEZING at 5am! Getting up to go to lift inside a warm gym at 5:30 am is tough...the idea of getting up to go outside to run is mind boggling and hasn't happened. (I have gotten up to run inside a warm gym tho) Another difficult aspect of winter training is black ice. If I had the motivation to get up to run that early, on freezing cold days, I feared black ice. The wrong footing on a small piece of black ice could finish me! Still ANOTHER aspect of winter training that killed me is how dark it gets so early. Mid-day is ideal for running, but I don't think my bosses would love the idea of me leaving in the middle of the school day to get my run in. ha ha When it gets dark so early I'm a) in the mindset that it's night so I get tired and lazy and b) fear the danger of black ice, again. My long runs on Saturdays have all been outside since I can go mid-day when it's the safest and warmest. I'll be positive and say I did get some nice color on my face during my long runs on Saturdays...thanks reflection off the mountain sized mounds of snow! ha ha (I used a fair amount of bronzer this winter since only my face was exposed so only my face got color-my neck was a VERY white and had to be blended to my face ha ha)
I've talked before about running being very mental. Your mind quits long before your body. I've also mentioned that winter is generally tough for me as I am affected my the darkness of winter and experience the "winter blues". Pair that with soreness I hadn't experienced during summer training and you've got a recipe for disaster.
I've had a classic case of "what came first the chicken or the egg?". Has training been tough because I'm experiencing soreness due to a lot of indoor training so when I get outside to run it's much harder between low temps and battling the elements like snow/ice/debris on the roads or is it harder because of the winter blues have me lethargic, sick, and down? I'm sure one is affecting the the other and both are making training awful.
My chiropractor and I are going to be best buddies by the time this marathon is over. I feel like I'm in constant pain and needing his assistance. I ran 13.1 yesterday and today I'm walking around like I did the day after my 1st 1/2 marathon-thankfully tomorrow is a chiro day.
My runs are consistent with times I had during my last training...so if consistent is all I have right now, it's all I have...I'm hoping that having consistent times even when I'm dealing with all these winter annoyances and feeling this poorly about the entire experience will mean as race day nears winter will be going and maybe, just maybe, the disappearance of winter will also make my struggles disappear and lead to a better times and feelings at the end of my training and for my race.
I truly hate being so negative so I'll try again to put a positive spin....I'm doing it. I'm doing my best and I'm realizing that I may not be where I hoped to be, I'm not exactly feeling like I did at this point in my last marathon training, I'm not always running EXACTLY as the schedule dictates, and I'm often wanting to throw in the towel, but I'm doing it....
"Relish the bad training runs. Without them it's difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones."
-Pat Teske
The weather has been oppressive making running outside, for the most part, only happen for distances higher than 7 miles (I say 7 miles because my gym only lets you run on treadmill for an hour and it takes me a few minutes less than an hour to run 7 miles ha ha)
I had no idea how hard training in the winter would be. It's FREEZING at 5am! Getting up to go to lift inside a warm gym at 5:30 am is tough...the idea of getting up to go outside to run is mind boggling and hasn't happened. (I have gotten up to run inside a warm gym tho) Another difficult aspect of winter training is black ice. If I had the motivation to get up to run that early, on freezing cold days, I feared black ice. The wrong footing on a small piece of black ice could finish me! Still ANOTHER aspect of winter training that killed me is how dark it gets so early. Mid-day is ideal for running, but I don't think my bosses would love the idea of me leaving in the middle of the school day to get my run in. ha ha When it gets dark so early I'm a) in the mindset that it's night so I get tired and lazy and b) fear the danger of black ice, again. My long runs on Saturdays have all been outside since I can go mid-day when it's the safest and warmest. I'll be positive and say I did get some nice color on my face during my long runs on Saturdays...thanks reflection off the mountain sized mounds of snow! ha ha (I used a fair amount of bronzer this winter since only my face was exposed so only my face got color-my neck was a VERY white and had to be blended to my face ha ha)
I've talked before about running being very mental. Your mind quits long before your body. I've also mentioned that winter is generally tough for me as I am affected my the darkness of winter and experience the "winter blues". Pair that with soreness I hadn't experienced during summer training and you've got a recipe for disaster.
I've had a classic case of "what came first the chicken or the egg?". Has training been tough because I'm experiencing soreness due to a lot of indoor training so when I get outside to run it's much harder between low temps and battling the elements like snow/ice/debris on the roads or is it harder because of the winter blues have me lethargic, sick, and down? I'm sure one is affecting the the other and both are making training awful.
My chiropractor and I are going to be best buddies by the time this marathon is over. I feel like I'm in constant pain and needing his assistance. I ran 13.1 yesterday and today I'm walking around like I did the day after my 1st 1/2 marathon-thankfully tomorrow is a chiro day.
My runs are consistent with times I had during my last training...so if consistent is all I have right now, it's all I have...I'm hoping that having consistent times even when I'm dealing with all these winter annoyances and feeling this poorly about the entire experience will mean as race day nears winter will be going and maybe, just maybe, the disappearance of winter will also make my struggles disappear and lead to a better times and feelings at the end of my training and for my race.
I truly hate being so negative so I'll try again to put a positive spin....I'm doing it. I'm doing my best and I'm realizing that I may not be where I hoped to be, I'm not exactly feeling like I did at this point in my last marathon training, I'm not always running EXACTLY as the schedule dictates, and I'm often wanting to throw in the towel, but I'm doing it....
"Relish the bad training runs. Without them it's difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones."
-Pat Teske
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