Best Laid Plans...

As the saying goes!

I was well on my way into week 3 of my marathon training plan, had an unbelievable 800s workout that showed I was making progress. It was a ridiculously hard workout but also very rewarding, I felt so much more confident after this workout, it was awesome.

The next morning I got up for work, took a step out of bed and nearly fell over with pain. I've never felt this kind of pain before, ever. I hobbled out of bed, wincing and headed straight to the internet! I started researching the pain, where it was located, what it felt like, etc. I did a self-diagnosis and declared it Plantar Fasciitis. As I continued to read about recovery/healing I started to become worried that it was going to seriously affect my marathon training.

Fast forward to 8 days later, I've been able to consecutively run for the last 3 days with runs totaling 1.5 miles, 2 miles and 3 miles. I was supposed to race a 10k this weekend, sadly this is not happening. I hope that in another week I'll be back to my regular schedule, but really I'm taking it 1 day at a time.

So far my daily routine has included icing, stretching the foot, stretching the calf, calf raises and rolling my foot on a golf ball. I've heard from several people the recommendation of rolling my foot on a frozen bottle of water. I'm not sure I see the difference between that and just icing my foot and rolling it on a golf ball? So far I'm seeing progress so my method must be working to some degree, so I might as well stick with it until it doesn't work anymore. Right?!

Early Morning Runs - Friend or Foe?

As seen in previous posts, I've been struggling a bit since my first marathon to get back into the swing of things. One contributing factor that I've previously thought was something I just had to deal with was the weather. Michigan has some hot and humid summers that make running relatively miserable, especially in the late afternoons. Recently I've been encouraged by a couple friends to try doing my quality runs in the morning before work. Ugh. Really? I've tried the "getting up early to workout" routine before and it usually lasted a week, maybe two and then I'd be back to my usual after work exercise. I decided to give it a shot again though, after I got home from work last week and the high temps and high humidity just seemed too much for me and I didn't want yet another unsuccessful run.

So that night I set all my gear out, just like if I were preparing for a race the next morning. Alarms were set and my plan of action was in place. My alarm goes off at 5:30a sharp and immediately I'm up and heading down for my coffee. I realize after I'm settling into that first cup that it's still extremely dark outside, not a huge fan of running in the dark and alone so I waited until the sun was peaking out before I got dressed. As I headed outside I realized that the humidity was really high, but the temps were close to 15 degrees cooler than after work the previous day, so I figure it's got to be better, right?

I was right. I was amazed. I felt good. The run went well and one of the nicest perks, after work I was free to do whatever I wanted instead of rushing home to get a run in. So, being that this was so successful, I decided to try it again two days later, Friday morning. Who wants to get up at 5:45a on Friday morning, me I guess? Because that is what I did! The run was great! The temps were great! Wow, this is GREAT!

Fast forward to Sunday morning, we are on a climbing trip, I get up at 6am from the camping site to do my run. Wow, now it's starting to catch up to me. I slept in a bit, got a late start and had to shorten my run... not the best results, but it was still an early morning run and outside of it being short, it was still a great run. I'm starting to feel like I've got my legs back and I'm ready to tackle this new marathon training plan.

I've done one more morning run since then, yesterday, and although I had to drag myself out of bed, it was still a good run. I think I'm convinced that this early morning running is a good idea... I just have to figure out how to adjust the rest of my schedule to make sure I'm still getting all the sleep my body needs.

Reality check: I've only been getting up early for a week. I'd say it's too early to tell if I'll actually stick with it for the long haul... but I sure hope I do! So far my vote is that early morning running is friend and not foe, but I reserve the right to change my mind, like any woman should ;o)

Still Recovering... Really?

For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get back into training mode with little success. I'm finding that I'm struggling to maintain paces I was able to keep towards the end of my marathon training. I've tried some speed work with some success, although my paces are a little slower than I wanted. My tempo runs however, they just plain suck. My last training run before the marathon was 7 miles at just under an 8 min pace. I've tried a couple times to do 4 or 5 mile tempos and I'm hovering close to 10 seconds above an 8 and really struggling to keep that. Granted, it is summer... but I'm finding it hard to put the blame on just the weather.

After several weeks of frustrating runs my coach recommended I hit the reset button. To do this, I ignored my garmin, adding my ipod back into the mix and just ran to enjoy it. Yesterday it was close to 90 degrees with 70% humidity and I did an 8.5 mile run at a moderate pace, and I loved it. The music was a great distraction that I haven't incorporated into my running for 6 months or more. With the weather being so hot I expected to hate this run, but I actually really liked it. It wasn't easy by any means, but because I enjoyed it we are counting this as a successful run.

This week I'm going to do 3 more runs just like this, ignore the garmin, add the music and just run to enjoy. Hopefully this will get me over my hurdle of bad runs so that I can be ready to start training for marathon #2 in a couple weeks. I'm hoping that recovery after my second marathon will go better than the first one, as in faster. I don't know if I can handle another recovery schedule like this.

I wonder if I'm the only one struggling like this? Is it just because it's my first one and I didn't know what to expect? Or maybe I'm just not cut out for the marathon?

Marathon Recovery... Dislike!

You know how sometimes when people post updates on facebook and instead of wanting to "like" it, you want to "dislike" it? Don't you wish there was a "thumbs down" button? Anyways, I'm currently in the "dislike" mode for marathon recovery.

Being that this was my first marathon, I really had no concept of what the recovery would be like or how long it would take. After all my half marathons my max recovery was 2 days, other race lengths would be 1 day or less. Just based on the time I needed to recover from a half, I figured I'd be set for the full after a week. I was already planning an aggressive 5k plan for a new PR and wanted to get started right away. Well... I was wrong, really wrong. It's been almost 4 weeks now and I'm still waiting for the run where my legs feel fresh. I took a full week off from running and since then have only averaged 2 runs a week. I've picked up extra spin classes to try and stay active and increase recovery time, but it's just not going how I thought it would.

I've been in training mode for the last year and a half straight, always training for something. Always planning hard workouts for speed and distance work and never taking more than a week off from running. It's quite the shock to all of a sudden not be able to train for anything, not even a measly 5k, because my legs can't handle a run at even marathon pace, let alone 5k pace. I'm pretty miserable and am worried that I'm losing all of my speed and endurance that I have built up over the last year.

I have noticed some small improvements on my runs, but it's not enough for me to be excited about it. I'm trying to accept that recovery is a necessary evil and that eventually I will be back to normal and ready to train again... it's just really hard to believe it at this point. I've already signed up for my next marathon and my training will start Aug 1st... I sure hope I've recovered by then, otherwise I'm screwed.

On a side note, my foot appears to be completely healed, hooray!

No longer injury free...

When I finished my marathon a couple weeks ago, the worst injury I anticipated was sore muscles. The day following the marathon I ended up having a pain in my foot, mostly when I put weight on it. It was a pain I've never experienced before and assume was a result of the marathon. I immediately emailed my coach fearing the worst and started the online research for self diagnosis! After all the back and forth emails and my online searching it seemed maybe it was just a bruise. I stayed off of it as much as possible for the next 6 days... On the 7th day there was no pain, hooray!

So, since I was pain free and past my 7 day "no running" requirement from the marathon, I was itching to get out there for a run. This past Monday I did just that, after work I laced up and headed out in the neighborhood for an easy run, close to 6 miles. After I was done I felt GREAT! I was SO excited to be back running again, and NO pain in the foot. Yay!

Then Tuesday came... I'm out at the grocery store to pick up a couple things and after about 10 minutes of walking around in the store, it happens... the pain is BACK. Damn. I limp my way through check-out and back to the office... I skip my workout for the evening to go home and rest it.

Wednesday... wake up and walk around for 5 minutes, pain is there still. Suck. Get through work and head to a spin class, no pain during spinning, yay! Got a great workout in, feeling good. Take a quick shower and leave the gym, no pain still. I get home walking around doing chores, it's back.

Today... wake up and immediately I can tell it is still hurting. This. Really. Sucks.

I've got an appointment with an orthopedic guy next Tuesday, but I'm sad to say that I won't be running until this is resolved. I'm also starting to think it's not a bruise but something worse. Hopefully I'm wrong. My next marathon training won't start until Aug 1st, so at the very least I have about 7 more weeks to get this foot problem fixed before I will be seriously bumming.

Wish me luck, I need it. :(

I'm a Marathoner!

Well it's official, on Saturday, May 28th 2011 I became a Marathoner. Never in my life could I imagine ever saying those words! It's truly been an awesome experience and a huge accomplishment for me. I'm so proud of myself!

The day started out very early, up at 5am with hardly 2 hours of sleep the night before. The forecast called for rain and mid 50s, good temps but I wasn't excited about the rain. My husband and I packed up the car and headed to the start. I had my first water bottle with gu packets and two additional ones for him and my friends to hand off to me at mile marker 11 and 19. Steve was there with me at the start, where it began to rain. We brought an umbrella and he snapped a pic of me huddled under it trying to stay as dry as possible.

People were wearing trash bags and all sorts of other things trying to do the same. As the time drew nearer to the gun, people started crowding together near the start line.

The race started at 7am sharp. Everyone took off fast, as usual, I did the same but quickly checked myself and eased up. The first 5 miles were a struggle to maintain my pace, I kept speeding up and having to slow down. It was at the forefront of my mind to "stick to my goal pace" as per my coach's instructions. ;)

The route was great, mostly flat with the occasional small hill. We went through small neighborhoods and along the coast of the bay. Due to the weather there was a dense fog across the water which was strangely comforting. It continued to drizzle a bit but soon the rain eased up and it was decent. 

Through mile 10 I was still feeling strong, as soon as I realized I was about to meet up with Steve, Becky and Paul I got very excited and couldn't control my pace. I believe mile 11 was close to 15 seconds faster than it was supposed to be, likely a mistake I would regret later, but it was such a boost to see them and hear them cheering for me! A couple miles later I was at the halfway/turn around point, ok, now I have to do that all over again... I was a little worried to say the least. I was really feeling it now.

For the next 6 miles I was counting down to mile 19 when I would see my friends again. I had to really focus to maintain my goal pace, and not because I was going too fast anymore. I looked forward to the miles I could have my gu packet as something to "do" and focus on during those long stretches. I finally made it to mile 19 and tried to look strong for everyone. We did the bottle exchange again without issue and I was able to smile from the cheering again. Ok, another gu packet and now I'm only 7 miles to the finish.

At mile 21 I really started to get worried... my pace was slowing and my legs were not happy. Mile 22 and 23 were just as hard. I felt a pain in my right hip that started to concern me, but I tried to ignore it. As I approached mile 24 I made a decision that I had to push it. I would never hit my goal if I kept slowing down. I sucked it up as best I could and pushed through the pain. Somehow I managed to pick the speed back up again within a few seconds of my goal pace. As I rounded a corner into what I knew was the last leg, less than a mile to go, I tried to push even more. I managed an increase for a minute or two and then I felt myself slowing again. Damn, it's just around the corner but I was really struggling. Then I saw the track, the finish line was on the local high school track, .2 to go, I kicked it into high gear and charged down that track. I was owning it, full out as fast as I could. Yes!! I made it! I hear Steve and Becky cheering me on from the stands and I just kept going all the way across the finish. I managed close to a 7:35 pace for that last stretch.

And then I collapsed. 

Ha, just kidding! :) I was so impressed with myself that I didn't though!! I hobbled through the chute, collected my medal and water bottle all the way out of the stadium area. I was damp, cold and exhausted, but I did it. I ran a marathon. My time was 3:56:05, 6 seconds shy of my 3:55 goal, but who cares. This was my first marathon and I'm damn proud of that time. 

Next stop, CIM in December, where my goal will be to qualify for Boston :)

Never fully satisfied

This morning I've been working on my schedule for next week in preparation for the marathon next Saturday. I'm a very organized person so I'm putting together an hour by hour schedule of what I'll be doing starting from next Wednesday after work until after lunch on Saturday. That in itself is probably a little much, but that's what I do, organize.

With this organizing obsession I've started to plan out my race approach, trying to take the advice of my coach but also hit my goals. Now, this is my first marathon and I've heard time and again that your first marathon goal should be only to finish. But, the only reason I even signed up for this thing was on the condition that I could complete it in under 4 hours. My goal pace is a 9 min pace which will bring me in around 3:55, great, that's under 4 hours! However, based on comments from my coach and other predictors I'm hearing I should physically be able to complete it around 3:50. I'm struggling with the desire to not bonk but also to finish at 3:50. In doing all the calculations I would need to average 8:48 to come in at that time, but I just don't think I can hold that pace for the full distance. My coach has recommended I stick with 9:00 for at least the first 22 miles and then think about increasing pace if I'm feeling good. But, there is no way I'll be able to pull out 8:00 min miles after 22 miles so there doesn't appear to be a way to make up those last 5 min. I've even gone so far as to say, ok if I run at 8:55 that will bring me in around 3:53, but then I still have 3 min to make up in 4 miles. It just doesn't seem possible. It's a little disappointing to hear that I should be capable of a 3:50 but likely won't hit it.

With all that being said, I also really want to qualify for Boston and I'm a little sad that I won't be able to do that on my first marathon, but that is definitely out of my reach, a 3:40? Not a chance. My second marathon I'm planning for December and I do want to qualify for Boston, but the time requirement will have changed to a 3:35... that's damn near an 8:00 min pace. Can I train in 6 months to drop a full minute off of my marathon pace? I have no idea, but I hope so!

I have all these obnoxious dreams of becoming a great runner, I want to increase my pace on each distance I participate in, from 5k to Marathon... and I haven't even completed my first Marathon yet. It's an obsession that I hope will end up proving to myself and others that I'm an athlete and a damn good one.

Cheers!