Week 8: At least I follow the rules when I bake

After my Pikermi last weekend, I was experiencing some major DOMS in my legs and I had a huge blood blister on my right foot. Apparently running like a fool through the finishing chute because some girl is just as competitive as you is likely not good for your legs (and 13.1 hilly miles probably aren't either). I'm the goober on the right.


This was not really how I pictured myself after a half, but I know I didn't really leave much on the table on race day.  I knew that my runs this past week needed to be easy so that I wouldn't injure myself with sloppy form on stiff legs.  I ran on the treadmill a lot because A) it forces me to slow down since I apparently have no willpower on my own and B) it unfortunately is the safer option much of the time.

Because I worked all weekend, I ended up moving my long run to today and switching my easy Tuesday run to Saturday.  Here's what happened:

Tuesday: Plan was 3 easy @9:16, Actual was 3.5 easy @8:34
Wednesday: Plan was 7 tempo with 5 @7:55, Actual was 1 mile warm up, 3 @7:53, 1 @7:47, 1 @7:41, and 1 mile cool down
Friday: Plan was 2 easy @9:16, Actual was 2 easy @9:14
Saturday: Plan was 5 easy @9:14, Actual was 5 easy @8:47
Today (Monday): Plan was 20 easy @9:16, Actual was 20.6 @8:12

The easy runs were all uneventful.  The tempo was hard to start on sore legs, but I actually felt really good once I got into it.  And while I could have pushed a little harder (and likely would have outside), I knew that it was okay to not completely annihilate every single run.  Which is likely why running hard seemed to catch up with me today.

Miles 1-5 were decent.  Highlights: I spilled half my Gatorade over my shorts because I didn't tighten the screw cap, I went pee at mile 3.5, I cursed myself for sleeping in because it was getting warmer, I was happy I wasn't having issues with my music, planned on getting to 20.5 miles because of my pit stop, and I kept having to reel back my speed as it dropped below 8:00. Splits: 8:23, 8:18, 8:02, 8:02, 8:06

Miles 5-9.85 were not great. I was starting to experience the long run blues already and I wasn't even halfway done.  My legs felt the initial stages of cramping and I immediately started to worry if I was going to be able to complete this run.  Lots and lots of self doubt.  Couldn't decide if I was annoyed or okay with not getting a rest break at the single traffic light along the route. Garmin totally crapped out at 9.85 miles.  I downloaded MapMyRun (guess I never added it to this phone) and felt slightly better after my forced 90 second stop. Splits: 8:13, 8:17, 8:11, 8:16, 6:48 for .85 miles (8:01 pace)

Miles 9.85-14.85 were awful. I tried the salted caramel Gu for the first time and while it wasn't bad, it definitely was not the delicious flavor I was anticipating. I had contemplated leaving my fuel belt behind for the second half, but thankfully I took it as I finished all the liquid by mile 13.  Without my Garmin, I had no idea what pace I was running until I had completed a mile.  Because I was feeling a lot of leg fatigue, I was trying to shorten my stride to lessen the impact, but I had no idea what this was doing to my pace. Splits: 8:06, 7:50, 8:22, 8:22, 7:50

Miles 14.85-20.6 were Jekyll and Hyde.  I'd feel great for a bit and then awful. I'd feel BA for running 20 miles and then like a complete fool for doing the zombie march on sore legs.  I started to count off the half miles and using all the tricks in my bag to make sure I completed the run.  I got lucky that there was a lot of cloud cover in the final quarter so it wasn't so hot.  Still, I was cursing myself for sleeping in (could have been running in the upper 50s and not the 70s). When I got the final mile, all I could think about was how good the ice bath was going to feel.  But I toughed it out all the way to my 'official' ending point. Splits: 8:16, 8:05, 7:55, 8:20, 7:57, last .8 in 6:46 (8:03 pace)

The thing is, in looking back at these splits, I know I should have been running slower today. As race day begins to creep up, I am really going to have to get serious about not racing all my long runs.  And while I want to prove to myself that I'm capable of running a BQ pace week after week, it is just not smart. Plus, it has been a long time since my legs cramped up like they did after today's run.  I feel like I'm making some rookie mistakes and I know better.  Easier said than done though...at least if I bloop about it, there is some sort of accountability.

Anyway, enough self-smack-talk....

Let's see what's been going on in my kitchen.

We went to the apple orchard last Sunday:


And Adam and I came home with a 1/2 bushel (4 dry gallons) of apples:


I bought some apple cider donuts out of hunger love for their baked goods:


But I wanted to make some of my own baked goods as well.  I thought about apple butter, but I've made it before and always end up going back to peanut butter as my preferred morning spread.  So, I opted to go the pie route.

First, I peeled and cored the apples:


BTW, if you don't have an apple peeler/corer and either bake with apples or like to eat your apples sans peels, I highly recommend putting this on your Christmas list.

Then I made enough pie crust for 3 pies:


Always from scratch for obvious reasons. Always by hand to keep the dough flaky and light. Always with butter because it tastes the best.

Then I spiced the apples with Saigon cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and a little bit of cloves:


1 full pie and 18 hand pies later, I was enjoying a kitchen that smelled amazing:


Nothing better than snuggling on the sofa with homemade apple pie. The furkids agree:

Week 7: DIG DEEP! aka Race a Pikermi

The really is more about the half-marathon I ran yesterday than overall marathon training, but in keeping with the theme, let's start with the stats:

Tuesday: Plan 4 easy @9:20, Actual: 8:30, 7:51, 8:04, 7:48
Wednesday: Plan 4 easy @9:20, Actual: 8:11, 7:59, 7:48, 7:34
Thursday: Plan 4 easy @9:20, Actual: 8:06, 8:03, 7:57, 7:33
Sunday: Plan 13.1 hard @7:38, Actual: 13.1 @7:45-7:47 (Race results vs Garmin)

I made up this week's portion of my overall training plan knowing that my ultimate goal race will take place in December (no pressure, right?).  However, I wanted to perform as well as I could and decided my A goal was 1:40, B goal was sub 1:45, C goal was to PR (which was 1:48:XX).  I ran too hard each day, but it was so beautiful outside last week that I kept getting caught up in the moment.  I figured with 2 days rest in between that I would feel fresh and ready to race.

Saturday, I sat around and tapered. I put myself on house arrest and entertained myself while Adam was at work.

I did some foam rolling and massage with The Stick:

I watched college football:


I started a puzzle:

And finished it:


I hydrated and hydrated and hydrated:


I decorated my racing bib with a Sharpie with the phrase "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" and "DIG DEEP!" along with a few stars for good measure:

 
I ate spaghetti for dinner and a bowl of cereal right before bed.  When I woke up in the morning after sleeping very well (!!!), I ate a blueberry bagel with peanut butter and enjoyed a cup of coffee from a lovely package that I received from SomeKraigGuy.  I naturally choose the blend on the right:


I drank a mini V-8 and had a few sips of Nuun.  In March, I didn't go crazy with the hydration and had the best race so I tried to mimic that feeling.  We met up with our friends Megan, Frank, and Jeff to carpool down to the race area.  We got there in plenty of time and I felt happy that I wasn't rushed.

We got a few pictures taken before the race got started:
 

 
I kissed baby Connor on the head and then walked up to my corral.  This race had about 3000 people and the corrals were nicely maintained.  There was plenty of room to breathe.  I found the 1:40 pace group leaders (a woman and a man) and stood behind them while I waited.  I used pace groups in my last 2 races and had a great experience.  They were talking to each other, but I didn't really see them trying to find anyone on their pace group 'team'.

The last few minutes flew by and then I was starting my Garmin as I crossed over the timing track.

I held close to the female pace leader in the first 1.5 miles and it was so dark outside, I could hardly see my Garmin.  I knew we were running fast and I felt thirsty from the get go. I started to let her get ahead a bit as I knew the other leader was still behind me. 7:24, 7:40


I kept up the pace for mile 3 and ran right behind the male pace leader.  But as it started getting lighter outside and I could check my Garmin repeatedly, I realized that I was going to be in big trouble if I tried to keep up that pace on those hills in the final miles.  So as we neared the mile 4 marker, I started to let the little 1:40 sign go ahead and run my race. 7:18, 7:27

Mile 5 I alternated between feeling terrible trying to keep up the pace and giving myself some slack to just relax and run comfortably.  Fortunately, mile 6 was much, much flatter and my body was much happier.  7:48, 7:47

I saw the photographer and did a one-handed wave:
 

Followed by the ever-awesome two-handed wave:
 

Mile 7 was good and I started to feel a little better knowing that I was halfway there. Mile 8 was a series of rollllllllllllllllling hills that are likely the major cause of my quads feeling like they are on fire today. 7:39, 7:51

I got a nice quadzilla shot though:
 

Mile 9 was all puppies and rainbows and I felt really strong.  I was still behind the 1:40 pace leaders, but I was likely not too far off my goal at that point. 7:47




On mile 10, my Garmin started to get all wonky and I couldn't see my pace.  My foot started hurting (where I'd later discover I was creating a giant blood blister-ew!).  I knew that I was slowing down some, but I was gauging it by other runners at this point. 8:14
 

Mile 11 was awful.  I couldn't believe that I was stopping to walk in a half-marathon.  What the heck was the matter with me??! I didn't stop to walk at all in my last full except going through the water stations.  I walked for probably 45 seconds and then looked at the "DIG DEEP!" on my bib and sucked it up. 8:37



Mile 12 was much better as I crossed paths with other runners who were on mile 7 and there was a ton of crowd support.  With others watching and cheering, I started to begin my countdown to the finish. 8:03


Mile 13 was incredibly long.  I was so ready to be done.  I knew that I was not going to be getting my 1:40 and even though I was going to hit my B goal, my body felt trashed. But I continued to push it. 7:37

Mile 13.1 was probably the closest thing I will ever have to feeling like I am racing like a pro.  A trio of female runners came descending upon me in the final stretch and my competitive spirit took over as one of them started running next to me.  With only 1/10th of a mile to go, I laid on the afterburners.  She was laying down the same fierce kick and we flew through finish chute gutting it out, neck and neck.  I gave it everything I had and it felt so good!

I got a lot of fabulous finishing pics:
 




We high-fived after we finished and I gushed about how great of a finish we had.  Hopefully my post-race celebratory gooberness was not too scary for her.

I eventually got back together with the group--they graciously waited after they finished their 5K:
 

I was feeling a bit woozy and my tummy was in knots, but I was happy to have finished with my B time goal:


Here are my Garmin stats:
 
And here are the stats compared to the field:



12th in my division, 38th female, 168th overall.  Pretty good for a field of 3000!

After we got home, I started to feel bad.  Like, really, really, really, really, I-might-need-to-go-to-the-emergency-room bad.  I felt like I had sudden onset food poisoning and I was hurting in the worst way.  I'll spare you the gory details, but I couldn't really move for about an hour and a half without tremendous pain.  I'm not sure exactly what caused it (something I ate, jostling during the race, kicking it hard in the end, too much hydration, too little hydration????), but I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  I thought I had an iron stomach, but I felt like I had eaten a chili cheese bagel for breakfast.

We had plans to go apple picking with the group and I finally mustered the strength to get up and get moving again.  Once things "passed" I started to feel a bit better.  Adam and I started heading to the orchard and on the way, I was able to get some food and drink down which definitely helped.  Soon, I was feeling back to my normal self:
 

We walked all over the orchard, picking and eating apples, and enjoying a beautiful fall day in Appalachian foothills.  Hopefully it'll be a long time before I'm too old to climb trees:
 


My legs are sore today--like I ran a hilly half-marathon--but I'm no worse for the wear.  Onwards and upwards! 2 more months until I make my BQ attempt!!

Week 6: Lady luck and duh, food pics

The running:

Tuesday: Plan was 4 easy @9:21, Actual was 4 easy @8:57

Thursday: Plan was 3X1 mile @7:21 with 800 jogs, 6 total miles, Actual was 8:25, 7:19, 800 @ 8:27 pace, 7:02, 800 @ 8:21 pace, 6:56, 8;11

Friday: Plan was 3 easy @9:21, Actual was 3 easy @8:57

Saturday: Plan was 18 easy @9:21, Actual was 18 @8:13 with splits of 8:24, 8:23, 8:16, 8:16, 8:15, 8:18, 8:17, 8:17, 8:14, 8:10, 8:18, 8:33, 8:14, 8:07, 8:04, 8:01, 8:00, 7:47

I was pretty happy with my training week.  My foot gave me a little bit of issue on my long run a few miles in, but for the most part, I am feeling good.  I was especially pleased that I was able to bang out my mile repeats on Thursday night, have a true recovery run Friday, and a really great long run Saturday.

My middle miles on my long run felt really easy and comfortable and looking back at my splits, it is just a few seconds faster than what I am aiming for on race day.  I was definitely pushing it in the final miles, but mostly because I knew that I had conserved early and that my body was feeling good.  I drank Nuun instead of Gatorade and water this go 'round and while I still had salty skin when I was done, I didn't experience leg cramping.  I still have yet to figure out why sometimes my legs feel like they are on fire post-long run when all the other variables are the same.  Ah, running, a constant experiment....

In non-running news--a lot of the reason I haven't been reading bloops--was that I have been busy working, eating, baking, dinner with friends, and catching a few hours of the few TV shows that I adore (re: New Girl, Parenthood, The White Queen, and The Amazing Race).   I had a work dinner on Tuesday night, dinner with high school friends on Wednesday night, date night with the gang on Friday night, and an impromptu dinner party Sunday night. Whew!

You want food pictures, I got 'em!

First I got a little healthy with brussel sprouts:






And my I-can't-decide-what's-for-dinner default dinner, steak and potatoes:




Tuesday, I baked!! I did some experiments with pumpkin, paleo, and gluten-free flour. I love trying new recipes and these turned out pretty good considering that they weren't chocked full of 'normal' ingredients.  I'm not paleo or gluten-free, but my sister is gf and our third wheel for date night is now officially seeing a girl who gf.

I made paleo pumpkin bars:




Paleo pumpkin chocolate chip cookies:



And gluten-free pumpkin bread:



After dinner with the high school friends on Wednesday night, my best friend told me she had my pie dish in her car to return to me.  She borrowed it for a photography project awhile back.  And she return it with a pie! Sa-wheet!



After I showered, ice bathed, ate random things from my fridge, and turned on a football game, the sofa monster summoned me to a loooooong nap on Saturday afternoon.  The BTs hogged the sofa kept me company:




Adam and I both had Sunday off and it was absolutely gorgeous outside.  We had purchased a Groupon for the zoo and we decided it was a perfect day to use it.




We saw lots of birds, including flamingos:



Dirty warthogs:




Elephant butts:



And really big turtles:



Jeff and his new gf joined us and he managed to snap a great pic of Adam and I:




We decided to keep the fun going into the evening and stopped at Whole Paycheck Foods for goodies to make appetizers munchies and kabobs:




We all contributed to the meal like we had spent 1000 nights together and conversation flowed as generously as the wine:



It was a relaxing and lovely day.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself to wonder if this is all real!  Because I really am quite a lucky girl.

Short 'n sweet: The rest of week 5

Finally! A good mojo run.  By my standards, a run that makes me feel strong, powerful, and without any aches and pains.  It wasn't a runner's high run, but I'm content with saving that for race day.

I already blooped about my first 2 runs of the week, but here are the stats on the last 2:

Friday: Planned 4 easy miles @ 9:21, Actual 4 miles @ 8:34

Sunday: Planned 6 tempo with 4@7:51, Actual 6 miles in 8:18, 7:46, 7:13, 7:23, 7:13, 7:33, last .2 in 1:28 (7:10 pace)

I hit my groove a little later than anticipated and while I initially was shooting for about a 7:40 pace, I just let my body carry me through the run.  I was running at about an "8" effort where 1=strolling and 10=pukey pants.  However, I felt like it was a controlled 8.  Sometimes I feel like I am running more of a fartlek when I tempo because I paying way too much attention to my time.  This time I tried to just settle into a as-comfortable-as-a-tempo-can-be pace and let my body do the work.

This definitely made me more confident for my mile repeats that I have on the calendar for the upcoming week.  I have 3@7:21 on the calendar.  Speedwork is by far the thing that is the most challenging in this particular go 'round of marathon training.  The easy recovery runs are well, easy recovery runs.  And my long runs are not daunting in the sense that I know my body is completely capable of running that distance.  I still respect the long run and prepare for it, but I am not scared if I feel like crap.  Been there, done that.

I have toyed with the idea of vamping up my training program, but honestly, my A goal is just to BQ.  When I look at my previous training logs, I was running just a few seconds slower overall on the majority of my runs.  But I was also racing on a pretty hilly course so it's possible 8 minutes could be made up on a flat course.  I dunno.  I still have so many self-doubts about it all.  But I will do the training, trying to not act a fool on Friday night in Rehoboth, and remember to keep it all in perspective.  I could be on a long horse ride!

The good news about fall is that we will finally get some welcome relief from the heat and hopefully my running will feel even easier.  The bad news is that the days are definitely getting shorter and running outside becomes harder on work days.  I am hoping that we get lucky with the weather for my half in 2 weeks!