Half Marathon Training: Back Into the Swing of Things

The past month has been a challenge in terms of training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon and working out.  I’ll recap the best I can about the last few weeks.

The week of Thanksgiving (November 24th) was basically a complete bust except for my 10k Turkey Trot.  Monday I could only work out with my trainer for 30 minutes due to a work dinner which I guess was better than nothing.  Tuesday night I drove home to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.  Wednesday I didn’t do anything to rest for the race on Thursday plus my upper quad muscle on my right leg was giving me pain.  Thursday morning was the 10k Turkey Trot.  It was cold but was the first race I was completeting by myself and since my legs were fresh with very minimal running since my half marathon in early November I felt good.  I ran the fastest 5k & 10k i ever have completeing the 10k in 1:05.

While it was a great accomplishment to do this run so fast the lack of running preperation I had done in the prior few weeks left me sore for at least 3 days.  I also was feeling HORRIBLE due to cramping and all those fun womanly problems so I didn’t run or do any other form of exercise that week.

The week of December 1st i still wasn’t feeling good at all.  I attempted a 3 mile run on Tuesday which i did at a decent speed but my quad continued to bother me quite a bit.  I was going to run on Wednesday as well but opted out to let my leg rest.  Thursday i did a full session with my trainer.  Would have done a training run this past weekend but I eneded up going to Atlanta for the SEC Championship..so no time to run!

When Sunday rolled around I was FINALLY feeling better and ready to have a decent workout week.  Monday I went to Zumba and Tuesday I worked out with my trainer.  Wednesday I went to the local running groups “Tacky Christmas” run and did about 2.5 miles decked out in my Christmas gear.  I took it slow and my leg wasn’t giving me any trouble.

Yesterday (Thursday) I decided it was time to do a longer run as my 10k happened two weeks ago and to stay somewhat on schedule for Disney i needed to get it in.  Saturday i’m doing a Rudolph 5k so I knew the longer distance run needed to happen over the week.  This is obviously a bit of a challenge with falling temperatures and it getting dark earlier.  Things at work have slowed down so i left around 4:30pm to start my run.  It was colder but not unbearable except the breeze that was coming off the water wasn’t very pleasant.  About 3 miles in I started feeling really dizzy and actually had to sit down for a few minutes.  I was already 3 miles from my car so I had to do at least 6 miles.  I told myself i’d just run back to my car and be done with it.  I took it slower than I would have liked but around mile 4.5 started feeling better until mile 6.  I decided I’d run that far I might as well knock out one more mile.  So mile 7 was rough.  By this point it was dark and had gotten much colder but I got it done.

All I have left for this week is the 5k tomorrow which should be a fun but productive maintenance run.  Its a challenging course with hills so I don’t expect to have a fantastic finishing time but i’m really more about just getting out and doing it.

Next week is looking like Monday Zumba, Tuesday 3 mile run, Wednesday personal training, Thursday 3 mile run, Friday personal training and Saturday a 4-5 mile run.

So i’m happy to have had a successful week of training once again.  I know my next long run will be better if I can just put in the training runs I need to and continue doing the cross training.  This race is going to be here before I know it and I can’t go off of the attitude of “well i’ve done a half so i’ll be fine”.  I nearly died doing 7 miles last night so I have a lot of work to build back up to.  It’s amazing how quickly you can lose all that initial training.

Half Marathon Training: The 13 Miler Week

The time has come, I don’t know how it arrived so quickly but it is 13 miler training week.

 In follow up to my last post I am feeling a bit better about running this week.  One thing that is helping are the new shoes I purchased.  I was really hoping to make it through this half without having to get a new pair but they just didn’t last.  I got back into town yesterday afternoon so I went ahead and got myself a new pair of Saucony’s.  Same kind I have previously but just in a different color and half a size larger.  I also purchased some new socks while I was at the running store..I finally gave in at the $13 per pair price.  Anything to help minimize the blisters!

Last week I ended up doing a significantly less amount of running than the planned called for due to time constrictions, my shoes and my mental need for a break!  I only did a 5k on the treadmill on Thursday and my feet hurt until basically Monday morning.  Yesterday i knocked out a 6 miler run where about 4 miles was interval training.  I did the run in my new shoes so wasn’t the most comfortable since I’m still working to break these in.  Was kind of strange my left foot started to fall asleep 2-3 miles in and kind of did that for a mile or so.  I think my KT tape may have been too tight or something which i did remove about halfway through the run. Doing the intervals did help make the run go faster. Hopefully my shoes will be good and broken in this next week or so.

Tomorrow I’m doing my 13 miler.  Training plan calls for it this weekend but once again I will be traveling out of town Friday-Tuesday.  With new shoes and semi sore feet I know it is going to be a challenge.  All I really care is just pushing through it and getting it done.  I’m planning to cross train tonight and doing a short 20 minute recovery run then carbing up, foam rolling and stretching.

I’m having some weird issues with my phone it keeps randomly turning down the volume which is really annoying when you are attempting to run without distractions.  So need to figure out what is going on with that.  Hope my map my run can hang in there tomorrow so I can store that 13 miler in my phone!

My plan is to just keep telling myself to push through and remember I taper for 3 weeks before I have to attempt a 13 miler again and at that point it will be for the race!

Half Marathon Training: 11 Miler Recap & 12 Miler Week!

Already Wednesday..where does the week go!

So last Friday was the BIG 11 MILER!!  I was fully prepared going into my run with new socks, extra bandaids and KT tape for my feet, gummies, powerade and a newly updated running playlist!

I made sure to eat continuously throughout the day and drink a lot of water.  That was one mistake I had made going into my 10 miler that I ended up regretting.

It was around 5:45 when we started running.  Legs were feeling good and so was my cardio. The run/walk method seemed to be off to a good start also.  Basically we were running for 3 minutes and walking for 1 minute.  I believe it was around mile 5 when I started getting some bad cramping in my lower abdomen.  Believe it was some good old PMS symptoms probably aggrevated by the running.  That continued well into mile 7.  I kept pushing through as I figured eventually it would go away as it wasn’t a side stitch where I needed to stretch it out.  Once that had passed I felt SO MUCH BETTER.  Getting past mile 8 into my “stretch” miles, I felt really good.  Didn’t feel too tired and my legs were still feeling strong.  Until I got into the last mile it wasn’t bad at all and even then my legs were just getting a bit tired.  Compared to finishing the 10 miler I felt 200x better. We did the 11 miles in 2:13:33 so on a 12:08 pace which I was very happy with.

This was a big boost of confidence since I had worked so hard all week to take care of myself so I could have a good long run.  And it paid off!  I didn’t do any other running over the weekend but did go and spectate the Chattanooga Ironman Competition on Sunday which ended up being a lot of walking and standing which my back didn’t enjoy too terribly much.

So now onto this week.  Since I was still a week behind in the training plan and wanting to give myself enough time to taper 3 week before the race, I decided to jump ahead to the 12 miler week.  Monday I really wasn’t feeling great.  I was tired, PMSing and just not in the mood to do more than 3 miles…well so I thought.  My legs were tight for the first 1.5 miles and I ran mile 2 WAY too fast (like under 10 minutes fast).  So this left me finishing what was supposed to be 3 miles in 35 to 3 miles in 32.  My legs were feeling good so I decided I’d just keep going and run another mile.  Then another mile led to 2 more miles and I ended up completing my 10k for the week. Not only did I complete it but I KILLED IT!  I completed it in 1:04:58 which is a 10:47 pace!  I’ve never consistently run that fast for that long before.  For comparison my first 10k race in June took m 1:13 to run. Now I don’t think this will be a normal “new” pace for me to run but it felt good coming off a long run having a very successful run.

Tuesday I decided to do my 35 minute run.  I again wasn’t feeling overly great going into this run but knew all I needed to power out was an easy 3 miler.  Things weren’t flowing quite as well as they were on Monday but I was able to maintain some speed in mile 2 which was good.  Mile 3 was definitely slower which was okay.  My mapmyrun stopped working around 1.45 and I didn’t realize this until i was into 2.10 miles.  So I reset it and just ran back to my car with that obviously being my starting place.  I’m not exactly sure what I did because the time was all messed up.  When I reset the last mile it wasn’t recording properly and told me I ran 0.07 at a 152:22 minute pace…yeah so just deleted that and recorded a 33:19 total and a pace around 11:06..may have actually been a little more or a little less I’m really not sure since I didn’t check to see what time I actually started.

Today is cross training so working out with my trainer and no running (my legs appreciate it).  Tomorrow the plan only has a 20 minute run so I’ll probably do 2 miles total.  Seems like nothing in comparison to what I have been doing!  Depending on the weather I’d like to do the 12 miler on Friday but will most likely have to wait until Saturday morning.  There is a set of storms coming through that is supposed to cool things off drastically (its 85 right now…) which will make for a nice morning run on Saturday.

Overall feeling good about where I am in the training plan being a little less than a month out from the half marathon.  So just have to keep giving it my all for the final push this month.

Half Marathon Training: July 28th-September 17th

So it has been a while…been so busy running that I’ve forgotten to blog about it!

I am about 7.5 weeks out from my half marathon on November 7th.  I’m going to summarize where I’ve been each week that I missed blogging about (to the best of what I can remember)

Week of July 28th

Did majority of my maintenance runs inside due to the weather.

-Running sprints

-45 minute recovery run

-35 minute run

Long Run: I was aiming to do another 10k on Saturday August 2nd but ended up only running 4 at a 15:17 pace…I ended up chafing very badly due to my shorts and was unable to even run it became so bad.  After that I retired my nike tempo shorts from running!  I remember being very frusterated just because my 6 mile run from the weekend before did go so well.

Week of August 4th

Again did a lot of my maintenance runs on the treadmill due to the weather outside.  Though the gym was just as sticky and hot which made for very difficult runs.

-running drills

-45 minute recovery run

-25 minute run

Long Run:  Since it was so miserably hot out I did my long run on the treadmill.  Since I hadn’t had a successful 10k the weekend before I went for 6 miles again and successfully completed this time on Saturday August 10th.  Overall it was a better running week but my work schedule and the weather were making training very difficult

Week of August 8th

Again a very busy work week and sticky humid and hot weather left me doing many runs on the treadmill.

-running drills

-45 minute recovery run

-25 minute run

Long Run:  Feeling confident enough to add a mile I tackled 7 miles outside on Saturday August 16th.  I had to go into work in the morning so didn’t get started until around 11am and it was HOT out.  The last mile or two I remember being almost unbearable but got through it!  Ran at a 12:50 pace which I was pretty happy with

Week of August 18th:

Hot, humid, sticky and busy at work..same old thing!

-35 minute run

-running drills

-50 minute recovery

No long run this week:  Training schedule called for a 5k pace race.  Decided to sign up for a local superhero 5k.  Race started at 8:30am.  Not my best 5k did it in abou 36 minutes.  The humidity was terrible!  Overall was a fun event though

Week of August 25th

Training plan began calling for more days of running this week. Was a challenge to get everything in especially with a holiday weekend approaching.

-35 minutes easy

-running drills

-45 minute recovery run

-25 minute run

Long Run: It was time to take on 8 miles!  I was leaving on a tubing/camping trip around 10am on Saturday August 30th so I knew I needed to get up SUPER early to do this run.  Think I started running around 6:15am.  Ran at a 12:31 pace so finished at 1:40.  After this run I really started feeling like I was going to be able to do this and continue to get better, faster and stronger.

Week of September 1st

Had a HORRIBLE 55 minute recovery run on labor day..3.93 miles in 50 minutes.  Trail was packed with tons of bikers which made concentrating on a struggling run very difficult.  Did the rest of my running inside this week.

-35 minute run

-running sprints

No long run this week: Went to my parents house and did a 5k on the treadmill.  Didn’t get up in time to beat the humidity and heat!

Week of September 8th

-35 minute run

-running sprints: Did these WAY too fast and ended up giving myself a side stitch

-55 minute run: Struggled with this a LOT since I did it the day after my running sprints.

Long Run: Due to the few weeks in early August I did 10k’s I threw myself off the schedule so it was necessary to stretch 2 miles at somepoint.  Since my 8 miler had gone fairly decent I decided bumping up to 10 miles would be a good idea.  Felt decent until about mile 7.5 when I began to feel lightheaded and a little naucous.  I had brought a 5 pack of gummies with me and was staying hydrated (maybe overhydrating.  I stopped mutiple times to refill water).  Finished in 2:06:32 at a 12:33 minute pace.  I’ve never felt so exhausted from a run in my entire life.  I think a large part of it was shock to my body as I’d never run that much before, improper fueling during the day of food and it was very hot and humid out.

When I woke up the next day I didn’t feel well at all.  After a breakfast sandwich and some powerade I started to feel a little more human!  Had a 4k beer “race” (tap n run) on Saturday which I ran very little of mostly just walked.  It was painful at the time but I do believe getting out and doing that did help stretch my legs out putting me in good shape for this week.

Week of September 16

And here we are!

Monday I was at work until very late so decided to let my legs rest another day.

Tuesday (yesterday) did my running sprints.  Legs and feet felt pretty good.  I keep pushing myself too hard and going to fast as I did get another side stitch towards the end of the warm down mile.

Going forward in the week my plan is tentatively this

Today: Working with my trainer followed by a 2-3 mile run

Thursday: 2 mile warm up, 3 mile pace, 1 mile cool down

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Pirate and Princess 5k

Hard to believe that has been the past 7 weeks!  Right now I’m feeling confident about being ready for this race.  I’m nervous about an 11 mile run next weekend but feel like if I properly prepare during the day so my body can get through it I’ll be in better shape than the 10.  And then I’ll only be 2 miles from 13!!

Prepping For My First 10k.

 

 

Running has become too familiar of a word these past six months.  In January I decided it was time to start running. I’ve never been a runner and felt sick at the idea of running for more then a few minutes. In February I ran my second (first successful) 5k.  I was so pumped about having a successful race that I continued signing up and training for other races.  It seemed that by April I could run a 5k pretty consistently and easily (most days).  So I decided it was time to take the next step.

 

 

Chattanooga hosts a large 8 day music festival in June that is equipped with a 10k/5k/1 mile fun run.  So I signed up for the 10k.  A 10k is 6.2 miles, so double what a 5k race is.  My thought was “what is another 3 miles….” (race course below)

Well easier said than done.  I began training the last week in April with 4 days of running each week.  The first few weeks consisted of shorter 3-4 mile runs with some pace race runs or speedwork. As the race got closer I had to tackle longer runs.  I’d previously done a 5 mile run in training to speed up my 5k time but that was the longest I’d ever done.  So tackling a few 4.5-5 mile runs was a challenge leading up to the full 6 miler which almost killed me…

 

Beginning of May I was doing great meeting all of my running goals and cross training in between.  I’ve struggled with blistering since I began running so I purchased a foot massage bath and have been using epson salt and and doterra aromatouch, lemongrass and cypress for my post run regimen.  I began finding that when I ran more than 4 miles the pain was almost unbearable.  On Tuesday May 24th I was attempting a 3.5 mile run and could barely make it 2 miles without having to stop from the pain.  I realized that the bunion on my foot was becoming worse and more irritated.  I made the decision to stop running for the remainder of the week (I was traveling out of town for memorial day weekend anyway) and let my foot rest.  In the meantime I ordered a bunion brace to support and help realign my bunion.  A week later I ran my first 6 miler at around a 12:30 pace running most of it.  I was very excited to run the full race pace but knew it was going to be a challenge to complete again.

That following weekend (last weekend) I wasn’t feeling great and opted out of my short maintenance runs. My plan was to do 2 3 mile runs this week in preparation for the race on Saturday.  I had to work late on Monday so was planning to do these on Tuesday and Thursday.  I was overly exhausted on Monday and woke up in the middle of the night with a shooting pain in my ear.  I looked up the protocol for ear ache’s with doterra and applied some basil, lavender and peppermint around my ears.  I also put my diffusor on with the same oils.  The next day I struggled through the morning at work getting very dizzy, feeling extremely tired and nauseous with an achenes in my ear.  I knew something was wrong.  I left work mid afternoon and went home to rest.  I picked up some wax drops at Walgreens and began putting those in my ears along with placing basil oil on the tip of my ear.  I also began applying frankincense, lavender, peppermint and maleluca around my ear.   On Wednesday I attempted to go into work but became so dizzy I couldn’t function.  This is when I decided to go to the CVS Minute Clinic.   The nurse cleaned my ears out of wax, which came out very easily due to my oil application and wax drops.  I did indeed have an infection in both ears.  The nurse gave me a prescription for some antibiotic drops.  The rest of Wednesday I continued my oil application along with those drops.

I woke up on Thursday with a terrible headache (like a hangover without the party).  I used peppermint oil and diffused peppermint, lavender and breathe throughout the day (took the day off from work). I tried hot compresses and cold compresses to relieve the headache but nothing was seeming to work.  I decided mid-afternoon I needed to get out of bed and attempt a run.  I hadn’t run in over a week and I was concerned about how i’d perform in the 10k.  It was about 84 degrees outside with a slight breeze.  The first mile wasn’t too bad but as I came into mile two my headache overcame me and I could tell my stamina wasn’t there.  I walk/ran mile two and then gave in and quit.  I was extremely disappointed that I couldn’t even complete 2 miles running! How was I supposed to run 6.2 miles two days later!!

I went home and decided the best thing to do for myself was get as much rest as I could and work on getting this headache to go away.  I began applying peppermint, frankincense and lavender to my temples, back of neck and diffusing the same group of oils. I used the cold compress a few times over the course of the afternoon.  Around 6pm I finally started to feel some relief.  I continued doing the same ailment all night since it seemed to be working.

I woke up this morning feeling headache and mostly pain free in my ear.  Still a little tired but that is expected.  Now that my headache is gone I’m feeling confident about the race tomorrow.  I’ve trained and I’m ready.  Even though I have missed a few runs in the past two weeks my body needed rest. I’m hoping now that the infection is healing I’ll be fresh and ready to go in the morning.  Positive thoughts and affirmations are the only thing that are going to get me through tomorrow.  The course has quite a few inclines and hills but going in I know I plan to walk them to save my energy.  I’m going to do the best I can and that is the only thing that I can do.  If I dwell too much on the runs I’ve missed I’m going to talk myself out of doing the race.  It will be timed but I’m not aiming to break any records or person best time.  I’m aiming to finish.  I know it won’t be easy and there will be times on the course I’ll want to quit but I just have to remind myself that I am capable of doing this.

I’m nervous but ready to do this race.  I’m keeping myself hydrated today and plan to go to bed early tonight.  Since its the first night of the Riverbend Festival it will be a challenge to go and not drink and leave early but I’ll appreciate it tomorrow.