marathon training

I Can Run Clearly Now…

/ Jess / 2 Comments

Last week, after facing my deepest, darkest fears about possibly having to drop to the half marathon, I actually felt lighter. Physically and mentally, I was less burdened by the things I was afraid to say out loud, and I found myself enjoying the run even more. Knowing that I had this safety net to fall back on if my body didn’t want to cooperate actually made the idea of a race FUN again!

I started thinking about how cool it would be to race a half marathon. If I focus on halves for a while, I can take my time to train smart, build up my confidence at that distance, improve my pace, and eventually a half will be nothing. In short, I was excited to run again. Cue the angels and harps and cheesy dancing!

photoAnd bad-fake-running-poses.

Which was perfect timing because I was scheduled to host the local NJ meetup of International Mermaid Day bright and early Sunday morning! It ended up being just my friend Kevin and I, but it was a gorgeous, crisp, late summer morning and we had a great time jogging and chatting and living life and making waves 🙂

photo 2 (2)Fins Up!

The rest of the week I took it easy and focused on strength training. My brain was fried from my day job and a 2-day migraine knocked me out until Wednesday, when I decided to go by feel for my nighttime run. The no-pressure attitude really works, because 6.7 miles later, me and my knees were still smiling!

photo 3 (2)I stopped the watch for the 10K time but kept running to 6.7 for fun. For FUN!

My 10K time was also a minor victory – my last one was around 1:18, and even a small improvement is still reason to celebrate!

photo 1

… by drinking almond milk out of a wine glass in an ice bath.

All in all, it was a low-mileage week on my legs but a high-performance week in my self-esteem, and I’ll take it as a win.

How about you? How is your training is going? Are you enjoying your runs? Let me hear it.

The Girl Who Cried Marathon – Part 2

/ Jess / 7 Comments

OK so when we last left off I was fresh off a great 6 mile run and feeling good and pain free. Hooray!

However. You know how they say that running is like 30% physical and 70% mental (or something, I don’t math good)? Well, I started psyching myself out basically as soon as I got out of the shower that night. Even though I had a great 6 miles, the end was rough. How was I going to build up to 26.2 – with confidence – in a little more than a month, with time for a taper too? I wasn’t. Or maybe I could. I don’t know. Where’s my xanax?

1527

Friday I rested and aimed for 12 miles over the weekend. Saturday morning I woke up and got prepped for the long run; fueled up, strapped on my hydration vest, and stood at the door stretching out, but I just wasn’t ready. I wasn’t mentally in the game. In fact, I was paralyzed with fear, indecision, anxiety, and frustration. I couldn’t fail at another long run, it’d break me. After my failed 10 miler the week before, I had built up “the long run” so much in my broken, anxiety-riddled mind.. so much that I worked myself up into a full-on panic attack there with my hand on the doorknob, unable to open the door and run. My husband found me there and talked me down. “Head out there with no expectations. Just run. If you go for 1 mile or 10, call it a win.” It helped – so I walked out the door and into the soupiest, hottest, most humid day New Jersey has experienced since last summer.

sweating

It was about 97 degrees with 98% humidity, and there was no relief to be found out on the pavement. I struggled physically for a mile or so, then walked, and realized it was time to face the fear that’s been on the edges of my brain for a while now: I may have to drop down to the half marathon this October.

I had thought it before but was too scared to really explore it. “Failure” was not an option. But “Compromise” had to be considered. What would the real cons be? Honestly, it was the fear of having to become “The Girl Who Cried Marathon.”

My best friend up in Cape Cod said she was going to come all the way down to cheer me on. My local friends always ask how training is going, and say they can’t wait to celebrate. So many of my internet friends here and on Instagram have all said how excited they are to follow my journey to the finish line… What a let down it would be to tell them that I wasn’t going to run it. What a fool I’d look like.

That’s when it finally dawned on me: I was more concerned with what my friends and family (and internet friends!) would think of me than I was with my own health and sanity. I was prepared to just push through and barely make it – and possibly injure myself – just because I didn’t want to look like a fool.

That was my wake-up call: if I’m only running the marathon for other people, I am truly doing it for the wrong reasons. When I signed up, I wanted to prove to myself I could finish happy and healthy, but a slew of injuries this summer (runner’s knee in both knees, calf strains, etc) have seriously derailed my training and turned running into a painful chore. And to be honest? Before that 6 miler, I hadn’t really enjoyed a run in a LONG while.

balki

#sorrynotsorry #truthbomb

So maybe dropping down is the right thing to do. The last thing I need to do is go out there unprepared (mentally or physically) and DNF, or worse, injure myself again. In the end, it comes down to what’s right for me. Not for anyone else. Because honestly? No one else really truly cares if I have to drop down to the half. Why in the hell would it matter to them? In classic overthinker fashion, I convinced myself that everyone else would view me as a failure, when in fact it was ALL ME doing the “you’re a failure” finger pointing, at myself.

(If you haven’t already noticed, I’m a classic overthinker. Whether I’m choosing chicken or fish at a wedding or buying a car: I will obsess over every little detail of a decision until I can’t keep my eyes open, and then I’ll keep obsessing until 3 am in bed, and eventually I’ll worry myself into a state of paralysis. It’s really the one thing I’m actually good at.)

alan

Yay for succeeding at something!

So as I walked back home, I pulled the trigger and messaged the handful of friends that said they were coming down to cheer me on, and their responses were so unbelievably sweet and supportive that I wondered why I had waited this long to say anything in the first place. When I got home I told my husband and it was like a weight had lifted. I cried in relief – even though I hadn’t officially changed my registration, I found such comfort in getting to the bottom of the issues that have been plaguing me for the past month. It really is true: Running is cheaper than therapy!

As of right now, I’m not sure if I’m officially dropping. I’ve got until 10 days before the race to decide, and I’m going to really focus on my training now that I’ve gotten my gait right and my knees are healing. I’ve done a few really good hour + runs, and banged out a great 10 miler today, so we’ll see what the future holds. I could possibly still pull the full out of thin air, but I’m not going to be disappointed if I have to drop when the time comes.

What matters is that I keep running happy – which I plan on doing for a VERY long time 🙂 And PS – We’ll be back to our usual running/training related posts tomorrow. In the meantime, how is your training going? Does anyone else out there struggle with doubt? How about my fellow overthinkers out there? Share your story!

The Girl Who Cried Marathon – Part 1

/ Jess / 5 Comments

It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m back! And it has been a week or two, let me tell you. After getting all jazzed up for my long run with my last post, I made the bold choice of going for a 6 miler that Thursday night.

IMG_6976

The first three miles were filled with pace-destroying calf pain, a totally new issue. I’d had calf strain issues due to overcompensation on that leg in a few recent runs, but nothing like this. I couldn’t go more than 50 yards without walking because of this intense burning sensation from my ankles to my knees. It subsided around mile 3 and was replaced with major chafing for the last 3 miles. BUT I finished 6 in [relatively] good time, then rested Friday and set out Saturday for my long run. And it was bad.

I was motoring through mile 6 when the wheels fell off the wagon. My knees locked up, my calves coiled into tight springs, and I felt a shooting pain grow from the outside of my right foot straight through my right calf up to the knee. I walked in circles, stretched it, even sat on a curb to rest, but it wasn’t having any of that. When I tried to run one last block, my right knee gave out and I had to call my husband to come pick me up.

Talk about a shame spiral while I waited? In 15 minutes, I went from “You can’t even finish a 13 mile training run” to “You can’t finish anything you start, even your marriage is just you trying to pretend to be an adult.”

photoMy inner voice can be a real douchebag sometimes.

So I punished my body all of the next day working in the yard, rested on Monday, then tried running again on Tuesday and found that I was ok after 2 miles. Not 100%, but OK. Wednesday I took off from running and told myself to focus on really pushing for a full night of cross training. So I surprised the hell out of myself with a double workout at the gym.

photo 1 And I felt great!

I started with a nice slow stretch, then did 4 miles in 50 minutes on the elliptical. After some more stretching I finished with 25 solid minutes in the pool. Lap after lap, I build my confidence up, stretched out those sore muscles, loosened everything up and generally played mermaid.Then that night I spent some time researching the possible causes of my injuries. I watched videos on common running problems, read up on knee issues, and picked up a few things that I couldn’t wait to try out on Thursday. I was tired by the time my run rolled around after work, so I told myself to go by feel with my new knowledge.

And 6 absolutely pain free miles later I was smiling from ear to ear 🙂

photo 2

That is one happy runner.

Throughout the run, I focused on 3 little things that added up for a huge difference:

  1. Shortening my stride. Overstriding is a common running issue that creates knee/calf issues, and as it turns out, I was doing it. A LOT.
  2. Paying closer attention to my pace. I stopped doing that a while ago because I just wanted to get faster but I only ended up going too fast and burning myself out early.
  3. NOT paying attention to my overall time. In my rush to get faster, I was too focused on what my overall time should be, and getting discouraged when the number wasn’t what I expected.

By the end of 6 miles, I felt great! Tired and spent, but good. A few aches in my calf, a tight back… I certainly couldn’t have done it all over again back to back to make 12, though. So while I was thrilled to have figured out what was causing some of my major issues I still had some lingering doubts, mostly about how I was going to build up my endurance to:

  • do what I just did 3 more times in a row
  • PLUS 2.2 more miles for a full 26.2 miles…
  • in just 6 weeks.

In my next post, we’ll look at that list in greater detail… and you’ll finally learn what the title of this post is all about!

The Long Run, in GIFs

/ Jess / 11 Comments

You can thank a few things for this post:

  1. My caffeine buzz from QuickChek’s new “Harvest Blend” coffee. I refuse to jump on the Pumpkin Spice bandwagon, and my favorite convenience store is right there with me. You can keep your Wawa’s, Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts. I prefer the slightly alterna-chick vibe I get by being 100% staunchly pro-QuickChek.
  2. This ridiculously long but still incredibly entertaining list of gifs from Buzzfeed.

As I scrolled through the page before work, it occurred to me that many of these gifs represent my feelings before, during, and after a long run. Thusly, I present you with: The Long Run, in GIFs:

I wake up ready and raring to go.

angryOr not really, because I may have had a glass or two of wine the night before and set my alarm for WAY earlier than I really want to wake up on a Saturday, and who’s effing idea was it to sign up for a stupid marathon anyway?

So I stumble to the Keurig, pop in a Jamaican Me Crazy k-cup (thanks, Wolfgang Puck!), and begin the prep process. Fuel up, scrub my face, sunblock it all, and get decked out in my running gear finest then throw open the door to greet the morning with some attitude.

new gearStepping off the porch I remind myself that I should probably do some dynamic stretching; these knees don’t exactly have the get-up-and-go they used to, after all.

stretchBut instead I wait and wait, then take off the second my Garmin has satellite reception, like an idiot.

startOr a pirate.

The first mile or so is touch and go. My music is pumping, I’m feeling fresh as hell, ready to take on this run. But my legs, knees, hips and ankles sometimes have other plans.

fumbleSo I slow it down a bit and settle into a nice pace for a few miles. 2, 3, 4, 5+ miles go by, and it’s all good.

yeah baby

Around the halfway point though, I start to get a little distracted. Sure, I’m running, but maybe this song isn’t what I want to hear right now, let me slow down for a few strides here and find a new one. Oh look, sunflowers! That’d make a really great #seenonmyrun pic. I may even do a little run-dancing to break the monotony.

motorinBut then I catch a creeper at a red light just watching me with a weird look on his face, so I stop dancing and pick up the pace again for a few miles.

watching

Once I pass the halfway point I start to think a little too much about things. Am I going fast enough? Can I maintain the pace that I just kept for an hour+ for another hour+? GOD my legs are starting to get heavy. Or are they? Is it all in my mind? They say running is all mental, so am I psyching myself out now, or am I really tired? Oh hey another red light.

snailThank God. Let me just walk through that.

I glance at my watch and think “OK, 3 more miles. We can do that. That’s just a 5k! You can do that in your sleep. For breakfast. Mmmm breakfast. What kind of food should I eat when I finish this run? Pancakes maybe. Yes. Remember that time you went to IHOP with Jenny for unlimited pancakes and you tapped out after 3? Hahaha what a lightweight. Ugh weight. You know if you weighed less you’d probably be able to run faster. You really are so slow. I mean come on. Maybe you shouldn’t have signed up for this marathon. After all, this is only a portion of what you have to run, and you’re already flagging? You’re kind of pathetic. Just quit. Or don’t, because everyone that you told about this marathon would laugh at you and call you a failure. Maybe you need a new song to motivate you. Not that one. Another one. Another one. Oh my God, WHY DO YOU HAVE A SONG FROM THE LION KING SOUNDTRACK ON YOUR RUNNING PLAYLIST??”

insaneIt is hell inside my mind in those final miles.

Before I know it, all of my mental anguish has brought me to the final mile and my legs are ready to give up. I might have hit the wall by now, or I’m close to it. So I dig deep in my energy reserves and call upon my good friends Robyn, Britney, or Freddie for some moral support and head into the final kick.

final kick

In the last 5 minutes or so of a run, I will make all manner of uncomfortable faces, say some pretty nasty motivational things to myself, run-dance, jump, air-drum, and basically do everything I need to push through the last .5 mile and call it a day. With every step, I glance at my watch, anxiously awaiting the appearance of the magic numbers after my mileage – ##:00.

And just like that, it’s over!

PR danceI stop the watch, do a little fist pump, and maybe bend over for a bit to catch my breath because let’s face it, Brit-Brit knows how to make me work, b*tch. Time to celebrate the fact that I got through it!

ice bathWith a nice cold bath.

After some stretching, rehydrating, and an ice bath (or shower), it’s food time. Sometimes I feel like eating all of the things after a run, and other times I can’t stand the sight of food, but one thing is for certain: after I eat, it is always, indefinitely, without fail:

naptimeNap time.

FIN.

Marathon Training Week #whatever

/ Jess / 2 Comments

I’m not burnt out on marathon training as much as I am… tired.

Every part of me is tired, from my toes to my brain. I can’t think beyond 9pm because my brain is so fried from working and training numbers. My knees – or the places where my knees used to be – are throbbing pits of achy tenderness. My calves burn for the first mile of every run and swell up after I’m done. My shoulders and biceps quiver when I lift anything heavier than an iPhone from daily strength sessions. And I’ve had to rinse out every pair of socks I’ve worn on a run for the last 2 weeks because of all the blood coming from the one or two toe blisters that won’t heal. Not to mention the fact that I only have 9 toenails. In short, I’m a mess.

BUT. Even though I’m tired and in shambles, I actually feel… strong. Fit. Hopeful, even! Where 2 weeks ago I was struggling through a 7 mile long run due to poor nutrition, lack of sleep, and inconsistent running in the week before, I’m now looking forward to my usual sushi dinner/9:30PM bedtime for my 13 miler this Saturday.

So how did I get here? Let’s backtrack.

In my last progress post, I had finished 7 miles (barely) and had a pretty solid training week overall. I was building my mileage back up after an almost 3-week slack period of illness/injury/vacation: a measly 11 miles one week, 14 the next, and I was staring a 22 mile week in the fact. It may not seem like it, but that’s pretty high mileage for this turtle. So I started off Monday with 3 miles and added one mile with each progressive run, and ended every session with short speedwork bursts just for funsies.

So I logged 3 miles Monday, 4 miles Tuesday, a rest day Wednesday for our wedding anniversary …

Capture

Capture 1

10636040_10100299220910979_895816366769749988_nyay true love!

… followed by 5 strong miles Thursday and strength/cross training Friday, capped off with a delicious Indian buffet for lunch and lots of bad food for dinner Friday night.

You can see where it all falls apart, right?

Saturday morning I woke so excited to run. 10 miles, yay! New hydration vest, yipeee! New running route, woohoo! Terrible intestinal issues due to 24 hours of horrible fueling… hooray? UGH! I had to stop three (yes, three) times to use the bathroom and my average pace was about :45-a minute slower per mile than I had hoped to hit, all because I can’t say no to unlimited mattar paneer for lunch and disco fries for dinner.

On the plus side: the hydration vest worked out fantastically, the rain held out until I finished, and I can now say with 100% certainty that the folks at the South River CVS on the corner of Main Street and Old Bridge Turnpike are very forgiving if you come running into their store frantically asking to use their bathroom at 8:30AM on a Saturday.

photoDone and DONE.

I also learned that the new running route brought with it a LOT of uneven terrain. I ran on the pavement where I could but there was a lot of space with no sidewalk or pavement space to share with the cars, so I was on and off hilly, spotty grass and dirt for a good 4+ miles. My calves are still paying for that. Live and learn!

Sunday the hubby and I took our bikes out to the local park and banged out a solid 5 miles for some cross training and fresh air, and it was fantastic!photo 3So after that 22-mile week, I rolled right into Monday (yesterday) with 4 miles. They weren’t very pretty because I waited until after dinner and felt my turkey burger coming up every half mile or so, but it got done. It also gave me the opportunity to try out my new safety vest!

photo 4Safety third!

According to my mom and my husband, I am no longer allowed to run after sunset without my vest. I guess they’ve heard one too many horrible stories about joggers being attacked or hit by cars, and I have to say I agree with them. It’s good to be safe. It just feels a little weird at first. Not physically – it’s actually very light and I forgot I was even wearing it a few times. But weird in a more existential way. Knowing that I’m glowing in the night is kind of like announcing to the world (including the planes in the sky above me) that I AM RUNNING, LOOK AT ME AND HOW I GLOW! Which isn’t really my bag. But, I know it’s good for me, so I’ll keep doing it.

But I draw the line at carrying mace. I’m a klutz enough as it is, and the last thing I need is to accidentally spray myself in the face when I scratch my forehead or something. Just NO.

So enough about me. How’s your training going? Tell me everything!

Running: Cheaper Than Therapy

/ Jess / 5 Comments

Reality check: My biggest character flaw (ok, one of the biggest) is my inability to follow through and see things to a successful finish.

Without getting all therapist-couch-y on you, I think it stems from being told that I was so great at everything I did when I was a kid, when in fact I was basically just lucky. I got into the Talented & Gifted program in 3rd grade by creating some story about a magical crystal that I’m pretty sure I copied from the movie Labyrinth, and ever since then I kind of coasted. Sure, I was the typical straight A overachiever, but that was because the hardest thing I had to do was create a video documentary on the Wild West for Mr. Szabo’s AP History class with a bunch of my fellow overachiever friends. I was never really coached or told to work harder – things just kind of happened and I was applauded for them.

Cut to adult life, where suddenly there are real decisions that need to be made, and I’m pretty much paralyzed by… lack of motivation? Fear of failure? I’m not really sure what, but everything from saving to buy a house to marathon training has me scared and anxious. Since this is mainly a running blog, I’ll stick with that, but you get the idea. What I’m trying to say is that basically I’m running this marathon, at the very core of things, to prove to myself that I can follow through on something. I can pick a goal and focus on it and execute from start to finish.

So when I feel my motivation start to flag during my training – like during my third (yes, THIRD) emergency bathroom break on Saturday’s 10 miler…

photo 2Thank God that CVS was open…

… I tell myself to nut up and shut up and get it done. It’s a little bit less touchy-feely than my previous happy slappy positive thinking methods, but if I’m going to be successful I need to be a little tough on myself – because no one else is.

Sure, an outsider sees that I ran 10 miles, 13 miles, even 26.2 miles and will congratulate me on that, but they’re not in my head during those runs. They don’t hear the shortcuts that I want to take, or know that I walked for longer than I care to admit and still called it a “run”. I need to earn those congratulations. I can’t keep coasting through everything on the bare minimum just to get the “Ooh job well done!” 

No more excuses, no more bargaining or “maybe tomorrow”‘s. I’m going to earn that medal in October and I’m not going to cheat myself out of any of the hard work it’ll take to get me there.

The Finish Line

/ Jess / 4 Comments

Let’s face it: there is no greater sight during a race than the finish line. We love running, the thrill of pounding the pavement is second to none, but that finish line is what it’s all about.

As I reach the halfway point of my training and find myself fighting burnout and negative thoughts, I’ve been trying out some positive visualization techniques and while I usually roll my eyes at the Stuart Smalley school of thought, this approach is actually pretty helpful!

ssmalleybut I’m not about to put on a cardigan and talk to myself in a mirror.

When I start to get down on myself – usually in the final mile or so of a training run – what I do is I envision myself crossing that marathon finish line. It’s easy to do – I’ve run this race before (well, the half), and so I know exactly what the finish line looks like! But unfortunately the last time I crossed that finish line, I was in bad shape. So crossing that line happy is a big deal for me.

Aside from the serious physical pain I was experiencing from my freshly-torn ACL that I earned at mile 12, I was also majorly humiliated. I don’t mention this very often, but I actually crossed the finish line for my half approximately 10 seconds after the female marathon winner. As I hobbled to the line I heard sirens and screams of pure joy and thought “I can’t be the last person, can I?” Then I looked over my shoulder and there she was, motoring past me and through the tape to a huge cheer from the audience. I was emotional to begin with, but this put me over the edge. I started to cry – in happiness, embarrassment, relief, pain, all of it – but I still crossed the finish line with a smile and promptly vowed to never ever run another race again in my life.

ACL-Tear-Race1This just in: I am a stubborn liar.

So now, when I envision myself crossing that line again, I am strong. Sure I’m exhausted and drained and I’m probably wishing for the sweet relief of death. BUT – in my positive, motivational finish line vision, I am strong. Both knees are intact, I’m smiling, and I’m certainly not being clothes-lined by some jackass like this poor soul:

photoWho am I kidding? I’m so slow that there won’t be any other people around to do that to me!

And that positive image has helped me push through some pretty tough stuff. I will trust my training and make every one of the next 58 days (HOLY CRAP) count, so that I can turn my vision into reality come October 19th.

How about you? Do you have any positive visualization techniques, or other things you do to get you through the really tough times? Share your story, because I need all the positivity I can get!

High Five (+2)

/ Jess / 4 Comments

photo 1slap it high!

If you’re wondering what the title is about, I ran 7 miles this past weekend! That’s a big deal considering our beach vacation the week before turned me into a jelly-like, suburned wad of cookie dough. But let’s start from the beginning.

I packed two running outfits for the 2 nights we’d spend in Atlantic City. I wanted to run on the boardwalk. It would be great practice. BUT. Vacation (and red wine) has a way of sneaking up on you, and I’m sorry to say that the sneakers didn’t even come out of the suitcase the whole time. I know, bad runner! But I have no regrets, because I hit it hard for about 3.5 miles the night we came back and felt pretty good.

photo 2I mean with this view, how could I not?

Friday I relaxed so that I could run long on Saturday. 7 miles! It was a high, apple-pie-in-the-sky kind of goal, but I didn’t back down. Well, I kind of did when I lazed around too long in the morning and missed my running window before my hair appointment at 11:30am, but I manned up and ran at night. And it was a run. It wasn’t the worst, but it most certainly wasn’t my best either. It was just… a run. Because while my good (right) knee is still achy at times due to runner’s knee, I’m now developing similar pains in my left (ACL) knee too!

You see, for the first mile or so of every run this week, both knees decide to act about 75-80 years older than me. But rather than call the whole thing off at the start of each run like I think I should, I push through every time and have found that with slowing my pace and focusing on my knees, I’m able to get past the pain and correct my form so that it’s not as excruciating as it was last month! So that’s a plus 🙂

Towards the end of mile 5, I started to get those doubts again – “If you can barely finish 7 now, what business do you have taking on 26 in 2 months??” BUT thanks to new positive thinking methods I squashed that thinking pretty quickly, with a promise to take one day – and one run! – at a time. The only way I’m going to be strong enough is by training, and training HARD. But I’ve got it in me. I know I do.

So Sunday I cross trained (the benefits of bumping up my long run to Saturday: an extra day of cross training!) with my Bosu ball, and let me tell you – that stuff is no joke! I took it easier on the squats because of my tender knees but didn’t skip anything, and I’m still feeling it in my core today!

photo 3

And apparently I love bright colors.

Monday and Tuesday I went right back into running mode and I’m finally feeling ready to call myself a “runner” once again.

After 3 sweaty miles with some new on Tuesday night, I iced and prepped for a second straight day of running, which I haven’t done in almost 3 months. I wanted to baby my knees but now that I’m getting more confident in my form and the rest of my leg strength, I’m going to give it a shot. After all, I can’t build up my mileage base without actually putting on the miles. it’s time to shut up and nut up!

My 4 miles yesterday though? Were a total suckfest. I tried a new approach and went while it was still light out, before dinner. The last few weeks of running at night after dinner have been a bit of a struggle – I always rush into the run, trying to beat the sunset to get the miles in but my pace has suffered because I’m still digesting.

The result of this new approach was 4 hot, sticky miles of UGH. I walked a few times, and even had to stop to take off my calf sleeves because they were cramping up my legs (maybe they were too tight? anyone else experience this wtf moment?), and I legitimately fantasized for all 4 miles about a dog at the park breaking off of its leash and mauling me and giving me an excuse to lay down and stop running. It was THAT bad.

photo 5

I AM smiling.

So imagine my surprise when I finally made it to mile 4 and stopped my Garmin: I had clocked an even 12 minute mile all 4 miles! I haven’t seen pacing like that on a run over 2 miles since May!! WTF? Even though I felt like dying the whole time, I still managed to eke out one of my best times in 3 months.

You know, every time I think I understand this running thing, it pitches me another curveball like this. And that makes me love it even more. I can’t wait to see where it takes me next!

Keepin’ it Real

/ Jess / 5 Comments

I don’t want to delude anyone or say everything’s happy slappy when it really isn’t. So here it goes: my knee is killing me. My good knee. The one that wasn’t cut open and operated on last year. It’s the knee that stood strong after its partner was disabled and carried me solidly through the finish line of my half marathon in April without a twinge. Until this past month. It started after a random run in mid-June. A stabby-ache started ust under the kneecap and I would baby it when I wasn’t running, but still the pain returned.

photo 2Getting real tired of your shit, legs.
It finally became a thing last week. A hard run early in the week, excruciating pain while walking downstairs at work in platform sandals the next day, and the ankle roll on Friday all culminated into a very bad, no good long run that didn’t pan out this past weekend when I went up to Packanack Lake to join my “marathon machine” friend (I’m sorry if you don’t like the name, Tina, but I’m not changing it) because our long runs were the same distance. In case the knee gave me hell, I brought my bike along. And it’s a good thing I did. Because give me hell it did.
photo 3Thank goodness the view was nice.
As we got to the parking lot at the end of the first 2.5 mile lap, I tapped out and hopped on my bike. My knee felt much better, but as I struggled up one last hill to start lap 3 on the bike, I hopped onto the downward spiral:
I had 8 miles on the schedule and I didn’t do it. I failed at a long run. And my knee would probably prevent me from getting one in this week. What if it really was injured and I had to skip running for a week or more to let it heal? How would I recover from that in time to run a marathon? Would I have to defer? How humiliating would that be?!! If I talked it up for months and then had to drop out? What a failure. I can’t even train for a marathon right. Millions of people do it every damn year and I can’t even train for 2 months properly without having to quit. Typical, I can’t see anything through to the end…
As I was about to finish 5 miles on the bike, I told myself to suck it up and tried running Tina in as she finished. Instead my knee gave out on me and I hobbled with her back to the car. We chatted for a while, took some selfies on a pretty bridge:
photo 4Why is my head so huge? The world may never know.
Then she took me out for a great post-run Starbucks trip, after which I drove myself home and cried for the. Whole. Hour. In the car. It was not my proudest moment. I just couldn’t help getting caught up in the fear that it was happening all over again and that I was doing everything wrong. So I got home and cried some more, went to lunch with mom for her birthday, and resolved to call the orthopedist the next day. And that’s basically where I’m at right now. Waiting for an appointment to see where this knee takes me and resting in the meantime. I haven’t run since Sunday and it’s still a bit tender. I’m hoping that a few more days of rest will help it get back to normal and that I’ll be smarter about the rest of my training (I’m even looking into a local running clinic to work on my form), and I’m grateful for everyone who’s offered me encouragement and advice these past few days.
I posted this photo with a little caption about my knee pain on Instagram and was so overwhelmed with positivity from my virtual friends that I cried.
photo 5The running community is seriously the best.
So keep checking back as I post more about how this knee feels, how my training goes, and everything else that’s knocking around in my brain – in the meantime, how’s your training going? Tell me everything and let me run vicariously through you in the comments! 🙂

Change of Plans

/ Jess / 7 Comments

Many, many people have trained for and successfully completed their first marathon using one of the countless training plans out there. But I can’t shake the feeling that the plan I first picked might not be the right one!

You see, through training for 3 half marathons and going through ACL reconstruction, I’ve discovered a few inalienable truths: I cannot run more than 2 days in a row without extreme joint pain; the day after my long run I need movement but my knees hate me; etc. So the cookie cutter plans that have worked for SO many others kind of won’t work.

After my first month of Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 plan, I’ve found that skipping that middle day of running and replacing it with cross training won’t work – I still need those miles to build a solid running base. But I also have to break up the runs so I don’t burn out, while still incorporating strength and cross training. And don’t forget building up to a distance that’s close to the full 26 miles… It’s enough to make a girl go insane. But instead of losing my mind, I took matters into my own hands and created my very own plan!

I found this great plan on CoolRunning.com and liked the increased mileage on the long runs: mentally, I need to know that I’ve gotten as close to that magic number of 26 in my training so that I’m prepared to take it on come race day. But it lacked cross training, which Hal’s Novice 2 had plenty of, although it only took me up to 20 miles. Factoring in all of my special needs, I finally came up with a custom-made plan that knocks it out of the park, if I say so myself! Here’s a sample week:

  • Sunday: 15 miles (Long Run)
  • Monday: Swimming
  • Tuesday: 3 miles
  • Wednesday: 7 miles
  • Thursday: Cross Training or Rest
  • Friday: 4 miles (Speedwork)
  • Saturday: Rest

Basically what I did was break up the 3 days of running in a row in Higdon’s plans, changed the rest day after my long run to a cross-training day with swimming (saving my knees around the long runs), and increased the mileage of the long runs each week by 2 or 3 miles to have  me peak with 23 miles instead of 20. I don’t know why but it makes me feel more prepared, just let me have my little bit of madness!

So there you have it: my new plan, which will (hopefully) bring me across the finish line in October with both legs intact and a smile on my face. What do you think? How have you worked through your training schedule? Am I being crazy here? Tell me in the comments!