MCM Training Week 22

Saturday, September 27: 20 miles (road)

It's going to be October in a few days, and the official start of Fall was earlier this week. Is it too much to ask to be done with these warm, humid mornings already?!? After our great 22-miler two weeks ago, I got served up some humble pie during this morning's run.

Angela and I headed out a little after 5am as usual. A lot of our training group is in taper mode for their race next weekend, so there were only a few familiar faces starting at that hour. It was super humid when we started, and I didn't take it as a good sign that I was already drenching myself with water at the first water stop 2 miles in. It didn't get better from there either. Same old drill - soaked socks/shoes after about an hour, drinking a lot of fluids which led to a full belly. I was not in a good place mentally for much of the run because I was frustrated that it was taking so much effort to run. I told Angela about halfway through that I was in a negative head space, and she tried to pull me out of it. But, it didn't really work because the damage had already been done at that point. I let her go at about mile 15 while I stopped for a bathroom break hoping that would help. I hit a water stop a few minutes later and essentially just consumed the fluids that I had just gotten rid of, so it didn't really help that much in the end. I had a sharp pain on my right side deep in the stomach muscle that I had to baby for the next mile or so. But, then I was able to work through it and finish up the last couple of miles fairly strong.

I asked K this afternoon to check the weather in DC to give me piece of mind that the weather should indeed be cooler for race day than what I have been plodding through these past few months. With another month to go, he assured me that it should be. So, I will remain hopeful...especially with the weather forecast for next weekend looking to bring temps back down here into the 60's (or maybe even 50's?) so that I can get in one more confidence-building long run before taper.

Sunday, September 28: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3 mile recovery run. 

Race week is 4 weeks from today!

Monday, September 29: 8 miles (treadmill)

This should be the last medium long run that is over an hour, as recovery week is next week followed by taper! Moving forward after MCM I would like to get these medium long runs more consistently in the 10-mile range, but I struggle with getting this done from a time perspective on a work day. 

Tuesday, September 30: OFF

Wednesday, October 1: 5.5 miles (road)

It's October today - where are the Fall temperatures?! It was so warm and humid again tonight. I told K that it felt like I was running with a wet diaper on toward the end of the workout because my shorts were absolutely soaked through from sweat. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

We did this workout in Week 19, so we knew the drill. The focus is on maintaining MGP (which, honestly, I haven't really settled on for race day because it seems to vary so much in the weather conditions that we've been running in here). 

We did two sets of the following:
"800m at MGP
400m EASY
800m at MGP
400m HARD
800m at MGP"

I used my time estimate from a few weeks ago for the 800's of  4:53-5:07.  I noticed that I had a really hard time backing down to MGP for the final 800 following the fast 400 toward the end of my first set. So, I made a focused effort on that for the second set, and I did better. I didn't really time each segment of this workout, but I averaged around 9:30/mile pace for the first set and 9:50/mile pace for the second set.

Today was a perfect example of not really wanting to run initially, but being happy I did and feeling better afterwards. My stress level from work has been pretty high lately, and I also seem to be teetering on the line of getting sick with my usual allergy/sinus infection crap. I know that Angela counts on me to be at the workouts, so I showed up and did the work. And, what do you know, I relieved some of my stress in the process (even if only for a little while).

The majority of our training group did an abbreviated workout tonight before heading off to their respective marathons this weekend. It was bittersweet to watch them finish up and head back while Angela and I trudged on for another set. But, we're almost to our own start/finish lines. Our time will be here soon enough.

Thursday, October 2: 5.5 miles (treadmill)

Very similar to yesterday, I felt worn down physically and stressed from work, so I wasn't very motivated to get my run done. Notice that I broke it down into a .5 mile though just to get it done and even out from last night's mileage. 

Friday, October 3: OFF

Week 22 Total: 42 miles

MCM Training Week 21

Saturday, September 20: OFF

Today's long run for recovery week is scheduled to be 10-12 miles. In order to get some practice in a race simulation mode, I found a half-marathon that I am going to run tomorrow instead. So, I switched tomorrow's off day for the final day of recovery week with today.

Sunday, September 21: 13.1 miles (road)

The Texas Road Romp Half Marathon in Waco, Texas

It was hot, hilly, and I suffered. The End.

So, an ad for this race popped up in my FB news feed last month, and I thought it would be a good race prep run for me. I never intended on "racing" it, but wanted to get out of it the practice of doing a long run on a race course with mile markers, aid stations, etc. The course was described as "mostly flat with a few small hills." Since the race was at the end of September, I was also hoping for cooler weather. Well, neither of those things actually turned out to be true.

We drove up to Waco on Saturday afternoon and had some extra time after picking up our packets nearby, so K convinced me to drive the race course. The map of the course had looked pretty confusing, and he was concerned about inadvertently going off course (ya know because he wouldn't have throngs of people ahead of him to follow like us middle of the packers). We were both glad that we previewed the course though because the course was definitely hillier than either of us were expecting. Expecting a flattish course and then running into some of those hills during the race would have destroyed me mentally, so I was able to adjust my expectations and reaffirm that my plan was to run easy, especially since this is my long run for recovery week.

The race didn't start until 8am, which was already a red flag for me. Remember, I start my long runs at 5am and usually finish between 8-9am. The temps at the start were in the mid 70's and probably close to 80 when I finished. The first few miles of the course went through Cameron Park, which had quite a bit of tree cover (but the trade-off was that this part of the course had more hills). Then, we entered a brief neighborhood section (with more hills) as a transition to McLennan Community College (hills here, too). Unfortunately, as we exited the campus at around mile 8, we hit a flat stretch along the side of a busy road which was very exposed to the sun for the next few miles. Since we drove the course in advance, I knew that this stretch was going to be tough because it was going to be warm and boring. And, sure enough, this is the stretch that broke me.

I started out running 9-ish minute miles for the first couple of miles, which was faster than I would normally run for an easy long run so I am going to have to be careful about going out too fast at MCM. But, I knew the first couple of miles were flat and the hills were coming. I ran a few of the first hills, but then just walked the uphill and cruised the downhill so I think the pace probably evened out. I walked the water stops and took water (then Gatorade at the later stops) at each stop and also dumped the remainder of the water over myself to try to cool down.

I finished 10k in about an hour then 9 miles in about 1:30. But, at that point, I was cooked from the heat and had the boring, exposed stretch of road ahead of me. Mentally, I just shut down and was done. I was also having tummy issues because of the excess fluid that I had consumed because of the heat, which didn't really help matters since I had needed to go to the bathroom pretty much since mile 1. I was also frustrated because I thought the course was long, and I heard from others that their GPS was also off by about .3-.5 mile. I walked a lot in the last 4 miles and just wanted to be done. I was so miserable because of the warm weather. The race finished on the Waco Suspension Bridge, which was very uneven in terms of surface so it was difficult to run the last .1 to just finish the thing in 2:15. My first words to K when I saw him at the finish were "That was awful!" But, he won the race by 11 minutes, so apparently it was only awful for me.

Race week is 5 weeks from today! 

Monday, September 22: 8 miles (treadmill)

I considered switching my medium long run until tomorrow because of the race yesterday, but I had more time today so I went ahead and got it done. I felt somewhat sore during the day, but I was actually surprised by how good I felt while I was running.

Tuesday, September 23: OFF

Wednesday, September 24: 9 miles (road)

Angela sent me a text last night after getting the email details from Bobby about tonight's workout questioning whether the workout was really going to be this long. Oh, yes, ma'am. I remembered it from Week 16 when we finished super late in the evening. With that in mind, I convinced her to start the workout on our own shortly after 6pm since we were already at Rogue before Bobby assembled the group at 6:30pm and set off closer to 6:45pm. Turns out we made a great decision to do so because Bobby actually wasn't there tonight.

We had a 2.25 mile warmup over to the Pemberton neighborhood then we did several 1.5 mile loops focused on maintaining a "hardER" pace but not "hard." I knew what to expect since we had done this workout before (Angela had missed it though), and I remembered struggling with the effort in the heat. So, I was thankful for the cooler temperature in the low 80's and for Angela to pace with.

We had to run 2 loops at a steady pace without stopping. We went through the first loop in a little over 14 minutes, which was a minute slower than when I previously did the workout (then bombed out in the 2nd loop). But, this time we picked up the pace in our second loop, and our total for the 3 miles was 27:19 (9:05 overall pace), which turned out to be 40 seconds faster than in the prior workout (despite starting slower tonight). Hmm, maybe there's a lesson in there, mel!

After several minutes of stopping to recover, we went out again for another loop and clocked it at 12:57 (8:38 overall pace) for the 1.5 miles. Start slow, finish strong.

Then, it was back the 2.25 miles to Rogue as it was getting dark. So, so glad that we started when we did!

Thursday, September 25: 6 miles (treadmill)

Easy run on the treadmill to finish off the week.

Friday, September 26: OFF

Week 21 Total: 36 miles

MCM Training Week 20

Saturday, September 13: 22 miles (road)

Oh, Crestview, you treated me well today! Today was one of those runs that I want to bottle up and hold in my memory for race day. I cannot even begin to express how hopeful I was about having a good long run with the first true fall temps of the season this morning. And, it did not disappoint!

Angela and I set off a few minutes after our usual 5am start time. The temperature throughout the run stayed in the lower 60's. I wore a short-sleeve shirt for the first time all training season and that felt just right (although my core was cold because I was so wet). Much of the run was in drizzling, cold rain into a headwind, but it was a welcome change from all of the hot and humid runs that we have endured over the past few months. The route was also "fairly flat," although it was definitely gradual uphill on the way out, which meant gradual downhill on the way back...my favorite.

We were undecided until mile 9 or so whether we were going to run 20 or 22 today. While we both needed a good confidence-boosting 20-miler under our legs (and in our heads), we also wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather and flatter course to push for 22. We both felt amazingly good, so we went for it. And, might I add that I have always maxed out at 20 when training for previous marathons, so this was new territory for both of us. And, I'm so glad that we did it because I couldn't have asked for a better run!

I never really had a bad patch (although we did need to make a bathroom stop about halfway in) - either physically or mentally. I felt really strong in both aspects the entire way. We were supposed to run 20 miles today with the last 10 at MGP. But, MGP is generally close to our easy pace anyway, so we weren't overly focused on that. I did, however, negative split the heck out of this run! With strong legs, a positive attitude, and of course the cooler weather and downhill, I just let the faster pace come when it did and ran with it. The last 5 miles were sub-9 minute miles, with miles 20 and 21 clocking in around 8:09 and 8:07, respectively. Who knew I could do that?!?! This truly was unlike any run that I have had before.

We both finished up with smiles on our faces, strong miles in our legs, and the confidence to take on our race next month! Today was the last long run for a lot of folks in our training group who are racing Twin Cities in 3 weeks. I kind of wish that we were kicking off our taper too with this strong run as our last long run before race day. But, we're not done quite yet.

Sunday, September 14: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3-mile recovery run. Even though the temps were still relatively cooler today, I opted to do my recovery run on the treadmill instead of the road because I didn't want to run too fast after yesterday's run and truly use it for recovery instead.

Race Day is 6 weeks from today!

Monday, September 15: OFF

Recovery weeks starts today!

Because of my work schedule, I switched my medium long run today with my usual off day tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 16: 5 miles (treadmill) - New shoes

I had a massage this morning and didn't get quite the clean bill of health that I had been getting in the past few visits. Ann felt several adhesions in my right adductor, which are likely remnants from all of the issues that I had recently been having. Right calf was tight, but not as bad as it has been in the past.

Ran easy 5 miles on the treadmill in late afternoon. Felt good.

Wednesday, September 17: 6 miles (road)

Tonight's quality workout was 400's at a fast pace around the neighborhood block that we've been using in lieu of the track this season. As we were doing our 1.5 mile warm-up over to the O'Henry area, I commented to Angela that the hills seemed much harder than usual, and she agreed. The weather was super humid this evening, but I also think that my body was ready for the recovery week after the back to back 20 mile long runs that we've done.  

In terms of pace for the 400's, Bobby just said to run "fast - whatever that means to you and your body tonight." Well, based on the difficulty I had with the warm-up, I wasn't sure how fast my fast was going to be. But, all was not lost. We did 2 sets of 3 400's with 400 recovery = 3 miles total. My splits for the fast 400's were: Set 1 = 1:52, 1:49, 1:55; Set 2 = 1:52, 1:48; 1:50. This is comparable to the times I ran for 400's at a hard effort during a different type of workout two weeks ago (1:48-1:56).

Thursday, September 18: OFF

Switched my off day tomorrow with today. 

Friday, September 19: 4 miles (treadmill)

Easy 4 miles on the treadmill. Had some tingling/numbness in my right foot while running, which is usually an indication that my calf is tight.

K and I are doing a half-marathon on Sunday, so I am not running tomorrow morning. It's so nice to have a Friday evening where we don't have to eat pasta and then I have to go to bed super early to run in the morning! 

Week 20 Total: 40 miles

MCM Training Week 19

Saturday, September 6: 20 (-ish) miles (road)

Didn't see this posted on the MCM Facebook page until after I had finished my run this morning. Wish I had seen it beforehand because I needed the inspiration boost.

Today was the other long run date that Bobby had told us to mark on our calendar several weeks ago. The long run route for today was "Hills to Heaven," also known as a 22+ miler which features a lot of hills that we have previously run with Ladera Norte thrown in as the bonus.

I got to Rogue at 4:45am for my 5am planned start with Angela, but we didn't actually get on our way until closer to 5:15am. A lot of folks had already headed out before us, and we caught up to a group of Sole Survivors in the first couple of miles. But, then we were largely on our own again for much of the way.

Early on I noticed the pain in my knee that had been apparent for the past 2 days, and after some thinking, my best guess is that the highly cambered road from the mountain miles last weekend might have been the culprit. As the run progressed, the pain definitely seemed to be more of a pulling on the inside and outside of my right knee, which seemed to be aggravated by the road camber and uphills. Not the best scenario for today's run.

We were in the dark for the first 6-7 miles or so, and as I have mentioned before, I think I run some of those hills better when my head doesn't interfere because it can't see what's coming. I checked in with Angela though around 8 miles in and said I was thinking of just doing 20 (which the turnaround for just so happened to be right before Ladera Norte) because I was worried about my knee. She was on board with that plan because she had time constraints she was dealing with that morning anyway. But, no worries, we still got in our share of hills on that route, so I didn't feel bad about turning around when we did.

After the turnaround at mile 10 (which I had at about 9.7 on my Garmin), we had a nice 1-2 mile downhill stretch where I could really relax and let go. I pulled away from Angela and was on my own for this stretch, but I knew she'd catch me when the road turned upward again which it inevitably did. I walked a lot of the uphills on the return stretch because that seemed to be what aggravated the pulling on my knee the most and because of my negativity about hills. Thankfully, since we did so many hills on the way out, I had some nice downhill stretches ahead of me on the way back.

Angela ended up taking a more direct route back to Rogue at about mile 16, so we went our separate ways as I trudged on to get closer to 20 since we had already cut the route short. On a more positive note, I handled my salt and fluid intake better than my last 20 miler two weekends ago. Better, but still not great. I took a salt tab every 30 minutes, (tried) to make my 20 oz handheld bottle with Tailwind and water last for an hour, and only take 1-2 small cups of water or Gatorade at water stations as needed. I also used a cup of water to pour over myself at several aid stations to help with cooling my body down. No tummy sloshing, but more guzzling of the water in my handheld than I should have a few times - more sipping, less guzzling next time, mel.

The prospect of an ice bath at Rogue when I got back was what got me through the last few miles. Today was the fall marathon training kick-off at Rogue so they had a lot of vendors and food set up for the runners who were starting their training today. They were long gone though by the time I made it back from my run, and Rogue folks were busy tearing down the stuff from the kick-off party when I got back. Not seeing the big tub out for the ice bath, I made a beeline to a small kiddie pool filled with water and ice that I saw set out. I promptly took off my shoes and hopped in without even giving it a second thought. I got a few looks because the pool had apparently been used for something else earlier and wasn't necessarily meant as an ice bath. Hey, a girl has to do what a girl has to do after 20 miles!

Ah, this felt like heaven after Hills to Heaven!

Sunday, September 7: OFF

Didn't do my 3-mile recovery run today because I wanted to give my right leg an extra day off given the pain that I have been having for the past few days.

Race Day is 7 weeks from today!

Monday, September 8: OFF

Switched my medium long run until tomorrow in favor of getting an unplanned massage in an attempt to work out the tightness in my ITB and adductors that are pulling on my knee. I couldn't make it work with my schedule to get in to see my regular massage therapist this week, so I had to settle for one of the more convenient massage places in town that could get me in during the evening. Unfortunately, I ended up with a therapist who doesn't really do sports massage and had never worked on someone with the issues that I was having. She seemed more interested in my "record-breaking" tight calves - yeah, yeah, I've heard that a time or two before. But, hopefully, the right quad got enough love to loosen up a bit. I'll test it out in the morning.

Tuesday, September 9: 9 miles (trail)

Did something that I never do today - got up early and went out to run TLT (with K in tow). The pain in my knee was less apparent, but still noticeable in my adductors at times which seemed to contribute to a twinge of pain on the inside of my knee every now and then. It was a really sloppy run - my pace was all over the place, the weather was super humid and warm, and I wasn't monitoring my fluid intake as well as I should have so I ended up with sloshy tummy halfway through. It was really a struggle to get through this run, and honestly, deflated my confidence that I was struggling this much at this point in my training.

Wednesday, September 10: 5.5 miles (road)

Ya know what? It's still hot and humid. And, my shoes were still not dry from my run yesterday morning!

We ran a 1-mile warm-up to the Clarksville neighborhood then we did a pace workout focused on MGP:

2 X "800m at MGP
400m EASY
800m at MGP
400m HARD! – hard, hard, hard!
800m at MGP"


Since the point of this workout was clearly about running MGP and not fast, I made a concerted effort to stick to a slower pace tonight (4:53-5:07 range for the 800). I told Angela that she was the leader for the workout since I tend to take us out too fast. She commented that she didn't know how to reign me in when I start going too fast. But, I didn't let my legs get ahead of my head tonight. We ended up averaging about 9:30 for each of the 4 miles, so I think it was a win. Although, I didn't really care for doing this workout where we did it because the roads were too busy with traffic. I do think the pace adjustments for the terrain changes (up or downhill) were good practice compared to doing this workout on a track though.

We took a shortcut back to Rogue after the workout, so we ended up cutting our cooldown a half mile short. 

Thursday, September 11: 6 miles (treadmill)

Easy 6 miles at the gym. No more pain in my knee so that is a good sign. 

Friday, September 12: OFF

Week 19 Total: 40 miles (missed recovery run this week)

MCM Training Week 18

Saturday, August 30: OFF

Today's long run for recovery week is scheduled for 8-10 miles. But, I am switching my long run day to tomorrow which is scheduled as an OFF day due to recovery week.

Sunday, August 31: 13.1 miles (road)

Pier to Peak Half-Marathon in Santa Barbara, CA

Here's the race description from the race website (bold added by me):
"Santa Barbara's Challenging Half-Marathon takes you from the famous Santa Barbara Friendship Dolphins Fountain at the edge of Stearns Wharf, past the "Queen of the Missions" and on up an elevation of 3,996 feet to the Majestic views at La Cumbre Peak. Capture the panoramic layout of the city, SB Channels and the Channel Islands. You can see where you started from 13.1 miles (sea level) earlier."

Sounds just like my kind of race given my passion for hills, right? HA! But, it was my idea. When we were looking at possible places to go for Labor Day weekend, I cross-checked possible destinations with area races, and this is where we ended up!

We got down to the start area at the harbor shortly before 6am for the 6:30am race start. I had been hoping for a nice chill in the air to start the race, but no such luck. The weather was much warmer than I had hoped, although there was no humidity to make it unbearable like it is in Austin right now.

Stearns Wharf

Pre-race briefing at sunrise

Start of the race at the Friendship Fountain at the wharf

This was a small race with about 400 participants. The walkers set off at 6am and the runners followed suit at 6:30am. The race started climbing gradually from the start, as we made our way away from the water through town for the first couple of miles. My first and second miles were 9:42 and 9:46, respectively, and I could definitely feel that we were going uphill at a gradual incline. Then, we hit the Old Mission and that's where the climbing really began once we turned onto the roads that went into the foothills of the mountains. From there, it was double-digit minute/mile pace onward and upward.

Old Mission Santa Barbara - yes, we are headed for those mountains in the distance!

There was minimal respite from the ascent, but I managed to run fairly steadily with a few walk breaks when needed for the first 5 miles or so. I finished the first 5 miles in about an hour. But, the climbing was unrelenting and there was more and more walking with less and less running as the miles went by. I finished 7 miles in about 1.5 hours. But, then it was mostly walking for the last 6 miles (finished in 3:10).

Look closely to see the road where we just came from

I knew there was a brief out-and-back stretch toward the end of the course that I was eagerly anticipating because it included some downhill where I could let my legs actually get some turnover again. Finally, at around mile 11, there was a .25 mile out-and-back where I got to actually move again like a runner on the return part! But, I was super disappointed that it was so brief. As I passed the water stop and took a minute to refill my water bottle, I asked if that was all of the downhill and the volunteers assured me that there was more to come. So, happily off I went at a nice pace (and with a smile on my face) until about mile 12 when the road definitely turned upward again all the way to the finish.

Race finish at the summit of La Cumbre Peak

I knew that the final stretch was a nasty little climb to the top when you are just ready to be done, and sure enough, it was one final switchback. But, then I was rewarded with the beautiful views at the top and reunited with K who had finished about an hour ahead of me.

We started way down there!

View of where we finished from the Santa Barbara Courthouse Observation Tower after the race

Race Day is 8 weeks from today! 

Monday, September 1: OFF

Because of yesterday's race, I planned to switch my medium long run day to tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 2: OFF

Unexpectedly, we didn't get home from our trip until today, which completely threw off our schedules. So, I missed the medium long run for the week - oops!

Wednesday, September 3: 6 miles (road)

Dare I say that I noticed a reprieve from the intense heat during tonight's quality workout (although I believe the temp still topped out at 100 degrees today)? Tonight's workout was a speed workout, which varied depending on the date of our target races. Instead of Yasso 800's, we had the pleasure of doing the following:

1.5 mile warm-up
3 sets x 800m @ 10K pace + 400m moderate run + 400m @ 5k pace
1.5 mile cool-down

Using our marathon goal time (which isn't really an aggressive goal time for me), Bobby had asked us to come ready with our paces for the 800 (4:19-4:33) and 400 (2:06-2:13). We didn't do this workout on the track, which makes it a little weird doing this kind of speedwork. Instead, we ran around a neighborhood block which had some terrain and slight elevation changes to negotiate.

Honestly, I was nervous about this workout all day because I have been having such a hard time with "hard" efforts in the heat. Maybe it was a slight temperature drop or the shorter period of intensity, but I actually found this workout to be fairly easy and enjoyable. All of my laps were too fast, even though I tried to make a focused effort to slow down as the workout progressed (particularly on the final 800).

Set 1: 4:03 800; 1:56 400
Set 2: 4:02 800; 1:52 400
Set 3: 4:15 800; 1:48 400

This was the first hope I had for running faster and easier once the temperature starts to cool down...eventually.

Thursday, September 4: 6 miles (treadmill)

I started to have some weird pain/tightness in my right knee today at work, but it didn't seem to affect my run tonight. Will keep an eye on it. 

Friday, September 5: OFF

Week 18 Total: 25 miles (missed medium long run this week due to travel) - YOWZA! This turned into more of my recovery week than last week!

MCM Training Week 17

Saturday, August 23: 20(-ish) miles (road)

When I found out the route for today's run early in the week, I was pretty happy. First of all, I was relieved that it wasn't as loaded with hills as last week's run. And, I know that I have previously had a good, confidence building 20-miler on this route, so I was hopeful.

Late yesterday afternoon, Angela asked if I was up for starting at 4:30am today. I didn't really hesitate when I replied yes. Anybody that knows me well knows that I am NOT a morning person under any circumstances, so I really think my early Saturday morning runs reflect the commitment I have to training right now.

Bobby drove up to Rogue just as Angela and I were about to head out on our own. The building wasn't open yet, as most sane (and fast) folks wouldn't be starting until 30-60 minutes later. Thankfully, I was able to pull up the route on my phone, so we were able to use that to navigate our way, although it took some extra time to stop and look up the directions when we needed to. The route was also much different than I remembered it to be, but generally was gradual uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. Angela commented that my pace seemed faster today, not only on the downhill but also the uphill.

Since we started so early, I knew we wouldn't hit a water stop for quite awhile into the run. So, I opted to run with my Camelbak this morning in order to minimize any stress about not having enough water. As it turns out, not having enough water might actually be a blessing for me because I continued my pattern of overdrinking, which led to a sloshy tummy for the second half of the run. Angela had tummy issues as well, so we had to stop and walk some in the last hour until we found a bathroom.

My hydration issues are the main problem that I am consistently having on my long runs in this warm weather. For the most part my legs and cardio feel fine. So, the first thing that I did when I got home after the run was to email Meredith to work out a hydration/nutrition plan for summer training and race day. I should have done this a long time ago!

I hopped into the ice bath at Rogue after the run, and it felt amazing! Will definitely continue to do that when possible. Overall, no fatigue or soreness after the run.

Sunday, August 24: 4 miles (treadmill)

I usually only do an easy 3-mile recovery run on Sunday, but I felt good (must have been the ice bath yesterday!) so I went ahead and ran 4. Could have done more, too.

Race Day is 9 weeks from today!

Monday, August 25: 6 miles (treadmill)

Recovery week starts today! Woohoo!

Similar to yesterday, I originally planned to do 5 miles, but I felt good so I kept going for 6 (which was still within the prescribed range for today). 

Tuesday, August 26: OFF

Wednesday, August 27: 3 (-ish) miles (road)

I met with Meredith this afternoon to work out a strategy for hydration/nutrition for the rest of summer training and race day. Upon hearing about my challenges, she felt that I haven't really acclimated to the heat yet, and that more often than not, when I am downing a bunch of fluid, it is more about me being hot and trying to cool myself down than truly being thirsty (because I am clearly drinking enough). And, I definitely need to match up my salt intake with my fluid intake. So, bottom line is drink less and take more salt. I'm oversimplifying a bit, but you get the point.

We started tonight's workout with the Sole Survivors from Coach Bobby's house instead of Rogue. We did a warm-up of 1.25 miles over to a nearby hill in his neighborhood (that we actually ran up to get to our workout location last week). Then, we did hill repeats at about 75% effort. I'm not sure exactly how long the hill was, but my "hard" effort only lasted about a minute or less so it was very reasonable. Walk down the hill and repeat (somewhere between 6-8 times, I think?). Then, we reversed our route back to Bobby's house for the cool down.

Then, we really got to cool down with Amy's Ice Cream, which Bobby had catered for us at his house. What an amazing coach!

Thursday, August 28: 5 miles (treadmill)

Easy 5 mile run at the gym. 

Friday, August 29: OFF

I had a massage with Ann today - not only for recovery from the past couple weeks of hard training, but also in preparation for the half marathon that we are running on Sunday. It's going to be 4,000 feet of climbing, so she paid special attention to working on my range of motion for my ankle to make sure it's up for the incline of the route. Other than that, no particular issues today - still doing great!


Week 17 Total: 38 miles

MCM Training Week 16

Saturday, August 16: 18+ miles (road)

Bobby told us a few weeks ago the dates of a couple particular long runs that we needed to be aware of. Today was one of them. Mt. Bonnell, we meet again.

A larger group of folks seemed to gather at Rogue this morning for a 5am start than have been there the past few weeks, but Angela and I were still on our own for much of the run. The route was essentially hills, hills, and more hills. And, we all know how I love hills! Angela is such a great running partner for me, in part because she is so encouraging. She can read my mind up a hill when she knows I'm getting ready to stop to walk and will try to keep me going - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I think that the Tailwind is definitely working for me from a nutrition perspective. I tried using Endurolytes for the first time today to see if it would help with some of the fluid absorption, and it seemed to help. I absolutely cannot swallow a huge capsule like that though, much less while moving, so I think I found another brand that might be easier for me to take in the future.

All of this does take some additional time at the water stops, so I let Angela go around mile 14 since I needed a few minutes to mix up my next water bottle and take the Endurolytes. There were only a few people around at that point, and I ended up blindly following folks rather than getting out the map myself to head back. That turned into a mistake because I got off course somehow then had to course correct (up a big, steep hill) to make sure I got the correct mileage. I ended up with a little extra though as a bonus. You know, because 18 miles with hills just isn't enough. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I still had some good turnover in my legs to drop my pace to sub 9 on a slight downhill stretch after the last water stop.

No major soreness or fatigue after the run.

Sunday, August 17: 3 miles (road)

"Easy" 3 mile recovery run that turned out to be not so "easy" because, for some reason, I decided to run in the neighborhood after sunset instead of on the treadmill as I typically do. I unintentionally settled into a pace that was about a minute faster than I normally would have set the pace on the treadmill. No soreness in the legs after yesterday's long run, so that was good.

Race Day is 10 weeks from today! 

Monday, August 18: OFF

Today the dreaded I-word hit. No, not injury. Illness. I could tell last night when I went to bed that my body was starting the rumblings of not feeling well physically. And, today it definitely materialized in full force following the normal progression into a sinus infection. This is particularly disheartening for me because recurrent sinus infections have completely derailed my training and interfered with my race schedule/performance in the past few years. Chicago Marathon 2006, Bandera 50k 2009, Rocky Raccoon 50 mile 2009, and LA Marathon 2013 quickly come to mind. I was so concerned about it compromising my training and race day for MCM that I finally went to see an ENT in late spring to talk about my training goals and concerns about how to manage disruptions due to illness. She gave me a 20-day supply of some strong antibiotics that I have been saving for just the right moment and today was it. I can't afford to be sidelined for 2+ weeks at this point in training. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Oh, and Angela is sick as well. The girls that run together apparently get sick together.

Tuesday, August 19: OFF

Started the antibiotics last night and still not feeling well. Can't breathe. Limited energy. No running. Boo.

Wednesday, August 20: 9.25 miles

I feel about 70% better - definitely not 100% though. I put on my big girl panties and gave our quality workout a try tonight, even though I knew I would be flying solo without Angela.

"EASY run to start (2.25M)
3M steady 2 continuous loops steady (1.5M + 1.5M = 3M) NO STOPPING!
3-5 min rest
1.5M steady  (1 loop steady)
EASY run back (2.25M)"

It is well known around here that my basic math skills suck. I might have reconsidered going if I had actually taken the time to compute the mileage for this workout (correctly) beforehand. It was a long one!

We started with a fairly long warm-up over to the Pemberton neighborhood, and of course, it was another 100+ degree day. Bobby started the quality portion of the run in our assigned pace groups, and I settled into the back of our small pack at first as I was mindful that I'm not back to feeling 100% yet. Bobby didn't want us to worry about hitting a particular pace, but rather to run the loops at a "comfortably hard" effort - whatever that might be in this heat. So, I tried not to worry about my Garmin too much and, for better or worse, ended up pulling away from our group about a half mile into the first loop. To my surprise, I never saw them again, which was unfortunate because I really could have used someone to pace with, particularly in the second loop. I went through the first 1.5 mile loop in 13 minutes and change, but had a really tough time sustaining the effort on the second loop so the second loop was noticeably slower. I felt slightly nauseous again with the "hard" effort in the heat. So, yes, there was some walking in the second loop. Not exactly sure of the time for the second 1.5 mile loop, but I finished the 3 miles in 28 minutes (9:20 overall pace). Even though I know better (I'm still sick and have I mentioned how hard it is to run "fast" in this heat?), I have to admit that I feel weak for not being able to sustain what should typically be an easy pace for me for a measly 3 miles. I know that I ran an evening 5k faster than this at the beginning of the summer (when it was probably 10 degrees cooler for what that's worth).

Several folks called it quits after the first 3-mile loop, and I *strongly* considered it, especially since I downed a bunch of water and could feel some sloshing in my stomach. But, I finally talked myself into going out solo for the final 1.5 loop. There was no "hard" effort though and there was plenty of walking in this loop (15:35). My legs felt so heavy and dead in that loop.

And, it was a tough haul back to Rogue after the workout. Since it was late at this point, Bobby sent the remaining few of us back on a more direct (less hilly) route back to Rogue, which ended up adding on an extra .25 mile to the cooldown.

It was a tough night.

My heart rate felt like it was running high all night when I finally made it home, and I had a hard time sleeping.

Thursday, August 21: 5 miles (treadmill)

Even though I was feeling better today (probably about 85%), I had a tough time getting myself motivated to get my run done this evening. But, I got out the door and got 'er done. 

Friday, August 22: OFF

Week 16 Total: 35+ miles (missed medium long run this week due to illness)

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be training with Rogue again? I have been away for a few years with the whole ankle thing, but I am so, so happy to be back. For the past several weeks, Bobby has started each Wednesday night workout with a few group members introducing themselves and sharing their story about what is motivating them to train for their respective marathons. I have really enjoyed hearing everyone's stories and realizing the similarities in them. I have yet to share mine, so that will likely be forthcoming in the next few weeks. But, it did get me reminiscing a bit about what Rogue has given me over the years - PR's in all distances, the confidence to take on big and scary goals, K, and countless friends whom I have logged a lot of sweaty miles with over the years.

Rogue at our wedding 09/08 - we clean up pretty good!

MCM Training Week 15

Saturday, August 9: 10 miles (road)

Today's long run mileage was scheduled to be 8-10 miles for our recovery week. I was initially planning to run 12 though, but changed my mind after hearing our guest coach emphasize the importance of the recovery week at our Wednesday workout earlier this week. Point made. 10 it is then.

We ran the same route that we did in week 6 when we ran 8 miles except we added on a 2-mile out and back section in Travis Heights (which I knew would mean a hill or two) to total 10 miles. I felt pretty good and was happy with how I managed my hydration through the first hour. But, then I overdrank from the mile 6 to mile 8 water stop, so the last mile or so wasn't pretty. I might need to experiment with salt tablets going forward in this heat.

Sunday, August 10: OFF

Today concluded our recovery week. No easy 3-mile run on the schedule today. And, it was a good thing too because we went wine tasting all afternoon, and I was in no condition to run when we got home this evening.

Race Day is 11 weeks from today! 

Monday, August 11: OFF

Today turned into a detox from yesterday's shenanigans. Switched my medium long run scheduled for today with tomorrow's scheduled cross-training/turned OFF day.

Tuesday, August 12: 8 miles (treadmill)

Ran a good 8 miles on the treadmill. Considered running more, but was pressed for time so it didn't happen.

Wednesday, August 13: 6.5 miles (road)

More hills and heat with the Sole Survivors. That's not new. But, I managed it better than I have been for the past few workouts. And, tonight's workout wasn't necessarily an easy one. It was the Warshes x 2. When we did this workout a few weeks ago (my first one back with the group after our vacation), we ran 1 set of hills (alternating hard and easy on the streets) then took a shortcut back to Rogue at easy pace. This time though we ran a 1-mile warm-up then 2.5 miles of the hill/speed workout then retraced our steps for another 2.5 miles of the hill/speedwork (with about 5 minutes of recovery in between sets) and a short .5 mile cooldown afterwards. I would love to say that I made it up all of the hills this time without walking, but I didn't. Let's just say though that I didn't stop to walk until much further into the workout this time and I definitely walked less than the last time we did it. And, I even split the workout clocking 24 minutes for each 2.5 mile section. Not bad given that the route was hilly, there were easy stretches throughout the run, and it was hot. Still need to work on tolerating the pain better when my head tells my body to stop and walk. I don't like to hurt, remember?

Thursday, August 14: 5.5 miles (treadmill)

Easy 5.5 miles at the gym. The half mile was just to even out the mileage from yesterday.

Finally booked our flights to DC for the race. 15 weeks into training now, so I think this is going to happen!

Friday, August 15: OFF

Massage! And, another clean bill of health from my massage therapist. That's twice in a row now and is completely unheard of. Range of motion is good, everything is moving the way that it's supposed to, no tightness or knots anywhere. She's worked on me long enough to know that this is not my typical state, so we spent a few minutes trying to figure out what I'm doing differently to have such good outcomes. I wish I knew!

Week 15 Total: 30 miles

I talked with K this week about how my overall weekly mileage seems fairly low. But, I think it's more of a function of the way that I am recording my weekly mileage (Sat-Fri) compared to the training schedule from Rogue (Mon-Sun). So, looking at this week the Rogue way, then my mileage will be slightly over 40 mpw with the upcoming weekend included (and excluding last weekend).

MCM Training Week 14

Saturday, August 2: 16 miles (road)

Birthday long run with Angela! We started again on our own at 5am and ran an out-and-back route up north. I thought the first half of the route was slightly uphill, which meant the return was slightly downhill. We had a workout included in the long run rather than just running at easy long run pace:

"7M EASY
2M @ MGP (or MGP effort......weather will be MGP + 10 sec or so)
3M @ HALF MGP (or 20-30 seconds faster than the previous section)
4M @ MGP (the MOST IMPORTANT SECTION. MGP + 10 seconds is fine due to heat)

First off, effort is EVERYTHING. MGP might not be MGP, expect a 10-15 second adjustment."

MGP and Easy are generally the same thing when Angela and I run together, so there wasn't much of an adjustment to our paces during this run. We did run faster on the latter half of the run, and I felt like we were going too fast at times even though it felt relatively comfortable. Must have been a combination of the downhill and "cooler" temperatures, although low 70's still isn't really cool (unless it's August in Texas).

I went through 4 water bottles with my Tailwind mix during this run. I had a side stitch at times, which was uncomfortable and distracting in the last few miles.

Sunday, August 3: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3 mile recovery run.

Monday, August 4: 5 miles (treadmill)

Today started our recovery week! I haven't been feeling too beat up or fatigued, but I was thankful anyway for the decrease in mileage from a time perspective this week.

Tuesday, August 5: OFF

Another cross-training day turned OFF day.

Wednesday, August 6: 6 miles (road)

Straights and curves with the Sole Survivors and a guest coach while Bobby was away. And, a guest appearance by K at the workout! We had a 1.5 mile warm-up/cool down with 2 sets of 6 laps alternating hard and easy efforts. As in the past few weeks since we've been back from vacation (and the weather has been even hotter), I struggled with the hard efforts in the heat. Nausea set in fairly early during my hard efforts in the first set, but I pushed through and completed the workout. A heat index of 105 ain't no joke, people.

Thursday, August 7: OFF

I switched my off day from Friday to Thursday to better accommodate our daily schedules this week.

Friday, August 8: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3 mile run.

Week 14 Total: 33 miles

MCM Training Week 13

Saturday, July 26: 14 miles (road)

Angela and I started at 5am and probably will continue to do so going forward for the runs of 2+ hours. I have to say that I liked running by ourselves (at least until we got passed by the fast club later in the run), and running for the first hour or so in the dark meant that I didn't have to see the hills in front of us. I really enjoyed this route, which included a 2-mile warm up out to Exposition then 2-mile loops in different directions before returning to the central water stop. The 2-mile loops really helped me from a mental perspective, and it was nice to see so many Rogues at different points in the run. The fact that this route wasn't an out-and-back route meant that I was able to run with Angela for about 10 miles before I headed back in, while she continued on for more mileage. I'm still trying to catch up from missing the past few long runs, so I needed to start back at less distance than most of the group. But, the good news is that I felt pretty good throughout the run and should be back on track with the group in the upcoming weeks. No fatigue or soreness afterwards.

Sunday, July 27: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3-mile recovery run.

Monday, July 28: 7 miles (treadmill)

I had a massage scheduled for early afternoon, so I wanted to go ahead and get today's run done beforehand. I got a clean bill of health from my massage therapist, which is atypical. Something is usually tight, but nothing out of the ordinary today - hooray!

Tuesday, July 29: OFF

My cross-training has really fallen off in the past couple of months. Tuesday has become more of a mental rest day and time to get other stuff done than a training day. And, for the most part, I'm okay with that, especially if it is helping me stay on track with the other days.

Wednesday, July 30: 7 miles (road)

This was a toughie. Another hot, hilly workout with the Sole Survivors. And, I faltered in the near 100 degree heat. The workout consisted of a 1-mile warm-up to West Austin then it was supposed to be followed by 3 2-mile loops at a particular goal pace (I suggested a range to Angela of 17:50-18:40 for the 2 miles depending on how we felt in the heat and how hilly the route was) then 1-mile cool down back to Rogue for 8 miles total. What actually happened was this: Warm up mile = 9:57; First mile loop = 9:04  because we all didn't realize we were supposed to do 2 loops before stopping at that point; Two-mile loop = 18:14; Then, I died on the second two-mile loop - my solo mile of that was 9:35 which included some walking; Last mile loop = 9:06; Cool-down = 10ish. I was already feeling nauseous from the heat and effort in the first mile loop and it just got progressively worse. I couldn't string 2 miles together for the second effort, so I stopped 1 mile in. Bobby gave me and a few others permission to end the workout then, but I decided to wait for Angela since I abandoned her on that last mile and run the final mile with her before heading back in. Mentally I needed to feel better about stopping early in that second 2-mile loop, but I also needed to respect what my body was telling me. It was just too damn hot.

Thursday, July 31: 6 miles (treadmill)

Easy 6 miles on the treadmill. First time in awhile that I had been to the gym to run. I had only intended to run 5, but I felt good so I went ahead and ran 6. 

Friday, August 1: OFF

Week 13 Total = 37 miles

Halfway through the training program! 

MCM Training Week 12

I'm BACK! Time to get back to work.

Tuesday, July 22: 7 miles (treadmill) - started a new pair of shoes

We got home from Australia yesterday, so today was my first real training run in nearly 3 weeks. I honestly had no idea how it was going to go. And, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it went amazingly well! What a relief! Coming back from our lengthy summer vacations the past two years and trying to get back into marathon training had been a challenge and required a slow build up, which then greatly limited the actual amount of training to be had before race day. So, this run was a big confidence booster to see that I'm not starting back at week 1 with only 13 weeks to go.

Wednesday, July 23: 5 miles (road)

Back to the heat and hills with the Sole Survivors. Oh, what a slap in the face it was! The workout was a hill workout - the Marshes in West Austin = the Warshes. I think I would have been okay if I had been consistently training for the past few weeks because it wasn't necessarily harder than anything that we had previously been doing. But, I had a hard time cresting some of the hills, and I could feel the 100 degree temperature during my "hard" efforts. K actually joined us for this workout and even he suffered.

Thursday, July 24: OFF

I switched my off day from Friday to Thursday to better accommodate our daily schedules this week.

Friday, July 25: 5 miles (treadmill)

Easy 5 miles on the treadmill. Probably would have been better to do this on Thursday as scheduled to go into tomorrow's long run with fresh legs, but I am already fairly refreshed after our vacation anyway so I don't think it hurt anything.

Week 12 Total: 17 miles (getting back in the saddle again!)

MCM Training Week 11

So, not much running happened while we were in Australia. There were the 4 days that we spent on the boat on the GBR so really what was I gonna do there? Otherwise, our days were just really full with various activities with not much down time.

I snuck in a short afternoon run around the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney on Thursday, 07/17/14 while K was climbing the Harbour Bridge. The run was high on scenery, but not high on mileage. There wasn't much mileage to be had there, and I honestly didn't have a lot of time either before going to the opera at Sydney Opera House that evening.

I liked this statue in the garden - reminded me of Manneken Pis in Brussels

Do you see K up on the bridge?

Heading back into the city

MCM Training Week 10

Not much to report in terms of training for Week 10 because we left for Australia on 07/03/14. 

After sleeping off the jet lag once we arrived in Brisbane, we went for a morning run to explore the city on Sunday, 07/06/14. K and I ran together, and he even gave me a nice compliment noticing that I seemed to be in pretty good shape - so much so that he had to "stride out" a bit so that we could run together (rather than shuffling along at a snail's pace for him, I guess). We ran about 5-6 miles, mostly along the paved path on the banks of the Brisbane River. We stopped frequently to take pictures, so I wouldn't say it was much of a training run - mostly just a good way to get our bearings and see the city.

A few pictures from along the way:

Story Bridge over the Brisbane River

Sunrise over downtown Brisbane

Nice view of where we started

Entering the mangrove...watch out for crocs!

Crossed over the Goodwill Bridge to get to the South Bank

Wheel of Brisbane

Roma Street Parkland, the world's largest subtropical garden in a city centre

A beautiful oasis in the middle of the city

View of the city over a small lake in the park

Relaxing water feature near one of the main lawn areas

MCM Training Week 9

Saturday, June 28: 12 miles (road)

Still in recovery week, we were scheduled to do 7-10 miles this morning. But, Angela and I decided to do 12 since she missed the long run last weekend and I will miss the next few weeks of training. I felt fairly good overall and think I dealt with the humidity somewhat better than I have for the past few Saturday am runs. I did bring some extra Tailwind mix for the 2nd half of my run, but I still found myself taking a few cups of Gatorade at the last few water stops due to thirst. No soreness afterwards.

Sunday, June 29: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3 mile recovery run at the gym.

Monday, June 30: 8 miles (treadmill)

The medium long run is starting to creep up in distance, so it's going to take some planning to make sure I have the time to get the full mileage in on Mondays. I had some major tightness in my right calf during the first half of the run, but otherwise felt pretty good.

Tuesday, July 1: OFF

Today was scheduled to be a cross-training day, but I just didn't have the time to get a workout in with my work schedule and getting ready for our trip. That's 2 weeks in a row that my cross-training workout hasn't happened. I don't like that either because I really enjoy weight training. But, life gets in the way sometimes.

Wednesday, July 2: 6.5 miles (road)

We ran the same quality workout that we did 2 weeks ago: 1.25 mile warm-up followed by 4 mile repeats at tempo pace (with 3-minute recovery between them) then 1.25 mile cooldown back to Rogue + 4 strides. I felt nervous all day today, likely for several reasons. But, I also think that I was anxious about our workout, particularly the possibility that I would not be able to hit the times that I did last time (especially since it seemed hotter tonight). But, no worries there. I ran the first lap at 8:19 then 2 laps at 7:59 with the final one at 7:56. Still way faster than I likely should be running based on the workout pace chart that Bobby gave us, but I apparently can so why not? Unless that's not the point of the workout...

Alabama Shakes Speed Group

Thursday, July 3: 5.5 miles (treadmill)

Really proud of myself that I made sure to leave some time in my schedule today to get my run in before leaving for our trip.

Friday, July 4: OFF

Week 9 Total:  35 miles

And now a training interruption for the next 2 weeks while we are on vacation...see you in week 12!