Every Mile Earned

Training Cycle Recap Very late in the spring I hired a coach. Very shortly after that I registered for the Philadelphia Marathon. My poor Musician finally broke down and agreed to the race. He knew first hand from drying my tears, how badly marathon training had gone for me in the past.  It wasn't my original intention. I didn't like the marathon distance. I had two very rough training cycles, struggled with the long runs and was injured by the time I got to the start line of both of them. After I finished Philly in 2015, I swore I would never run another one. I thought I hated the distance. Coach Silver Fox gave me some pretty tough workouts but the hardest thing he asked of me was to slow down . I know the training methodology, I've used it with my athletes but I never applied it to myself.  I never wanted to. I liked running hard, all the time.  It seriously was THE HARDEST thing to run the easy paces he assigned.  But I did it. I knew I had to be all in ...

Breathe.  Breathe in. Breathe out.  Easy, right? Not this week.  Breathe. It's what My Musician says.  Breathe. It's what Coach Silver Fox says.  Breathe. It's what my Princess Unicorn says.  It's just a race, is what my Tinkerbell says.  Thanks kid.  I haven't talked much about how I'm feeling with anyone except My Musician.  I've chatted a bit with my coach and with my Unicorn but not to the extent that I'm struggling.   Why? I hate feeling weak.  I mean I can be vulnerable and share dumb things from my life, share moments of struggle but at times like this, IN the moment, I don't know how to reach out and share the depth of what I'm feeling. To share it IN the moment is admitting I'm feeling weak, afraid, uncertain (stupid, I know.)  That's what I'll try to do. I'm not looking for anyone to help me feel better. I know this is a battle with my mind and that the battle is effecting my...

Week 2: June 13 - 19 My training weeks run Monday to Sunday. I posted late last week so last week's long run is getting incorporated into this week too. Saturday, June 11th - Long Run ~ 15 miles From the first step out my door this run was difficult. My legs felt heavy and I was tired. The weather really plays a huge role for me. I like the temps hot and the sun shining.  It was chilly and cloudy and there was a threat of thunderstorms. I said it before, long runs are my weakness. I can't decide if it's mental or if there really is a barrier for me as the runs get up in distance.  I look back at last year and I only have one run, over 14 miles, that I would call successful. Last weekend I didn't run my LR with music so I wanted to try it again. I feel like the run goes faster without music. I typically train (my easy runs) with music but I rarely race or do speed workouts with it. Something about it, when I'm trying to run faster, annoys me. Most of t...

Those who know me have heard this a million times, I hate winter. I hate to be cold and I don't like running when it's cold, the only exceptions are: I love running in a snow storm and I like how clear running in cold weather makes my lungs feel. Living in the Northeast, I may someday learn to like it but I truly prefer and excell in the heat of summer. So all that complaining out of the way, my miles for my upcoming marathon have really suffered. It's been a really hard decision but I'm really going to relax on my pace for this one. I had a goal time in mind but I don't want to chew my legs up that much.  My biggest weakness is endurance of long distance so I'm going to just continue to work on building the strength I'll need for my fall race. I've been working on a couple training plans and one of them mirrors what I'm doing, with the exception that the 2nd one has the appropriate mileage needed. I reached out to my instructors to get some mu...

Today I did a workout I haven't done in 8 months.  It was hard. I thought the hills were going to make my wobbly, tired legs collapse but I did them.  Since I'm starting from scratch with this workout, I only did 4 hill repeats but then the recovery miles afterwards are what I was super excited about. Each one was a progressively faster.  Not as fast as last year but a winter of minimal running and weight gain have really slowed me down.  It's frustrating but it's all my own fault. All I can do is move forward to getting back where I was last year. The other fantastic part about today's run was hearing the red wing black birds while I was running.  Spring is coming and with it better running weather. I love to run in the heat and I can't wait to start training in some hot afternoon sun. Our RRCA class is coming up. I'm really excited that after almost 2 years, this dream is finally so close to fruition! We have our business name picked out but have not y...

Ah, the blessed recovery week.  I couldn't wait to have a week of lower mileage, less strength training and sleeping in at least an hour or so.  By the end of the week I was tearing my hair out wanting more challenge!! My 16 mile long run on last Saturday left me feeling pretty defeated. It didn't go at all like I had hoped but at least I finished all the miles. My Musician met me at the end of mile 12 with ice water and took my CamelBak from me. I just wanted to crawl into the car and go home with him but I finished the last 3 miles. Him and Tink started walking down our road to meet me as I was doing my cool down walk up our hill.  I need their smiles to wrap my first cycle of marathon training. My biggest supporters  My week started with a pretty rough workout but it was to prepare me for the goal race I had this weekend. Monday was a track workout of 7x1000m repeats at race pace. While I was doing it, I hated it but after I realized how much confidence...

My big race this fall will be the Philadelphia Marathon in November. The countdown is now in the double digits, 99 days left.  Sounds like a lot but I know how fast November will get here. Between now and then though, I have 6 other races, 2-5k's, a 3.8 trail run, a 10k and 2 half marathons.   My coach calls them "B" races.  There are two races with specific goals but they are still "B" races.  They aren't my goal race of the season. Philly is the big one for me. I'm in week 4 of marathon training. I'm tired.  This week I have been sneaking in some extra sleep, here and there, which is helping. The last couple weeks I've been stressed, not eating right and not getting enough sleep. One of the women in my Sub 30 group posted something about overtraining that made me really evaluate the whole picture. This week I decided to not try to do it all. My house is trashed (my Musician is great at helping out a lot of the time), clean laundry is piled ...

I'm just wrapping up week two of marathon training.  It's been a good two weeks but now a change has come to my running.  Because of unforeseen things at home, I've had to switch my coach. If you know Drill Sargent and have thought about hiring him, please do.  He's been an incredible coach. He's a no nonsense coach who will happily give 100% if you are willing to also. He won't waste a second of your time on the road, if you don't waste his time in your workouts.  He helped me to get stronger, faster, build endurance and through the amount of running I was doing, I, finally, was able to lose some of the weight I needed to lose. It is with sadness that I can no longer call him my coach but he'll always be Coach to me! On the flip side, I'll be working with a local coach, who is also one of the runners in my area that I've admired for some time.  I can't speak to JJ as a coach because we are just starting out but as a runner, she's a ...