2010 Rails To Trails Marathon Race Report

November 7 was my second marathon.  Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for running!  Temps were 40 degrees at the start, 50's throughout the rest of the race, 60 at the end.  Sunny, breezy, such a beautiful fall day! 

This course was beautiful, too.  It's an old railroad bed that was turned into a bike trail.  The course started in Norwalk, up to Sparta and back.  It features the much-vaunted 3/4 mile railroad tunnel (which we run through twice).  The tunnel ws dark, cold and wet.  It was like a cave.  There was water running down the sides and dripping from the ceiling.  It was actually pretty cool.  They had lanters throughout the tunnel, but visibility was still not that great.  They handed out little penlight flashlights at the entrance to help see, but they didn't help.  If I ever do the race again, I would bring my headlamp or a flashlight.  The first time through the tunnel, I couldn't tell what kind of pace I was running, and I ended up going way too fast.  I was afraid I was going to slow down through the tunnel because the footing was rutted and I couldn't see very well.  I ended up running a 7:58 for that mile!  I didn't even think I could run a sub-8:00 mile, let alone 7 miles into a marathon. 

So the start of the marathon was a little chilly, so I wore a light jacket and my gloves over my singlet and shorts.  Within two miles I was ready to take the jacket off.  Luckily, the course looped back through the starting area (Village Park), so I through it to my mom and was done with it.  The rest of the race was very comfortable. 

I started out with a slow pace, although I still ended up a little faster than my planned 10:00 min pace.  Not by much, though.  I was actually feeling a little sluggish at the beginning.  By the time I hit six miles, which was slightly uphill (very slightly) from the Park, I was getting ready for a gel.  I usually start to feel better in my long runs after six or seven miles- whether it's from a gel or from getting into a rhythm, I don't know.  So I had a gel right after the tunnel, approximately 7 miles in.  And I started to feel really good.  Running through the tunnel was surreal, like I mentioned earlier.  I was afraid my pace would drop off, so I kept it up.  It was hard to judge in the tunnel, as I really had no way to see how fast I was going.  When my watch beeped as I got out of the tunnel, I was shocked to see 7:58.  I though for sure it was wrong, that the tunnel had screwed up the GPS somehow, but at the next mile marker, my watch matched the mileage, so then I knew that I had in fact run a 7:58 mile.  I started to worry at that point.  I wondered if maybe that mile wouldn't matter?  Maybe I didn't use up a lot of glycogen, and maybe that one little mile wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things... 

Well, after that, my watch didn't seem to be giving me accurate paces.  I'm not sure why.  It kept telling me I was running 11:30-13:00 min miles.  I thought, "That's impossible, I'm not going that slow am I?"  So I tried to up the pace a little bit, and and after two or three more miles of the watch beeping and telling me I'd just run a 9:00 min mile, I thought, "I have to slow down, something is not right with the watch and I can't trust the pacing it's telling me."  So from then on out I looked at the mileage and the total time to figure about where I was pace-wise, and then also relied on the splits each mile.  Not how I'm used to racing.  I like looking down and seeing my pace, but this time I had to run by feel, and I didn't do so well! 

And, unfortunately, the damage had been done by the time I figured it out.  After running five minutes faster than my pace the first half, I was done for.  My splits were outrageous.  I ran 2:05 the first half and 2:21 the second half.  Those fast miles while I was feeling so good were my downfall.  It meant that later in the race, I couldn't keep up the pace.  I fell off to about 11:30 pace the last few miles.  I'm sure it was because of those fast middle miles.  I hit the wall early, like at mile 14.  It was a painful second half.

So my mom and my kids came to watch this marathon, and it was great to have them there.  I gave them a cowbell to ring and they made it to several of the aid stations.  Being that the trail crossed several roads, and it was an out and back course, it was very spectator friendly.  And it was great motivation to look forward to the next spot I'd see them.  The kids kept running up to me.  They were actually a little bit of a hinderance at times, but it was fun to have them there anyway. 

So I wasn't sure about how to fuel this run.  I'd made the decision not to drink the sports drink, since I had gels, and just drink water at every aid station, and I had my fuel belt with water in it.  I had four gels during the race, at miles 7, 13.5, 18, 23.  I think I should have only had 3.  I got real sick after the race, throwing up sick, and couldn't eat anything and just felt crummy the whole rest of the afternoon.  Thank God Mom was there to drive us home.  I don't think I could have driven.  I was once feeling that sick after a half marathon a year and a half ago, and I'd taken three gels during that race.  I'm thinking that too many gels don't agree with me.  I don't take that many during training runs, so I think it was probably too much.  Next time, I'll just take three gels. 

So at the turnaround at mile 14.5, I was starting to feel the fatigue in my legs.  I kept up my pace until about 18 miles, when I started to slow incrementally until I was at 11:30 pace.  The last mile was about 10 minutes, though, so I was able to pick it up a little at the end.  I'm convinced that my slow pace was caused by the fast miles in the middle.  I'm sure if I had managed to make those 10 minute miles, I would have been stronger longer.  Not that I still wouldn't have slowed down some, but I don't think it would have been to the degree that I did. 

I plodded along, trying to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful weather and just pretending it was a long training run and wasn't I having a good time?  I thought of Cole, my 50-year old friend, and founder of RACC, who'd just the previous day (on his 50th birthday) completed his fifth full Ironman, running a marathon after he'd swam for 2.4 miles and biked for 112 miles!  If he could do that, surely I could just do the marathon part. 

Then I thought about why I was there.  Why was I there?  Who in their right mind would put themselves through this kind of torture?  What was I thinking?  So I had to tell myself, "You enjoy the pain, you wanted to feel this burn, that's why you're here.  You wanted this."  Okay, that got me through another mile.  Then it was, "You're a sexy b***h, you know that?  You are so hot!  Damn, girl!"  So that got me through another mile.  It just went on and on, the mental games I played to try to keep myself motivated to continue running.

It definitely hurt those last few miles.  I wanted to stop and walk, but I didn't let myself.  I just kept telling myself that it was okay to slow down, just as long as I kept running.  I was on pace to hit 4:20 all the way up until about mile 21, I think, with the time I'd banked earlier.  I told myself that I'd stayed on pace for a long way to give up now.  So it was hard.  And then my mind started wandering.  I wondered when I'd be motivated to run another marathon, because I was definitely NOT motivated to run another one at that point.  I wondered if it would be as soon as I finished, or if it would take a few hours, or days or weeks to get motivated again.  (As it happens, I was already thinking about the next one later that night, all the things I would do differently.)

So the last five or six miles seemed to take FOREVER!  Back through the tunnel at about 23 miles, and I think I was the only one running it.  I only came upon two or three others while inside the tunnel, but they were walking.  That kind of gave me a boost. 

So on and on I went, and the last two aid stations I really had to make myself run.  I had stopped for maybe 5 seconds at all the other aid stations, just long enough to down the cup of water.  The last two, I actually walked 10 or 15 seconds after the water.  It was hard to make myself get going again.  My legs were just screaming at me to stop.  The last few miles, the timing chip around my ankle started to really bother me, too.  I felt like it was chafing or something.  It was quite uncomfortable.  And the bottoms of my feel hurt.  And my core was sore, too.  I should probably work on my core strength this winter. 

So the end of the race was finally in sight and I couldn't have been happier.  I managed to pick up my pace for a final kick of approximately 9:30 min/mile pace and finished my second marathon in 4:26:18.

I felt sick afterwards.  I had a banana and a half an orange and a cup of Heed.  Then we got in line for the chicken dinner.  After half an hour of standing in line, I was ready to keel over.  We got our food, and I went to the bathroom to sit and hope something would come out.  Nothing did.  I must have been in there for 15 or 20 minutes, because mom came looking for me.  I came out and went back to the table and sat down.  I looked at my food, stood up and ran out of the pavilion over to a post and threw up.  I felt so much better after that!  I still couldn't eat.  All I wanted was to go home.  I was cold and I still felt queasy and I was ready to get out of there.  Plus we had a three hour drive to get home, and we were all tired from a long day.

So second marathon down.  Now I feel like I have a real result to base my future goals on.  After Milwaukee, with that 5 miles of walking and a 4:58 finish, I didn't feel like I could really base a new goal on that.  This marathon I can.  I haven't decided yet what the goal will be.  I could go very conservative and say sub 4:15.  Or I could be aggressive and say sub 4:00.  I don't know yet, but I'm leaning towards a more conservative goal.  I guess I'll have to wait and see how the training goes.  I'm wondering if doing this marathon so soon after the first one may have impacted the result at all?  Could I have gone faster if I trained for 18 weeks, including a three week taper?  Perhaps.  I don't know.  I wonder, though.  But all in all, I finally feel like I put forth an effort worth of all that training.  I've had a successful fall racing season and now I'm looking forward to some shorter, faster 10Ks this winter.   

Lessons learned: 
1.  Nausea could have been caused by dehydration.  While I feel like I drank well during the race, sometimes one's impression of things is not the reality.  So I will try to drink more, in between aid stations.  I did have success drinking only water, and no sports drink, so I will probably duplicate that next time. 

2.  Only 3 gels next time, not four.  I'm not convinced that the nausea wasn't caused by all that sugar sitting in my stomach.

3.  PACING, PACING, PACING.  While I'm still not sure why my watch wasn't giving me accurate pacing, I at least know that it can happen, now and if I feel like I'm going fast, I probably am.  Next time I need to make sure that I don't blow the second half of the race by running the first half too fast.  It should make it more enjoyable, too.  Less painful and excruciating, you know?

4.  Look around.  I tried to make myself look around at the scenery and enjoy the area I was running in.  I think it helped make things more pleasant.  As much as things could be pleasant at that point. 

In the end, success.  While disappointed not to make my time goal, I feel satisfied nonetheless.  There will be many more marathons to come. 

Taper Week

Well, it's taper week.  Last week was the peak week of my four-week training plan for the Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk, WI.  Only 32 miles, about 10 miles shy of my peak week for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.

This last week was better than the first two weeks.  I'm still not feeling fast or easy, though.  Sunday's long run was 12 miles.  The beginning of the run felt a little tough, my lower legs felt a little sore and tight.  But I was also running into a breeze.  Not nearly as bad as the wind earlier this week.  Tuesday and Wednesday were 35 mph winds, gusting to 60, with a severe drop in temperature.  I was not dressed appropriately and I was numb after both runs!  Brr. Definitely time to break out the winter running gear. 

So this week is going to be pretty easy and light.  Especially since I can't run Wednesday due to a doctor's appointment for Gavin.  So tomorrow will be three miles, Thursday will be two miles.  Then marathon on Sunday.  I sure hope I can improve my time.  My poor showing in Milwaukee is just shameful in my mind, and I can't let this season go until I have something to be proud of. 

My goal is going to be sub 4:20.  That would be 10-minute miles.  I would be satisfied with that.  Next year I can focus on improving it.  I have lots of years of running left, I hope.  I don't need to have a super fast time right at the start of my marathon career.  There are a lot of lessons to be learned.  When I started running half marathons, each race was a lesson.  And I was able to make goals based on previous races and achieve them.  And each race I got faster.  I'm sure that will happen with the full marathons as well.  I just have to be patient.  So.  4:20 it is. 

Right now the weather looks like a high of 50, with partly sunny skies.  Should be a beautiful day.  I just have to decide what to wear.  High of 50 will be in the afternoon, most likely will be high 30s or 40s for the race.  Probably just like Milwaukee.  But I was chilly for Milwaukee.  So maybe I should dress warmer.  But I don't want to overheat, so I'm going to have to really think about what to wear.  I don't have anything to put under my singlet except for underarmour, and that might be too warm.  I could probably get away with shorts still.  I'm going to have to think about this!

2 Weeks Down, 2 To Go

Well I'm two weeks into my training for back-to-back marathons, with two weeks to go.  This next week will be the peak week (with bad weather, it looks like). 

Today I ran 12 miles.  It was a little windy the first half of the run, and my legs were tight and fatigued-feeling. However, at 6 miles I took a gel, and within a mile I felt much better.  I actually felt comfortable.  Whether that was due to the carbs, or to not having to run into the wind, I don't know.  I'm starting to wonder if I've been running with depleted glycogen stores.  I wonder if that might be why I've been struggling the last couple weeks on my long runs.  Last week's 10 miler I didn't fuel at all during the run.  I'm thinking I should make sure to fuel and hydrate properly, taking careful consideration to drink, even when I'm not thirsty. 

This last week I felt a little better than the first week, but my legs were still fatigued feeling and I have really struggled to maintain a modest 10-min mile pace.  I even had an extra rest day in there on Thursday because Gavin was sick and I had to pick him up from daycare that morning, so I missed my run. 

This will be an interesting week.  I'm hoping that my body is going to rally and get used to training again.  I'm excited about this marathon, but I'm feeling less confident.  I'm hoping that my conservative goal of 4:20 is doable.  It feels very conservative a goal to me, but given my recent long runs, I'm not so sure.  On a positive note, I'm over the cold.  So hopefully I can just stay healthy for two more weeks.

Redemption Race Training begins

So, yeah, I decided to run a redemption race this fall.  I feel like I left a lot out on the course at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, being sick, and all.  And my body felt a lot better in the days that followed than it sometimes did after my long training runs.  So I decided that I still had a marathon left in me, and I was going to go for another race to get a "win" under my belt for this year.

I'm running the Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk, WI, on November 7.  It is a small, low-key race, put on by a small town.  It's run on a former railroad bed turned bike trail.  It's claim to fame is a 3/4 mile tunnel that we get to run through.  Lots of nice positive comments about the race, from what I've been able to tell so far, even though it's only the third year they've done it.  I'm looking forward to a better race, with a more conservative time goal, and hoping to be able to run it like a marathon should be run.

So I couldn't wait to start running again, and started on Monday last week.  Did 6 miles, and in retrospect probably shouldn't have started out with that, since I'd just taken an entire week off.  It felt good, though.  Tuesday I ran three miles.  I found a training plan by Hal Higdon for "between marathons."  He's got plans for two weeks between, four weeks between and six weeks between.  So, I am doing his four weeks between plan.  Relatively low mileage, especially the first couple weeks.  So Tuesday is when this plan is supposed to start, and I was only supposed to do 2 miles.  Well, that wasn't enough in my mind, so I did 3.  Wednesday was 3, Thursday was 4 and Friday was 6.  Then today was 1-2 hours.  I did 10 miles (approx. 1 hour 40 minutes). 

I must say, this week was a little tough.  I felt sluggish and slow.  It felt like an effort to maintain 10 minute miles, when a month ago, 10 minute miles would have felt fairly easy.  But I did just go 26 miles not two weeks ago, so I was okay with the struggle.  I think perhaps I would have been surprised if it had felt easy.  It may not have been a good strong effort, but it was 26 miles, and my body knew it, if my brain didn't.

So it was a little sluggish.  Today was my 10-miler.  Which I was going to go 12 until I started thinking about it and decided yesterday that maybe I shouldn't push it, and only go 10.  In retrospect, now I'm thinking maybe I should only have gone 8 or 9.  I'm feeling it tonight.  I went easy and slow and the first mile felt great, but then it started to get hard.  I had to struggle and push it to maintain my pace.  I probably should have just slowed down.  It is a "long run" after all, and you really can't run them too slow, but I'm stubborn and in the middle of a run sometimes you don't think.  I did feel some twinges in my knees today.  Which I wasn't expecting.  Friday my right knee hurt, right on top of the kneecap.  It was a new location for knee pain for me.  I iced it friday night and saturday, and this morning it was gone, so I knew resting it was good.  I was hoping not to have it come back today during the long run.  There was a shadow of discomfort at times, but the surprise came when my left knee started twinging.  I was probably inadverdantly and unconsciously favoring my right knee.  But tonight my legs feel sore and my knees too, but there is no pain to speak of.  I'm feeling okay, still confident.  I think perhaps I should either not have run monday, or else gone shorter than the 6 miles.  My body hasn't run 5 days in a row in a very very long time (trying to think of the last time, actually, and can't- it's been months).  So I probably jumped back into training a little harder than I should have.

But, I'm on a plan now, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.  I expect this next week to be better than last week, but I won't be surprised to find myself still feeling tired and slow.  The key will be to continue to do my runs at a slow pace, and to continue to monitor my body.  I have to slog through this initial discomfort, but I think things will only get easier and my body will be back to its normal training form within another week.  I'm hoping for a good strong third week, feeling good and not tired, and then a taper week to build up some energy and restore the glycogen stores.  And then hopefully, a strong race in Norwalk.  That's the plan anyway!

2010 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Race Report

Well this race went way worse than I ever could have expected.  4:58:11 was my time.  If you recall, my goal was to break 4 hours.  So I was an hour slower than I hoped for.  I've been trying to think of what went wrong.  I'm sure there are lessons to be learned here, but in order to glean those lessons, I need to figure out what went wrong.

The start was cold.  I actually had to scrape my windows on my car this morning because we had frost last night.  So it was cold (I think it was in the lower 40's at the start), but I made arm warmers out of trouser socks and was happy with them. 

The first 2 miles felt awesome.  I felt like I was going really slow, and in reality, I was going slower than my original planned pace.  So I know I didn't go out too fast.  By mile 10 I was off my pace, and knew that 4 hours probably wasn't realistic.  I battled stomach cramps and nausea most of the way. 

I'm pretty sure I was fueling and hydrating okay, at least for the beginning of the race.  I started having the cramps and nausea around mile 3.  I had some gatorade around mile 4, felt like crap, and switched to water only.  I had a gel at mile 5, another one at mile 12 or 13, and another one at 20.  Once I started feeling like I was ready to throw up, I drank less, because my stomach was sloshy and I just couldn't even think about putting any more into it.  I did sip every mile.  It was hard to eat that last gel.  I just did not want it, but I thought maybe I needed the calories. 

I ran 20 miles, and then had to stop and walk.  I was feeling dizzy and lightheaded and I thought if I stopped and walked a little bit it might help me feel better.  I said I'd start running again once I started feeling better.  While I was walking, I was weaving from side to side, felt like I was going to pass out, and completely zoned out of reality.  If I tried to pick up the walking pace, I started to feel even worse, so it was a slow walk.  I walked for five miles.  I should have tried to run a little bit, but I was so cold, and I was so sleepy, my eyes kept closing, like I was almost falling asleep.  And I felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen, I kept yawning.  I was so lightheaded, and I kept looking for good places to throw up on the side of the road if I needed to.  I actually wanted to throw up- I thought it might make me feel better.  My fingers were swollen and I couldn't walk straight.  I just wanted to curl up in the sun and take a nap.

Finally, I thought, maybe some gatorade would help.  At mile 24 I had a cup of gatorade.  I was expecting it to make me feel worse, but by mile 25 the nausea was better.  I started a slow jog.  I was able to run to the finish, and actually felt like my legs had a lot left in them.  Unfortunately, I had a side cramp that prevented me from really getting into a good form.  The side cramp started as soon as I started running.  I still had the abdominal cramps, but the nausea was much better.  So, the gatorade helped. 

I was able to finish under 5 hours.  What a difference from the way I planned this race.  My pace between 9 and 20 miles was slower than my long run pace!  So was I trained properly for this race?  I think so.  I'd run 4 half marathons previous to this race.  I followed a respected marathon training program (Higdon Intermediate 1), and hit two successful 20-milers in training.  I was prepared. 

So, I'm thinking that being sick is probably what did it.  I ate what I normally eat the days before and the morning of race day, nothing different.  I was ready for this race.  I didn't start off too fast.  I fueled properly during the race, I didn't hydrate too well once I started feeling so bad, but I don't feel that was contributing factor.  I can only chalk it up to being sick.  I can't see that I did anything wrong during the race.  I mean, I was struggling early, and my pace was conservative, so I just can't see what else could have affected me so much. 

So, what now?  Well, I finished.  Even though at times I thought I wasn't going to.  My legs feel remarkably good, actually.  I am sore, of course, but I think my 20-milers left me feeling worse.  So, I know I could have done better. 

I'm not anxious to do this again, but I realize that I have to avenge myself on this distance.  RACC has a big group that will be running the Green Bay Marathon next May.  I'm going to plan on that.  We'll see how training goes through the winter and spring.  Maybe I will try a different training program with some more speedwork in it.  That is one thing that I didn't have in this program.  Whether or not it would have made any difference, I don't know.

At least a week off now.  Maybe 2.  Hopefully I can get rid of this cold and let my body recover from training.  I'll start running again by training for the RACC Winter 10K Series, which starts end of November. 

So, to sum up, this was a disappointing first marathon, nothing like I expected.  I feel like I could have run better, and I still think I had more left in my legs.  But being sick really took it's toll on me physically. 

On a positive note, it will be easy to PR at my next marathon!

Sick.

Well, I didn't see it coming but I have a cold and now I'm afraid of how it will affect my marathon on Sunday.  Weather continues to look perfect.  It's going to be a cool fall day.  Today's weather forcast for Sunday has a high of 56 degrees, and a low of 36 (!).  So my guess is 40's to start the race.  Perfect, if maybe a little chilly.  Better than being too hot. 

But this cold has me worried.  The taper has been great, although it did start off a little rocky.  This training program had me on a three week taper.  Well, the first week was rough- my legs felt heavy and achy and I was so tired!  The second week was better, but there were still some lingering aches and pains, and I didn't have the energy I've come to expect during a taper.  This week, though, things are much better.

I missed my 8-mile long run this past Sunday because I couldn't get anyone to watch the kids, but I ran 6 miles Monday, took yesterday off, will run 4 today and 2 tomorrow and take Friday and Saturday off.  I feel good.  My energy is back and my body feels like it's in a taper now.  I'm feeling really positive for Sunday.

Well, that is, until yesterday morning when I woke up with the early symptoms of a cold.  Today, it's official.  I am sick.  :(  I'm really bummed, because it couldn't have come at a worse time.  I don't know how the next four days will go, but lets hope it's only a little cold and that the symptoms will be gone by Sunday.  And lets especially hope that it doesn't get worse and go into my lungs.  Right now it's just a head cold. 

Worst Run Ever!

Ugnhhh.  That's all I can say.  Today's 12 mile run was the worst run I've had during the entire training program.  And no, it wasn't my knee.  I had severe stomach pain that almost caused me to stop mid-run.

It was cloudy and breezy, temps in the high 50s, which should have been perfect weather.  The first three miles my knee did hurt, but it wasn't unmanageable, and felt okay.  I don't think it will be an issue for the marathon.  I had a side cramp, and stomach cramp (yes, that's two different cramps).  I put it down to eating too soon before running.  I had an omelet at about 1:00, and ran at 2:30, so I figured that was plenty of time, but perhaps I was wrong.

So after that, my stomach started feeling progressively worse.  With each mile I felt much worse.  I wanted to throw up, just to make myself feel better, but just suffered on, mile by mile.  I was doubled over, couldn't even stand up straight, and my form just fell apart in the last two or three miles.  The last 2 miles were well over 11 minute pace.  It was all I could do to just keep running.  I wanted to walk at 10 miles, but talked myself into running another mile.  Then I wanted to stop at 11 miles, but talked myself into running the last mile since there was only one left- well, jogging it really, slogging along, just barely moving- at least that's how it felt.  I stopped drinking because my stomach felt too full, and I thought drinking would just add to that overful feeling.  I only drank about 3-4 oz the entire 12 miles.  I wonder now if that could have been adding to the stomach issue.  Perhaps I should have drank more and it would have helped.  Well, if it happens again I'll try it.  But for sure, I'm not eating a big meal before I run, not ever again!  Something small is all I need.

After the beginning miles, my legs felt okay, not too sore or tired, except the last two miles when my form fell apart.  I could tell my form was causing some knee pain, but I still couldn't straighten my body out.  But in general, my fitness is there, and I could tell the 12 miles would have felt good, had it not been for that damn stomach issue.

For tonight, I can't even stand the thought of food.  As we speak, I'm drinking a cup of tea, trying to settle my stomach.  I need to buy some Tums next time I go shopping.  I sure hope this is only related to my eating habits today.

Here's hoping that this does NOT happen in two weeks on Marathon Day! 

The cure?

Well I iced last night and my knee felt a little better this morning.  I didn't stand so much today, so at the end of the day I decided to try today's scheduled five-miler, prepared to go as slow as necessary so as not to overdue it. 

The first mile and a half or two miles were painful, and I had to modify my stride to avoid the sharp pain that shot through my knee.  However, as I eased into a rhythm, by the end of the run, I actually felt better than I did yesterday.  I think the running actually helped.

I am going to ice again tonight.  And tomorrow is another rest day, with a 12-miler on Sunday.  (Although I still don't have a baby-sitter for that run...)  I feel pretty confident that I'll be okay.  (Still going to be cautious, of course.)

So now I'm wondering if I should have tried to run a little yesterday.  Perhaps that's what I needed all along, to loosen things up.  Well, taking a rest day isn't going to hurt anything.  So now I just need to find a babysitter for Sunday!

Injury!

Well, maybe. 

I did not run today.  (Gasp!) 

Ever since Sunday's 20-miler, the outside of my right knee has been hurting.  At first I put it down to post-long run normal aches and pains.  But my Tuesday run did not "get the kinks out" like it normally does after a long run.  And Wednesday it was still hurting.  Today, I travelled to our Platteville plant and spent most of the day standing.  Just standing, no walking or squatting or kneeling or sitting like I normally do throughout my day.  By late afternoon, I was stiff and my knee ached.  It felt swollen.  I decided not to run, but went for a walk, hoping to loosen it up a little.  It did seem to feel better after a while.  On the way back from the walk, I stopped for supper at a restaurant close to the hotel.  After sitting and eating for 45 minutes, I got up to leave and it was stiff and painful again. 

So I don't know what to think.  Since I'm starting my taper, I don't feel guilty taking today off.  I think I'm doing the smart thing.  I'm sitting in my hotel room icing tonight.  I hope this goes away.  I will run tomorrow, taking it slow and easy if I have to.  Then Saturday is another rest day, and a 12-miler on Sunday.

I've been injury free for over a year and now I only have 2 weeks until my marathon and my knee is threatening to ruin it!  This is not fair!

Last Long Run

Well today was my last long long run of my training program.  20.13 miles in 3:18:21.  Three weeks to go until marathon day.  I ran a total of 43.3 miles this week, which takes my yearly total over 1000 miles for the first time to 1034.96 miles!  Next week my long run is only 12 miles.  My taper is beginning!

I could see my breath as I stepped out into the dark this morning.  There was no moon, like there was two weeks ago, and so I actually had to use my flashlight to see in some areas.  My injinjis served me well again, as I had no foot issues (aside from the fact that I can definitely tell my shoes are worn and I need new ones.  They should be arriving tomorrow).

The sun came up a little later this morning than two weeks ago, about two miles farther into the run (20 minutes or so).  The chill in the air reminded me that fall is on the way!

I had to slow myself down a little bit in the beginning today, I was easily sub-10 minute miles.  I knew that I had 20 miles to go, and I didn't want to run into a situation where I had to slow down considerably in the last few miles.  I wanted to be as consistent as possible, or even run the last few miles faster than my average.  I also know that long runs are supposed to be slow runs.  So I didn't want to jeopardize the good this run was supposed to do.  I tried to stay as close to 10 minute miles as possible.  I did a pretty good job, a couple miles were around 10:15, but some were under 10, too, so average-wise I did good. 

The last few miles I picked it up.  The last two were between 9:30 and 9:40.  Overall, this run was great.  I feel pretty good.  I'm a little stiff, but in general, I feel better than I did last week with that fast finish to the 12-miler-turned-into-15-miler.

I am still concerned that my marathon goal time is too ambitious.  But weird things happen on race day, I've usually gone faster than I thought I could. Of course, this is a marathon, and so I'm prepared not to expect the same things that I can in a half marathon.  We shall see!

Running shoes

Well it's time and past time for new running shoes.  I ordered them on Sunday, and due to the holiday, they won't be here until next Monday!  Normally, it's only three or four days, sometimes even sooner, depending on what warehouse they ship from, but of course my shoes are coming from California, which is a four-day delivery.  :(  I'm totally bummed about this because I was really hoping to have them for Sunday's 20-miler. 

You can always tell when you need new shoes.  At least I can.  They wear unevenly, due to me being a supinator (I wear the outsides faster than the rest).  So I go through shoes every 300-400 miles or so, about every three months.  Oh well, they'll be here Monday which means I will get two and a half weeks on them before the marathon. 
 
8.04 miles today, fairly descent pace.  It was about 68 degrees, breezy.  Not bad weather, a little humid.  Took me 1:16:34.  Not bad for not pushing it. 

Peak Week

Today was the beginning of my peak week of training for my first marathon.  Thought I'd start a blog because I plan on having lots of running adventures and I wanted to put all my stories in one place where people can go if they want to read, or not go if they don't!

So anyway, beginning of Peak Week.  Next week begins my taper.  It has been cooler here for the last week or so.  My pace during my regular weekly runs has improved, which I'm taking as very positive.  It's been a struggle to run in the heat and humidity this summer and I've been wondering for the last several weeks if my planned race pace is too ambitious. 

Being that this is my first marathon, I really don't have anything to go by, goal-wise.  Everything I read says my goal for the first one should be just to finish.  Well, I know I'm going to finish, barring anything catastrophic happening.  So my time goal is sub-4 hours.  Big goal, actually.  There.  Now it's out in the open, for the public to read.  No taking it back now.  Of course, nobody will probably read this, so maybe it doesn't matter!  LOL

Okay, so today was a 5 mile run.  Cool, super windy.  Like, 27 mph windy.  But pace was pretty comfortable, 48:40 minutes.  Not bad after my long run this weekend.  It was only supposed to be 12 miles, but it turned into 15 due to a wrong turn.  It was an unfamiliar area, and it was dark, and I got frustrated and started running faster, and the last five miles of that run were at race pace.  (oops)  So I was pretty sore yesterday from that effort, and today my quads were a little sore, still.  But today's run was to shake out the kinks and get the lactic acid out and tomorrow's 8 miles should be pain-free, at least. 

My second 20-miler is Sunday.  By the end of this week, I will have a 43-mile week.