22 Monumental miles on the VA Creeper Trail

Time has flown by since I first mentioned I was running marathon #2.
And my lack of blogging shows how far behind I am on my original goal of weekly marathon recaps. oopsie!

Almost 2 weeks ago we traveled with my Knoxville Endurance family to the beautiful Virginia Creeper trail to get in our last 20+ mile training run before Indy Monumental (Nov 2nd). We started our run in Abingdon and ran to Damascus. It was so beautiful. The weather was perfect and the company was great (even if I was running my 22 miles solo). I didn't run with my phone/camera but really wish I had though I'd probably have gone way slower than I should have if I'd stopped to take pictures. Seriously my words can't even describe the beauty of this run. It's an old rail bed, so we ran mostly on tightly packed pea gravel and wooden bridges. Overall the run went well for me.

We got a run plan Friday night (we all stayed in a cabin w/our coach) and went over how our run would go. This was to be our real last chance to get things right for race day as far as fueling/water, etc. So, that said I wanted it to go so so well. Here are my actual splits:

9:59/ 9:55/ 10:05/ 10:13/ 9:55/ 10:14
10:05/ 10:01/ 9:59/ 9:57/ 9:52/ 10:15
9:50/ 9:55/ 10:21
The first 15 miles (above) were to be at easy pace so around a 10mm according to my coach (though I want to be 9:45, but marathon pacing and all.... blah). Anyway, the last 7 miles were a pick up which would be at marathon pace (9:55-) or faster. They are as follows:

9:28/ 9:28/ 9:36/ 9:38/ 9:38/ 9:39

Like I said, overall this was a good run for me. Pre run breakfast was good, fueling/water during the run was good. I took a gel every 4 miles and did Enduralytes every other gel. I chose to not carry my Cambelbak this time as I think I've decided to leave it home for the marathon, so I opted for a small handheld and refilled at the water stops coach laid out for us. This worked well. 
Overall time - 3:38:43 for an overall pace of 9:56 which is within my marathon goal range.

The weekend was more than just the last long run but a great time spent with awesome friends! Stay tuned for how I've been coping with the taper. The countdown to Indy is on... T minus 9 days. 

Marathon Training - How it's going!

Wow, 20 whole days since I've blogged. Yikes. I have logged a whole pile of miles since my race and haven't even recapped a single mile.

This weekend I did my 21 miler and have one more 20+ mile run before the taper madness begins. How did time fly so quickly!?!?

Here's how the 18, 20 and 21 mile runs all went.

18 miler -
This run was tough for me. We started early and the weather was crazy. We had cool temps, we had torrential rain and we had mega humidity and heat. The goal was 15 miles easy with a 3 mile pickup at the end. I mostly felt alright until mile 15 when I had to do my pickup. I was over my soaked clothes and shoes. I had taken my final gel in prep to kick up the pace for my last 3 to be done at marathon pace or faster.
Miles 16 and 17 were a 9:40 pace (marathon pace is around 9:55) but then I got sick and don't recall what that final mile was done in.

20 miler-
The weather was perfect. We did this one as a destination run in Townsend, TN. We started at the Tremont Institute and ran the bike trail out through Townsend. It was relatively flat, which was really nice.
The goal was easy for 16 and pick up the last 4 at marathon pace or faster.
The start was a slight downhill and my pace was a bit faster than I needed it to be but I felt good so I kept trucking along. I was amazed by how I felt this whole run and even more happy that I ran alone, without music. That is such a mental test and I am hoping it will prove to be helpful come marathon day.
I had two miles out of the entire 20 miler that were above marathon pace (10:00/10:04). My pick up miles at the end were (9:22/9:32/9:29/9:34).
Overall pace for the run 9:41 - 20 miles in 3:14.

21 miler-
We got up at 4am yesterday to meet our friends for a 5:30 am start. The goal was 16 miles easy w/5 mile pick up at marathon pace or faster.
This run was mostly great but I only had one issue around mile 8 where my GI was bothering me and I need a bathroom NOW. I had to make the most of my surroundings. I tried to be conservative w/pacing this time so that I could have energy in the tank for the pick up. I won't lie. I was not looking forward to the pickup alone because of our route. However, I made my way back to my car to drop my Camelbak and a friend was just getting started. She paced/ran with me for my pickup and I couldn't be happier with the results.
(9:09/9:13/9:22/9:22/9:48)
21 miles in 3:28 - 9:54 pace
I'm still hopeful I can add 5.2 miles and reach my marathon goal.

Parkside Realty Townsend 15k - race recap

Start time - 8:00am
Weather - 66 degrees 94% humidity

Let me start by saying that due to my terrible GI issues lately I was ready to throw the towel in on running altogether. Thursday (after a terrible run) I text my coach that I was thinking about bailing on this race. Pep talk via text changed my mind and I said, "Fine. I'll go w/tp in hand just in case." haha So, I did.

My dr now has me on a dairy free diet as we suspect I have developed an intolerance to lactose. Fun times. So, that started officially on Friday. I already felt better by mid-day Friday but was still concerned about my race and what my gut would decide to do. I was careful all weekend long leading up to Sunday morning.

Pre-race dinner fuel - filet and baked potato topped w/guacamole
Pre-race breakfast - saltines and peanut butter
Race fuel - 2 PowerGels (3 mi, 6 mi)

I got up extra early Sunday morning to allow myself even more time to allow my body to digest my food, hydrate and tend to things in the bathroom. I got dressed and was ready to leave the house by 6:10am. No pre-race packet pickup meant I'd need to be there early to get that as well as to get my warm up, flex and striders in and to the line before the start. No problems there.

There was no timing chip this year so we were to rely on a 1,2 gun start. I had already told myself I was not going to worry about that. I didn't line up quite as close as I have in other races. I was basically still hoping at this point to stay as close to my race plan as possible with the biggest goal being to finish unscathed from my recent GI issues. So, I got it in my mind that I would run by feel as close to my goal pace according to the breakdown of my plan and still treat this as my long training run for the week because in the end that is what this race was about.

I carried my own water/handheld but mostly because I wanted to have some tp for that just in case moment my gut decided to rebel against me. It was good enough that I had the water and my handheld because it had enough room for my two gels and really isn't all that annoying to carry. I did still take water at most of the stops except the first one. I wanted to conserve what I had for the end of the race should I need it. I didn't realize at the time that it was so humid though post race a lot of people were complaining about it. I guess the fact that it didn't seem to be an issue for me means my training IN the humidity has really paid off. Score!

I split the race up (as per my race plan) and decided to tackle it 4 miles at a time and treat the last little bit as a bit of tempo work, if possible. So, without really going into a ton of details on "I felt this way here or that way at this point," here are my splits.

9:16/10:07/9:15/10:04
9:41/9:20/9:42/9:03
8:52/2:30

Total time based on Garmin : 1:27:54

Overall I felt great during the race. I didn't have any issues taking my gels at miles 3 and 6 other than my pace slowed while I was taking them. My stomach felt fine and I never worried about the urge to run off course. Positive! I did feel a kick shortly after taking each of my gels, so if there is any question about them working.. YES!  I maintained my goal race pace (for marathon) the entire race so that too is a plus. Now if I can just do that for many many many (16.9 miles) more miles this marathon will be great.

I didn't struggle physically with any of the hills and the only reason I even walked in the first one was because I looked down to see i was ahead of pace. If I had that to do over I definitely would have given myself a mental pep talk to keep pushing upward!

Friends and my family were waiting on me at the finish line and got some great pics.

Official results :
1:28:05 (from the gun)
89th/146
2nd/6 in Athena

Really pleased overall with my run and a 2:55 PR over last year. It was a great morning and this really is a great race/course. It was also great to see so many friends and to have my little family cheering for me at the finish.

Three Things Thursday

1. I didn't write a weekly marathon training post because I have lost count of what week I am in. I *think* it's week 10 but honestly I'm too lazy (for an active person) to go back and look through my schedule. BUT my 18 miler was over the weekend (last weekend) and went ok. Ok meaning I had my typical stomach issues and we ran through humidity, a downpour for about 2 miles and I had a marathon paced pickup the last 3 miles in which I puked after 2. Fun times! I LOVE marathon training, for real. This week is a race week for me but kind of a cut back too since it's lower mileage. My 20 miler is NEXT WEEK! Holy moly. That snuck up quickly. Marathon training flies by when you're having so much fun. My workouts have been going well too (minus the stomach/GI stuff) and rather than bore you with this we will just move on to #2.

2. And yep, that #2. It's happening a LOT. I finally went to my dr and he put me on some probiotics and acid reducers. I was suppose to give that two weeks and if no change call him back to schedule some scoping. Eh. No thank you right now. The "meds" are and aren't working, I think. I'm still having issues and even before the dr put me on that stuff he said what I am describing isn't necessarily what he would call your typical "runners trots." It's always fun to talk about that kind of stuff. Ugh. So, the scoop is this med thing doesn't feel like it's working. Wanna know why I say that??? Omg, y'all.. I had to take the ride of shame from my coach at practice yesterday. That was NOT fun and missed 4x200 repeats before my cool down. Bummer. Also, I'm having issues daily not just when I run. I've decided to change some things up a little in the food department. We'll see if it works.

3. Speaking of food. Well, sort of. I have been staying off the scale because that thing is EVIL with a capital E. I actually weighed this morning expecting the absolute worst. Imagine my surprise when I was down 3+ lbs from the last time I got on the bad boy a few weeks ago. Nice. I've also shut down my cupcake addiction and haven't had one in almost a month or maybe longer now. Anyway, if I could just give up the weekly trips for Froyo (cake batter w/sprinkles and a cherry on top!) that would be great!

Motivational Monday

This is the start of a new training week for me. It's also a much tougher week than I have had on my schedule for marathon training. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. After a few workouts that were less than stellar or where I failed to reach the goal it makes staying motivated slightly tougher. BUT I am up for the challenge that faces me this week, both on the track and the mileage. I can do it.

So, to help keep me motivated I am going to remember my goal. The big goal, big picture as well as the small goals.
Big picture - marathon
The inset -  track workout

I know where I am going. I am going after that goal. I will succeed.

Do you have a goal for the week? Month? Year?
Share it with me so I can cheer you on!

The Road to Indy - wks 7 & 8

Time is flying or at least in marathon training. In the last 2 weeks I've already done my 15 and 16 milers! Crazy but I am enjoying it and really look forward to race day. So, how exactly did the last 2 weeks go???

 Week 7 
Monday - 4.07 easy (38:42) w/striders. Had a sick kid at home so this was done solo in the middle of the day.
Tuesday - track day. 8 mile progression run. Goal was to start at 9:50 and get 10 seconds faster per mile.
9:44/9:41/9:17/9:26/9:11/9:13/9:00/9:14  Missed the goal but still a decent workout (in a downpour!).
Wednesday - 4.01 easy run (38:59) soupy outside even at 6am for this one! Went back to BeautyHunters bootcamp with the girls in the evening.
Thursday - rest
Friday - track day. 2up/8x200 hill repeats/2 down. Learning to LOVE hills!
 Saturday - 15 miles. 2:36 This run was painful. It was hot, it was slow and I never wanted to be done with a run so soon. Stomach issues arose (more on that soon) and I struggled from mile 4 to the finish.

Week 8 
Monday - 4 easy (actual 4.10/39:57) met the girls at 5am!
Tiesday - 1up/5 mi tempo/1 down - disaster morning! Stomach issues in mile 1 of warmup. Goal for tempo was 8:40-8:30 BUT I only managed 4 miles tempo around 8:53 overall pace.
Wednesday - 5 mi easy (46:38) went to WNRs Elite Chocolate Run! Fun run w/Angie and Kelly.
Thursday - Rest
Friday - track day - 2up/6x200 hill repeats/2 down Still LOVING hills!!
Saturday - 16 mi easy long run. (2:37) This run could not have gone better. Goal pace for long runs changed after some issues last week w/my stomach. So, coach said not to go faster than about a 10 min/mile.
9:58/9:48/9:55/10:03/9:52/9:57/9:37/9:48/10:00/9:53/9:42/9:44/9:49/9:43/9:36/9:34

First, let me go over the stomach stuff. Y'all know (if you've been here a while) that I have serious issues sometimes w/my gut. I FINALLY went to the dr. Hopefully things will be straightened out asap. I had some bad issues last week. Once last week (during my tempo run) I got sick and had gut rot in the 1 mile warmup. That has never happened but I dealt with things and moved on. My run wasn't stellar but I had a decent workout and logged all my miles for the day. After having issues again during my long run the same week I finally made a dr appointment. We have determined a plan of action.

When my coach put hills on my workouts for a few weeks in a row and told me that would be the case for a while I was first dreading those workouts BUT I love them now. Seriously, I was (probably am a little still) so weak at hills but these repeat workouts are helping me become stronger in that area.

I still want to tackle both my progression run and tempo again and meet those goals, but for now I am happy enough with how those two workouts went. I've had a chance to look back on them and while the goal wasn't met and situations happened I still managed to hit some great paces and log miles.

Long runs - that 15 miler was brutal. There is so much I could say but it was bad and I'm just thankful for great running friends. My 16 miler this past weekend was the opposite and I have never been happier to run 16 miles. From start to finish it was everything I could have hoped for. I know not every run will be bad, I know they won't all be great but I know that I am thankful for every time I am able to lace up and make my legs move.

37 miles logged week 7
38 miles logged week 8

Week 9 is so far going great! It's a down week for me as far as mileage goes. I will have a recap of that hopefully on Sunday, if not look for another 2 week recap next week.

How is YOUR training going??

The Road to Indy - weeks 5&6

I pretty much think that week 5 of marathon training is a blur. It may be because week 6 was awesome for me. I am really enjoying each training day. When I get my training schedule from my coach via email I get super excited but sometimes even nervous. Week 5 was a normal week and I had a few hiccups but when I opened the email with week 6 and 7 training in it I was giddy with excitement. I had new workouts on the schedule and while intimidating as first I grew excited to get the new workouts done.

Week 5 - total mileage 26 mi
Mon - easy 4 mi - I did 1 mi on the TM before going to BodyPump and the other 3 outside after.
Tues - track day! 6.31 mi - 2mi warm up /2x200s (:53/:48)/1x1 mi (7:55)/2x200s(:55/:52) Goal for this workout was :55 for 200s and 8-8:10 for the mile. I hit it. :) 2 mi cooldown
Weds - 4 mi easy
Thurs - rest
Fri - 4 mi easy
Sat - race day, total mileage was to be 10
5k didn't go as planned as per my recap. I only managed a total of 7 miles making me short for my total on the week but still had a good workout.

Week 6 - total mileage 36 mi
Mon - met the girls for my 4 easy mi early
Tues - track day! 7.5 mi total - 2 mi warmup/3x1 mi repeats (8:02/8:00/8:00)/2 mi cool down; goal was to hit repeats at 8:05-7:55. I had hoped to hit the lower end but since I was consistent I felt good about it.
Weds - 5 mi - met the girls early for a partially rainy easy 5 where I was almost hit by an SUV!
Thurs - rest
Fri- hill repeats! 2 mi warmup/6x200 hills/2 mi cool down (total mileage 5.6)
Sat - 14 miles! I love long run Saturday. Got 14 miles done in 2:14 and felt great.

I was so excited on Sunday when I looked back at the last two weeks. Even though I missed mileage and had a bad race in week 5 I was super excited about how all my runs went for week 6. I know I will have good/bad but my goal is to grow through the bad and still remain proud because of all the progress that  leads to the good. Makes sense!? 36 miles may seem like a lot to some but not much to others. For me it's a great number. It's my longest mileage week in a long time but won't be for long! I'm really happy with how much progress is being made and still really excited about being 6 weeks into marathon training.

This was after my long run on Saturday. I enjoyed a delicious breakfast with friends post run (cinnamon raisin french toast and bacon..yum!!!) and it almost made me forget about the nasty chaffing on my side! Ouch. Guess I forgot the BodyGlide there. It's crazy how happy one can be about getting up at 5am on a Saturday (and 4 a couple times through the week) to get training done!

Are you training for any big races? How's training going?