Indianapolis Marathon - Week 12

Well, this should be short.

5 Miles.

5 Miles in a week of marathon training. Not good, Sara. Not good at all.

But, I think it was just what I needed. As I mentioned in Week 11, the training is taking every ounce of energy I have. And, I think it's starting to take my mental prowess as well. :) So, I took a break. It wasn't totally intended, but it was totally appreciated.

Here was the plan...

Monday - rest (plan = rest)

Tuesday - rest (plan = 7)

Wednesday - 5 miles (plan = rest) 

Thursday - rest (plan = 7)

Friday - rest (plan = rest) 

Saturday - rest (plan = 7)

Sunday - rest (plan = 14)

 

Total - 5 (plan = 36)

 

Yep. Not great. 

 

But, here's what I get done during a week when I only run 5 miles. 

 

Used a foam roller for the first time ever. Hurt so good is the phrase that comes to mind.

 

 

Cleaned and organized and purged and trashed a bunch of stuff from the upstairs in preparation for our Home Tour. 

 

 

 

 

Hung out with this cool kid for a day.

 

 

Let Josie make her own Blueberry Muffins for the first time.

 

 

Enjoyed coffee in bed while checking Facebook. 

 

Slept in. Three Times. Tom put the girls on the bus on Thursday!

Went to a Spelling Bee to support our Rotarians.

 

 

Hosted a "Bring A Friend to Rotary" Day for our club. 

Painted my nails.

Watched the girls get their nails painted.

 

Meal Planned for an entire week. Crock-potted some pretty awesome Chicken and Dumplings. Grocery shopped too.

Finished tons of laundry.

Celebrated a good friend's 40th birthday.

 

 

 

Oh yeah. And, worked and reared the children. :)

 

I smiled and nodded during the sermon at church on Sunday. Danny mentioned Matthew 11:28.

 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I've mentioned Phillipians 4:13 during my race recaps in the past...

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

I think Matthew 11:28 may be my scripture for this race. Give me rest. 

I feel like I've been missing out on a little bit of life these days. My camera is less full and the tiredness is making every little thing seem like a monumental task. This week, I reclaimed the mundane. I feel prepared to take on the last four weeks of training.

 

Indianapolis Marathon - Week 11

Lots of catch up posts tonight! Here's the recap of Week 11.

Tom was out of town for most of this week so a lot of time was spent on the treadmill, which led to my reintroduction to Desperate Housewives on Netflix. I forgot how much I love that show! A long time ago, our DVR lost a few episodes and I gave up on watching it. I'm glad I found it again as it helped pass some time!

I also helped Josie with her homework while running. As with all multi-tasking, I'm not sure I did a great job of either.

Here's the plan for the week...

Monday - rest (plan = rest)

Tuesday - 5 miles (plan = 6)

Wednesday - rest (plan = rest) 

Thursday - 6 miles (plan = 5)

Friday - rest (plan = rest) 

Saturday - 4 (plan = 5)

Sunday - 20(!) (plan = 20)

 

Total - 35 (plan = 36)

 

The treadmill did me in and I was very happy to get back out and on the road on Sunday. Saturday morning, the kids and I did the 1 miles fun run for the school foundation. Josie ran it all alone and I was very proud of her. Jack ran a lot of the way and did a great job too. Tessa varied between running with Jack and I and running ahead a few feet. 

 

I just found out that she actually came in 6th with a 9:17 pace! She tied with our neighbor. I'm really proud of her!

 

 

Jack pretended to be a transformer changing into an airplane most of the time. He only had me carry him twice. We finished just under 17 which isn't too bad for a three year old! :)

 

 

Finally, Sunday rolled around and I was up against my longest pre-race run of 20 miles. I have two of these this cycle. I was very nervous even though I know it's just two miles longer than last weekend's run. I had to be home by 10 too so that I could shower and get to church by 11 to help with check in. So, the pressure was on! 

 

I started slower than normal. It was very cold that morning and dark. I stayed on the best lit part of the path until the sun started to come up enough to see. Then, I basically ran the Pennsy Trail almost twice. For the first 10 miles, I listened to a podcast. Then, I switched to music and was again blown away at my paces! 

 

That's 8 miles at a sub-9 pace. And, with 6.2 miles left, I can finish it out at a 10:00 pace and still beat my initial goal of a 4:10 finish. And, if I can keep the 9:17 pace, I will finish under 4:05. Finally, if I can manage to get those first four miles around 9:30, I have a real shot of getting under 4. I haven't officially set my goals yet, but I'm getting close. I'm absolutely thrilled with my pace.

 

I hit some new records on my watch. Looks like my fastest watch times were back on 8/18 during my 15 mile run.

 

 

In all, the run felt really good. Well, good for 20 miles. It was a great confidence builder and really made me feel like I can do it. I know there are another 6 miles, but I'm not worried. 

 

 

I will say that the training is absolutely taking it out of me. I am utterly exhausted on my long runs. Beyond exhausted. It's all I can do to not fall asleep at every moment of the day. Tom went out for his long run after church and the kids and I hung out in the front yard since it was such a nice day. I passed out. :)

I moved from this blanket outside to a couch inside and literally laid around all.day.long. I felt a little bit like I did when I was pregnant with Josie. I felt so guilty for being tired and sick and laying around all day. Thankfully, this time around, I don't have the hormones that make me cry about it. But, still feel guilty nonetheless.


Another good week in the books. Only 5 left!

 

Indianapolis Marathon - Week 10

Well, week 10 is long gone, but I'm here to update anyway!

Monday - rest (plan = rest)

Tuesday - rest (plan = 4)

Wednesday - 6 miles (plan = rest) 

Thursday - 4 miles (plan = 6)

Friday - rest (plan = rest) 

Saturday - 18 (plan = rest)

Sunday - rest (plan = rest)

Total - 28 (plan = 32)

This was a good week. The six miles on Wednesday were rough as I mentioned in the last post, but I got through it. Then the four miles on Thursday was better at a 9:30 pace. Finally, my long run went great and was a confidence builder. Even thought I missed a run this week, I felt good about it.

The first 10 miles of my longest run ever this week was run with mom and her two friends, Hillary and Kristin. They are training for the Columbus Half and doing a great job. We stayed around a 9:30 pace and I really enjoyed the change in scenery. I ran past a lot of my high school spots. 

Once I was on my own for the last 8 miles, I popped in the headphones. I was surprised at the boost in energy once I did that. I laid down some pretty impressive times for me in those last 8 miles, especially considering how non-great I felt when my friends left. 

Do you see those two sub-9 minute miles? Do you see how I ended with 9:08 and 9:09 miles? Do you see how I ran for almost 3 hours? I'm really working hard on the negative split thing. I really think that this will help me finish the marathon strong. We'll see!

I ended feeling pretty darned good. Of course, this didn't last long. I stuffed my face with pulled pork and watched our sweet five year old nephew open some presents and then I slunk off to the basement to sleep it off. After two hours, I felt relatively human again and joined the living for an OSU party with great friends. I slept another three hours on Sunday though. Marathon training makes for a sleepy Sara!

Indianapolis Marathon - Week 9

I totally owe a post for last week and I totally don't have the time, energy or desire to write it. I got in all the miles and all the runs including a 16 miler on Sunday, of which the first 10 were with mom. That was not the only milestone hit that week - I also totaled 30 miles for the week. I was pretty happy with myself!

Today is the first day in this training cycle that I am still sore on Thursday. Last night's 6 miler didn't feel good on the legs and was slow. I'm hoping to feel better by Saturday for 18. I get to run the first half of that with mom and her running friends so I'm happy about that! 

Still plodding along and still seems doable but I'm losing my enthusiasm for the whole thing. I'm sure it's just a mid-cycle rut. And soreness. And tiredness. :)

Edited 09/23/13...

Here's what I specifically did in Week 9...

Monday - rest (plan = rest)

Tuesday - rest (plan = 4)

Wednesday - 4 miles (plan = rest) 

Thursday - 5 miles (plan = 6)

Friday - rest (plan = rest) 

Saturday - 5 miles (plan = 4) - this one was slow and hilly but with Tom :)

Sunday - 16 miles (plan = 16) - 9:37 pace

Total - 30 miles (plan = 30)

Here's the beautiful view of the lake I left to run at 7AM.

 This was actually a 16 mile run in that amount of time. I lost my satellite signal for about 1/4 mile.

I bought GU packs in bulk this week too. I'm up to around 4 per long run now.

 

Indianapolis Marathon - Week 8

Well, the streak is over. I missed miles last week. A lot of them. And, I really have no regrets. I think I needed a mental break and the hills in Kentucky are no joke. Here's the weekly recap...

Monday - rest (plan = rest)

Tuesday - rest (plan = 4)

Wednesday - rest (plan = rest) 

Thursday - 4 miles (plan = 4)

Friday - rest (plan = rest) 

Saturday - 4 hills & 1 mile hike - heck yeah I'm counting that! (plan = 4)

Sunday - rest (plan = 12)

This week, I took the pull back plan to a whole new level. I decided before I went to bed on Saturday night that I wouldn't run Sunday and I wouldn't feel bad about it. And, I didn't. We were in Kentucky on a family getaway and running would have meant three things...

1. Getting up early and still missing breakfast with the family

2. Shredding my legs on the hills 

3. Being tired and grumpy for the five hour drive home 

Not to mention, I had no way to drink water on the route and it was hot. I made the right choice. I'm sure of it. No regrets.  

This week will be better. Not worried about it. (OK - I'm a little worried because I have 16 miles on Sunday!) 

Here's a shot from my run on Saturday. It really was beautiful even with the hills and the heat!

Blech

I have already been dreading winter and summer isn't even over. (I realize I need an attitude adjustment.) I just saw this on my news feed. I hope they're so wrong. 

Indianpolis Marathon - Week 7

This week was one for the record books! Not only did I run my longest run ever (yet) - 15 miles... I also ran 27 for the week which is the most ever (yet). And, it was yet another week in which I ran every mile and every workout. 

Monday - Rest (Plan = Rest)

Tuesday - Rest (Plan = 4)

Wednesday - 3 miles (Plan = Rest) I set out with good attitude and a good clip on this one but my stomach had other plans. I felt awful after mile two and barely finished three. 

Thursday- 4 miles - Hills (Plan = 4)

Friday - Rest (Plan = Rest)

Saturday - 5 miles (Plan = 4) I had to make up my mile from Wednesday and had my neighbor's company on this run. It's so much better running with someone!

Sunday - 15 miles (Plan = 15)

I have to say that this is one of my proudest weeks of running. I'm sure there will be more to come, but I was dreading this week a little because it was really the first week that is outside of what I have done in the past. I was very nervous that 15 would feel awful and that I would be sore and achy and tired after 27 miles in the week. 

Instead, I feel good. Tired for sure, but good. All 15 miles felt good today with the exception of some foot issues around mile 8. My right toes just felt awful - kind of like a cramp, kind of like a burning sensation. I'm off to Google that after I finish here. I was able to stop and stretch a bit and the pain diminished thankfully. 

I did lose track of my overall pace because of my new watch. (Side note: I really like it. The Garmin Forerunner 10 in purple, of course! It's super lightweight and very accurate based on the mileage markers on the trail.) I do need to work on the display though because it was showing the elapsed time and elapsed mileage and my math got a little fuzzy so I wasn't able to keep track of my pace. But, the beep at each mile is loud, so I was able to see each mile's stats. I like to see the time for each mile though so I can slow down or speed up when needed. Apparently, it has a setting that allows you to set a goal pace and then it beeps at you to slow down or speed up. I did manage to do negative splits though and my last two miles were some of my fastest, which is awesome. I finished with an average pace of 9:41. I'm hoping to finish the marathon at 4:10 which is a 9:32 pace so I think can do it. 

Today, I was able to really put my mind on auto-pilot and not worry too much about watching my watch and keeping track of miles until the end. At one point, I remember looking down and thinking, "Hmm... 11 miles. Wow, that was fast." Plus, I was running as the sun came up and was proud of myself for getting out of bed on a Sunday at 6AM to run. I did it on Saturday too. Overall, it was just a good run. 

I also received news that my mom officially signed up to run the first half with me! This is a good race to do that because the first half of the marathon is the same as the first 13 miles of the half. It cracks me up because she's training with friends of mine from high school. Who would have guessed that 15 years ago!?!? I'm hoping this helps with the first two hours of boredom during the race. She ran 7 on Saturday morning and I was super impressed with their pace!

I'm glad this is a step down week for me in mileage. I'm worn out! :) But, it's only for a week and it's still 24 miles or so. I slept from 8:30 (yes, on a Saturday night) until 6 this morning and took a 2 hour nap this afternoon. I plan to rest up this week too! I'm one tired girl!

I'll leave you with this picture. I was woken up from my nap this afternoon to this little Smurf-boy innocently watching me sleep. At least he's color coordinated!