Putting it into perspective

Marathon Training Week 13 Recap

This week was full of ups and downs training-wise. It was a busy, emotionally draining week work-wise, and a sleep-deprived, physically exhausting week parenting-wise, so I guess it's no surprise that training wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Monday was rest day since I had both a long run and a triathlon to end last week. I probably COULD have done yoga...but I really just wanted to do nothing. Work kind of sucked today though. I've been picking up some pieces of things that other people should have dealt with, which irritates me to no end. So I should have probably gotten my "Namaste" on, I was a grumpy Gus all day long!

Tuesday was another busy, frustrating day at work, compounded by the fact that Logan still isn't feeling well and has been waking up several times a night. I knew getting a work-day run in wasn't going to happen, so I posted in the Mom's Run This Town group to see if anyone was up for an evening run. Thankfully my neighbor Jen was...she also has a sick kiddo at home and really needed to get out of the house. We met up for a nice four miler up to Turtle Lake and back. This was my first time running with her, so I'm was a little nervous about things, "am I too slow, am I too fast, what if I have to fart, is my headband on straight?" you know, all the normal stuff you think about when running with other people. But, we just started running and chatting and not worrying about pace (or bodily functions). The weather was just perfect and it felt good to have my mind on something other than work or family (although we talked about both). When I got home I checked my Strava App and noticed we held just over 9 minute miles...my fastest run in awhile. Never underestimate how much a running buddy can push you to achieve great things!

Wednesday was my most frustrating day at work. I was tired (see the Logan scenario from above) and grumpy (see the Monday scenario from above), and really needed a run to clear my head...but I was also totally unmotivated. I had 8 on the plan, it was sunny out, I had a free afternoon, but I just couldn't get excited about it. I forced myself to change into my running clothes hoping that would get me into the spirit, and it sort of did, so I headed out. It really was glorious; sunny, warm, not too crowded, perfect conditions. I headed down for an out and back on East River Parkway, thinking a change of direction from my normal Wednesday route might spark some excitement for the run. But, after about a mile in I still felt horrible. My feet hurt, my knee hurt, I was grumpier than ever. I stopped and took a swig of water, and noticed how beautiful the river looked in the bright sun...I mean seriously, I needed to snap out of it, I was outside running on an awesome spring day, what could possibly be stopping me from enjoying this?!? I took a picture of the river since it was too pretty not to share and got back on my way. I managed to hold a steady pace until about the three and a half mile mark, then I started to cramp up and decided to turn around a little earlier than I planned. At this point I figured any mileage was going to be a victory. As I've done on runs past, I started making deals with myself, "just run to the lamp post, then you can walk to the park bench". I did this for the next three miles until I got to the stoplight that stands about a mile from my office. I told myself, "you're running this last mile if it kills you". Well, it came close, but I made it back alive. As with all runs, I was glad I had gotten out to do it, even though pretty much every step of it sucked. I still felt like I had accomplished something the "old me" would have given up on before even getting out the door.

View of the Mississippi and the Franklin Avenue Bridge from the East River Parkway Trail. The view was the best part of this run today!

Thursday I met with my Physical Therapist again. I had really been looking forward to seeing her, but my excitement was tempered after the horrible run of the previous day. We chatted a bit about how things were going and I told her all about my successful long run-into-triathlon transition from last weekend, that I had a nice fast run on Tuesday, and that I totally screwed the pooch on my run yesterday. She smiled and said she wasn't surprised. She said that after all the adrenaline from the long run and racing, partnered with the fast run on Tuesday, added to the fact that I was sleep deprived and work-stressed, it was no wonder I had an off day. She told me she was happy I made it through the run and that I stopped and walked when I needed instead of trying to push through it and potentially injure myself.  We worked a little more on my cadence and she added some lunging and jumping exercises to my routine. I told her that I had four miles on my plan today and she suggested I either skip it, or just take it super easy, and maybe only do 2-3 miles instead. This was great to hear as I still feel a little wary when I go "off-script" from my training plan. I know I need to listen to my body and do what is best for me, but it is nice to get "professional" validation sometimes as well. So, instead of a 4-miler, I got home and suggested to Kayley that we do a training run for her upcoming 5K. We ran to the park, which is exactly one mile from our house, played for a bit and ran back. She was a trooper and ran the whole time for both miles. I forgot to time the first one, but we did the second one in 11:19. She wanted to "race" at the end of the run. She kept telling me "Mom, when we get to our street we need to run as fast as we can". So we did, and she beat me...I knew she was dogging it a bit that whole time! It was good to end a run with a smile on my face, a perfect respite from my bad running mood!

The cutest running buddy around!

Friday I kind of blew off my training plan again. I was supposed to swim, but I got busy with work, and we had Wisconsin in town for a dual meet, so by the time I even thought about getting my swim in, the meet was starting. I hate the feeling of deliberately skipping a workout...I need to read this every time I think about bailing and remember how bad it makes me feel! I know that I need breaks every now and again, but skipping swimming is kind of inexcusable since it makes me feel so good! I think it was especially bad knowing that I wasn't going to be doing any exercise the next day either. Saturday the kids and I had planned to head up to Avon to hang out with my Mom, her sisters and some of my cousins at their annual garage sale. So my long run was postponed a day. I quickly got over my pity-party about the week and the skipped workouts though. It was so much fun reconnecting with family and seeing my kids make fast friends with my cousins' kids. Afterwards, we checked out the pool at the Andover YMCA. One of the swim team moms told me it was really fun there, and she was right. We had a blast splashing around in the leisure pool and going down slides. Until some kid pooped in the pool and we had to get out :( Oh well, after we got dressed we discovered that the Y had a community garage sale going on, so we check it out and found a pair of roller blades for Kayley...calling it a win!

I woke up early Sunday actually looking forward to my long run. I was admittedly nervous about the 16 miles I had in front of me, but the break from strict training the last few days had renewed my energy and I was ready to see what these miles had in store for me. I mapped out a long loop route thinking that I'd rather do that then the smaller double loop I tried last weekend. I strategically planned it so I would pass by a park or a gas station about every 4-5 miles, so I could take a potty break or fill up my water bottle. The weather was perfect. I was wearing my new Saucony Bullet capris, since I wanted to store some of the new homemade energy gel Kayley and I had whipped up on Thursday, and I also wanted to try to pack a PB & J after it fueled me so well last week. The first 10 miles were really strong. I took some energy gel at mile 5. It is really tasty and while it didn't provide the same kind of insta-kick I get from the Clif Shot Gel, I definitely noticed a subtle boost in my step. It didn't bother my stomach either. I put it in a snack-sized Ziploc and just bit a small hole in a corner of the bag and sucked it out. It worked pretty slick. If you are interested in trying  it out for yourself, you can find the recipe here. I substituted 8 ounces of raspberries for the pineapple. I also used it as the Jelly on my PB & J. This jar is approximately 10 servings!

Can't beat homemade energy gel...yummy and cheap!

I took a potty break at mile 10. I was shooting for the gas station I had strategically placed at mile 12, but couldn't hold out. Thankfully I happened upon some ball fields equipped with porta-potties and drinking fountains. I ate my PB & J and headed back to the trail. I felt good for a couple more, but miles 12-15 were a bit of a struggle. I took several short walking breaks, and maybe cried a little bit at mile 14. I hit a pretty good hill right before mile 15 and forced myself to run up it. I was happy I managed to dig deep and find a store of energy to push through and finished that last mile feeling  strong. A second PDR in as many weeks. I was tired and sore, but feeling really accomplished. When I got home the kids were playing and Kayley asked me how many miles I ran. I told her 16 and she said "That's good Mommy, you only have to do (counting her fingers) 10 more for your marathon!". I just smiled and said "Yep, that's right honey, only 10 more". It kind of put the whole week into perspective for me. No matter how I slice it, this horrible week put me that much closer to my goal...my new mantra moving forward is "Only 10 more Mommy!" Whether that's 10 more miles, minutes or steps, it works. Kids have an amazing way of making even seemingly insurmountable goals seem easily do-able.