Can't Win Them All

No surprise the blogging hasn't been the best but all for good reason. Two weeks ago we were petting sitting for some very needy, but adorable dogs. I didn't have much home downtime and, outside of the home downtime, was very structured and scheduled and for, well, running. That week of running went fairly well from what I remember. It was (and is kind of) early on so the long run was only ten and the speed sessions below six miles. 

Then the following week my mom was in town. The training this week was a little harder to get in. I did a spadework at an odd time before she arrived which went fine, but wasn't my best. I bailed on an indoor tempo because I was feeling pretty poor and didn't want to ruin a day with mom. That is, I'll admit, somewhat of an excuse but not a totally untrue one. I've definitely had runs that went bad that just ruin the full day (see below regarding today). I got the miles in just not the work. And then the long run was a bit short (ten instead of twelve) because I felt guilty being gone too long with her here. I also slept like ass before that one, tossing and turning in my head about what to do and how much time to take such that I was up at 6am and said just go and did.

This week training has been up and down. My easy runs have gone pretty well. One was a little short (seven easy miles in a work week is a mental hurdle that I haven't gotten to handle yet) but they all got done mostly inside because of the massive rain we had. My speed session Tuesday was inside and went fine with paces being close to prescribed. But today...

Today was a planned 5 mile tempo and I pretty much just screwed myself over from go. We made plans to go out with friends and from food choices (curry which wasn't carb-y enough) to drinks (I have to remember I'm in my forties) to a late night (11:30?!?) the set-up was gearing towards failure. And then I wasn't paying attention to the temp or humidity and needed to go across town for an appointment so went out for the start after 9am. It was 74 degrees, with 81% humidity at the start. I have no idea what it ended at other than too much. I still started and honestly, after the warmup and shoe change,I wasn't feeling great, but I wasn't feeling awful. Oh if only I knew.

I went out for the first mile at 8:00 because that's easy math and, even though my coach says to do it at 8:06, I'm stubborn about that. I also hit is right on the dot at 8:00 and during that mile and the change over, I felt good. It didn't seem like a terrible effort, I didn't need to adjust my form to keep it and I even thought, okay maybe I can do something at this pace that's pretty neat (meaning run a marathon). But oh man, then about a quarter into the next mile I started to tell I was having issues and I was going to go to two and turn back, but went 1.5 and knew I needed to head back. I continued to just over heat, stopping to collect myself. I had to get back to the car so I did try to re-focus and got in a third mile around 8:06 (mile 2 was 8:15) but once I hit the park and my car, I pretty much died. I was incredibly sweaty and did some walking and then thought about a start-up again but I felt like I was going to be sick. So then I took some shade time and planned to do a cooldown and was, again, feeling like I was going to be sick so even called it on that. I realized I just needed to get into the AC of my car and did just that at full blast. That made me feel a bit better and I went to my appointment and finally ate afterwards.

I still feel pretty crummy in that I did something stupid both yesterday and today and my body is trying to take a leave of absence from me. I know what I did wrong and I need to remember that and try to gauge what is important and when for me so I don't have such an epic fail again.

Tomorrow is a long run so hopefully that will go well enough to feel a little bit back on track.

Training Week July 5th-July 12th

I figured it would be fun to long-form some of my training weeks, mostly the workouts to see how this block goes. 

The easy runs this week went fine. I did one early morning and then one in the evening. The morning run was only four which was so nice because I didn't feel rushed in the AM. The evening one was a little harder but that was due to some house tasks we had to do beforehand, Both of these were on the tread for various reasons mostly being lazy

The speed workout was on Tuesday and it was toasty, 83 degrees with a real feel of 87 degrees. It was not supposed to be that warm but so it goes. The workout was short, 1 min on / 1 min off eight times so I was very hot and sweaty, but didn't feel unsafe. In the future, attention will be better paid and there will be shifts depending on the workout. The mins on were all between 6:34-6:59 which were faster than prescribed, but with how quick the intervals were I wasn't going to pay attention.

I had another speed workout today (Saturday) which was 3x1mi at marathon pace with .25 jog between the sets. My current marathon pace is 8:06 although my ever hopefully goal is an 8:00, but I'll try to pay attention to Coach. I got out fairly early which was good and the temp was lower with an okay amount off humidity. My mile splits were 7:42, 7:48 and 7:53 which were faster than prescribed but I felt pretty good. I wore supershoes which was a nice bounce. My goal was to hit the 8:00 pace and feel in control and not like I was overreaching and I didn't feel that even at these races so that's a win. It makes me exciting to keep reaching and see how this keeps going this block.

Reminder: it is week one. 😅

I'm jumping into this well after July 12th, but I think the long run the next day went well.

I See Trees of Green

And here we are: marathon training block. I think this is my eighth block, third with a coach. Each time is a little different and I go into each with different goals and this one is no different but I think I may be. 

For one, this is one of the biggest breaks between marathons other than the COVID years. I ended last year on a real low with everything including running and it took me a long time to feel motivated to try again. I am also older and, for once, am starting to recognize what that means in running and life. Perhaps it’s the perimenopause that I think I’m starting or just wisdom but it’s there and it’s changed some of my perspective. 

For this block I am hopeful for a PR but that may not be a BQ. I’m coming to terms with that although am not quite ready to give it all up. But I’m trying to focus on keeping the love of running alive in me and the drive to get out there. That drive used to come with the hard work and how much I could improve but I may be at a place in my life where those improvements are behind me. And that’s life. And okay. So I need to find another reason to get out there and, in that vein, I need running to be a joy and not a chore. 

Last year, at times, it felt like a chore and something I had to fight for and through. I don’t have that in me now and I don’t want that. I want going out to run to be easy even if I challenge myself on the run. 

So far I’ve found 2026 to be like that. I haven’t had my best races, in fact some of my worst, but I’m enjoying the day-to-day and am still looking forward to seeing what I can do which is something. 

I’ll have some race recaps (mostly my nearly dying) soon.  

This is My Island in the Sun

After a week in the Azores, we're back stateside just in time to start marathon training and just in time for a massive heat wave. Or I heard it's called a heat dome, maybe? Who knows, but I feel like this is The Sign for me that it's time to step-up. There is no way I can run after work in the weather that is coming. Heck, there's a chance I won't be able to run in the morning either, but it's a much better shot. So, here we go...

It is also worth noting that the return from vacation is always rough. For me, some of it is the loss of no more work, but more of it is the recovery from the travel and knowing what waits at work for the catch-up. I do love to take vacations, but sometimes I feel like the whack it causes to your routine can be trying. But what a first world problem. I am lucky enough to have the time and money to be able to take these trips.

So You Dreamt of Being a Pilot

I'm still in the in-between training blocks, but quickly coming up on the start of the new marathon build. I've signed up for the Maine Marathon October 3rd so that's the goal. The husband is running Chicago the week after and I think, for me, I need to be before or well after. For now this is the goal with some possibility of switching to something a bit later if things progress differently.

During this period, I am looking to get into a groove and find/keep joy in running and light training. I'm trying to do some work in the AM especially as summer creeps more and more present these days. I am also trying to not get uber-annoyed with the summer weather and, instead, embrace it and hope it assist in the fall. 

Which will also hopefully be cooler...

Overall things are going well. The runs feel good, a bit slower than usual, but that's okay. I still have some legs issues here and there but I'm trying to be more proactive to varying success. All in all, I'm using the in-between as set-up and I think it's going well.

I look forward to starting the block with its speed work and increase in mileage. I hope to run some of those harder efforts with the husband which will hopefully prevent the little fits of last block. I'm optimistic and that's kind of a fun place to be especially because I feel like some of the optimism is about the block and not the result. 

As I live this in-between, I am also trying to be aware of the fact that my goal may be different than it has been for years. There may not be a BQ at the current time in my future and I need to find a way to keep the motivation high and the I've strong. I think I'm building a pretty good foundation with that and, in a lot of ways, listening to Sara Hall's book really helped in that regard.

She aimed big so many times and she often missed out on the big goal of the Olympic team. But she was so amazing and successful and that one miss shouldn't define her to herself or anyone else. And that's for someone whose job is the sport. For someone like me it makes even less sense to be defined by what I didn't do instead of what I did in running.

So, that's my goal: to fall in love with the sport once again and the block and just... see what happens. We'll see how well I stick to that as things progress since it is easy to say that when I'm just sort of putzing around, but I'm also optimistic in that.

Barns and Blossom Recap

Overall, I’m gonna say that this was probably a B to a B minus day. My A goal was to run a 1:43, acknowledging that was right on the cusp of what I think was possible. My B goal was under a 1:45 which I use as a benchmark for how my overall progress is going and what might be possible for the future. My C goal was to have a race that I felt proud of even if the time wasn’t there. 

I was really excited about the hotel stay and, in a way that makes perfect sense, it was not great. The place was fine and I was able to get dinner, a shower and relax, but I had an awful sleep. I’m not sure if that’s because of a pending race or being in a hotel, but man I’m sick of that. So I woke up annoyed but kept moving forward and was trying not to focus on the bad of the night.

Side note: I need to wake up earlier before races and, therefore, before long runs.

I’m going with a B minus result because, although I did hit my second time goal, the race was pretty hard in the latter half. Like, why I am I out here doing this for fun hard. At my coaches suggestion, my aim was to stay at a 7:50 for those first 6 miles and I really tried to pay attention to doing that and did pretty well. The auto-lapping was not going to plan as the markers seemed off so I was paying more attention during the mile than usual.

Once I got through the first six, I aimed to do the pick up and then for the last three just kind of throw caution to the wind, but the body just wasn’t responding in that way. The route was mostly rolling hills once we got out of what was a slight downhill over the first couple miles and I think those eventually just got to me. I found I wasn’t able to rally as much as I was hoping I was going to be able to. I’m not sure if that’s just still coming back from less training or maybe the fact that the training, while I followed it well I think, for me to move forward from a 1:44-1:45 I need a little bit more. There is also always the fact that perhaps it’s time to shift some goals but that’s an evaluation for another day.

I finished feeling just blah. I got my medal and looked up my age group placement (5th) and then just…left. I felt disappointed again and I didn’t want to feel like that. I grabbed breakfast and, while wanting to hang out and relax, was interrupted mid-breakfast as the hotel didn’t get my late notice so then I just left. 

In chatting with my coach, I think the race wasn’t the loss that I feel like it was but was a measuring stick into how I may be able to set-up my summer. Plus, going into it, I felt like I had a good training block and, while that may not be a PR, having a block I enjoyed and stuck to is a success about a trying fall and winter. 

Unlike Bayshore, this race didn’t knock the motivation from me at least. If anything, it highlighted how important a good block is to a good race. 

What to Dream?

It’s been a while since I’ve felt prepared for a race and I sort of feel that way for this one. The training the last few weeks has sort of clicked and I feel like I’ve gained fitness. I don’t think I’m in PR shape but I also don’t entirely know what shape I am in. And after so many months, almost a year or perhaps even a year, of constantly hoping for that breakout I’m sort of chewing on the idea could this be it?

I guess I want it to be it but I also want to have a good day where I feel like I put it all out there and tried. I don’t know if that means a PR these days but I wanted to feel like if I was interviewed on a podcast I could say I did everything I could in the race.