[S]he Conquers Who Endures

Oh my. My back locked up after my speed run Wednesday. I took Thursday completely off all working out. I went to a general med dr. and luckily it seems like I'm just having severe spasms and no damage. He said I could do anything that didn't cause pain (including running). Usually my back loosens up after a mile or so of running. I could only put in 2.7 miles with walks (4 miles total) on this one. My back is completely locked and extremely painful. After my "run" I went to Athletico for a screening. The therapist jabbed her elbow into my lower back muscles, which was excruitatingly painful. I jumped off the bench a few times, tears were welling in my eyes, she had to remind me to breath. When she told me to get up and walk around, I could move much more fluidly!!! So I let her do the other side. :) She said no running this weekend. :( such a BUMMER!!! The silver lining is that this is forcing me to taper for Ragnar this weekend. I was probably going to log way too many miles this week and cause a RUNNING INJURY. Phew! I may have just dodged a bullet! Now how to keep sane with an entire weekend of not running!! I hope I don't loose my speed!! Definitely scheduling a massage!

Yay! My back is feeling much better!! Not 100%, but at least I can bend over and tie my shoes like a normal person!!! Ugh, but I somehow gained almost 5 lbs!! What?! If a pound is 3500 calories, I don't know how that is possible in just 2 days!! Maybe it's water weight? Who cares, I'll lose it...

I must admit, this run wasn't an "easy run". My ankles were stiff and cramping like mad the first 2.5 miles. Why my ankles? Maybe I have a different gait cause I'm guarding my back? Or maybe they've been resting too much? I don't know. I'm not holding myself to this run. I have been taking muscle relaxers to calm my back. Maybe that's it too. I think they stay in my system for a long time. I'm going to not take them for a day and see how I feel running. There's hope for running 35.6 miles Friday-Saturday at Ragnar!! :) 

Yay! I did 6, and my back is still okay!! :) It's weird, when I started my run, I get stiffness and cramping in both my lower legs (same thing as during my run yesterday). My feet slap the pavement hard when this happens and I can't stop it. My legs finally loosened up after 4 or so miles and then I was fine. I don't know what's causing it, and I hope it stops altogether!! 

I'm so thankful to be able to run again. I wish I didn't loose any fitness over a weekend of not exercising, but hey it could be worse. Towards the end of my run, there were medics putting a collar on a biker who crashed with other bikers right where I had just run past. The guy looked unconscious, I hope he's okay! The path is a dedicated bike path and it was pretty early in the morning. Near that same spot I had to dodge a couple runners running towards me on the right side of the path. It makes you wonder if those runners contributed to the crash by running on the wrong side of the road. 

Bikram to stretch out my back and legs. Ahhh, it felt good to go after having to miss last week. It was also a bit harder than normal. There were a couple of poses I sandbagged near the end because I didn't want to work my back too much. It's nice to start getting back into the swing of things!

Guess I lost some weight after yesterday's Bikram. I probably just lost excess water weight. :)

My back is so much better! And, nearly no lower leg issues!! I did an easy 1.25 mile warm up at 8:45 pace then 3x0.1 mile strides to loosen up the legs and see how I really feel (6:54/5:04/6:09 min/pi). These paces aren't probably not very accurate because I didn't make it all the way out of the city. Overall though, I didn't feel 100% but just because I was stiff, not because of pain! I think I'll be okay for Ragnar after all!!! :)

Ragnar Day 1

Starting out Ragnar on little sleep and not sure how my back will hold up beginning stuck/sleeping in a van for 2 days, with over 35 miles of running scheduled for me, and heat index of over 100. Well, no turning back now! Here's how it went down:

My 1st leg (2.7 miles/kinvaras/10:37 AM/not yet toasty) 7:49 min/mi

Okay they said to study your map and look for the signs on where to turn. I blast out of the gate running sub 8s. I wasn't sure what pace I should be running so I just went with what was comfortable. I was supposed to turn right on Villas road. I'm running on uneven gravel and glance up quickly to see a sign that has "Villas" on it. A runner ahead of me turns right so I turn right and ask if this is the right road because there was no race turn sign. He says "yeah", so I go with it. Kill 1 down as I pass him. I maintain a sub 8 pace, see no other runners and begin to wonder if I'm really on the right road. I'm at 2.5 miles and have a sharp turn ahead so I figure the exchange is just around the turn. I make the turn and all I see is more road!!! Well, and an intersection head. I'm lost!! I run to the intersection stop my garmin, call my teammates. I'm on "Villas-Hope" road!!! And, it ends up pretty far from the actual exchange. Not a good start especially with such fast splits! 7:35/7:52/8:00

My 2nd leg (6.3 miles/Pearl Izumi/12:43 PM/hot!) 8:06 min/mi

A longer leg, wearing my trail shoes. It's getting hotter at this point. I start out at low 8s. Not sure what will happen towards the end of my run but it feels comfortable. I realize during my run that I actually trained for this leg by adding trail runs to my training about a month ago. :) But then I enter the roadways. I begin to wonder if trail shoes were the best choice, please don't develop any knee issues! I begin to forget about my shoes and realize what a tough leg this one is. The roads are hilly (not as hilly as Nashville!) and it's hot with no shade anywhere! The wind picks up, and I think, well, at least it's cooling me off. But then I turn into the wind! Great! Oh wait, I just raced a 10 miler into the wind, I got this! Okay, now this run is combing 2 pretty tough recent races and I'm liking my mentality. I maintain low 8 min/mi pace pretty well throughout the run. Not too shabby! Splits were 8:10/8:06/8:00/8:22/8:03/8:00/7:51

My 3rd leg (5.8 miles/Pearl Izumi/6:51 PM/warm) 7:50 min/mi 

I'm feeling good, and our team is doing pretty well. This is the first time I have to run with my nighttime safety gear (headlamp and vest). I figured it would probably slow me down some, but at least it isn't as hot as my earlier leg. Well, I start out faster than my previous leg, I guess I'll just stick with it. It's comfortable! I realize I need to figure out this stupid headlamp. I couldn't keep it from falling down on my small head. I tried different positions and angles, but then just tucked it in my bra strap. We didn't officially need them until 7:30 PM. Maintained my pace pretty well. My splits were 7:51/7:49/7:47/7:51:7:58/7:43 

My 4th leg (3.9 miles/Pearl Izumi/11:14 PM/cooling off) 7:51 min/mi

Ahh, shorter leg. Okay, maybe tightening the strap and adding a hat will help keep this headlamp in place. At this point I'm not too worried with how my legs will feel tomorrow, I'm feeling great!! Shoot, my headlamp is still falling! Not as bad and at least this is a shorter leg. I'll get this figured out before my longest run with required headlamp! Wow, this is weird running with this thing. It's completely dark out and there are some parts you have to tilt your head down to avoid the pot holes. I feel so hardcore at this point!! This was a nice, faster run. A cop stopped me from crossing the street right before the end of my leg. The cars were stopped for us, dude, so not necessary!! Ugh, I was mad, but proud with my average time. I wanted to beat my previous leg time! This is getting exciting! My splits were 7:46/7:43/8:04/7:47

My 5th leg (7.1 miles/Wave Precision/cool temps/3:05 AM) 8:05 min/mi

I head into this leg a little more nervous. I haven't had a lick of sleep and it's my longest run. I tighten my strap even more to avoid headlamp issues on this one. I finally switch to my Wave Precisions for this longer, road run. I start out and my run doesn't feel as easy. Hey, these shoes don't feel as responsive! Hey, these are the shoes I normally run in, wait, I like my trail shoes better, they're firmer. Hey, if I find road shoes with a firmer sole than these I might be faster!! :) Cool, project when I get home. Okay, gotta battle through this for 7 more miles. I maintain my shoe frustration throughout my run, but I'm still pretty quick. I develop a greater appreciation for my trail shoes as I develop the same blister I got running Nashville in the same BARE spot! Wahoo, blister battle for the rest of the relay! P.S. Lulu reflective shorts are a hit on night runs, I got a lot of comments during my kills that I am very visible. :) My splits were 7:57/7:54/8:01/8:14/8:18/8:09/8:05/6:50

My 6th leg (4.9 miles/Pearl Izumi/HOT/8:48 AM) 8:30 min/mi

Okay, still no sleep. Ugh, the temps are supposed to be hotter than yesterday!! At least I have a mostly trail run and it's not too long. Ah, my blister doesn't feel quite as back in my trail shoes. I try my thicker socks to relieve some of the rubbing but not my toe box is pretty cramped. Oh well, maybe I'll develop my first black toe nail. My energy level is pretty low at this point, we haven't had any real food since subway the night before, and I'm so glad I decided on the foot long instead of the 6 inch, but still. I try to start out as fast, I'd love to average sub 8s for this relay, but it's just too hot and too tough. I slow my pace and feel like I'm running 10s through the sahara. I'm actually running closer to 8:30s and feel pretty satisfied with that. I haven't walked yet during the relay and start debating this in my head. The sun is just unrelently and there is NO shade!! No, I have to keep moving I will be fine just don't push too hard. I'm so thankful for the support from the other teams, they really pick up your spirits!! Splits were 8:23/8:23/8:35/8:38/8:31

My 7th leg (4.9 miles/Pearl Izumi/HOTTER/1:53 PM) 8:27 min/mi 

Last leg!! Okay, super terrified to start this one. Our van waited for one of our runners on a previous leg to hand off liquids and ice. It was getting so brutal we just pulled out our cooler and offered ice cold liquids to every runner that passed. Most of them took it. We iced down our runner near her 5th mile and she told us to wait for a guy she passed who was in bad shape. We met up with him and iced him down and gave him liquids. This guy was an ironman who picked up extra legs for an injured runner and he was completely run down and walking. We go to the exchange, find his team to let them know he is doing okay but walking. When we leave the exchange we see him coming in and are so relieved. He hits the ground at the exchange and my heart drops I hope he's okay but he's with help. Seeing that really jarred me. The people on our team said it's too hot for running, we need to do the run/walk method. I haven't walked yet, but I didn't like what I just saw. I'm shaking, about to start my final leg, haven't slept, had only a bagel and schmear for breakfast, and it's getting even hotter. I decide to run 10s and not walk. I start my leg just going comfortable. I decide to not look at my watch because it will somehow mess with my emotions. I'm in a groove and I'm just going to keep moving whatever pace. I'm under trees and feel my watch vibrate, 1 mile down 3.9 to go, just keep moving, you are comfortable, you ran Nashville in the heat, you've put in a few hot, FL runs, you Bikram. I'm doing it! My team hands me off cold water. I run with it, squeeze the ice cold water in my mouth and drop the bottle. I love you team. I have less than 2.5 miles left and 8 oz of gatorade on my belt. I will make it! I finally look down at my watch, I want to see if I'm close to having less than 2 miles left. I'm running 8:30s!! Holy cow! Motivation city!!! Then I round the corner, no shade. Shoot, bye, bye motivation!! I keep trucking, I'm okay. Oh great, I know this street and I know there's a pretty decent hill on it. Well, I'm tired, I could walk, it's hot. But, I know of the hills at the end of Steamtown I will be running in October. I guess this is a great training test of wills! I attack that hill. Collect about 3 kills from guys that look like they are in pretty decent shape and I'm on an ultra team so chances are I've put in more mileage than them. Motivation, welcome back! Okay, I'm into familiar territory. I'm finishing my final leg on my campus, which is even cooler since I have graduation next weekend. I round the corner and see the exchange. I have to put in a good final kick, I decide. Woah, where did those after burners come from, I hauled it!!! And, I'm done! NOT A LICK OF WALKING THE ENTIRE RELAY!!!! I'm so proud of myself! My splits were 8:25/8:38/8:30/8:25/8:19

It's not over. Our final runner has 8.2 miles to go and it's so hot!! Brutal!! We find him along the course hand give him water. He's looking strong and he's our strongest runner so I'm not too worried. We park at the end of the race and head to the finish. Wow, they had us park so far and my legs are stiffened up! We hobble towards the finish and spot our guy about 0.4 miles out. He looks pretty hot, we hand him water, I still have my running clothes on and have extra water so I run with him. It felt good, he's a faster runner than me and I was pulling him along carrying him extra water and his water. He's so tired and he asks where the finish is. I say, just around the sand dune. We keep moving. Finally! We see the tip of the orange Ragnar gate peeking over the dune. Almost to the finish, we know we can make it and hit the sugar sand to wrap up the race. He sprints ahead of me through the sand, and I have to fight the sand to cross the line. We finished!! This guy never walked on any of his legs either and we were so excited. We both crushed Ragnar. Our team finish with a 9:09 min/mi pace. I had the most mileage and was the 2nd fastest on the team. This guy was the fastest on the team and had 2nd to the highest mileage. I love competition! I finished 35.6 miles with an overall pace of 8:06 mins/mile. Not sub 8, but it was so terribly hot, and it is a BQ pace. Over 35 miles at a BQ pace!!! I'm not sure how that will translate to a marathon time, there's too many variables. I know it's great training mileage on tired legs, and I know I will be adding this to my motivation bank for future races. I'm finally making sub 8s a pattern, I'm taking my training to the next level, and I'm what, 18 weeks out from my goal marathon. I also broke 47 miles this week and my knees feel slightly sore, but mostly I feel injury-free. Now, what road shoes will be similar firmness as my trail shoes...

Rest day!! Oh, by the way. I weighed myself after Ragnar yesterday, I was 117.4! I lost over 5 lbs and I didn't think it was all water weight because I was staying pretty hydrated. I did have some pretty hefty stomach issues the last day and we weren't taking in nearly enough calories. I graciously indulged in a chocolate malt and double cheeseburger for supper that night. I usually don't recover on that kind of food but this one time, I will allow it. :) I woke up today with only muscle soreness in my calves! So happy I'm not injured from all that fast running! Also, I must say, this increasing my mileage thing is really helping me. I'm so glad I found this blog. The other runners who marathoners used to be in slightly better shape than me. I finished strong, they were absolutely beat. I am confident this is what works in making you a better runner!!!

Crossfit! Took it easy to recover from Ragnar and continue to allow my back to heal. Still a great workout though!

WOD:

10 rounds. 90 sec work/90 sec rest

10 kettlebell swings (18#)

10 burpees

wall balls (8#)

total wall balls: 160

Easy 5 mile run back from dropping off my car. I need to get out of these Wave Precisions! My feet are slapping the ground big time. 

AM speed work with coach. This is my first time doing speed work with a coach and a group. I wasn't super impressed. I was one of the fastest in the group. Where do the faster runners get their speed work done? There's gotta be something a little more serious...

1 mile warmup, drills, then 8x400m (6:52/6:48/6:40/6:32/6:51/6:28/6:39/6:34 min/mi). I felt pretty energized after this one. Good feeling when I wasn't sure what my recovery would be after running 35.6 miles this weekend. Oh, and we found out our team won 3rd place of the mixed ultra teams! That feels pretty good because I had the most mileage on my team so I definitely was a factor on placing. :) Can't wait to break in my new Nike Pegasus 29 later!

Ahhh, the Pegasus were a success! No feet slapping! I was planning on running 6 miles, but NOTHING hurt or ached so I just went for 8 at a slower pace. Apparently I'm like a ninja in these shoes, some guy turned to hoc a loogie and I had to jump over his spit! Haha. Another dude commented on my shoes while I was running. Now that's good motivation to stick with your run! :) 

I wasn't planning on running this one a little faster, but it felt good so I went with it. Instead of going to cross fit (my inner thighs are still super sore), I added 3x40 walking lunges, 3x20 pushups, and 5 mins of plank. I think my body is still recovering from Ragnar, but feeling pretty good. 

My first group long run as a pace group leader! I was supposed to take everyone 7 miles at 8:30 min/mi pace. I was planning on running 13 miles total so I kept everyone on pace the first 7 miles. I wasn't sure how I'd do keeping that pace for 13 miles carrying a water belt, but I averaged 8:21 min/mi for 13 runs! Yay boy! :)

My sleeping time the past week has been absolutely terrible! All my graduation events are keeping me up, but they are now over and I can work on better sleep. :) I ran a trail in MI (officially my location for 2 weeks hiatus). It was much more technical than I'm used to...fun times. The muscles in my feet and lower legs really felt this one! Ahhh, good work. :) 9:17 min/mi AP.

Ahhh. More sleep feels good! This run was more hilly than I'm used to. Was just going to do an easy run, and wasn't paying attention to my watch. Sub 9s is now "easy" running for me with hills to boot! :) Solid...

PM: crossfit!

250 m row

3x (10 goblet squats,  15 good morning raises, 20 pass throughs)

200 m run

WOD:

6 rounds

6x deadlifts (43#)

6x rows

6x hang clean

6x thrusters

6x pushups on bar

Phew! Tough workout! My body is tired! 

10 mile tempo run with my cousin. I normally don't run tempos with my water belt, but had too. The start and finish had a humongous hill! Perfect for training for the end of Steamtown. I thought out was into the wind, but realized I was sadly mistaken on the way back. :P Not too shabby, 8:07 min/mi average pace on tired legs! :) Now to make the decision whether or not to go to cross fit this evening...

PM Crossfit!

400 m run 

10 supermans

15 passthroughs

WOD: Chelsea!

Every minute on the minute for 30 mins:

5x pullups (green band)

10x pushups (knees)

15x airsquats

Your score is determined by how many minutes you can get through all the exercises on the minute.

My score: 30!!! Yay! I had a perfect score! Everyone in class was cheering me on. Not bad after a 10 mile tempo run! :D 

Easy run! My legs are sooo sore from Crossfit yesterday! :) This mid-morning jaunt was just what I needed to get the blood flowing. I love feeling less sore after these runs. :)

PM workout: Crossfit was too much legs for me. Yes, I will partake of yoga on the beach! Awesome, found my zen, easy stretch-out workout followed by a beautiful lighthouse sunset. :)  

My sleep last night was terrible! I went to bed at 10:30 pm, enough time to get 8.5 hours of sleep. Then I laid there for 2.5 hours and finally feel asleep around 1 am. I have congestion in my chest and a dry cough followed by late night hunger pains. Oiu! What's going to happen on this speed run with my cousin?! Well, we were going to do 0.5 mile repeats after a 1 mile warm up. 0.2 miles into the first repeat, I knew my lungs weren't going to take this. I have 5 tons of rocks taking up shop on my chest. So, mid-repeat I thought it would be smarter to drop to more 400 m repeats. I think my lungs can handle that. We ended up doing 9x400 m repeats with 0.1 mile walking recoveries. I felt nice and worked but not over worked. I didn't pay too much attention to our pace, just went according to how it felt. My paces were: 6:39/6:27/6:37/6:35/6:30/6:12/6:23/6:27/6:53 min/mi. Oh my gosh! One extra repeat, chest congestion, leg soreness from 450 squats Tuesday, and faster than with the coach last week! Awesome!! :) Why is it that when you feel like the run is hard to do you feel like you are no longer fast? Next on agenda, defeat self doubt. :) 

Short, easy shake out run before my 15k race tomorrow. Slow 1.5 mile "warm up" followed by 3x0.1 mile strides (5:47/4:56/4:53 min/mi) - bold are PRs for me! I think this is the first time I did strides in my new Nike Pegsus's, and it felt really, really good on my feet and legs. That makes me happy! The weather looks like it will be perfect tomorrow, the course is a bit more hilly than Chi races, and I have congestion in my chest. But hey, I seem to love challenges so why not go all out... :) Wish me luck!

Awesome race!! I was targeting 7:30s (PR) for this race a couple weeks ago. After a hard workout week and getting chest congestion, I wasn't sure if I could handle this...well, I did and I PR'ed...AGAIN! The end was so tough because I could hardly breath, but I conquered this gently hilly course! I keep improving and a BQ in the fall is looking more and more feasible! :)

After the race I topped off my mileage by adding 5 extra miles. I broke 50 miles per week this week! Another first for me! I feel great, and my running is just getting better and better. I love this new plan I'm on! :) 

Technical trail run. Fun, easy pace to shake out my racing legs. The terrain was pretty difficult to maneuver on sore legs, but my legs felt good at the end of the run. Early morning runs are so rewarding!

Easy run! Was easy!! Rolling hills, my training program said to target 8:45s pace, my AP was 8:36 min/mi. I felt like I was a puppy galloping in the meadows. Normally this pace feels so much harder!! I'm one happy runner right now. :) Can't wait for my first ever set of hill repeats tomorrow! Got my hill in sight...

PM Crossfit.

3x5 front squats (max: 88 lbs)

WOD: 6 rounds for time

20 yd overhead carry (43 lbs)

10 power cleans

20 yd overhead carry

20 deadlifts

This felt good! Good work on my core and upper body. :) 

I love hill repeats!!! I took a hilly course out to this really steep (for me) hill. Then ran up and down that hill 4x. The first repeat didn't go so well. I got 60% up the hill then had to walk cause I went out way too fast. I tried sprinting down the hill to work on breaking down my quads (simulate Steamtown), then 3 times up no stopping!!! :) According to my watch the elevation gain was 112 ft over 0.25 miles. The smaller hills on the way back after the repeats felt like cake and I pulled a sub 8 mile at the end of my run. Awesome workout!!

PM Crossfit

Ring rows

WOD: Helen

3 rounds for time

400 m run

21 kettlebell swings (25 lbs)

12 pullups (green band)

Time: 8:38 (1st place in class!!!) 

Recovery run. According to my training schedule for running a 3:30 marathon, I should be running recoveries at a 8:45 pace. This is the 2nd recovery run this week that I have to consciously slow myself down! Only a month ago I was running recoveries around a 9:00 pace. What is happening?? It seems like every good race I run drops my training paces a good amount. Why does one run have that much of an effect? Is that mental? 

Finished up this morning's workout with 5 mins of planks and some ab work. 

PM Crossfit: 3rds FGB format (one exercise for one minute followed by one minute of rest at the end of the round)

situps

box jumps (20")

sumo deadliest high pull with kettle bell (30 lbs)

row for calories

pushups 

Score: 406! Highest for the day of everyone by 7!! :) 

Don't even look at my sleep time!! I ate terribly yesterday too. I knew this run was going to be tough because of it. I ran with my cousin and we decided to take a slightly different route which meant 2 added hills in the beginning, and a terrible hill and steady climb in the middle! After box jumps and hill repeats this week, my calves were spent. I got a pretty strong urge to stop, but didn't. I felt pretty good about my self for completing a decent run despite the circumstances. I'm excited to go back to Flatlandia (aka Chicago) and test out my new legs! AP 8:06 min/mi

Wow! I paced the 8:30s of my running group for 9 miles. It was hard maintaining an 8:30 pace we probably did closer to 8:25 pace. After we dropped a runner a new running friend who is also trying to BQ ran the last 6 with me. We ran the last 6 at BQ pace accidentally!! It wasn't super easy but we were still able to talk a little bit. This run was a PR for me. According to my records, my fastest 15 mile training run was a 9:40 pace. Today's run was a nice 8:13 pace!! Wowza!!! Oh, and 55 miles is by far my longest mileage week EVER!!! I feel so great! I really want to race the last 6.2 miles at Steamtown, not just survive!!! :)