[S]he Conquers Who Endures

I bought these new blue Pegasus for my marathon. But ending up buying a red pair that was just posted on Nike the other day. Kind of glad I did because these blue ones feel pretty stiff...and I am kinda a Pegasus expert. ;)

Also glad I stopped my run Sunday and hit the treadmill because of knee pain. I could tell my knee wasn't 100% at the beginning of the run. It was very tight but loosened up towards the end. I think I may have skated by an re-injury!

Running is getting tough for me. My mind is telling me some pretty crazy things that my legs seem to disagree with. Why do I feel like such a slow poke now when I just ran a 5k at 6:57min/mi average pace?! It makes it even tougher when now we have ice on the ground in Boston/Cambridge. I want to run my steady state runs and sprints outside but it's completely too dangerous. I started today's run outside and finished once again on the treadmill. I slipped on the ice and thankfully was able to grab a handrail before crashing to the ground. Now I'm getting terrified to run! Maybe the ice is at least forcing me to slow down. Ran 5.9 miles at 7:30 min/mi average pace outside. What? While did I feel like I was slow? I even slowed for the ice! Finished on the treadmill with 8x0.1 mile strides at maxed out treadmill (10 MPH/6:00 min/mi) with 1% incline. The strides were surprisingly easy. Every time I looked down I only had like 0.01 or 0.02 left to the end of the stride. Yet I still feel slow. I know this is taper madness but it's still perplexing me! Happy New Year. T minus 12 days and 7 runs left until marathon!

Bikram active recovery, and my birthday! Dangit, no running on my birthday!!! T minus 11 days until marathon!

Track workout. WU then 3x1 mile at 5k race pace with 0.5 mile recovery and CD. It's soooo cold out in Cambridge in the teens! And the roadways were icy so I was loving running on the indoor track, I felt so spoiled!! This is the toughest workout mentally in my schedule, and my last trackwork for the marathon. I just went with the fast girls and tried to hang, terrified it would be tough to keep up with them as usual. Well, it wasn't!! My splits were: 6:41.8, 6:42.5, 6:36.8!! All 3 repeats beat my previous PR of 6:48 that I hit this summer. They actually felt pretty relaxed. I could have pushed harder but I kept thinking it's better safe than sorry for Disney. This workout felt really, really good. :)

3.7 miles at recovery pace, 8:58 min/mi. A little faster recovery pace than what I have been targeting this round of training. I guess that means my legs are bouncing back finally. I honestly kept pulling down my pace every time I looked at my watch. Headed indoors to the treadmill to finish with 6x0.1 mile strides at 1% incline, 10 MPH/6:00 min/mi pace (the ice is still out and I don't want to chance slipping). It felt good to stretch my legs. T minus 9 days until marathon and only 5 runs left!!!

12 miles. Last double digit long run. Didn't go so hot. The back of my legs were in so much pain! I tried to run a comfortable pace, but couldn't find a pace that was. This was a similar pain that I had before Thanksgiving. I'm beginning to wonder if it's associated with wearing new shoes. They seem so much stiffer and harder than my broken in pairs. I'm thinking I will go with an older pair for the marathon that have around 125 miles. Definitely could not BQ today. 8:10 min/mi average pace.

6 easy miles on the treadmill at recovery pace. Switched back to my old shoes and my legs felt much better. Nixing the new shoes for the race and going with shoes that have 128 miles on them. I ran a 22 miler and 20 miler faster than BQ pace, so they gotta be the shoes to BQ in!! T minus 5 days until marathon!!! Hopefully my lost race pace tats will get unlost in the mail and find my mailbox pronto!!

Dress rehearsal! 7 miles with 2 miles at marathon pace. I've been running this week on the treadmill because I want to acclimate to warmer weather. Call me crazy, but I ran yesterday with a long sleeve shirt on the treadmill to make me sweat! Today was dress rehearsal. I have run half naked like 5 times in my life (sports bra and shorts), and plan on racing at Disney half naked (sorry, kiddos, but this is an adult sport!). It felt really good when I got hot. I haven't seen my body in a while of winter. I look cut! I look like a person capable of BQing!! :) 

Anyway, I'm not focusing (taper madness). My treadmill runs have been scaring me because they feel difficult! I'm running a 1% incline and recovery pace feels like I still gotta put some effort into it. I think I realized today that's because I'm a terrible treadmill runner. I ran 3 miles easy, 2 miles at marathon pace (7:53 min/mi), then 2 miles easy. The last 2 miles were faster pace than the first 3 easy miles but still felt too easy! I was watching tv then would bump into the handrail in front because I was running too fast. So, this was good. I am having a HARD time running recovery pace because it's too SLOW!! My body is not falling apart after all. :)

Last run in Cambridge before race. Next, (last!) 2 runs in FL. T minus 4 days until marathon! 

5 miles and recovery pace with 6x0.1 mile strides in FL...at 82F...95% humidity...in January!!! My first run after a flight is always crappy even though I wear recovery pants. Gotta flush the oxygen back into my legs. Not feeling ready to BQ on Sunday.

4 miles at recovery pace. Added in 3x0.1 mile strides to loosen up the legs and finished the last 0.3 miles at marathon pace just to see what it felt like. Still humid, but not hot and the legs felt much better!

I did it! I BQ-ed!!! It was tough. My legs felt dead pretty early in the race, like mile 10. It could have been because I slept maybe 2 h. Or because the humidity was so high even though the temps were in the 60s? It was a pretty weird race for me. I felt like I was running slow. I wasn't sure about what my pace was because my GPS watch was clocking miles before I got there (I think partly because the course was winding so I was probably truly running farther than a mile for a lot of the miles). Towards mile 20 I thought I felt pretty bad, but my splits according to my watch were still staying pretty consistent even though I thought I was slowing down a lot. Mile 22 I still felt bad but realized I didn't feel as bad as I normally feel this time in a marathon! And I have only 4.2 miles to go! I just focused on my form and trying to get one more mile with the pace I'd been going at. I got to a point in the race where I realized I needed to maintain a 9 min/mi pace and I'd BQ! That didn't mean I dropped my pace to 9 min/mi. By mile 25 I wanted to pick up the pace but my calves felt like they were on the verge of cramping and I was getting pretty dizzy so I just tried to maintain my pace. I started to pick it up a little when I heard someone yell "only a quarter mile to go!" I didn't let myself think I was going to BQ until I saw the finish line. I started cry smiling like a weirdo and picked up the pace a notch or two. Finished in 3:32:11 a crying mess so uncontrollable happy!!! Now I just hope I have enough of a cushion to get a bib to Boston! I'm not worried. I gave this race my all, but I did come out thinking with more training I can continue to improve!

My official race splits were:

5 miles, 8:06 min/mi

10 miles, 8:03 min/mi

13.1 miles, 8:02 min/mi

20 miles, 8:02 min/mi

26.2 miles, 8:06 min/mi 

This was and was not a tough race for me. The end was probably easier than the halfway point, and I felt like I actually "raced" the majority of the race. Increasing my mileage helped tremendously to make the later miles "less" painful. After 3 weeks of recovery I want to go with Pfitzinger's 12 week peak at 70 miles to train for Big Sur. I think it's a perfect time to bump up the miles because Big Sur is entirely for fun for me so I can afford to drop my training pace. That way I can hit a full 18 week schedule peak at 70 miles hopefully at faster paces! 

30 mins bike + 15 mins elliptical. Taking some time to recover after my awesome marathon PR. I have to admit, it's really hard not to run right now, my motivation is through the roof! My soreness is almost gone. It's helping to increase my protein, fruits and veggies, and get 9+ hours of sleep every night. I can't wait to hit the pavement, but I promised myself I'd wait until Saturday. Want to recover really well so I can hit this peak at 70 mile schedule to train for Big Sur!!

Oh, and bravo, Disney. Your marketing team is the most honest crew in the business. You dubbed Disney "the most happiest place on earth" and "where all your dreams come true" in a couple of tv commercials. These are both so true!!!! Haha. :) 

7 miles with my old pace group! 9:31 min/mi average pace. Yep, my legs are still sore. :)

7 miles at -5F feel like. Running with an old running friend. 8:41 min/mi average pace. Last mile was unintentionally 8:15 min. Want to stay slow to recover well!

I got the dreaded Boston flu!! It was so bad, I couldn't move! Feeling a lot better now, but I still don't have a lot of energy. Nice an easy slow run at 9:31 min/mi average pace.

7 easy miles on the treadmill. Recovery pace, 9:13 min/mi at 1% incline. Feeling strong post-flu and post-marathon!! And, I think I'm finally learning how to run on the treadmill! Haha. One more week of recovery paces, then starting my 12 week schedule to train for Big Sur! :)

5 miles on treadmill 1% incline at recovery pace, 9:13 min/mi. I can't wait to start my new schedule next week. Gonna keep it nice n slow this week to wrap up recovery. :)

3 miles at recovery pace on treadmill, 9:13 min/mi, 1% incline. Really jealous of Chicago right now, and a lot of my running friends didn't realize how warm it was today and either ran in winter clothes or indoors!!!

Weights to rebuild my musscalls... :) 

Easy run in DC with some tri guys I work with. It was a lot of fun, and even got to run in shorts! They spent the run trying to convince me to starting training for tris. I love to bike, but running has a special place in my heart. Then heading back we got lost, and ending up running some hills to get back to the hotel, just a small preview of what my new training schedule will be like. Average pace: 8:41 min/mi. (Meant to run closer to 9s, oppsies!)...

Crosstraining day. Went to the hotel "fitness center" and did some PT exercises and core work. Followed by 20 mins of elliptical. It feels good on the body getting back into a normal workout routine. :)

This was supposed to be another recovery pace run, but I ran with the tri guys again so we averaged a 8:26 min/mi pace. Haha. Guess my legs are bouncing back! I honestly couldn't tell my pace because my inner thighs have been sore since Tuesday from air squats. I think that's a good thing because I haven't felt the pain in the back of my thighs since Tuesday. I think the crosstraining balanced out my muscles. :)

Long run in the slush! I ran with some friends and their group. It was about the hilliest run you can get in Chicago, so I was loving it. It snowed the entire time, and even though the footing was pretty slick, it was such a gorgeous run. Average pace was 8:31 min/mi, 296 ft elevation gain.

Slow recovery run in downtown Chicago in the snow with my yak trax!! Sometimes the snow flakes were attacking me, sometimes I was chasing them. All-in-all a gorgeous, fun run!

10 min warmup, 4x(5:00 @ 7:24 min/mi, 2:00 @ 9:03 min/mi), ~1.5 mile cool down at 8:54 min/mi. All at 2% incline (thanks, Maxfli!). My first sub 8 pace since the marathon!!! It was a little tough but not too bad. It felt good to hit these paces again!!

8 miles from Cambridge to Commonwealth Ave in Beantown heading to Newton Hills! Ugh, I feel like such a slow poke, but this is my first week of training after taking a break following the Disney Marathon. I've also never really run too much of real hills, so hopefully this is just making me a stronger runner. It's very humbling to say the least! AP: 8:22 min/mi with 224 ft elevation gain. The last mile was flat and I hit it at 7:48, so maybe that is a testament to how hard the hills are?

I'm super excited for Saturday's long run. I'll finally run with the Cambridge running group. They are running and out and back mile 23 of the Boston Marathon to 13. :) Gonna finally get some real Newton Hill mileage on these virgin legs!!! 

Beautiful recovery run in the fresh powder. Super slow, but the footing was pretty slippery and I was pretty scared I'd break a hip. AP 10:05 min/mi!!! 

Indoor track workout with running group. Workout was supposed to be: 5-8x1000m at 5k race pace. Naturally I was targeting 8 repeats...typical. I lined up with the girls who target a 6:37 min/mi 5k pace. There I was, keeping up with the girls I normally keep up with or am a little faster than. First repeat was kinda tough, but I really am just going by their pace, I'm not sure what that is during the workout. Second repeat, felt ok. After the third repeat, a couple girls mentioned how fast I was running so soon after my marathon. Fourth repeat I tanked. I guess I realized my body didn't feel "normal" on these repeats.

I started running in 2009 and I feel like I still don't have a good handle on what I'm doing. My old running group weren't serious runners so there wasn't a lot to learn from them. Up to this point I'm mostly self taught (apart from what I'm learning on this blog). Now I have a coach though, so I asked him if I'm pushing too hard too soon. He said just listen to your body. I felt kinda bummed doing the minimum workout (5 repeats), with the last two at a much slower pace. I am glad I listed to my body though. In hindsight, what was I thinking after a marathon, flu, 2 weeks off and 1 week at recovery pace? Of course I'm not at the same speed I was when I was peaking.

I didn't even bother looking at my splits when I get home like I normally do. My splits were: 4:03.1, 4:04.6, 4:05.6, 4:12.5, 4:16 which were 6:31, 6:34, 6:35, 6:47, 6:51 min/mi pace which ended up being an average pace of 6:39 min/mi! Haha! not a PR, but very close to the pace I was targeting! I didn't even think about the fact that those girls were improving while I was recovering. Still not excited about how my legs felt, but pretty stoked I was staying under 7:00 min/mi pace at the end when I thought I was running closer to 7:30/8. :)

Recovery run before getting slammed by Nemo!!! Ran with a friend for a change. 9:17 min/mi AP. Solid, fun times with a friend and stuck my recovery pace. Finished up with a dash to Whole Foods to get stocked up on healthy food (I haven't had fish in so long)!! Then put in some time pumping iron to get these legs hill ready. 

Slow run during Nemo!!! It was so beautiful! The pace was slow since my group shifted the long run to tomorrow morning. But then I found out when I got home the long run tomorrow is cancelled! :( Oh well, I will get it in on my own. The footing was pretty terrible to run 15 miles today anyway. :)

15 mile hybrid run. 8 miles outside in the snow. I decided to end the run indoors because the footing was really, really bad. It was a great workout for stability muscles and working the glutes! Total elevation gain outdoors: 282 feet @ 9:48 min/mi pace. Yea, I have no shame admitting that. I normally run my long runs closer to 8:15 min/mi what of it?! :)

7 miles indoors on treadmill set to 2% incline starting at 8:25 min/mi pace, which actually felt so easy after running outdoors. I actually kept running into the handle bars! Haha. My training schedule said to hit 3-4 miles at MP. Kept the 2% incline and did 3 MP: 8:12, 8:05, 8:00. In the last mile I really needed to take the pressure off my hamstrings so went down to 1% incline for 9:00. Total elevation gain indoors: 680 feet.

Finishing up I immediately felt like I pushed too hard on this run. I'm really hoping I recovery quickly so I can have a quality week. I'll stretched really, really well and iced so hopefully that will help. I've been feeling antsy lately and my hamstrings are taking a beating so I think I will add bike/elliptical this week.

I am happy about this run. Once I hit the treadmill I actually felt strong. I haven't felt that since the marathon so I'm glad it's coming back!!! 

Total elevation gain:  962 feet!

PM: 30 min bike to relieve some tension in my hamstrings. 5.3 miles 

5 miles recovery on treadmill at 1%, 9:33 min/mi ap. Holy cow!! I thought about taking a rest day because my hammies and glutes are so tight! I'm glad I didn't, the slow recovery run and extra stretching helped me to be able to walk without pain. :) I think I aggravated piriformis syndrome in my right glute. Time to book a trigger point massage!!! 

PM: 3 mile walk to Boston for a little Lulu shopping with a friend. Probably not the best idea to wear heavy snow boots for a longish walk in the snow/ice the night before a threshold run!!

9 miles: 2 mile wu @ 2% incline, 6x5:00 @ 2% incline and 7:24 min/mi pace with 2:00 recovery, then cd @1% and 9:13 min/mi.

Oh...my...goodness!!! This was tough. I can't figure out this incline and pace relationship. I think I went way too hard. This run was supposed to be 15k effort, but by the end I nearly almost passed out. I wanted to be done by the 3rd interval, and thought about how I'm training to run Big Sur "for fun". Then I asked myself, "am I having fun right now?" The correct answer for any sane person would be "no". Well, it was "no" at first so I guess I am somewhat sane, but then I remembered all the PRs I earned last year (10 total from 5k to marathon) and decided "yes, this is a great time (or will be after my next PR)!!" 

Finished up with major stretching. My piriformis is so tight, my sciatica ain't happy!! Then some weights and core. I'm very proud of myself for sticking to this run, now it's time to supercompensate, muscles!!!

An evolved run. Ideally I would have run 8 miles outdoors up Common Wealth Ave in Boston at 8:20ish pace through the hills. However, there was a lot of black ice and my right piriformis is really flared up from this weekend's long run in the snow and yesterday's tempo. I decided to give my piriformis and the hills a break and try an easy progression pyramid run on the tm to be safe. 

I started with a 9:40 min/mi pace!!! My piriformis is soooo tight. I did extra dynamic stretching but that didn't seem to help. 0.1 mile in I thought seriously about bailing, I was having pain on the level of 9 out of 10 and it was altering my gait. I stuck with it though and it started to ease up. I decided to drop my pace every 0.5 mile 0.1 MPH, then by mile 4 slow 0.1 MPH until I hit 8 miles.

Well, by mile 4 I started feeling soooo much better so I decided not to slow my pace. Instead, stuck to a full progression and ended with 7:47 min/mi pace for my last half mile.

Lessons learned:

- The faster I ran, the more my pain subsided probably because I was stretching my legs at faster paces.

- My hill work is making me stronger than I realize, I felt stronger than I ever have post-marathon (and I kept running into the handle bar throughout the run even at sub 8 pace, haha). 

This was a easy to moderate workout. I think it was just what I needed all things considered. I should recover nicely for my speed work tomorrow, I came away with much of the pain from my piriformis choking my sciatica gone. Time to pigeon like there's no tomorrow! :)

Track workout. My legs are coming back! The workout was: 3-4x(800-600-400). My first 800, I trailed the group, just like how I ended last week's track workout...crap, I hope my legs are shot and I hope I don't have to take a break. Ok, 600 m, just keep up with the group, it's only 3 laps. Kept up with them for the first 600, then 400. Okay, round 2. Wow, my legs are feeling a lot looser! I started feeling stronger and kept up with the group no problem. I actually felt like I was braking a lot. Okay 3rd round, wow, gotta slip in front of some of these people. 3rd 600, yes, got in front of them now its time to try to keep up with the faster girl! Kept a narrow gap!

Had to finish the workout after the 4th 800 m, the MIT Lacrosse barbarians overtook the track. 

My splits were (800-600-400):

1: 3:15.4, 2:21.7, 1:27.9 (6:32, 6:20, 5:54 - pretty sure I must have hit my lap function early/late)

2: 3:13.3, 2:24.2, 1:34.4 (6:28, 6:26, 6:18 min/mi pace)

3: 3:16.7, 2:25.4, 1:35.8 (6:36, 6:28, 6:26 min/mi pace)

4: 3:14.8 (6:32 min/mi pace)

Finished up with some light core work. 

5 slow recovery miles along the St. Charles River. My legs were super tight at the start. Felt nice and springy at the finish. I'm excited for the long run tomorrow with the group, but also kinda scared. I will be running miles 24 to 15.5 out and back of the Boston Marathon course. I hope I can keep up! :)

This girl is on FIYA!! In more ways than one! I was not expecting to crush this run, but I couldn't be happier with this run! My legs took a couple miles to warmup, but then I just got into a groove pacing with the girls in my group. It was a lot of fun running the Boston Marathon course. I ended up running miles 24 to 14 then back to 21, finishing just past Heartbreak Hill! That's my first time running up the hill! I hit 8:29 at the end of my run - up HH let me remind you. I thought I was running at least 9s for sure if not 10s!! Holla! AP: 8:21 min/mi. I'm pretty sure my legs are bouncing back! This is close to the pace I was hitting before the marathon on flat courses, plus there was a bit of snow and ice on the path!!! I'm very proud of myself for how well I ran, I am even more proud of myself for resisting the temptation to take a hot bath at the end. I'm really trying to break that bad habit. :)

Total elevation gain: 777 ft - kinda scary I will be running 700 ft gain in 2 miles of Big Sur! Ha! Time for serious hill work on the tready! 

3 recovery miles on the treadmill. My legs felt surprisingly fresh after yesterday's long run. Stuck to an easy pace, the time flew too fast! 25 mins elliptical and 20 mins bike.

Threshold run on the treadmill at 1% incline. My fiance bought the new PINK flyknit racers for me for Valentine's Day. :) I wanted to try them so bad, but thought I should ease into them first so I stuck to the trusty old Pegasus for this tempo. 2 mile warmup was at 8:57 min/mi pace, then dropped the pace to 7:18 min/mi for 30:00 threshold run. I felt really, really strong on this run, and I had to resist the temptation to drop the pace. Finished up the threshold very happy with my run, hopped off the treadmill to throw on my new flyknits and gave them a whirl for my <2 mile cool down. Man, them suckors are pretty awesome. My cool down pace was a lot faster than normal. I guess that's the whole point of dropping a couple ounces off your shoes!

Midlong run over the Newton Hills. I've discovered I do not know how to run downhill! Haha. No, really, it's challenging to run down fast! I need to work on loading my hammies, so it's great I'm getting in this work! AP: 8:20 min/mi. The path wasn't too snowy/icy, but I will be glad once the snow is all gone. :)

Total climb: 371 ft 

AM: 4 miles easy recovery on the treadmill at 1% incline, 9:05 min/mi average pace. After running the Newton Hills yesterday, I thought calf sleeves would do a girl some good. I found out 1 mile in, they are not for me. Actually, I need to look at the literature. I understand they increase blood flow to facilitate recovery, but the sleeves felt more like they were inducing compartmental leg syndrome for me. Too bad, they were super cute neon pink too!

PM: 4 miles recovery on treadmill with 5x0.1 mile strides. I haven't done strides since before the marathon - it's been over a month!!! They felt really, really weird at first but then felt so amazing. :) 

Another awesome workout in the books! 10x800m at 5k race pace with 200m recovery. I think the most 800m repeats I ever did in my life was 5, maybe 6. And those were probably more at a 7:30 pace! I had anxiety all day about this run, because the schedule said 6-10 repeats, so I knew it would be tough not to cop out at 6. To make things more difficult, on my walk home from MIT I always pass this cool little wine shop that advertises every Thursday, "wine tasting"!!! No worries, this girl got her priorities straight up, not with a twist. Thank goodness I inherited my Dad's stubborn genes cause I got all 10 repeats in! My splits were: 3:15.1, 3:16.7, 3:19.6, 3:18.6, 3:18.0, 3:19.5, 3:18.1, 3:18.9, 3:18.1, 3:16.4!! Average: 3:17.9. Recoveries were around 1:35 to 1:45. That's an 8k at 6:38 min/mi pace! With my target 8k not being until April, my sub7 AP goal looks more and more realistic. :)

Wow, I love recovery runs - they work! After my killer speed workout last night, my legs were super tight. I started at a hard, 9:40 min/mi pace and ended at an easy effort 8:40 min/mi pace! Love. AP: 9:05 min/mi. 

I was thinking during my run, I pretty much did a harder version of Yasso 800s last night - the full 10 repeats. If my average time per repeat was 3:18 does that really suggest that's my marathon time? Yasso 800s seem to get mixed reviews online. 

Umm...I no longer know what my marathon pace is. I have been running a lot of hills on my long runs in Boston. Today I ran in the northern suburbs of Chicago - a "hilly" course by Chicago's standards. My pace dropped quite a bit learning how to run the hills back in Boston, so for a much flatter course I have no idea where I'm at. I started out with a 9:00 pace going with the group about a mile an a half in, I decided to drop my group and go off with some guys running a little faster pace - I thought a friend said one of these guys pumps out consistent 8:20s. Well, turns out I was wrong!! The pace felt fairly comfortable. We talked quite a bit. I didn't pay much attention to my watch. I guess these were the guys running the 7:55 min/mi pace group. Haha. My total AP was: 8:03 min/mi for 18 miles. I think my hill work is working!!!

Afterwards, I had to jet downtown for a gait analysis. So ran another mile there at MP (?). I love this girl that does my analysis. She already told me one major thing to work on to change my gait and gave me exercises! Yay! 

Total elevation gain: 410 ft 

3 mile recovery at 8:57 min/mi pace. Practiced my new gait (slight forward lean, landing under body). It took some pressure off my hamstrings and made me a little faster. It was an absolutely gorgeous day out!

2 mile warmup, then threshold run on the treadmill at 1% incline. 4x7:30 at 7:03 min/mi pace with 2:30 recovery at 8:49 min/mi pace. Confidence builder!! I thought this would feel harder since I am trying to pick up the pace of my tempos. I'm trying to hit sub 7 AP in an 8k in early April. Plus, it's time to overcome my fear of sub7 training paces. I want to keep improving!

Hopped off the treadmill to switch into my new Nike Frees for my cool down. I don't think I'm digging the Lunar Flyknit and I can still return them. I ran in Nike Frees back in the day before I ran marathons and really, really loved them. I think they may be a great racing shoe for the 8k. 

I tried to work on my gait mod during the run. I think this mod is going to help tremendously, it was difficult towards the end to maintain the slight forward lean but it really helped to take the pressure off my hamstrings. I felt really great at the end of this run. Yay! 

10 miles out and back over Newton Hills. Last week the same route was 8:21 min/mi AP this week 7:51 min/mi AP!!! Needless to say, my hamstrings are feeling a lot better with this gait mod. :)

I can't believe how well I nailed this run! 2 mile wu, then 8 miles at 7:39 min/mi pace including falling on the ice, haha, woa baby! Mile 8 was 7:13 and included a 60 ft climb! My body just felt like it was in sync. The mile that ended at the top of HH was 7:45. I'm a baller. :) I'm thinking now it's time to tackle an out and back of the beginning of the course in Hopkinton. :)

Finished with hamstring, glute med, arms, stability and core work. Whipped up a large batch of green smoothie with the new Vitamix, that junk is smooth! 

Total elevation gain: 368 ft 

AM: 4 mile recovery run on the treadmill. WU for 1 mile at 8:41 min/mi 1% incline, then dropped to 9:05 min/mi pace and increased the incline 0.5% up to 3.5%. Last half mile dropped to no incline and had to drop to 8:27 min/mi pace and focus on not running into the handle bar - I think that was the biggest challenge of the entire run. I never tried playing with the incline for a recovery run. I absolutely loved it. The effort was light, so I think it's okay to do. 3.5% incline did speed up my breathing, but just a tad. :)

Elevation gain: 383 ft 

PM: 4 miles on treadmill @1% easy run at 8:49 min/mi pace with 5x0.1 mile strides at 6:00 min/mi. So I bought a gajillion running shoes lately because I've been training in all the same shoe, then read that rotating through all different kinds of shoes helps prevent overuse injury. I believe what I read especially after this run. Wow, these Energy Boosts are a lot of fun! They feel like moon shoes, definitely a different feel to my legs than my other shoes. Different shoes shake things up and make the runs feel more interesting too. Okay, that's my two sense. Nice run. :)  

Track workout! 1.5 mile warmup, I tried out some drills with the girls, then 2x3km at 10k race pace with 80% of the interval time recovery, then cool down.

Like all track workouts, I was scared of this one. Haha. I just went with the girls, and actually felt really, really good the first interval. Everyone around me was huffing and puffing, I was breathing nice in steady. For the second interval, I started behind the first girl and took the outside of the inside lane. I hate feeling like I'm hitting the feet of the person in front of me, besides, that means I really did more than 3km my second round. :P

My times were: 12:44.4, 12:42.5. For an AP of 6:49 min/mi!

This was a huge confidence booster for me. The long repeats at what I would love to be my 8k pace are there, while I'm feeling steady and strong! 

5 easy miles to loosen up the ole legs, 8:59 min/mi AP. I ended feeling loosey goosey and stoked about last night's workout. :)

Long run in FL. It is so nice to be able to finally get a run in with zero worry of ice on my route!! I wanted to continue my "hilly" long run routine, in FL this can be somewhat challenging. I mapped out a route that consisted of one relatively flat mile followed by one mile of the Ringling Bridge - a 65 ft climb over half a mile. I ran this out and back back and forth until I reached 20 miles! To make matters more interesting, there was a consistently strong wind. Regardless, I PRed for this 20 miler training run! I wasn't planning on hitting the paces I reached - 7:51 min/mi AP. My pace kept getting faster and faster throughout the run, my last 5 miles were in: 7:40, 7:33, 7:38, 7:46, and 7:24. My performance is drastically improving again. Consistent, hard work surely pays off!

Estimated total elevation gain: 700+ ft 

5 beautiful recovery miles in FL on an amazing hard packed shell trail. Nothing like soaking up the sunshine, loosening up the tight muscles, and breathing in the salty air after a hard run the day before. AP 8:59 min/mi.

Threshold run on the treadmill at 1% incline on hardly any sleep from traveling all weekend! I was pretty worried about this one, I had a grand total of 1.5 h sleep before the 20 miler I crushed on Sat., Sun maybe has 7 h (big improvement), then another 6 h of sleep last night. Not the best for training, but I can get caught up this week. Thank goodness it also happens to be cut back week for me!

I hit 7:03 min/mi AP for 5.25 miles! This is a PR for me. I really wanted to hit 6:57 pace for 5 miles, but thought it would be better not to push it so I just kept the treadmill at 8.5 MPH. I finished feeling strong and pretty confident I could have hit sub 7 for 5 miles. 

Finished up with some weights. The rest of my training goal for the day is to cut out of work early and go to bed!!! 

AM: beautiful sunrise easy run along the St. Charles River. My legs felt pretty good from the start. The birds were chirping, the air was crisp, the streets were quiet the only un-zen thing about my run were my Boost moon shoes which make me feel like tigger. I must say, they feel pretty sweet on recovery runs! :) 8:45 min/mi AP.

PM: 4 easy miles on the treadmill at 1% incline set to 8:41 min/mi pace with 10x0.1 mile strides at 6:00 min/mi pace. Well, the last one was a 0.2 mile stride just because. :)

I pushed my limits today! I've been itching to try this "endless" hill workout at a steep incline on the treadmill since January. I finally felt ready for it and after my hilly 20 on Saturday, I decided now would be a perfect time to get some hillwork in while giving my legs a break from the downhill. I warmed up at 8:31 min/mi pace 1%-1.5%-2.0% incline for 2 miles, then jacked up the incline to 5% for 4 miles and kept it at 8:31 min/mi! It was so hard at the beginning and I thought about changing the workout to 2x2 miles incline, but as soon as I hit 2 miles, I realized it felt just as bad as the first 0.25 mile and no worse so why not try 3 miles. I hit 3 miles, then decided I couldn't stop there with less than a mile to go so finished the planned workout!! I dialed down to 0.0% incline at 7:53 min/mi pace and took an easy downhill for 2 miles. 

This was a big workout for me. Big Sur has a 4.5% incline over 2 miles. Although I've promised myself not to "race" Big Sur, I do want to get into the best shape possible to enjoy the run and recovery quickly. Plus, I really want to hit a big marathon PR in Oct so why not start working on that now?!

Total climb: 1214 ft 

Track workout. 6x1200m repeats with 600m recoveries. I'm really loving track. I can really feel my improvement each workout, it sure feels grand! My splits were: 4:55.3 (6:35 min/mi), 4:51.2 (6:30 min/mi), 4:50.7 (6:30 min/mi), 4:52.5 (6:32 min/mi), 4:53.5 (6:34 min/mi), 4:50.2 (6:28 min/mi) for an AP of 6:31 min/mi. My last round was with a faster guy who was just trying to get extra mileage in. My crew was done with the workout after 5 sets. I had one more in me. Random dude asks my pace, I tell him, he keeps it pretty consistent the first 3 laps, the last 3 he picked it up. I only had 3 laps left, I can't let random dude shake me. At the end of the last lap we were flying according to my standards, I flipped it to 5th gear and felt really strong. Last lap was 6:10 min/mi pace. I'm beginning to think I'm holding back in my track workouts! Time to step it up a notch.

Easy run on the treadmill at  1-1.5% incline, 8:41 min/mi pace. My entire body felt really, really good after last night's track workout. I'm paranoid about this minor shin pain, but so far it's very mild and did not hurt at all during track surprisingly. I'm going to keep on top of it with ice, inflammatory Rx patch, compression sleeve and sticking to a flat shorter long run this weekend.

I wish my weirdo calves could stand to run in compression sleeves/socks!! I think I have big veins. I should measure them after a hard run. I bet those suckers go from a dainty 13" to 20" pythons during a run!

Solo, windy long run dodging black ice and snow piles. I chose an easy course for this one because of the shin pain I started experiencing this week. Well, I'm happy to report I had 0 shin pain!! I don't really know my pace until I get a mile out because of the GPS. I hit 8:23 the first mile, which is usually inaccurate because of lost signal, I kept the same effort and hit mile 2 at 7:45. Whoops! Oh who cares. I have no idea what my long run pace is anymore after running the last 4 long runs on hills. AP for 16 miles was 7:54 min/mi. Luckily, I still have no idea what my long run pace is. Half of this run was in a pretty heafty, relentless head wind. Actually, it sucked, but I welcomed it. If I can't run hills, I don't mind a little wind resistance to make me stronger!!

Despite the wind, it was a gorgeous day out. So I took a 4 mile walk into Boston, returned the Flyknit (I blame them for my shin pain) and the Lunar Racers. Both are too stiff and have hard cushioning under the heel. I'm desperately searching for a good racing shoe for short distances, so I picked me up some Saucony Type A5 (after trying them on this time). My feet were flailing when I tested them so they must be good. :) 

Easy 5 mile run along the St. Charles River. 8:47 min/mi AP. It's funny how one run can completely tear up your legs, then the next run resets all the aches and pains. Love it!

Schedule called for 35:00 to 40:00 threshold run. Naturally, I was targeting 40:00. My old partner in crime running friend in Chicago who is running the Shamrock 8k with me hit 4 miles at 6:54 min/mi pace. So naturally, I had to drop my pace to 6:53 min/mi pace. I started on the treadmill at 1% incline at 8:41 min/mi pace for 2.5 miles. Then, I was off at 6:53 min/mi pace. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought! I got 2 miles in, and tried to focus on just hitting a 5k. My fastest 5k is a 6:57 min/mi pace. I hit that! Then decided I just had to make it to 4 miles, I can't let my friend show me up! I hit 4 miles, then decided I just needed to get to hit 4.97 miles which would be my target race distance at my target pace! Hit it, 35:00 passed and I decided to stick with my original goal of 40:00, and I did!! 5.85 miles at sub 7 AP!! Yeah, it was the treadmill, so it will probably be harder outside, but I still have time and I'm sure I will race faster with my adrenaline going. 

I must say, it's true, sub 7 is just a number! This was hard, but not too hard. I think more than anything this pace is more of a mental challenge with me. Last year I entered sub 8 pace for a lot of my runs and by the end of the year I hit 20 miles sub 8. Many people stop there, I think because the number is so daunting. I don't want to stop there! After today's workout I think it is more realistic for me to commit to targeting a 1:30 half marathon in July!! 

12 mile run on the treadmill at 1% incline. I wanted to lay off the hills this week, so I decided to work on my stamina for this run, while staying slightly above my LT. 2 mile warmup at 8:41 min/mi pace, then 4 miles at a hopeful current MP (7:35 min/mi). Then reset the tm to go into my second round, and turned the last 4 miles into a progression run to finish at a hopeful current HMP increasing the speed 0.1 MPH (7:30, 7:24, 7:19, 7:14). Finished with 2 mile cool down at 8:27 min/mi pace in my A5s to practice getting used to them. AP for the 8 miles was 7:28 min/mi, a PR by far for me. 

I think this was a great workout for me. These paces have been no man's land for me because of running hills so much. It felt really good even though I had a strong effort yesterday and I'm happy to say I am finally sore in my muscles at the top of my quads!!! To me, that means my gait change is working (slight forward lean) and my hamstrings aren't being overly taxed. Finished up with some good stretching and pushups and planks since that's what all the fast kids do on here, and I want to be a fast kid too! :) 

AM: Nice and easy morning run. My muscles are a little sore from the last couple days, it feels really nice! The river was gorgeous and so was the weather, although I was a little bummed I couldn't find any marathon banners along the river - I heard they were put up yesterday, Boston runners get stoked! I tried to focus on my form in my new Kinvaras. Towards the end of the run I got into a good groove of forefoot/midfoot striking. My last mile was probably a little too fast (8:15) but I blame the shoes cause the effort wasn't there. AP 8:48 min/mi.

PM: 4 easy miles on the treadmill at 1% incline with 5x0.1 mile strides, 8:41 min/mi pace for the majority of the run. Strides were 6:00 min/mi pace. 8:41 min/mi pace felt so slow and I kept running into the handle bars. I was happy to hit the strides and stretch out my legs. Strides were really weird at first in these super light shoes, but when I felt more comfortable I realized it didn't feel so much like a 6:00 min/mi pace!!

Track workout on the treadmill (1% incline)!!! I have to miss track tonight because I'm flying to Chicago to see my fiance!!! My advisor okayed me to work Friday/Monday from Chi town. :) It was nice to not have anxiety all day for this workout (like every Thursday, hehe)! Workout called for 3-4x(1000m @ 5k pace + 600m at HMP) with 800m recovery. I hit 4 repeats and had gas left in the tank. The 1000m's were at 6:18 min/mi pace, the 600m's were at 7:18 min/mi pace. Neither of these times seem like realistic race paces for me just based on the number, but this workout honestly wasn't so bad. Maybe because the treadmill is easier? I was really surprised by the 600s, I thought I was recovering and caught myself a couple times from trying to go into the next repeat!! Haha. My 800m PR is a 6:19 min/mi pace (on track though) so that's pretty snazzy I beat that 4 times today at a longer distance. Oh and these lengths are super awkward on the tm, I had to print out a cheat sheet!! :)

Finished up with some PT/strength/core exercises, and made my modified gluten free recovery drink!!! Half a scoop of gluten free protein powder + 2 honey stingers = Endurox but gluten free. :) 

6 easy, wonderfully amazing miles in my old stomping ground - Chicago lakefront. It was pretty surreal to run the path again. I purposely left my ipod at home so I could truly soak it all in. I didn't pay too much attention to my pace, just went by effort and distance. It was lovely people watching and staring at the skyline and lake. Before I knew it, my recovery run was over, my legs have never felt better, and my watch claims I was averaging an 8:31 min/mi pace. Love the run.

18 mile long run on the Chicago lakefront with my old training partner! We were planning a more conservative pace (8:30s min/mi) and then planned on kicking it into her marathon pace (8:05s min/mi) for the last 8 or so miles. We got to chatting away like normal and didn't pay attention to the pace. We noticed a couple 7:45s splits, and tried to slow down the pace but apparently it was a comfortable pace for both of us. Heading back into the city we turned into the nasty, 15 MPH head wind for the last 6 or 7 miles. It felt like we were running 9:00s min/mi heading back, but somehow we maintained the same pace? I finished with AP of 7:53 min/mi for 18 miles. Shoot! I thought I needed to slow this long run down because my last 20 and 16 miler were around this pace and I thought I'm pushing too hard. I have no idea how we maintained this pace in such a strong head wind for so long. Once again, I'm glad for the wind, if I can't have hills to make me stronger, I'll take the wind resistance!!

After my run, I got the detailed results for my video gait analysis. She saw a lot of improvement on a few of my flaws from last summer. She pointed out some additional things I need to work on. I'm pretty excited about that because fixing those flaws will keep me injury free and probably will make me faster. The biggest thing is my heel strike. She did notice an improvement from a couple of weeks ago, but recommends I work into a more minimal shoe. Haha! Good thing I got the Kinvaras and Gridtype A5s!! I'm busting out my Brooks Pure Flow again. However, I just ordered more Pegs for the Big Sur. I'm really confused about what shoes to wear for that now! Hopefully I can work up my lower leg strength by then to wear the more minimal shoe for the marathon, and I think I should return the Pegs.

5 lovely easy miles on the Chicago lakefront. My calves were pretty sore from dancing in heels all night, but they loosened up and my run felt totally zen by the end. I love/hate recovery runs. They feel so so good, but then they are over so soon and I have to wait so long to run again!! Finished up with 40 pushups and 5 min planks. 

Thus the conclusion of an epic week for me. I hit 70 miles for the first time ever!! And, it felt easier than my 52 miler weeks back in Nov/Dec. I couldn't be happier with my training right now. :)

This was supposed to be a threshold run 2x15:00 with 5:00 easy. It turned into a junk fartlek run because my body was just not feeling it. After a 2 mile warmup, I tried to hit 6:44 min/mi pace for the first 15:00 interval. My legs were burning so bad, I could only make it to 7-8 mins. I dropped the pace way down to recover and decided maybe I could turn the workout into a 4x1 mile at 8k race pace. I tried a 6:44 pace, then had to drop it to 6:49. I couldn't make it a mile. I dropped the pace to recover and tried a higher pace, 7:18, I think I hit a mile with that one but it was so tough. I recovered then tried a progressive, started at 7:30, after a quarter mile I dropped it to 7:26. Finally I felt like I was hitting a threshold pace, but this pace is sooooo much slower than last week! 

The run is over and I didn't feel spectacular and couldn't hit the paces I normally hit. I'm just going to put this run into perspective, I've been running super fast and my run Sat was probably a harder effort than I should have run, I MUST transition into lower drop/lighter shoes if I want to save my hamstrings (according to my physical therapist and video gait analysis) this run was in shoes I don't normally run thresholds in, I was running a 1970s treadmill so who knows how accurately calibrated it is, and I am leaving my fiance today after an amazing weekend to head back to working in Cambridge. 

Moving forward, my plan is to pick my head back up, focus on working into shoes that will benefit me in the long run, and hit some hills this week. The hills will do me good to not focus on pace and pay more attention to effort. :) 

AM: 4 easy miles on the treadmill. Kept the pace at 8:57 min/mi and changed the incline every 0.5 mile to keep me entertained: 1-1.5-0-0.5-1-1.5-2-0%. My legs still feel a little heavy and my hips are awfully tight. I spent some extra time stretching and foam rolling to work out the kinks. It's an uneasy feeling to have "dead" legs for a couple days in a row, but I hit 70 miles last week, my highest mileage per week of my life, so that puts things into perspective and makes things more comforting. I'm planning another 70 miles this week, so adjusting my pace and being patient with my legs is the ticket I think. :)

PM: 4 easy miles on the treadmill at 1% grade, 8:45 min/mi pace with 8x0.1 mile strides at 6:00 min/mi and 0.1 mile recoveries at 8:41 min/mi pace. Feeling good in the Kinvaras!

12 hilly, slippery, easy miles through Newton. The weather report warned there'd be black ice, and by golly about 90% of this route was a sheet of black ice! I decided to go ahead with the run because it would force me to slow my pace and because I really need to accumulate some downhill mileage in these 4 mm drop shoes if I am going to run Big Sur in them (I have been running in a 12 mm drop shoe). I'm so glad I ran this!! These shoes are awesome on downhill and I can actually midstrike in them!! The first half was a net downhill running the reverse BM course and modifying the route to include a 135 ft downhill/uphill and I ran the second half faster than the first. The black ice sure was a blessing on this run, it also caused me to modify my gait overstriding on black ice will knock you on your bum! Hopefully my legs will remember this form.

Even though my pace was slow (8:50 min/mi AP), I'm pretty happy about this run. I lost track of which Newton Hill I was on because I couldn't tell if I was running uphill or downhill sometimes (based on effort) and my legs felt like jello but not strained at the end. I could tell which hill was HH though! Try running up that one on ice!! :)

Elevation gain: 558 ft 

Track workout: 1200-800-800-1200-800-800-1200m, jog half the distance for recovery. 1200s were supposed to be 5k race pace, 800s were supposed to be 8 sec per 800 faster than 5k race pace. After my junked up threshold run on Monday, I was worried about running this in the 4 mm drop shoes. I started out conservatively even though the last couple weeks I felt like I was holding back running with the group of girls I normally run with. After the first 2 repeats I got into a groove and somehow at the last second decided to lead the pack for the 2nd 800m. We were targeting 47 sec per lap on the 200 m track, my first lap was 44 sec. Whoops. I decided to slow just a little and just go with it. Well, I ended up breaking my 800m PR during this workout...THREE TIMES!!! 

My splits were: 4:55.7-3:11.1-3:04.9-4:47.5-3:06.6-3:06.9-4:49.4

Paces: 6:36-6:24-6:12-6:26-6:16-6:16-6:27 min/mi so 6:23 min/mi for 4.23 miles. This felt really good after Monday's crash session. It kinda goes to show you what you can do with a taper too. I wanted to average sub7 pace for the Shamrock 8k, I'm pretty confident that will happen. I plan on actually tapering for this one, so I have no idea what pace to target!  

6 miles easy loosening up the tight legs after a great track workout last night.

22 miles Hopkinton to Newton. This was an amazing run! One lane of traffic was shut down most of the way for the runners, hundreds of runners! Cops were directing traffic, and people were cheering for us. I was not expecting this and wanted to take pictures on my training run! Haha. This is my first long run in the 4mm drop shoes. I knew it was a gamble, but I won this one. My calves were burning so bad because they have to adjust to the shoe but my hamstrings felt surprisingly really, really good the entire run. I ran with my girls and had trouble keeping up with them once we got to Newton. Just goes to show the improvements I can make continuing to run with them. Hopefully I can recover before my tempo run Monday!! That downhill took a lot out of my legs, but was necessary to protect them for Big Sur. AP: 8:01 min/mi. Oh yeah, a PR for 22 miles for me, and coming off my second week in a row of 70 mpw! :)

5 mile recovery run along the St Charles River. I tried to keep this one super slow. After my long run yesterday, my calves are so tight I can hardly walk! The recovery run did me good. :) 9:15 min/mi AP.

Another easy run day. 4 miles at 9:16 min/mi pace. I normally do threshold runs on Monday, and was supposed to do a 40 min threshold run today. It was going to be my last big threshold before the 8k on April 7. However, my calves are still so tight from Saturday they still hurt to walk. I really need one last good threshold so I rearranged my runs. I'm really, really hoping for a rapid recovery so I can get in my threshold either tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm stretching, icing, using compression and a massager, but getting really nervous. Ahhh!!! On the bright side, my hamstrings and glutes haven't felt this good in a really, really long time. These 4mm drop shoes require some adaption from my calves but are really relieving my hammies. 

I needed one last awesome threshold run before my 8k April 7, and I made sure I got it!!! I held off running to the evening to give my calves those few extra hours to recover (still) from Saturday. During the wu, I was first happy with how they felt, by the end of the warmup I was like oh no this ain't gonna be good cause my calves were feeling weak. I was targeting a 40:00 threshold at 7:55 min/mi pace. I started feeling pretty good around the 1.5 mile mark and thought seriously about increasing the pace, but held off. 30 mins is a lot of time left. Normally 40:00 threshold would be just under 5.85 miles. I decided once I hit mile 4 I'd increase my pace at mile 5. So, I dropped it to 7:49 min/mi pace, held that until mile 5.5, then dropped to 7:44 min/mi pace and decided to run LONGER to hit 6 miles. I felt like I could have gone longer, but didn't want to reveal my race legs until race day. :)

I'm so happy about this run. I hit this pace 2 weeks ago and it was HARD back then! It felt so much easier today even though my calves were only 80%. I am noticing virtually no more soreness in my hamstrings, which I've had since October. I didn't realize it was due to overstriding. Now that I'm correcting that, I'm excited to see the paces I'll hit with healthy hamstrings once my calves adapt!

Big Sur simulation run on the treadmill. :)

2 mile wu @ 1% incline, 9:05 min/mi pace

2 mile @ 5% incline, 9:05 min/mi pace 

1 mile @ 0% incline, 7:41 min/mi pace

0.25 mi @ 3.5% incline, 8:00 min/mi pace

0.25 mi @ 0% incline, 7:41 min/mi pace

0.5 mi @ 3.5% incline, 8:00 min/mi pace

0.5 mi @ 0% incline, 7:41 min/mi pace

0.5 mi @ 3.5% incline, 8:00 min/mi pace

0.5 mi @ 0% incline, 7:41 min/mi pace

1 mile cd @ 1% incline, 8:27 min/mi pace

5x0.1 mile strides @ 1% incline, 6:00 min/mi pace with 0.1 mile recoveries

Haha, this was a lot of fun! I just kind of made it up during my wu. Big Sur has a 5% climb over 2 miles around mile 10 of the marathon followed by (debatably) 13 smaller hills. I figured I'd find out now what those smaller hills would feel like. Not too shabby. :) 

Track workout on treadmill...so treadmill workout with my cheat sheet. :) Kept everything at 1% incline:

1.1 mile wu

4x400m  @ 6:00 min/mi pace, 200m recoveries

2x1000m @ 6:15 min/mi pace, 500m recoveries

4x400m @ 6:00 min/mi pace, 200m recoveries

1 mile cd

This felt comfortably hard. Going from 400s to 1000s helped me learn to calm it down and be patient, switching back from 1000s to 400s made the last 4x400s super "easy".

Finished up with some stretching, core, pt, strength, and foam rolling the calves.  

Easy run in FL. Tried to keep it around 9:30 min/mi pace while I soaked in the sunshine. :)

16 mile long run in FL. Ringling Bridge repeats. I tried to slow this one down since I think my last 5-6 long runs have been a little on the too fast side. Apparently my slowish long run pace with hills is 8:12 min/mi pace. Scary... :)

Recovery run in 78 degree weather with my sister. 10:15 min/mi pace. This was so weird to run this pace, but my sister is just getting into running after having a baby so I tried to pace slightly behind her to boost her self esteem. :)

Last threshold run until my 8k race on Sunday!!! Man, this one was tougher than last week. It was only a 30 min threshold run (shorter than last week), but I think all the partying this weekend for my brother's wedding wore me out a bit. I stuck it out and finished the workout at 6:55 min/mi pace for 4.4 miles. I am actually pretty happy I can hold that pace while in less than ideal shape. Plus, my calves are so sore and tight from my Saturday bridge run in my 4 mm drop shoes. I think I'll heal up nicely by Sunday. I'm doing a mini taper for this 8k, which may affect my Big Sur performance, but I don't care I want to hit this fast 8k pace and I'm not racing Big Sur. I'm so inexperienced at shorter races so my nerves are already getting to me!!

6 easy miles. I wasn't sure if I should do my normal medium-hard effort today (during taper week for 8k), but my calf decided for me! It's still bothering me really bad. I woke up and didn't know if I could even run it was so tight and painful. I heated the muscle with a heating pad then just decided to go out and see what it felt like. I used a higher drop shoe to take the tension off and that seemed to help a lot. It was mostly pain free and actually felt really good to get the blood flowing to the muscle. Averaged 9:05 min/mi pace and felt like I was going a lot slower. I know this is from trying to get into lower drop shoes too quickly so I think if I do a better job of rotating with higher drop shoes, I still have plenty of time for the tightness and pain to subside for race day on Sunday.

AM: 4 recovery miles with one tight, painful calf. Besides the calves, my legs were feeling pretty good, ready to run. AP: 9:05 min/mi

PM: 4 recovery miles along the St. Charles River during a beautiful sunset. Trying to loosen up the calf. The Nike Frees feel nice to run in. :) 

Last speed work on the treadmill before race day. I was planning between 5-8x0.25 mi repeats at 1% incline and 10 MPH/6:00 min/mi pace. My calf felt okay and like it could hold up. By the 3rd or 4th, I decided not to push it and stopped after the 5th repeat. I got curious what my desired 8k pace would feel like so I decided to throw in one more 0.25 mi repeat but at 6:39 min/mi pace (which is probably slower outside). It actually felt really, really good on my calf. I think the slower running was necessary but is more painful. Good news!!

First complete rest day from running since January!! I kinda didn't realize I was running so consecutively. Maybe I should be backing down to 6 days of running per week...

3 easy miles with my old running group in Chicago. Getting pretty worried, my calf is still bothering me and I was huffing and puffing running with the 9 min/mi pace group!!! Finished with my first set of outdoor 0.1 mile strides since December. Paces were: 5:44, 5:42, 5:41, 5:30 min/mi. Normally I run 6:00 min/mi on the treadmill at 1% incline because that's the fastest it will go!! I'm outgrowing my treadmill. Well, at least it's not mine, it's the apartment complexes, so maybe a good excuse to buy my own. ;)

After my humbling short run, I went to visit my PT for an injury screening and to make sure I am not being stupid by racing tomorrow. She said I have a calf strain and says I can run. I just need to drop out if the pain gets to 7 or 8 or if my gait changes. She dug around in some knots in my calf to try to get the muscle to relax, which kind of tightened it, but then stretching helped it a bit. We will see how this goes tomorrow! I guess this planned taper if anything prevented me from trying to run more on a bum calf. I want to race the 8k, but I also want to be able to run Big Sur at the end of the month! 

Ugh!!! I raced my race, my calf held up, I got the time I wanted, but my chip didn't activate at the start line!!!!!

Here are the splits the timing company says I ran:

Mile 1 8:34

Mile 2 6:38

Mile 3 6:51

5k 6:45

Mile 4 6:52

Finish 6:48

Basically, my chip fired at every pad but the start line, so they assigned me with a start time of day as the time when the elite corral started - I was a quarter of the way back in corral A. I don't know how this could be. Luckily, I ran with a friend exactly side-by-side from the start to the 5k. Her splits were the same as mine with the exception of her first mile being 6:35. 

Needless to say, I was pretty bummed - a lot of crying was involved. I contacted the timing company, so hopefully they will look into it. I worked so hard for this race and now it's posted for everyone to see this first mile time that is slower than my marathon pace, which is actually my fastest mile. Actually a 1 mile PR for me!! I'm trying to brush it off. My body went through this amazing workout. I pushed my limits today, it will reap the benefits of this and I will continue to run faster. I guess, in the end, if they don't change it my future race times will show the truth. 

Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. People, this is a 5 min PR on a 5 mile course in 1 year's time!! How about that hard work and consistency!! 

20 nice and easy miles at 8:28 min/mi pace, and now time to taper!!! This was pretty tough, but I ran with a friend who also raced yesterday. We made sure we kept the pace slow, which is a huge challenge for us. Hehe. 8:28 min/mi is still pretty impressive after running sub 7s yesterday. :)

Was going to do a 4 mile easy recovery run. I felt super, super sore in my glutes but thought the run would loosen things up. They started to loosen, but then my right knee started locking up and became painful. I stopped right away. This is the same injury I had in my left knee 2 times and had to stop running for 1-2 months. Hopefully I will recover in time for Big Sur, but now the trick is to do enough to maintain fitness but not too much to aggrevate my knee. I'm thinking I should nix my 10 miler through the Newton Hills tomorrow. :(

I think I'm becoming wiser. :)

I had planned 2 recovery runs yesterday after my mega workout Sunday-Monday (8k PR race, then 20 miler). My knee started hurting 0.5 mile into my recovery yesterday. Ordinarily I would have toughed it out. This time I shut myself down for the day!

Today, no knee pain!! I wanted to run 10 miles through the Newton Hills. But, reassessed my taper schedule for Big Sur. I decided it is too aggressive. The worst case is to go into one of the most challenging marathons overtrained or injured rather than maybe loosing a little fitness.

So, I got on the treadmill and did a moderate aerobic progressive run - that way I can shut it down immediately if I have any pain. I started at 8:27 min/mi pace, dropped the pace 0.1 MPH, until the last half mile which was at 7:51 min/mi pace. My knee was pain free!! 

I finished up with some weights, PT, and core work. I've had this issue with my other knee before, and 2x had to get MRIs, stop running for 1-2 months and go to PT. It has confounded all the people I have worked with. It's on my inner knee and it feels like a band is super tight and sometimes snaps over something.

I think it's a result of an imbalance - a super tight adductor in combination with weak/tired glute med and poor glute med firing. What helps is: shutting it down if it's acting up on a run, massaging the attachment of the adductor to the pelvis, and glute med work to wake those puppies up to start firing again. It makes sense my megaworkout would cause this. I think I pushed to the limits and backed off just in time!!! :)

2 mile warm up on the treadmill at 1% incline while making up my speed workout for the run. I really wanted to see what 5k pace would feel like so I decided on and ran 0.5 mile at 6:31 min/mi pace, 3x0.25 miles at 6:00 min/mi pace, 0.5 mile at 6:31 min/mi pace. The workout felt great and mixing in the faster repeats definitely taught me to be patient with the 5k pace. Cooled down at 8:29 min/mi pace.

4 mile easy run with 3x0.1 mile strides, 5:23, 5:47, 5:26 min/mi pace.

A little worried about this one. After walking in heels for a conference the end of the week, then walking around the race expo all day the day before the race, and hardly getting any sleep for several days, oh and after PRing in an 8k Sunday followed by a 20 miler Monday...yea, just a smidge of worry.

I had a nice 1.75 mile warmup to the start, jumped into the corral at the mid 6 min/mi pace section...shame on me. Once the race was started, I realized about 80% of the people in the 6 min/mi pace corral apparently are unaware they do not run 6 min/mi pace...in fact, I wouldn't even say they run 8 min/mi pace. About half a mile in I nearly ripped off my bib and quit because it felt like a joke. I probably have a bad attitude, but I am just ticked because I feel like it's dishonest and rude to line up at a pace you have absolutely zero intention of running.

Regardless, I stuck with it. My first mile 6:48, slower than my 8k AP. Then comes the water stop. A girl runs from the left side of the course where they are handing out water directly across the course to the right to get water...just after 1 mile! I ignored the frustration and just kept going, my second mile was 6:40. The crowd at this point has dwindled a bit. Mile 3 felt good even though it was the most difficult (small hills), 6:26! I see the finish line and just try to keep pushing to cross the finish and grab another PR. I was pretty happy about this. 6:26 is my knew 1 mile PR and happened at the end of the race! It goes to show you to stick things out cause you never know what will happen at the end of the race, even if it is short! I KNOW I could have run this faster, but am so happy with this amazing time, so that is a really cool feeling. Plus, it's over a 1 min PR in a 5k for me since December!!

Finished with a 1.7 mile cool down. Then hit the Minutemen Bike Path for 10 more miles to fill out my long run. AP 8:03 min/mi which just ended up being a progression run: 9:11, 8:51, 8:36, 8:10, 7:58, 7:43, 7:40, 7:27, 7:35, 7:18.

Now I'm ready to cheer on all the marathon runners!! Yay!!! See you at the top of HH. :) 

5.2 miles at the end of the course and 3.1 miles run to fetch the car. The most surreal run. A friend from Chicago was running the Boston Marathon with another friend. I was spectating with her sister at the top of Heartbreak Hill. She asked us to run us in, so we left all our valuables on the ground to help her BQ at Boston. It was the four of us running, which was really special because the four of us were on a Ragnar Ultra team last June. Right before my friend crossed the finish, her sister and I thought about hopping the fence to get out of the finish area. The volunteer told us just to finish. We all cried, said our congratulations, then when we were saying our goodbyes, we heard a bang. We just left anyway. Then on the train, we found out what that bang was. I still can't believe we were so lucky. We were 30 mins ahead of the explosions. If my friend and I ended up hopping the fence, we would have been waiting right at the spot where the first bomb went off. If my friend had a bad race, we could have crossed right at the wrong time. My heart goes out to all the spectators and runners, I cannot imagine what they have been through.

6 easy miles along Charles River in Boston with one heavy heart. There were a lot of nice things written in chalk on the path "Boston Strong" "Today is a brighter day", etc. Started feeling a little uplifted towards the end of the run. 9:07 min/mi pace.

Finished up with some pushups, planks, and calf raises. 

Track workout outside on the 400m track...finally...with the girls. :)

Workout was going to be 12x400m, but I've been doing so many 400s for these shorter races these last couple of weeks I was happy to join the girls in some 1200m repeats. I was thinking I'd do 4 because it would be the same distance total as the 400s, but dropped the 4th repeat because I thought my legs felt too spent to push it and it's supposed to be taper anyway.

1200s were in: 4:53.6, 4:47.3, 5:01.1. The girls had me lead the 2nd repeat, hence, the speediness :) I didn't realize I was running so hard so pulled back and paced behind the girls for the final repeat.

Finished up with PT exercises and core work. 

5 easy miles with 5x0.1 mile strides. I'm not sure why but my knee pain has returned in full force. The pain goes completely away then comes back. Body, I understand you are tired, please just hold up for Big Sur then I promise you will have a break!!!

Stride paces were: 5:36, 5:13, 5:20, 5:16, 4:47 min/mi. The last stride was a stride PR for me. 

12 miles last long run. Taped the knee, but the pain still came and went. 8:13 min/mi AP last mile was 7:41 min/mi. The AP felt harder than it should!!!

6 miles on the treadmill at 1% incline. I was planning on 20:00 threshold, but after 2 weeks of racing, I felt like this would be unnecessarily pushing it for Big Sur. I held back to 15:00 at 6:53 min/mi pace. It felt harder than normal, but I think that's from coming off the racing. It felt really, really good to break a sweat and I felt a smidge of runner's high at the end. :)

I had a Dr's appt this morning after my run in Newton. I decided to take the scenic route and drive back to Cambridge on the marathon course. I'm glad I did because it reminded me of all the hill work I did there, getting up to run the Newton Hills at 4:30am in the middle of the week and long runs on the weekend. I started feeling a sense of pride and I'm happy to say my attitude is coming around and I'm starting to get excited for Big Sur! 

I found a sign posted at the London Marathon especially helpful to get excited for this marathon. It said "Run if you can, Walk if you Must, but finish for Boston". :) 

Oh no! My knee and foot were feeling really, really bad. I had to stop after 1 mile because my entire right leg locked up on me. I walked a quarter mile, then decided to try to run again. My knee felt better but my foot hurt the rest of the run. AP 9:18 min/mi

I went to urgent care, the orthopedic nurse practioner was convinced it is either a stress fracture or torn ligaments. This pain started as a sharp pain just when I woke up Monday. I don't understand how it could be ligaments because there wasn't an event to cause it, it was spontaneous. 

I went to a physical therapist, he said if he had to guess it's bone. My gut tells me it's a lot of muscle tightness. I have a tight spot in my quad, bruising on the outside of my knee, inner knee phantom tightness, and after looking at pics online, the main culprit is a tight extensor digitorium longus muscle. 

I'm injected with radioactive isotope now, heading back to the hospital in a bit to finish this bone scan. Hopefully, it's not bone. I really want to do Big Sur on Sunday!!! :( 

30 mins on bike while the radioisotope gets circulated for my bone scan! 

My results: I have a stress fracture. No Big Sur for me. I'm handling this better than I thought so far. It's bone, it will heal - things could be much worse.

The dr says I can only bike if I wear my boot. I don't know if I buy that. I read otherwise on the Internet. In the meantime, I am looking up trainers for my bike and searching for century rides and Ironmans! If I can hit a fast fall marathon, then why not knock IM off the list? 

PM: pumping some iron! Man, I am all trained up for a marathon I had the best training round of my life, hit the fastest paces, and the longest mileage but 3x1min wall sits really kicked my butt!! I found a weak spot to work. By the time I get this boot off, I'm going to be at 3x5mins wall sits mark my words!!! The Newton Hills won't have nothing on me then. :) 

My bike trainer is in the mail and I'm off to CA with my fiance!! It will arrive just as I get back. In the meantime, I found a pretty awesome century ride training program that correlates so closely with running (long rides, steady state, and threshold rides). I love this structure! I also read that rowing can be as aerobically intense as running. I'm not sure how it will be in my boot, but it's just one more option to try!!

I'm maintaining a great place mentally about this injury. Just in case my moment fades, I ordered a new plate to add to my road id bracelet. It says:

Resilient

Because everyday is an opportunity 

This stress fracture is my opportunity to explore new cross-training activities, give my body the break from running I couldn't bring myself to allow, and to fully be reminded of my love to run. It will be a re-invirogating thing, and I will come back with a vengeance!!

30 mins on the elliptical in my boot!!! ZERO pain!! I didn't want to push it for the first time. I will ramp up the time tomorrow as long as my foot still feels the same. :)

It was so nice to find a way I can break a sweat! And I discovered I can do planks no problem in my boot!! My world of working out is opening back up to me. I am very happy.

45 mins on the elliptical, no pain!!! I worked up a good sweat and pushed a little harder the last 2 mins to finish with a little huffing and puffing. 

Finished with 45 mins weights, core, planks and 3x1 min wall sits - uh oh, they are getting easier than last week!! :) 

All around a great day. I think I got my health insurance figured out so I can get the world's best PT in Chicago with my girl who has been doing my video gait and specializes with runners. I got my heart rate monitor all programed up to my garmin easy peasy. Then went off to biking!

I have no idea what I am doing on the bike - especially in this walking boot! I tried to target zone 3 the majority of the time, which is aerobic/endurance zone. I ended up making a workout during the ride: 5 min wu, 20 min in zone 3-4, 5 mins zone 2, 20 mins zone 3-4+, cd in zone 2. Average zone: 3.0, Average HR: 129

I was planning on 1 hr ride, but as I approached 1 hr I was around 17 or 18 miles, so decided to round it out to an even 20. :) The first 15 miles were at 18 MPH - I never knew I could ride a bike that fast for that far! Although who knows with these exercise bikes.

Total ride: 20 miles at 17.48 MPH.

Yay, the ride was pain free in the boot! "Pain free" referring to my 4th metatarsal, my quads were on fire! Now I am getting a baseline and some numbers to play around with - my heart rate and bike speed! I have so many "!"'s bc I have biker's high and I feel like I'm back to training!!!

Finished up with upper body weights, 3x12 real pushups (I want to start improving this number) and 3x1:30 planks.

1 hour easy long run on the bike in my boot. Zone 2 all the way, baby! My quads felt pretty fried from last night. Love it! Average zone: 2.6, Average HR: 122

Finished with 3x14 real pushups, 3x1:30 planks, 3x1:15 walls sits (that's right, they are longer)! 

1 hour swim. I am pooped!!! 10 min waterjogging warmup, 2x[5x1:30 hard with 30 sec recovery], 2 min recovery between sets, 10 min cool down, swam some laps (~10 or 300 yards) to round out at 1 hr. First day of Pfitzinger's waterjogging schedule done!

As soon as I started my first hard effort I realized I was in for it! Man, I didn't realize how hard this could be! I pushed so hard I almost threw up. Then, when I got out of the pool, my legs almost buckled because they were shaking so bad from fatigue!!! I am so happy about this. I can work with this. People, don't be afraid of injury because this stuff is hard! 

I'm not sure if I can wear my garmin heart rate monitor in the pool, so I just estimated my heart rate with my fingers after some of the repeats. I was hitting 120-130s recovering. They say your hr is 10% lower in the pool. I'd say I was between zone 3-4 (aerobic/anaerobic). Gotta find out about my garmin! :)

Long bike in boot trying to maintain 70-75% max HR. My total time was around 2:05:00, so I averaged 21.18 MPH?! This is a different exercise bike than what I had used last week. Today I used an upright bike, last week was one of those granny bikes. It could be the bikes are calibrated differently or it could be more efficient to bike in the upright position. The important thing is that I maintained the correct HR (74%) for the entire long ride! Avg HR: 136

I need to practice better fueling on the bike. 25 oz of sodium free water is terrible! Must bring more fluids and a little carbs/electrolytes.

All-in-all a tough and wonderful workout! The first long ride of a century ride schedule. I feel comfortable with this. I might as well train for a century in my boot even if I'm not sure I will get out of my boot in time to ride it (a friend is riding one June 15th).

Finished with 3x15 pushups, 1:30, 1:00 planks then called it a day. 

1:10:00 swimming.

Aquajogging: 10 min wu, 7x2:30 hard with 30 sec recovery, 10 min cd

20 mins laps ~ 610 yards. I think I'm figuring out how to swim. This is over double what I swam on Friday and this time I took no breaks. :) I felt like I could have gone longer too!

Finished with 3x(1 lap frogs, 1 lap walking in the pool with my jogger belt to keep weight off my foot).

Once again I got out of the pool and my legs were shaking so bad with fatigue!! I love it! 

AM: Speed bike in boot! 30 min wu in zone 2 then 5x2:00 in zone 4-5 with 4:00 recovery followed by 15 min cd in zone 2-3. This was really hard, but it felt really good to push so hard, drip sweat, and get my hr up. My peak HR was near 165 for each interval. Kinda like running. Interesting factoid: I finally found the answer to my question: why is it so difficult to get your HR up when on the bike to be similar to your HR running? Answer: because in many individuals there is a strength that needs to be built first. Tri athletes generally have built the leg strength to be able to bike at a similar HR as they run. 

Finished up with a little weights focused on my hammies cause my quads are burnt! Arms and 3x15 real pushups, 3x1:30 plank in boot.

PM: Waterjogging. 5 min wu, 2 sets of 6x1:30 hard with 30 sec recovery with 2 min rest between, 5 min cd. Apparently I got into a pretty decent rhythm because I accidentally added an extra rep on my last set. Once again I came out of the water and my legs were shaking with fatigue. This new routine is really focusing on quad and hip strength!! Now I'm pooped and ready for an early bedtime!!

Waterjogging: 5 min wu, 35 min steady running. 

Laps: 30! I'm figuring out how to swim and that's making it so much more fun! I swam 900 yards not realizing that's over half a mile. 

I get skeptical about these swimming workouts because my body doesn't feel so beat up. Then I get out of the pool and my legs shake so bad with fatigue and it's kinda hard to tell my muscles to move, so I know I'm getting a good workout. :) 

1.5 h steady bike. 30 min wu at 60% max HR (115-120 bpm), 15 mins 80-85% max HR (150-155 bpm), 15 min recovery at 60% max HR, 20 mins 80-85% max HR, 10 min cd 125-135 bpm.

I really didn't believe I could maintain 80-85% max HR for so long on the bike. It's pretty hard for a runner because you just don't have the quad strength to get your HR up that high. I can tell I'm improving though because it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was actually a lot of fun! My watch gauges your training effect based on HR. I hit 4.1 out of 5.0 which stands for "drastically improving"! :)

65 min ladder waterjogging: 20 min wu, 1 min hard, 1 min recovery, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1, 4/1, 3/1, 2/1, 1/1, 10 min cd. I know this must've been hard because a) I almost vomited a couple times and b) for the longer intervals it was hard to keep my head above water which I think means I had no oxygen in my lungs. :)

Swam 750 yards in 23:29 I am such a slow swimmer!! 

So a sprint triathlon is 750 yard swim, 20k bike, 5k run. Now I've swam and biked several times a week those distances or greater. There's a sprint triathlon the weekend in late June after the century ride. Hmm...

Okay, I've been keeping positive about this stress fracture for quite a while. I need a short venting session so please bare with me. I  have two friends who were at the same fitness as me before my stress fracture. I got a text from one friend this weekend that he ran 10 miles sub 7 AP (we were both trying to run a sub 7 AP half marathon in July). Then I got a text from a friend last night. She's tapering for a marathon next weekend where she will try to get her BQ. She did 5x1 mile repeats. Her last mile was 5:50! I text them back all excited and happy for them, but it really makes my heart heavy. I'm jealous I can't hit those paces and I worry they are just going to keep advancing while I'm working so hard just to maintain what I had. It makes my hard work seem inadequate too. Why?! That doesn't make sense for someone's one mile time to make a 1.5 h hard bike seem inadequate. What is wrong with me??? Okay venting over. Time to focus on my own recovery what I CAN do! 

I am flying to FL tomorrow to surprise my mom for Mother's Day, so I won't have access to a stationary bike. So, I did my long bike this am. 

3h at 70-75% max HR. Supposedly 64.8 miles on the bike. It was tough, but it was my longest ride yet!! I'm really thinking a century ride and/or triathlon will be in my immediate future (June). :)

I had great news from the PT yesterday! She had me hop on my bad foot without the boot. NO PAIN!!! Now I can walk around without the boot and no guarding. I'm getting through this!! 

2 hr water jogging. 

30 min wu, 2x[6x3 min hard, 2 min recovery], 5 min easy between sets, 25 min cd.

Phew!!! This was so hard!!! My legs were very sore after this. I don't know if my heart rate is getting high enough to maintain high heart rate fitness, but hopefully I'm gaining leg strength and maybe even gaining more efficient oxygen delivery? 

I'm walking more around the house without my boot and my foot is feeling really good!!! I think about fall marathons while I water jog. I think I'll nix an Oct and shoot for a Nov race. I just applied to the NYC marathon and thinking Philly as a backup. I can't wait to plan a new schedule! 

40 mins water jogging. 

5 min wu, 2x[7x1:30 hard, 30 sec recovery], 2 min easy between sets. 5 min cd. I am so incredibly sore from yesterday. It felt good to work with tired muscles. I don't know why, I'm crazy! Haha.

I took two naps today. I think this water jogging and biking program are working! I'm maintaining the same weight and I feel I'm getting more toned than when I marathon train. :) 

1.25 h speed bike. 30 min wu in zone 2, then true (as in I didn't start the interval time until I reached target HR) 6x2 min in zone 4-5a (81-93% max HR) with 4 min recovery (zone 3), then 12 min cd which ended up being zone 3. 

This was the first ride on my new bike trainer!! I already broke my computer thingy that tells you speed on my first ride so I have no idea how far I went. That's okay, I didn't trust that thing anyway. I'll just stick to HR/time training. That's more important anyway. AND, my first ride with no boot!!! I used the clip in shoes which keep your feet immobilized anyway. :)

Today is my 3 week checkup for my "stress fracture"! I've decided I probably was having more of a stress reaction than stress fracture, which my PT suggested. I looked it up, they will both show up on a bone scan. Now let's see if my dr agrees! Stay tuned...  

Big sigh. What a heavy heart I have right now. Ortho convinced me to pull out of Ragnar in June. It just seems stupid to invest so much time in healing my foot to run few, slow miles and potentially set back my recovery. I want to get back into marathon training, so I think the smartest thing for me is to bite the bullet and be conservative. This is such a tough decision for me. I was looking forward to this since last June. Things could be worse and by September I'm hoping my body will reward me for this investment. Time to dry my eyes and focus on biking. 

1h 20 min waterjogging. I was planning on an interval workout but when I got to the pool the girls from MIT track were jogging away so I decided to chat it up with them for awhile. Chatting it up meant I probbed them for all their secrets. :) One of these girls has a 4:40ish mile time!!! I found out they are putting in 55 mile weeks and waterjog 5 days a week on top of that!!! Yup, definitely adding this to my routine for marathon training this summer/fall.

After chatting with them for 40 mins, I finished up with swimming up and down the lane focusing on good form and trying to fatigue my hamstrings. The bike neglects the hammies so I gotta make sure they are getting adequate attention. Finished up with 5x45sec hard with 15 sec recoveries. I will just switch this workout with tomorrows since I was going to do a steady waterjog tomorrow anyway. :)

I felt like a normal person training with people! Yay!!! 

AM: 1.75 h steady bike. 15 min wu @ 60-65% MHR, then 3x15 min @ 80-85% MHR with 15 min recovery @ 70-75% MHR.

Ahhh...this is the first workout after my stress fracture that my body had that in sync feeling that it gets when you are running well and comfortably hard. This time, it wasn't about my foot, or my quads being too weak to get my HR to the correct zone. I was able to hit the zone and just close my eyes, let the sweat pour off my face and just jam to the music while I replayed a bunch of running memories during the hard interval. Today I feel good. Today I feel like I can maintain a decent base with this. I am happy. :) 

PM: 77 mins water jogging. 20 min wu, 2x[6x2:30 hard with 30 sec recovery] with 5 min easy between sets, 15 min cd.

74 mins waterjogging - ladder workout. 20 min wu, 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1 min hard with 1 min easy between each, 20 min cd. I tried to focus really well on my form and tried to burn out my hammies. :) This felt comfortably hard. I tried to catch my HR between some sets, and it seemed to be around 13ish beats for 5 sec and once got up to 15, which means I'm hitting 156 - 180 bpm!!! I didn't think this was possible without running so I have been assuming I was getting my cardio work on the bike. It's so weird to work so hard and not feel like your body is all beaten up. I think I have conditioned my self to think I am only working hard and improving if I am in pain! This session also felt like my bike session yesterday - like everything is in sync. I think I'm finally gaining enough skill in these crosstraining exercises that now it's about the cardio/aerobic fitness. I didn't want to get out of the pool either. I think I'm falling in love with waterjogging!

3.5 h bike no boot! Averaged 72% max heart rate. This was so hard!! about 2 h in I wanted to quit so bad. It's funny, once you get to 3 h the last 30 mins are a breeze. :)

93 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, then 8x5 min hard with 1 min recovery, then 5x45 sec hard with 15 sec recovery, then 20 min cd. 

This was nice and hard! I was getting my HR up to 132 - 156 bpm (73 - 87% max HR) roughly for the 5 min intervals, and the 45 sec were 156 - 180 bpm (87 - 100% max HR), roughly. This is crazy considering they say your HR in water is 10 bpm lower than on land. Maybe I'm an exception?

On a heavier note, my Chicago training partner ran her marathon today. Her goal was to finally get her BQ. She ran Chicago last fall injured and unexpectedly missed qualifying by 24 sec!! She has gotten even faster and has been injury free, so there was no doubt in my mind she was def going to BQ today. I was expecting a 325/330 from her. Well, with such a cold winter/spring, she unfortunately had a really hot and humid race. She was on pace (7:55 min/mi) up through mile 18 then stopped sweating and started getting chills. She was puking by 20, and walked it in just to collapse at 26.0 then again after crossing the finish in 3:59. Thankfully she is physically okay, but my heart breaks for her. It just goes to show you that you can do everything right, but a good race is definitely luck of the day and the weather. We wanted to run Boston together so bad!! Ugh, this makes my heart so heavy and there's nothing I can do. :(

AM: 1.25 h speed bike criss-cross workout. 20 mins wu @ 60-65% max HR, then 6x4 mins 80-93% max HR (slowly raise HR first 2 mins to 93%, then slowing lower HR last 2 mins to 80%), with 4 min recovery, then 15 min cd.

I loved this. Well, hated it during the intervals. I got that burning sensation in my legs that you get when you are running really, really hard. My muscles were definitely fatigued by the last repeat. My quads and glutes are getting stronger! Love!!

It's funny, the more I cross-train, the more I don't feel like I have a stress fracture!! :) 

PM: 1.25 h water jogging. 20 min wu, then 2x[8x1:30 min hard with 30 sec recovery], 2 min easy between sets, 20 min cd. It hurts so good. Funny, I am the only waterjogger at MIT it seems who does intervals, and I don't feel like a weirdo about it. 

AM: 1.25 h weights/core/PT. 3 sets of each exercise, 3 exercises per round, 5 rounds. Finished with 3x1:30 planks.

PM: 90 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, 5x5:00 hard with 5:00 recovery, 20 min cd. This felt easier in some sense to have a longer recovery but definitely had to push hard for a longer amount of time.  

Scrapped all workouts today and worked from home in bed. My sinus infection that I've had for 1.5 weeks is getting worse and I think it's bc I'm training a tad too hard and not getting enough rest. I took a 2 h nap today and had a lot more calories and a few emergen-C's. I felt pretty energized by the end of the day so I think this was just what I needed!

HAPPY START WORKING OUT OF BOOT DAY TO ME!!! RA-RA, ZCHISH-BOOM-BA!

AM: 2h steady bike. 15 min wu @ 60-65% max hr, then 3x20 mins @ 80-85% max hr with 15 min recoveries @ 60-65% max hr. I definitely lolly gagged before this because I was worried about my body's strength. The impromptu rest day yesterday evidently was spot on what I needed because I crushed this workout!! I need a mop to cleanup my floor after this! I wonder how much this type of workout will help me to run a half marathon in July when I'm just getting back to running?

PM: 82 mins waterjogging downhill ladder. 20 mins wu, then downhill ladder starting at 7 mins hard/half interval time recovery down to 1 min hard, 20 mins cd.

I just noticed today that my right calf is noticeably smaller than my left!! It looks silly, gotta work on that! 

98 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, then 8x5min hard with 1 min recovery, then 10x45 sec hard with 15 sec recoveries. Once again I was getting to ~170 bpm on the 45 sec intervals, that's 94% max hr!!! 15 sec was definitely not enough time to recover, but I think that's the point of the workout. :) I'm really loving water jogging, that in combination with the bike has got me feeling so strong. I'm hitting 12 h training per week, which is higher than I hit running (typically 8-10 h/week). It's gotta be lower intensity so I will call this excellent base building. :)

I had decided to scratch the half marathon in mid-July that I was targeting a 1:30, but now I'm wondering if I should use it as a baseline race to start marathon training (targeting a Nov marathon now). Who knows maybe I can even PR? That would be faster than 1:41 since I haven't run a half in a year. Ha! 

4h long bike. Maintained 72% max heart rate. This seemed easier than my 3.5 h long bike last weekend!! I think I'll stick to 4h max. Not sure what a longer bike ride would do for me?

30 mins weights on vacay just to get the day started off on the right foot. :)

1.25 h speed bike. 20 mins wu at 60-65% max hr, then 10x2mins @ 80-90% max hr with 2 mins recoveries, then cool down ~ 10 mins. These were harder than last week's speed bike (6x4 mins w 4 min recoveries). Could be from the shorter recoveries, could be from one sore right quad after dancing all night in my boot - either way, a great workout and very proud of myself for squeezing it in at night after a long travel day. :)

AM: 50 mins weights. 4 blocks of 3 sets of 3 exercises: weights, core, and PT. I measured my calves today. Last week people noticed my right was visually a lot smaller than my left. They measured the same today...score!

PM: 100 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, then 6x5min hard with 5 min recoveries, 20 min cd.  

AM: 2.25 h steady bike. 15 min wu @ 60-65% max hr, then 4x15min @ 85% max hr with 15 min recoveries. It was one of those days where you wake up at 4:30am, you feel dead, think about pushing the workout to another day when you feel fresh, start the workout, have a hard time getting your hr up, then...bam! Things fall into place and you have a good, hard workout in the zone!! I finished strong, awake, and ready to start the day! It helped to get a text message from a friend saying this:

"This is you!":

I have to admit, I've been feeling kinda bummy about training. I'm putting in a ton of time and hard work to crosstrain, but it's all blind. I have no idea my pace/speed or if I'm improving/losing fitness. It's making me crazy. I have a hard workout like today, feel so proud, then an hr later feel so inadequate. It's mind games, I know. I just have to cage this and keep the faith. Thank you, my friend, I sooooo needed this text!!!

PM: 78 min waterjogging; 20 min wu, 2x[9x1:30 mins hard, 30 sec recoveries], 2 mins easy between sets, 20 min cd. There was hardly anyone in the pool, which meant minimal water slapping my face. :) I can't believe I worked up to 2x9 sets of these!!! I started at 2x5 4 weeks ago, and I can tell I have improved. Yay! 

AM: 50 mins weights. 4 sets of 3 exercises with 3 reps each: core, stability, PT finished with 3x1:30 planks then 3x20 abmat sit-ups to make them abs buuuuurrrn!!!

Officially done with the boot as of today!!! Dr. says I am healing nicely, and no pain when he pushed on my bone...hard!!! I asked him about racing a half mid-July, he said normally people give up on working out and have to build back cardio. I laughed and told him I'm training more hours per week doing bike and waterjogging than I did running 70 miles per week. He says then I just need to focus on rebuilding my bone. I guess all that hard work does pay off (besides keeping me temporarily sane)!! 

PM: 65 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, 4x[3 mins hard, 1 min easy, 1 min hard, 1 min easy], 20 min cd. This felt hard but short. I'm definitely ready for a rest day now! 

Today is rest day, so my workout was to sleep over 9.5 h last night. :)

4h long bike. Last week 4h long bike was at 72% max hr, this week 4h long bike was 76% max hr! I checked in the Pfitzinger book after, I averaged target heart rate for long run pace for marathon training...for 4h!!!! Nice.

1.3 mile WALK to the pool NO boot, then 75 mins waterjogging with some friends in my running club. 10 min wu, 8x5 mins hard (well, kinda, we did a bit of talking :) ), with 1 min recoveries, then 10x45 sec hard with 15 sec recoveries (these were truly hard - no talking), then 5 min cd. Then 1.3 mile WALK home! The walk home felt much better than the walk to the pool. I think waterjogging is a magical cure-all.  

AM: 1.5 h speed bike. 30 min wu, then 7x3 mins at 80-93% max hr, with 3 min recoveries, 15 min cd. This felt good...like 800m repeats good. :)

My 0.5 mile walk to work today with no boot felt like any old normal day!! First longer walk that felt like that since April!! :) T-10 days until first run!! 

PM: 82 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, 2x[10x1:30 min hard w 30 sec recovery] 2 min easy between sets, then 20 min cd. It's so awesome to build from 2 sets of 5 repeats to 2 sets of 10 repeats. I've come a long way! The pool felt so refreshing this evening, and then my legs were so fatigued once I got out of the pool. I think everyone should try this because that sensation is amazing! 

AM: WALKED 2 miles in my running shoes while singing "I would walk 500 miles..." in my head. I didn't realize how long walking 2 miles would take, haha, so I got a late start to the day. I definitely got some good work in on my foot for this walk! Then 4 sets of 3 exercises with 3 sets each exercise. Finished with 6 mins planks and burnt my abs with 3x30 abmat situps. Yeah, there are some packs poking through now! :)

It's T-9 days to run, but I cheated. My dr okayed me to try the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill I start that Monday!! So less than one week to AlterG run!

My motivation and attitude are kicking major booty right now, and being able to add AlterG while working back into running has me feeling better about this half in July! Right now I think I will annihilate it, but let's just see how things go. :) 

PM: 110 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, 7x5 mins hard, 5 min recovery, 20 mins cd. The pool was vacant since I went mid-day so I could run my work experiment later. It was nice to have an entire lane to myself for a while!

AM: 2.25 h steady bike. 25 min wu @ 60% max hr, then 3x20mins @ 80-85% max hr, with 15 mins recovery, 10 min cd. I imagined the 20 min intervals were running the July half marathon. It didn't feel that bad! :) My foot was achy towards the end and my legs are fried. I am looking forward to an easy waterjogging workout later this evening to fix me up good. I get to start elliptical tomorrow!!!

PM: 1.25 h steady waterjogging. This felt really good to take an entire workout easy. I haven't done that in a long time...too long! 

30 mins elliptical then 3.5 h long bike. 

This is my first elliptical go, and it was amazing! Wow, I never thought the elliptical would feel so heavenly. As soon as I started going, it felt so similar to that running feeling in my hips and thighs that I almost started crying it felt so good! Definitely got a good workout in on my feet muscles. :)

I will be driving the van and bike pacing my Ragnar team this weekend from Madison to Chicago, so I had to get my long bike in today so I wouldn't miss it this weekend. It was so tough to get going after my bike workout yesterday, but I basically did a "progressive long bike" % max hr-wise. Started out hardly able to break 68 to 70% in the first 45 mins, then continually increased hr until the last 15 mins I kept it closer to 78-81% max hr. Averaged 73% max hr - right on target.

Now I'm ready to drive a van and ride a bike alongside my teammates through the night! It'll be great times with friends. I'm pretty sure I've come to terms with not being able to run. I can blow up my pace in races when my body is ready. 

Bike paced my Ragnar running teammates through the night. I counted up the mileage, it was actually 26.2. Weird!! Probably around a 4 h bike ride, probably around 45-50% max hr. There were some nice rollers in WI. I made sure to keep seated on the bike to get a little burn in my quads. :)

Bike pacing was a success! One of my good looking female friends got hit on around 2am by some drunk, creepy guy with a flash light out in the middle of nowhere with no people around. I'm so glad I was with her! He wouldn't want to mess with me!

Ragnar was more difficult than I thought. At the finish, my team ran in the final runner. I, of course, could not run. I watched as all 6 of them ran through the cheering crowds to the finish. It was so sad! There went another race I was looking forward to. There would be no finisher's medal for me, they would be taking pictures of the team without me as I make my way over to them. I went along for the ride, driving the van all but 4 legs, and the legs I was bike pacing my teammates. As I make my way to meet up with my teammates. I force myself to hold back tears (doing a very good job of it, I must say). As soon as I link up with them and see their beautiful ultra finisher's medals they pull out a 7th medal and place it around my neck. I burst into tears. They made me feel so much a part of the team. I was sad and mad I couldn't run, but they were so grateful for all the work I did to help them through the race.

Everyone is on a different running journey. Just as with life, there are highs and lows. You have to experience the lows to feel the highs. Last year was a big year of PRs for me. As I write this now, I am actually grateful for this injury. I know I would keep PRing, but now I will be starting a marathon training schedule fresh (for once) and my PRs will feel that much more worth it after sacrificing so much this Spring.