"I Only Run in Purple." - Anisum's Road PRs in 2018

Congrats on the PR!
Thank you! The training plan certainly helped. :D
I don't know what to congratulate you on more:
A) A PR after running a 2 mile WU
or
B) Pumpkin Pie Stuffed French Toast and Banana Crumb Pancakes

Either way, Congrats!
Definitely B. I mean I wouldn't have probably gotten B if I hadn't run but like, the French toast was literally just good French toast with pumpkin pie filling between two pieces and the banana crumb pancakes were so banana-y with like crumbs and they were so big and fluffy and they came with maple praline butter so you know they were delicious. I only ordered the French toast but because the pancakes were so big I got some of someone else's. It's the only thing I ate yesterday and it was well worth it. I feel negligent for not taking a picture. I'll try to find one online at some point.

Hey, congrats on the PR! That's awesome, especially with the weather.
Thanks! The weather was much better than the last race but it would be ideal if we got fall at some point.
Congrats on your PR!!
Thank you!
 


Congratulations on the PR!!! Yum re: the French toast!
Yes. The French toast was amazing! Honestly, that was probably more exciting than the PR.
I actually love these, go figure!
The flavor was good! I've never been sold on the texture of gels, especially while I'm running but since I was refueling between my warm up and my 5k I had time to consume it at a leisurely pace and I liked it.
 
Week 26 (10/9-10/15):
Monday: 4 mi @ EA
Wednesday: 4mi @ EB + Strides
Thursday: 1mi @ WU + 3 mi @ Tempo + 1 mi @ CD
Saturday: 4mi @ EB + Strides
Sunday: 7mi @ LR

Monday: I ran this in the morning. There was 100% humidity and after the workout on my legs during the 5k the day before my body did not want to move. My run ended up being slower than my usual EA but it felt right.

Wednesday: This one also wasn't very memorable. I definitely did it in the afternoon which is a good sign for the weather.

Thursday: I ran this at night. I find that I dislike running in the dark at night because there's wayyyy more people out and about and things going on. Plus I feel like since it gets darker between when I start and when I finish I end up not being able to see as well as when it's dark from the beginning

Friday: I decided to do my Saturday and Sunday runs on Friday and Saturday instead since I was going to my friend's house overnight on Saturday. I was doing well with my run but I got a text that I felt I should answer at mile 1.5 and I have a spot I occasionally stop to check/respond to texts. I responded and went back to running only to start shaking and feel lightheaded and nauseous not more than .1 mile into it. I walked a little and then called for a ride to head home. By the time I got in the car and away from that area I felt fine. What I think happened based on people who were talking as I ran by before stopping to walk is that the town is replacing all of the sewer lines and apparently that day during construction that had hit a gas line and had a gas leak. They managed to fix it that day and had just finished up work. Since I was downwind from where they were working when I stopped to text it's possible that's what caused the issue but I don't really know. I felt fine after that.

Saturday: I was a bit nervous after the day before but I headed out from my run. I felt fine. It was cloudy and slightly humid but it was kind of misting out so the humidity didn't really bother me. Since it was a fueling run I went with sports beans after some consideration. The run went well overall and I felt good the whole way so not sure what had happened the day before but I was good.
 


Glad the lightheadedness didn't last. Maybe you did just get a big whiff of that gas leak. Well done on your training week.
 
Yikes re: the lightheadedness! Glad it was short-lived and that you felt good on Sunday!
Glad the lightheadedness didn't last. Maybe you did just get a big whiff of that gas leak. Well done on your training week.

Thanks for the concern guys! I'm not entirely sure what caused it but it was scary and I was just glad it went away fast!
 
Week 27 (10/16-10/22):
Monday: 4 mi @ EA
Wednesday: 4mi @ EB + Strides
Thursday: 1mi @ WU + 3 mi @ Tempo + 1 mi @ CD
Saturday: 6mi @ EB + Strides
Sunday: 8mi @ LR

Monday: I vaguely recall running this. It's kind of sad how all of the runs vaguely meld together after a while. My Garmin says I ran it a little above EA pace :( but either way it definitely happened. I think I sent a quality Snapchat somewhere around Mile 3.2 of someone's Halloween decorations.

Wednesday: This one I tried out a slightly different route because I was bored with my usual 4 mile route. I wasn't sure if it would be exact or short and it was slightly short but I fixed that en-route. This was a few seconds fast but overall not bad.

Thursday: Okay so this one I also tried combining a portion of Wednesday's 4 mile route with another 4 mile route I know is long (where both overlap for about 2 miles) in order to make a 5 mile route that was pretty spot on. A part of me hates the tempo runs because after having the calm and relaxing warm up I just want it back during the 3 miles in the middle and by the time I'm done with that I end up wanting to run faster than cool down

Saturday: So I planned to put my car in the shop and then go for my run. As I'm getting ready to get in my running clothes I stretch and somehow pinch a nerve or pull something in my neck and it hurts. So I then have to wait until that oddness goes away using some ice before I go out. Now, when I left the house it was right around the time when Weather.com said would be the best time to run. They however lied. It was 70+ and sunny with some humidity. It wasn't terrible but I would have much rather run when it was in the 60s and comfortable. On top of that my run was interrupted once when I had to take a call from the car place and then a second time when I had to stop for water because I didn't think I would need any and was wrong.

Sunday: I planned a really nice route. 2 miles to a park, 3.75 around the park, 2 miles back and make up an extra 0.25 mile somewhere in there. When I started running I felt a feeling that has become familiar to me these last few weeks. Tired legs. I never really knew what that meant. I thought it was the dead feeling of legs after a hard race but it's more like a feeling that you've walked around Disney all day and your legs would like to rest at the pool but you've got a dinner to get to so you're going to keep going. Except with like running instead. My legs are tired but not so much so that I don't or can't run.

The flaw in my plan was I failed to realize that it was a breast cancer walk around the park that took up all the space even in the roads (which were open at the time btw) so I ended up dodging and weaving and going a little too fast but really when you have a chance to get around people you have to take it. Overall it was a good run.

I took my Camelbak because I realized that while I intended to be done with it for the season I will need it for some longer runs. I also tried Watermelon Sports Beans with caffeine. They were all right. I liked the flavor but they didn't seem too different from regular sports beans.
 
Good training week! I hear you on getting bored with your regular routes. We run basically the same weekly training route all the time and it does get really old, but any other routes add too much time in trying to get to them, so we just stick it out with our old boring one.

Sunday sounds like it would have been great except for ending up in a crowd of walkers, but well done getting it accomplished anyway.

I like those Watermelon beans with caffeine. I almost always buy the flavors with caffeine in them. I do think they provide some extra energy when I'm tired.
 
To avoid route boredom, I have recently embraced the "out and back", that way I can go anywhere new and ensure I still hit my mileage goals. It has opened up so many more possibilities without having to waste time planning extensive routes in advance. I am also blessed in my city, where a short drive takes me to tons of pathways along different waterways!
 
Good training week! I hear you on getting bored with your regular routes. We run basically the same weekly training route all the time and it does get really old, but any other routes add too much time in trying to get to them, so we just stick it out with our old boring one.

Sunday sounds like it would have been great except for ending up in a crowd of walkers, but well done getting it accomplished anyway.

I like those Watermelon beans with caffeine. I almost always buy the flavors with caffeine in them. I do think they provide some extra energy when I'm tired.
My struggle is really the time of day. I want to be sure I'm confident that where I'm running so when I run in the dark or at odd hours I want it to be somewhere I feel safe. That's my biggest struggle. That and the fact that if I go too far in any direction I will reach a major road or highway.

I'm usually not a fan of watermelon flavored things so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. I also didn't taste the caffeine the way I do with gels so that was really nice. I think I will have to use some more caffeine beans before I can say for sure that I don't notice a difference in energy. Since I have a lot of random freebie fuel I'm using that at half of the runs to see what works best. That means I have cherry sports beans for another long run some time.

To avoid route boredom, I have recently embraced the "out and back", that way I can go anywhere new and ensure I still hit my mileage goals. It has opened up so many more possibilities without having to waste time planning extensive routes in advance. I am also blessed in my city, where a short drive takes me to tons of pathways along different waterways!
I do like to do that when I run during the day. I mostly stick to sidewalks because there aren't a ton of pathways but I'm always trying to expand my horizons without hitting a highway.
 
Week 28 (10/23-10/29):
Monday: 3 mi @ EA
Wednesday: 3mi @ EB + Strides
Thursday: 1mi @ WU + 4 mi @ Tempo + 1 mi @ CD
Saturday: 2mi @ WU + Strides + 5k @ Race + 1mi @ CD
Sunday: 3mi @ EA + Strides

Monday: Guys. 3 miles. It shouldn't be that exciting but I really love only having to run 3 miles. See my 3 mile route is perfect. It's the route I run most and when I think about running 3 miles I can tell you where I would be at any point during those 3 miles. So running 3 miles is very exciting. I have a whole month until I'll have the opportunity to do so again.

Wednesday: Now with more strides! I'm so used to doing strides from mile 3 to the end that starting them a mile early was kind of weird. Overall though, still and enjoyable run.

Thursday: This one I planned out a new route for. I don't really have enough room to cover six miles in town without doubling back a few times so this route took care of a lot of that. Plus is was just fun and different. I saw a pumpkin that had fallen (or been thrown) into a lake, a great sunset, and while I was running a crane walked onto the running trail. Looked right at me and just pooped all over the trail, taking up about half of the roadway with it. Then it just flew away. Like what the heck? The downside of this run was by the time I was finishing it was starting to get dark. I'm going to have to begin to think about that sort of thing as we get closer to marathon weekend because it's only going to get darker earlier.

Friday: I actually did my Sunday run because a. I'm the worst and b. I didn't think it was a good idea to run in a torrential downpour in an unfamiliar area (I was spending Saturday night at a friend's house). If doing 3 miles at EB with strides was weird trying to maintain EA was worse. I definitely ended up a bit fast.

Saturday: My niece's school has a school pride 5k and I promised I'd run with her because I'm kind of the only runner she's close to. So I ended up getting there early and using the trail they built around the school as a warm up. Then I ran the 5k with my niece. She's at an age where she doesn't necessarily understand running a pace you can maintain for several miles so we were running 10:30-11:30 min/mi pace (faster than I usually go) until we got to any killer hill and then we'd walk for a while until she was ready to run again. I will say I'm kind of glad she runs all out (or maybe she isn't and just humors me) because I would not be able to maintain 10:30-11:30 without walk breaks. I did cut the cool down mile because I had a cousin's baby shower and then had to drive up to a friend's place for a Halloween party. Overall it was a very busy weekend.


My biggest concern going forward is getting runs in this week. I feel like I have a lot of things going on that prevent me from moving runs around too much and there is an almost 100% chance that I'll have to miss a run and I'm not sure which is the best run to miss. Today (Monday) I'm definitely able to get a run in. I can't realistically move a run to tomorrow because I'm going out to dinner. Wednesday I have a check-up so while I can definitely run I probably can't do a longer run so that will probably stay as 4 miles. I can run Thursday and Friday for sure (Thursday afternoon and Friday morning) but I probably won't be able to run at all over the weekend (I have a friend's wedding in which I'm the maid of honor) so obviously running takes a back seat. If I get home at a reasonable hour I'll try and run Sunday but it's not necessarily realistic. So given that knowledge @DopeyBadger which run should I skip if I have to? My initial thought is one of the long runs but since both my Thursday and Sunday run are 9 miles I'm not sure which would be the appropriate to get rid of if necessary knowing the plan is to run M, W, Th, F for sure with a limited possibility of Sunday.

 
My biggest concern going forward is getting runs in this week. I feel like I have a lot of things going on that prevent me from moving runs around too much and there is an almost 100% chance that I'll have to miss a run and I'm not sure which is the best run to miss. Today (Monday) I'm definitely able to get a run in. I can't realistically move a run to tomorrow because I'm going out to dinner. Wednesday I have a check-up so while I can definitely run I probably can't do a longer run so that will probably stay as 4 miles. I can run Thursday and Friday for sure (Thursday afternoon and Friday morning) but I probably won't be able to run at all over the weekend (I have a friend's wedding in which I'm the maid of honor) so obviously running takes a back seat. If I get home at a reasonable hour I'll try and run Sunday but it's not necessarily realistic. So given that knowledge @DopeyBadger which run should I skip if I have to? My initial thought is one of the long runs but since both my Thursday and Sunday run are 9 miles I'm not sure which would be the appropriate to get rid of if necessary knowing the plan is to run M, W, Th, F for sure with a limited possibility of Sunday.

Monday - 4 miles EA
Wednesday - 4 miles EB
Thursday - 7 miles EB
Friday - 2 miles EA + 6 miles Tempo + 1 mile EA
Sunday - 3 miles EA

Thoughts?
 
I saw a pumpkin that had fallen (or been thrown) into a lake, a great sunset, and while I was running a crane walked onto the running trail. Looked right at me and just pooped all over the trail, taking up about half of the roadway with it. Then it just flew away.

So I'm thinking "fallen pumpkin, beautiful sunset, pretty crane... how nice and tranquil!" and then we get to crane poop and I'm just dying laughing. Well played.

it's only going to get darker earlier

We run at opposite times, but I did get a headlamp for AM runs in the dark, and I've been super glad to have it. It's a Nathan, and it's lighter than the Petzl I have for backpacking/hiking. Also, it has small LED lights on both sides that you can set to red, blue, or green, and you can set them to blink in different patters (or be steadily on/off). So that helps with visibility (I hope).
 
OK, the crane story was pretty funny! That's one jerk of a crane, right?

Running with your niece sounds like when we run the local Turkey Trot 5K with my daughters. It's all RUN FAST - now I'm tired, let's walk. NOW RUN FAST!! I'm tired again, let's walk. It's entertaining if nothing else. :D
 
Monday - 4 miles EA
Wednesday - 4 miles EB
Thursday - 7 miles EB
Friday - 2 miles EA + 6 miles Tempo + 1 mile EA
Sunday - 3 miles EA

Thoughts?
That should work perfect! Thanks! Luckily this should be the only weekend with a major wrench thrown in.
So I'm thinking "fallen pumpkin, beautiful sunset, pretty crane... how nice and tranquil!" and then we get to crane poop and I'm just dying laughing. Well played.
I can't even describe the crane situation. Like it walked onto the path and I stopped my watch and pulled out my phone in an effort to get a picture. Then it just looked at me and let out a stream of poop and I was just too stunned. And I was about the recover to take a picture and caption it "this #&$@ crane" but it flew off before I had the chance.


We run at opposite times, but I did get a headlamp for AM runs in the dark, and I've been super glad to have it. It's a Nathan, and it's lighter than the Petzl I have for backpacking/hiking. Also, it has small LED lights on both sides that you can set to red, blue, or green, and you can set them to blink in different patters (or be steadily on/off). So that helps with visibility (I hope).
I love the Nathan lights. I find that they're brighter than the Petzl. I like my Petzl well enough and I'll be good friends with it again soon. Just when I got used to running without it since I finished morning runs.

OK, the crane story was pretty funny! That's one jerk of a crane, right?
If it didn't look at me I would have just believed it was dumb luck but it walked onto the path that people run/walk on looked me in the eye then did it's business.
Running with your niece sounds like when we run the local Turkey Trot 5K with my daughters. It's all RUN FAST - now I'm tired, let's walk. NOW RUN FAST!! I'm tired again, let's walk. It's entertaining if nothing else. :D
Yes. That's pretty much a summary. The thing is I'm pretty sure if I was like "let's just walk the rest" she would have been down. She prompted the walking and I asked if she was ready to run again after we got to the downhill bits.

I assumed this was always the natural cycle of running with children. LOL!
I honestly thought that's how running was supposed to work until I started training for races.
 

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