Hanging up my running shoes

[michigandergirl]

I just found out that my fall marathon (Grand Rapids) is going to have celebrity inspired pacers - in other words they're going to have an Oprah marathon pace pacer! The Oprah Line is most definitely a thing!! Others include P Diddy and Al Gore.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

I just found out that my fall marathon (Grand Rapids) is going to have celebrity inspired pacers...

Sortable list of celebrity (not exactly all A-listers) marathon times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non-professional_marathon_runners

Took me 11 marathons to best Oprah!

 

[MissLiss279]

Sortable list of celebrity (not exactly all A-listers) marathon times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non-professional_marathon_runners

Took me 11 marathons to best Oprah!

Took me 14!

 

[SarahDisney]

I think I might have a shot at beating Roker.

 

[Bree]

They were desperate to get some people listed in the government section of that list. They listed former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis with a race from 1951.

 

[ZellyB]

Love the celebrity list. Sadly, most beat me out pretty easily though.

 

[ZellyB]

IT'S BEEN A ROUGH WEEK

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Running's been fine. Got all our runs in no problem so far, but UGH, everything else. So, yeah, the carb situation hasn't been great this week. The good news is...

I'm off to the LAKE this weekend!

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Going with 2 other couples where we intend to eat, drink, laugh and swim our cares away!

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I need some peace and relaxation and I will not be counting carbs.

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Next week will resume the carb counting. Have a great weekend everyone!

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[Bree]

Have a nice weekend away! Sounds heavenly!

 

[ZellyB]

Got a little bit behind on my Journal
But I'm still here!

Training Week 8/27 - 9/2
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I skipped updating last week and was just feeling a bit worried about how the training was going and whether or not I was really going to be able to hit my time goal of a sub-5:00 for Chicago, but by the end of the week I was feeling a bit more confident.

Monday 8/27 - We blew off our two 4 mile easy runs the weekend before since we were down at the lake with friends. Probably not smart to do, but we honestly just didn't care. We had a wonderful and relaxing trip with our friends! Anyway, Monday was 4.5 miles at Easy Continuous. Have I mentioned that I hate running continuously? Cause, I do. But, I'm sure it's helping me be stronger, so on we go! Pace 11:25
Tuesday 8/28 - 7 miles with 1 mile Warm Up, 5 at Marathon Tempo, and 1 Cool Down. This run really got into my head. We managed it fine and hit our paces without any real difficulty. T+D was a bit high and we should have adjusted, but we didn't really, but it wasn't really my legs or anything. I just kept thinking in my head, how the heck am I going to maintain this pace for 26.2?

But, I posted in our little support group message and got loads of encouragement from alums of @DopeyBadger plans, so that helped me feel better!
Wednesday 8/29 - This was supposed to be a rest day, but I was leaving town that afternoon for a short work trip and didn't want to try and run alone in a strange city on Thursday, so we moved our Thursday run to Wednesday. It was supposed to be 4.5 miles, but shortly after starting, we could see some major lightening in the near distance, so cut it short at 3 miles. Pace 12:05.

Thursday 8/30 - Rest day
Friday 8/31 - Rest day. Last day of AUGUST?!?!? How did that happen?
Saturday 9/1 - 7 miles with our Galloway group at our Easy/LR pace. Nice run and felt good the whole time. Overall pace 11:58.
Sunday 9/2 - This was a run I was really dreading. It called for 9 miles at our Easy/LR pace and then the last 3 miles at Marathon Tempo. I was just not feeling confident about kicking up the pace on tired legs. Chris and I headed out and before I knew it 6 miles flew by. We stopped for a quick refill on drinks (T+D was 143) and headed back out for the second 6. I was really nervous and starting to feel a bit tired at mile 8 and again had lots of doubts. BUT, come mile time to speed up and it felt pretty good. I kept thinking about running "comfortably hard" and before I knew it, we were finishing up 12 miles. Better yet, each successive mile at tempo got faster. Our goal pace is an average of 10:30 and those 3 miles were 10:30, 10:22, 10:10. I was tired for sure, but that was honestly more the heat I think than anything. My legs were tired, but not dead. This was a run that really helped me build up some confidence.

The next couple of weeks have some pretty tough runs, but I'm going to hang on to that confidence I'm feeling right now and push through. This is where that last push to get us ready for Chicago happens and I'm going to do all I can to be consistent and strong over these last few weeks! Looking forward to the challenge!

 

[DopeyBadger]

You are so strong! You can do this. You're doing so well in training don't lose sight. Remember the mental game. Try not to think of the 5 mile Tempo as the first 5 miles. You've got cumulative fatigue on those legs. Those 5 miles are more like the middle of the race. Same goes for that fast finish run. Those last miles simulate around the late middle of the race. You've got this!

 

[SarahDisney]

Have I mentioned that I hate running continuously? Cause, I do. But, I'm sure it's helping me be stronger, so on we go! Pace 11:25

So ... possibly unpopular opinion. I'm of the belief that continuous running is not for everyone. If you really hate it, does that outweigh any benefits you get from it? It might. That's something that's worth thinking about - if you're not enjoying the continuous runs, would you be better running those runs with intervals? The physical benefits might not be the same, but running is not all physical - enjoying the run is a huge part of the mental game, and sometimes it's better to do something a little easier physically if it's going to have a big impact on the mental game.

I just kept thinking in my head, how the heck am I going to maintain this pace for 26.2?

Well, when you get to the point in the race when you're running those 5 miles, you've already run 21.2 miles at that pace, so it's just about maintaining pace

I kept thinking about running "comfortably hard" and before I knew it, we were finishing up 12 miles.

I love this! I run by effort a lot and I think it helps - "comfortably hard" is a good way to think of those tempo portions of the run!

 

[ZellyB]

You are so strong! You can do this. You're doing so well in training don't lose sight. Remember the mental game. Try not to think of the 5 mile Tempo as the first 5 miles. You've got cumulative fatigue on those legs. Those 5 miles are more like the middle of the race. Same goes for that fast finish run. Those last miles simulate around the late middle of the race. You've got this!

Thanks, Billy! That makes me feel better. That mental game is the tough part as we all know.

So ... possibly unpopular opinion. I'm of the belief that continuous running is not for everyone. If you really hate it, does that outweigh any benefits you get from it? It might. That's something that's worth thinking about - if you're not enjoying the continuous runs, would you be better running those runs with intervals? The physical benefits might not be the same, but running is not all physical - enjoying the run is a huge part of the mental game, and sometimes it's better to do something a little easier physically if it's going to have a big impact on the mental game.

I've thought about that a lot actually and at times wondered if we should just drop the continuous runs, but they are always short distances and at an easy pace, so it's absolutely a mental thing for me. I do know that it's helping me when we do those tempo or T paces runs that are longer duration though. So, even though I don't enjoy them (and I don't even know why I don't enjoy them - it's not that it's physically hard, again that mental thing) I am seeing the benefit of it. After this training plan, maybe we'll drop them, but I'm going to stick it out for now.

Well, when you get to the point in the race when you're running those 5 miles, you've already run 21.2 miles at that pace, so it's just about maintaining pace



I love this! I run by effort a lot and I think it helps - "comfortably hard" is a good way to think of those tempo portions of the run!

I really do have to keep reminding myself of the cumulative fatigue in Billy's plans and keep my confidence up even on tough runs. It was some other alum of a DB plan that used that term, comfortably hard, (I just can't remember who ) for tempo runs and I now really try to focus on that when hitting tempo. It's helped me a lot to keep a mental grasp of how I should be feeling.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Agree with @SarahDisney that rule #1 of training is "enjoy the training because it's 99% of what we do". So I agree that if you're not loving the continuous runs that you wanted to try out for this cycle, then we can easily pivot mid-plan or wait to the next one to change.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

I just kept thinking in my head, how the heck am I going to maintain this pace for 26.2?

The same thought haunted me during last year's training cycle. Then toward the end of the cycle, the thought changed to "Hmmm, maybe this is do-able for 26.2 miles"

Then on race day, it was.

Don't under-estimate the bounce you get from the taper. DB had the plan and taper engineered so perfectly, I felt like I peaked on race morning.

You got this!

 

[ZellyB]

Agree with @SarahDisney that rule #1 of training is "enjoy the training because it's 99% of what we do". So I agree that if you're not loving the continuous runs that you wanted to try out for this cycle, then we can easily pivot mid-plan or wait to the next one to change.

I'm really okay to keep doing them and I do think they help for when it's time to hit those T paces or tempo, so I don't want to stop them for this plan. But, it's always a good reminder that I should be ENJOYING my running and I really do enjoy it the vast majority of the time.

The same thought haunted me during last year's training cycle. Then toward the end of the cycle, the thought changed to "Hmmm, maybe this is do-able for 26.2 miles"

Then on race day, it was.

Don't under-estimate the bounce you get from the taper. DB had the plan and taper engineered so perfectly, I felt like I peaked on race morning.

You got this!

Thank you! I'm going to keep all these positive stories of success stored up in my brain to remind myself of during the race!

 

[Bree]

Comfortably hard is the perfect way to describe it!

 

[ZellyB]

Chicago is getting SO CLOSE!!!!!
ACK!!!!!

Training Update 9/3/18 - 9/9/18
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Last week was a good week though. This week is going to be the biggest challenge in the final push to Chicago, so I just have to keep focused on the prize!!

Monday 9/3 - This was easy 3 miles at continuous pace. Nothing too exciting here. Overall pace of 11:13.
Tuesday 9/4 - 4.5 miles at LR pace. Again, nice normal easy run. Overall pace of 12:05.
Wednesday 9/5 - Rest day

Thursday 9/6 - Tempo run. 1 mile warm up + 5 at Marathon Tempo + 1 cool down. This run went well. Normally, Chris wears his watch and has it on current pace so we can make sure we are hitting tempo pace correctly since my watch is set on overall pace. BUT, Chris forgot his watch, so we ended up doing the tempo portion sort of blind. Result? We went a little too fast for a couple of them, but settled in okay. Tempo for us should average out to 10:30 m/m. Mile splits for tempo portion - 10:16, 9:55, 9:58, 10:19, 10:11. So, got a little excited there on a couple of the miles, but otherwise this was a good run.
Friday 9/7 - Rest day.
Saturday 9/8 - 7 miles at LR pace. Ran this with our Galloway group. It was a nasty morning with a steady drizzle the whole time, but it was nice and cool. Overall pace 12:07.
Sunday 9/9 - Rinse and repeat from Saturday. Drizzle and cool again. Overall pace 11:59.

So, yeah, a good week overall and not too difficult. Now THIS week on the other hand.

Tomorrow is a T pace run that has me a bit panicked. 2 miles WU + 2x2 miles at Daniels T with a 4 min RI and then 1.5 miles cool down. Our last T paced run was a bit of a disaster, so I'm hoping we survive this one. Then this weekend is our biggest back to back with 7 miles on Saturday and then 13 on Sunday with 8 of that in the middle at tempo.

I'm still a little freaked out that our longest run before a marathon is 13 miles but when I look at cumulative miles I know we are packing in a lot, so I'm keeping the faith that we'll be strong come race day. Still wish me luck on the runs this week.

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[rteetz]

Great job! You got this!

 

[roxymama]

pssst...I'm SUPER behind in journals so I'm catching up on you today

 

[FredtheDuck]

Also catching up. Wanted to point to a palpable shift in your tone over your last three recaps. Your confidence IS building. You’re beginning to believe (in yourself and in what others are sharing of their plan experiences). You’ve got this, just keep trusting yourself to do it.

Also, I’m one of those people that hates running leading up to and during many runs. My animosity towards it grows when I have other stressors in my life. But I’m also one that’s so happy that I did it when I’m done, and I get angsty when I go too many days without a run. All of that to say, yes, I agree that you should love training runs because you do so many. But it’s ok to have moments where you don’t love it or you’re irritated by it or your stressed about it. You have goals and it’s not always a rosy path, but you’re dedicated and that dedication, even when it’s a mental effort, matters. But you knew that. You’re a runner .