Runfessions!

Today I am participating in Marcia's Runfession's link up! Be sure to visit her blog and check out some of the other bloggers who are Runfessing today!

Runfession #1: I normally run 5 days a week, but last week I ran 6 days! The entire time I was doing it, I felt like I was doing something "bad"... and I sort of was, because I skipped my lifting session!

Runfession #2: A couple weeks ago, I committed myself to trying to make 3 new habits. The first was to use mouthwash every night. I am proud to say I have been doing this for over a month and haven't missed a night! The second was to walk for 1 minute per mile after every run. Again, this one has been very successful. There was only one time when I cut a walk short due to shivering from sweating so much on the treadmill. The last habit I wanted to do was stop eating right before bed. For some reason, I like to look in the pantry and shove something in my mouth right before bed, even when I am not hungry and not craving anything. I have no problem eating when I'm hungry or satisfying a craving, but when I eat just to eat, it doesn't make sense! I am sad to say that I have only been about 25% successful with this one. I need to be more committed!

Some of the things I like to stuff in my mouth right before bed: chips, Twizzlers, Apple Jacks, Airheads

This flavor SUCKS but we inherited about 6 jugs of it

and we're determined to now let it go to waste.

Runfession #3: I'm scared to run! After my speed session on Wednesday, I felt a pain in my hammy and it migrated to my butt. After stretching and a day of rest, it is practically gone, but I am afraid to test the waters. I have battled injuries before, so whenever something feels wonky, I immediately get so scared of injury and stop running for a couple days and/or lower mileage so I don't overdo anything. My philosophy: You can always run more, but you can't run less! I wish I could just relax about it though. Over worrying doesn't help anything.

Do you have something you want to Runfess?

Warming Up, Holding Up, and Last Speed Sesh!

Warming Up!

My race is just 9 days away! I am wondering if I should warm up before the race? On all of my tempo runs, I have warmed up with 2 miles before heading into my tempo miles. I know the purpose of a warm up, but on race day, I worry about expending the extra energy. I only ever warmed up for a race once. It was for a 5k I was racing. I think I ran a mile before the start of the race. So what do you guys think, should I warm up first?

Holding up!

My body has been holding up pretty well during my six weeks of training. And now all the hard workouts are over. My ITB is no worse for wear. I had a couple runs that it hurt a little, but we're talking mayyyyyybe 3 times that it bothered me. I can't complain. I was a little nervous about doing speed work and a tempo run each week (half marathon race pace for me is speed work!). I vowed to be in tune with my body, and if it wasn't handling it, I would stop. Well, so far it has handled it! Until...

Last Speed Sesh!

My last speed session was Wednesday morning on the treadmill. I did 13x400 with 400 recoveries in between. My intervals were @ 6:22 (fastest I ever did!) and my recoveries were @ 8:00. I warmed up and cooled down as well for an "even" 9.75 miles. (I ran 8.25 on Tuesday so I knocked a quarter mile off Wednesday's run!) I know 13 is a weird number, but after 12, I still felt okay. I wasn't about to throw up or poop my pants, so I went for Lucky 13. After my cool down, I walked for 10 minutes and my right hamstring felt a little sore. By the time I  got to work and stretched, the pain had migrated to my right butt cheek. It's all jacked up now! I mean, I can feel it as I sit here typing this (Wednesday, 3 hours post workout). EFFF! I am going to stretch more today and hopefully it subsides. I'm annoyed. It didn't hurt at all during my run or my cool down. It was when I started walking that it felt weird.

Stretching at lunch. I call this Pissy Pigeon Pose.

**UPDATE: By Wednesday night, the pain in my ass had diminished greatly and I still felt a little twinge in my hammy. Thursday morning I will get my upper body swole and rest these old ass legs.**

Tell me not to overreact!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't make up my mind!

Ever since reading the Hansons Marathon Method, I have been ruminating over when and where to try to PR in the marathon. I have gone back and forth between doing it early this summer or waiting until fall. I have come to my senses and decided fall would be the best time to try to reach this goal of mine.

Once I finally decided on fall, I needed to figure out which month. October would be ideal since I could do a lot of the 18 week training during the summer- which I would prefer. I have a lot more energy and motivation in the summer. September could be too warm and November would have me doing most of the training during the school year.

The problem is, I am having a hard time finding an October marathon that meets my criteria for a PR-able race:

Megan's criteria to PR:

1. Flat/fast course

2. Local

I could do Steamtown on October 9th...

Pros: Semi local, (would require a 2 hour car ride and 1 night in a hotel), fast course, it's on my bucket list.

Cons: Point to point course which would require loading buses at the ass crack of dawn.

I could do Chicago on October 9th...

Pros: Fast course, it's on my bucket list, tons of crowds, would get to meet blogger friends.

Cons: It would cost a lot of money (plane ticket, hotel, registration fee...), I'd have to take time off work, traveling is stressful and stress is not good for PRs!

Chicago would be fun but it would be such a HUGE trip. Right now that sounds fun, but I know as it approaches, I will feel apprehensive and nervous. I could always just throw my name in the lottery and let fate take it's course...

As far as Steamtown, I know I am being a little high maintenance up riding buses to the start line. It would require a really early wake up call but of course MOST marathons require a really early wake up call... 

...except when the marathon is practically right outside your front door.

I keep coming back to the Harrisburg Marathon. Everything gets compared to that.

Harrisburg is on November 13th...

Pros: As local as I can get, inexpensive, my family could spectate, flat course, I'm familiar with the course and could practice it before race day.

Cons: November

People have said to me, "But you've run Harrisburg twice," or "The course isn't that great." But remember, this marathon would be BUSINESS. It would be to have a fun time it would be to PR.

My current PR is on the Harrisburg course. Harrisburg has been good to me. I just keep coming back to Harrisburg and I'm leaning toward that... But I welcome you all to convince me otherwise! You guys always have great insights and words of wisdom for me!

Share your insights with me!
Have you run any of these races?
Advice?

Randomy Randomness!

1. I'm over St. Patty's Day. I guess it is a little late to comment on St. Patrick's Day, but I'm going to anyway. I don't get all the hype! Why does everyone suddenly become Irish on March 17th? It's annoying. 

Also, the kids at school were wild because "leprechauns" come into their classrooms and leave green foot prints, green toilets, play all kinds of other "tricks" on the students. 

The kindergarten students asked me, "Why don't the leprechauns visit your room?" 

I wanted to roll my eyes and tell them leprechauns aren't real, but of course I didn't do that. Instead, I was as honest as possible without spoiling their fun. 

"Leprechauns only like to visit people who think their jokes are fun," I explained. "I don't think their jokes are fun, so they leave me alone." 

They seemed satisfied with that answer.

2. We eat kale now! Okay, so we're about 10 years late on the whole kale phenomenon. Paul started making "kale chips a'la Paul" when he went on chemo this last time. (Apparently it's good to eat a lot of fiber when on chemo.) He tosses the kale in oil and seasons it with salt, garlic, and parmesan cheese. It is sooooo good! But of course you know that because you are a normal person and already knew how yummy kale can be.

3. Our Christmas lights are still up. We hung them in November. They only worked for 2 days. They're just chilling up there until I find them time to take them down. 

4. Vodka DOES have carbs. On Sunday night, I decided to have a dirty martini instead of red wine. With no sugar and no carbs, it would be the *healthier* alcoholic beverage full of empty calories. But I forgot that vodka makes me eat EVERYTHING, so I ended up plowing through half a box of this crack!

All things considered, I think I would have had less sugar and carbs if I just would have went with the merlot! Hey, at least I got my Vitamin D.

5. Reason #116 to shop at Alid. Cat Forts.

Are there any holidays that you are just not into?
Do you have any Christmas decorations up?
What is your favorite way to ingest kale?
What alcoholic beverage makes you eat EVERYTHING?

Weekend Wrap Up!

This week was very challenging. Not only was I mildly sick all week, but the students at school were presenting me with some very.... challenging... behavior. I was just out of energy and patience by Wednesday. Not good. I was so thankful (as always!) for the weekend.

**I do not know what is up with the font size! It's a Meg Go Run Unsolved Mystery!!!**

My morning started with an unscheduled run. I was tired, but it felt good. I was banking on it giving me enough endorphins to get through the work day without being a grumpy teacher... but it didn't. 3:40 couldn't come soon enough!

I had Friday night plans, but they fell through. Instead, I cuddled up in my jammer jams and spent the evening in bed watching Youtube and reading.

I had a very difficult race pace run but I GOT IT DONE!

When I got home, my parents were at our house because my dad was helping Paul fix some plumbing issues and other random things that are breaking in our house.

Then, they took us out for an early dinner, because they are the nicest parents in the world! We went to the Pizza Grille and we ordered enough pizzas so that we'd have some to take home. We ate, talked, laughed, and it was wonderful!

That evening, Paul and I ran a ton of errands which included me getting a new pair of shoes. I can't decide if they're ugly or cute. The last time I bought a pair of shoes that I couldn't tell if they were ugly or cute, they turned out to be cute. So I am confident these will turn out to be cute too.

I also hit up the Dollar Tree and got SEVEN NEW PUZZLES!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to show you that I completed the flip flop puzzle but I accidentally knocked the whole thing over...

After such a hard run the day before, I was surprised that I wasn't sore or aching. Still, I had no plans to run. I lifted upper body since I hadn't done it in almost a week. Then I went for a much needed walk with my friend, Bree. It was not only good for our bodies but good for our souls!

For some reason a run gives me energy but a walk makes me tired. I had no motivation to do anything for the rest of the day besides put on several layers of clothes and work on some puzzles.

 That's my "I'll adult tomorrow" face.

The shoes: Ugly or cute? (I can take it if you think they're ugly!!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!

LAST Race Pace run. Thank goodness because it was a BLOODBATH.

Yesterday was my last race pace run before my 10 miler on April 2nd. It was horrible. I can't think of a single training run that sucked worse than this did. I did hit all of my paces but it was very, very hard.

My plan was to run some of the race course. I'd start on City Island, run up to the Harvey Taylor Bridge, then run across the bridge and back- TWICE. Why would I put myself through that? Because I hadn't run across that bridge in a long time, and I remember that it just sucks. The thought of running out and back on it during the race seemed very daunting. I figured if I ran it twice during a training run, it wouldn't seem so bad doing it during the actual race.

I had a feeling my run wouldn't be easy. As I drove to City Island, my eyes felt heavy. I could fall asleep right now, I thought. That's how tired I was! I also hadn't taken my normal rest day on Friday. Instead, I got cocky and ran five miles. They were easy miles, but I normally take a rest day before a race pace run. It was my fault completely. I also knew why my eyes were heavy. Instead of taking one sleeping pill the night before, I took one and a half. Am I a masochist!? The only way I could have set myself up for a worse run would be if I had gotten shit faced the night before!

Even though I crapped about four times before I left the house, my stomach was grumbling when I parked my car. I also had to pee like a race horse! No problem. There are always tons of bathrooms on City Island.

I started my Garmin to clock my first two warm up miles. First, I headed across the parking lot to hit up the port 'o john I saw. Unfortunately...

WTF!!?? Why would you lock a port o john? Who is messing with me!?

Okay, no problem, there is usually one right by the walking bridge, and I was heading that way anyway. Nope. No port o john. Alright, I knew there were actual real toilets near where the Pride of the Susquehanna docks. I ran to those...

F&$%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By now I was about to pee my pants There was only one more chance for a port o john by the kayak rentals, but it was gone. It was either pee my pants or pee in semi public behind a tree. I opted for the latter. I somehow managed to make my urge to go #2 go away for the time being.

My two warm up miles ended with me back at the car. I chugged some water and took off my jacket. Time to crank it up a notch.

As my race pace miles started (7:15 per mile), I headed across the walking bridge and over to Harrisburg. I ran North on the riverfront path towards the Harvey Taylor Bridge. I am sad to inform you that after .6 of a mile, things were already feeling tough. I did not know if I was going to be able to run 9 miles at race pace.

Here we go, I thought, as I ran up the Harvey Taylor Bridge. After a very short incline, the bridge flattened out. It wasn't that bad. At least it was flat. I ran all the way across to the West Shore (almost a mile), then turned around and came back. I was feeling pretty thirsty as I approached the East Shore and was getting a bit of a headache. I wondered if I should skip the second out and back and instead head to my car for some more water. The bridge wasn't nearly as scary as I remembered it, and I was feeling confident it wouldn't freak me out on race day. No, you said you'd do it twice, so you're going to do it twice, I decided. Out I went again.

As I approached the East Shore for the second time, I was at the 6 mile mark. I couldn't believe I had willed myself to go that long. Some race pace runs aren't hard, but this one was harder than anything I had done in recent memory. My head hurt, my lips were dry, and I felt a little shaky. It was then that I thought of Diana Nyad, the woman who swam from Cuba to Key West- 55 HOURS STRAIGHT. I had watched some videos of her on Youtube the night before and used her as inspiration on my run. If she can swim for 55 hours, surely I can run a couple more miles.

Only watch this video of her coming ashore on Key West if you want to ugly cry...

I made it back to my car around mile 6.5. I stopped my Garmin and grabbed some water. As soon as I stopped running my head started POUNDING. I really had not hydrated enough during my run. I am not an idiot, it's just my hydration pack leaks and I have not come up with a back up plan. Okay, maybe I am an idiot... 

I walked for about a minute and drank a lot. Two and a half miles to go. Less than twenty minutes. I CAN DO THIS.

Luckily, my headache dulled a bit when I started running again. My last miles were just me circling the island. I didn't have the energy to think of another route. I just wanted to run in a circle and not think until I hit 9 miles. I did it. SOMEHOW I did it. The whole time my chest felt fluttery and apprehensive. Why was I nervous? This wasn't a race. I had to tell myself to calm down and just breathe.

BAM!!!

Warm Up: 8:22, 8:19

Workout: 7:17, 7:14, 7:09, 7:13, 7:18, 7:12, 7:09, 7:10, 7:11

Cool Down: 8:30, 8:19

The good part about this run,(other than that I was able to complete it despite the horror) was that my ITB did not bother me at all. Not even afterwards. It comes and goes with no rhyme or reason, but it is always a confidence booster to know that it is possible for me to do hard runs and not have it flare up.

So that's the story of my run! Tomorrow I plan on doing JACK SHIT and I can't wait! I think I earned it!

If you read this whole thing, you get an award!!!

Where is the most public place you have ever peed?

What do you think about for inspiration during a hard run?

Weekly Workout Recap!

Holaaaah! It's Saturday! That means you get to read my boring recap of all the training I did this week.

My initial plan had me doing 42 miles this week. Even though I was *mildly* sick all week, I ended up adding in an extra running day which gave me 47 miles!

Don't worry, things will go down from here as I taper for the Capital 10 Miler. 

Saturday- An 8 mile race pace run with a warm up and cool down totaling 12 miles. My paces weren't even at all, but it did even out by the end. I took a water/walk break halfway through my workout because it was hot and I wanted to!

Sunday- 6 lazy miles around my 'hood. My legs were tired but they didn't feel sore. After my run I started to feel sick. I had a sore throat, chills, and I was extremely tired.

Monday- I lifted in the morning- a little lighter than normal because I just wasn't feeling it. I took the afternoon off work to rest. The thought of talking/singing/moving all day just did not sound fun to me. I was exhausted.

Chest Press- 5x10x25lb

Push Ups- 5x10

Shoulder Press- 10x10x20lb 

Chaist Asst. Wide Grip Pull Ups- 5x6

Band Asst. Neutral Grip Pull Ups- 5x6

Bicep Curls- 3x10x15lb

Tricep Dips- 3x15 

Plank w/ Row- 3x10x10lbs

**Lots of core/hip/glute stuff**

Tuesday- I still wasn't feeling great but I was determined to do my 8 miler anyway. I figured if I was going to be sick again, I'd be even more depressed if I skipped a run. I actually didn't feel bad during the workout. My legs felt strong. I didn't look at my Garmin until I was done. It said I averaged 8:46 per mile. I was a bit surprised because I felt like I was running an 8:20! As it turned out, something must have been wrong with the satellites because when I mapped my run later (to show Paul something completely unrelated) it showed I actually ran 8.4 miles. So my pace was more like an 8:34. 

Wednesday- What a weird morning! There was so much dense fog that it looked like I was running through a horror movie! I only got spooked once when a bunny darted in front of me. I did 5.6 miles to even out the 8.4 from the day before. I ran a "la la la" pace and ended up doing some serious negative splits. (Remember when I used to negative split all the time!?) My MP3 player wasn't allowing me to upload anything new, so I was stuck listening to NPR, which wasn't so bad because they were doing tons of coverage from Super Tuesday. As you know, I am following the election, so at least the topics they were covering were interesting to me. I will tell you this workout almost didn't happen. Apparently, I didn't set my alarm the night before. Somehow, I woke up at 5:47- just two minutes after I should have woken up. Whew! That was a close one.

Thursday- One thing Paul and I are really good at is losing water bottles. Paul got me a new one for Valentine's Day, but I left it at work on Wednesday. I swung by Dollar General on the way home so I would have a water bottle to keep with me during my workout on the treadmill on Thursday morning. There's just no way for me to do speed work on the treadmill without a water bottle right there.

My new water bottle! Isn't it beautiful?

The workout was 6x800 with 800 recovery in between. I warmed up and cooled down with 2 miles, so I did 10 total. I am not going to lie, it was very hard. I ran the intervals @ 6:39 and everything else @ 8:34. By the third interval, I was really hurting. Somehow I willed myself to get through all six, but it was ugly. Want proof?

Me post workout.

Even the cool down was rough! I started to get chills from being soaking wet with sweat. I only walked for 7 minutes after my cool down because I was just about shivering. Also, my tummy and GI wasn't feeling so good...

I did inquire about the heat issue at Planet Fitness. Apparently there is a problem they are working on resolving. "So you're not trying to kill us?" I asked the employee. She laughed and said no. Well, that's good.

Of course I forgot my lunch that day. Why do I always forget it on a speed workout day? I zipped over to Subway and got a foot long turkey sub with double meat. I ate half of it at lunch and the other half 20 minutes later. I also had two dinners. After my "real" dinner I had a bowl of spaghetti. I was RAVENOUS!

Friday- Fridays are normally a lifting day but I didn't feel like lifting. Normally I suck it up and do what I'm supposed to, but instead I ran 5 miles around my hood. I am probably going to pay BIG TIME for this tomorrow when I have a 9 mile race pace run and have trouble hitting my marks due to not taking my scheduled rest day. If tomorrow is tough, it's my own fault. I purposefully tried to run this slow as it should have been a recovery run. My splits were ALL over the place...

Splits: 7:56, 8:46, 8:32, 8:15, 8:08.

I swear I felt like I was running the same speed the whole time.

So, when am I going to fit in this lifting session I skipped on Friday?? Maybe Sunday. We are supposed to get snow. AUGH!!!!!

How were your workouts this week?

Are you training for anything?