Category Archives: Weekly Update

12.16.14
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Week of 12/8/14 – 12/14/14: Tom King Half Training, Week 4

week of 12/8/14 to 12/14/14

Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 2.6 miles (10:38 avg pace)
Wednesday: strength – core (pilates)
Thursday: 4x1mi tempo – 5.4 miles total (10:36 avg pace)
Friday: rest day
Saturday: rest day
Sunday: 5.6 miles (11:23 avg pace)

After the doctor told me there was nothing wrong with my foot on Tuesday, I joined up with the group that evening to test it out. Yes, it was too speedy. I will eventually learn.

We had a meeting with some therapists from Star Physical Therapy after our run, which was informative. They answered a lot of questions about injuries and stretches and exercises you can do. (Clamshells…I should start doing those again.) They did put a little fear in me that I could still have a stress fracture even though the pain is intermittent and even though the x-ray didn’t show anything.

On Thursday, I thought I’d stick to my training plan and attempt my tempo run even though it scared the bejesus out of me. Funny how even when you know you can do something, having run faster/farther before, and it can still terrify you. Maybe because I had to do it on a treadmill. It always seems harder on a treadmill. AND I’d only done 5 miles on a treadmill three times before. But it was no problem. I’m not going to go as far as to say it was easy, but I never felt like I really wanted to stop and walk or anything.

According to my doctor, I shouldn’t run two days in a row for a week or two, hence why I only did three runs this week. He also told me not to do a long run this weekend. I did manage to do some core work on Wednesday, so that’s something. I need to get back in a good routine after taking last week off; I can feel the holiday calories creeping onto my hips!

12.09.14
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Week of 12/1/14 – 12/6/14: Foot Update…

This is the first entire week this year where I did not run at all. Sigh.

My foot was doing better. Then it started hurting again on Thursday night. This forced me to make the difficult decision to not run the Rudolph’s Red Nose 5k on Friday evening. My first DNS. I was very mopey and bummed out all night. My only consolation is that it rained. It was 60 degrees, though, so it wasn’t much of a consolation.

Of course, it felt better over the weekend, even after walking in heeled boots and dancing all night on Saturday.

christmas party

We clean up nice.

And, by the time I finally saw the doctor on Tuesday, I couldn’t tell that it was ever hurt to begin with. He couldn’t find anything wrong and told me I could keep running.

My foot apparently had some conspiracy to make sure I didn’t run that 5k.

So, you may be wondering how this will set me back in my training. The good news is that it is very early in training, and I had multiple 10+ mile long runs planned, so I can just cut down my long run mileage each week a little without issue. The second is that it’s not a huge deal if I don’t reach my goal at Tom King in March because I have the Kentucky Derby race in April as well.

12.04.14
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Week of 11/24/14 – 11/30/14: Tom King Half Training, Week 2

Just realized that I detailed my weekend, but never got around to posting my weekly update.

week of 11/24/14 to 11/30/14

Monday: rest day
Tuesday: rest day
Wednesday: 4.0 miles (11:11 avg pace)
Thursday: rest day
Friday: 4.0 miles (10:27 avg pace)
Saturday: 3.3 miles (11:35 avg pace)
Sunday: rest my foot day

This week got a little wonky because of the Preds game on Tuesday night and Thanksgiving (traveling) on Thursday. Then, of course, I hurt my foot on Saturday.

An update on my foot. I can walk on it now. It doesn’t *seem* to be fractured. At least, I was dancing around doing jetés to Christmas music on Tuesday while putting up my tree without any adverse effects. (For the non-ballet people out there, it means I was leaping from one foot and landing on the other, much like running. Both jumping off and landing on my left foot felt fine.) There’s still a dull pain-ish feeling, but it’s not terrible. I currently plan on attempting to run Rudolph. Whether I make it to my long run this weekend remains to be seen.

11.24.14
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Week of 11/17/14 – 11/23/14: Tom King Half Training, Week 1

week of 11/17/14 to 11/23/14

Monday: Strength training – arms, some core work
Tuesday: 4 miles (11:13 avg pace)
Wednesday: rest day
Thursday: 4 miles (10:57 avg pace)
Friday: rest day
Saturday: 7 miles (10:45 avg pace)
Sunday: 4 miles (11:25 avg pace)

One week down, fifteen to go!

You can see that I’m still having a hard time sticking to an “easy” pace, even when doing intervals! That run on Thursday I was doing 3:1 intervals and still managed to run under an 11 min/mi pace! Several of my intervals were done at a sub-9 min pace. Argh! It’s because it was cold and dark and I was running alone (although with the group, so not completely alone…just no one else was doing my pace).

nighttime running

Highly reflective for nighttime running!

I was equally as speedy on my long run! I was planning to run it without walk breaks, but after four too-fast miles, I started taking them every half mile or so. It didn’t help that it was in the 60s, and I didn’t have any water because the park took my water fountain away! I was majorly dehydrated by the end. Time to break out the water vest again.

I also only got one out of three days of strength work in. I skipped Wednesday’s because I was sore from Monday, and I skipped Friday because I wasn’t home where my weights were.

On Sunday, I volunteered at the Flying Monkey Marathon. It was raining off and on all morning, but luckily I was just handing out race packets under a tent for a couple hours, so I was shielded from most of it. So inspiring to see all of those who came out to run 26.2 insanely hilly miles in the rain!

11.19.14
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Week of 11/10/14 – 11/16/14: #streakfor33, days 27-33

week of 11/10/14 to 11/16/14

Monday: 1 mile (10:21 avg pace)
Tuesday: 5 miles (11:24 avg pace)
Wednesday: 3.3 miles (10:38 avg pace)
Thursday: 2 miles (10:52 avg pace)
Friday: 1 mile (10:25 avg pace)
Saturday: Hammer Down 10k (9:57 avg pace)
Sunday: 1 mile (10:05 avg pace)

I came down with a cold on Monday, so it was all I could muster to run to the pharmacy and back. I felt a little better on Tuesday (and running has the added bonus of clearing up my sinuses), so I managed to make up the miles with a 5 miler of intervals. The rest of the week was pretty standard: Wednesday was a treadmill day, Thursday was with the group (and below freezing!), and I did a one miler on Friday morning.

Saturday was birthday celebration day, so I was up bright and early for the Hammer Down 10k. After that, I got a bit of relaxation and nap time before heading to the Preds game and then out to a bar with my friends.

Sunday was a lazy day–cold and rainy–so I just finished up my streak and enjoyed my birthday for the remainder of the time.