I rested last week so that I could have a chance to return to training safely. All went well until Saturday. It seems like the universe is really testing me during this training cycle.  I am watching my fall race goals disintegrate. Sometimes this is how it goes. When the body is struggling, it is time to deal with the issues happening in the moment and not worry about what was supposed to happen weeks from now.  

The week actually started off really well. Dave and I did two hill days on Tuesday and Thursdays.  It was an amazing workout.  We found a hilly loop. It was lovely.

7.25% incline/decline. .
35 miles up and down.  

We would climb at moderate intensity and then crush the descent at top speed. It was so much fun.  Our descent were averaging 5:30-5:40 pace, top speed 5:24.  I am sure that hard work primed me for what happened next but it is hard to predict in the moment which step will be the one that is the straw that breaks you.  

I was feeling great on Friday, just a little tired but nothing significant. I meet Alanna for an easy 6M which we accidentally ran as a progression down to 9:00 pace. Not blazing fast, but not our normal easy pace normal.  It felt good and I had no reason to believe anything was wrong. 

I decided to take it easy on Saturday and save my 20M LR for Sunday.  I ran an easy 4M with Sidney and again felt fine.  Nothing to suggest any thing was wrong. 

Sunday, I finally got out the door in the afternoon for my 20. It felt so nice. I didn't look at my watch for 4 miles. It felt easy. I felt fluid. I wasn't working hard at all. I suspected my pace was about 10:00.  When I finally looked at my watch, I was averaging 9:01.  I felt so very strong and was excited to just hold my pace until 10M and turn back home.  The course I run is slightly more incline on the way out so I knew once I swung back around it would be slightly easier home and if I felt ok, then maybe I could actually negative split this run and come in under 9:00 pace. 

My long runs have been horrible this training cycle.  I have marathons I planned to run. I told my self on the way out to 10M that if I could manage this 20M LR then I could finally give myself permission to believe that a marathon this fall was realistic.  I just wanted 20M at any pace. I didn't need sub-9. I wanted distance not time. But when the pace was peppy my confidence soared.  It felt so nice to find flow. 

I passed 6M and was holding steady and feeling good until suddenly my right calf spasmed.  WTF was that?  I paused.  Massage it for a second and kept on going. The at 6.5M again it spasmed hard and I felt a popping sensation.  WTF? I am running a 9:00 mile. How is this happening?!   

6.5M from home. No one around to save me. I don't have Uber on my phone.  This was not planned out very well.  

Sid is in the air somewhere, ironically flying to Boston. He is headed to Boston while I am watching my dream of racing Boston disappear.  

I text Dave. Somehow lately I feel like all I do is complain and annoying complaining seems to help me feel better. That is not the type behavior I want reinforcement for. ugh. 

I turn around. I drink the remaining fluid in my bottle and run again. I start easy but I loosen up.  I realize that spasms did some damage but I can run.  I run back to the park. I get more water. I run home.  I have to pause a few times to massage my calf.  

I think this happened because I am overcompensating with my right to take some pressure off my left side which has the angry bursa.  

I make it back home and stop at 13 miles.  I weigh in.  I'm 116 lbs! WTF. What is happening. I drank 40 oz on the course. I drank before I left.  I carried sports drink this time when I started.  I didn't feel like I was that dehydrated. This is a 5lb weight loss.  No wonder I cramped!  I don't know what is going on lately with my body.  I have trained for marathons for about a decade. I never cramp. I usually don't even drink or eat when I train. I made an effort today and it didn't matter.  

I didn't run much last week.  I contemplated dropping out of everything. I have three races on my calendar, two to use as training runs and then Boston. This bursa has been uncooperative and this week I just felt so frustrated.. 

I ran 3 miles only from Monday - Thursday, trying to assess if rest would make the bursa quiet.  But the more I rested the more it bothered me.  Many runners know this irony.  We call it "taper madness". With less training, everything hurts more.  

I was feeling frustrated by Thursday morning when my bursa was exactly the same or possible more obnoxious than it has been for this entire training cycle.  And then I had my revelation... the same revelation I have every single year when training for Boston since 2013...  My body is fine, this is all in my head.  

(I was at Boston in 2013, I had just left the finish line moments before the bombing. As soon as I got to my car I immediately drove right back in to Boston to search for a friend while the entire city was evacuating, I was truly terrified the entire time because of news reports of multiple bombs (untrue). Once we found him, I drove home to NJ. The entire bombing incident impacted me so now every year since I have anxiety-related responses that don't seem obvious or clearly related to Boston, but they always are. It is like my mind sneak attacks my body and makes me malfunction.)

I actually thought (once again), "This year I will be fine. I will be able to train for Boston without having a stress reaction. It was moved to October. The pattern is different. Fresh start."  My husband will try to help me by saying things like "You know it unlikely that something will happen at Boston again, right?"   Yes.  Rationally I know this. But my anxiety is not surface level. It is a deeply ingrain tangling of anxiety + Boston.  It is not logical. It isn't even obvious to me when it is actually happening.  It is insidious and quiet. It moves in at the pace of a glacier and slowly builds strength, disrupting my flow, my sleep, my peace, and often any chance I have at success as a runner during this time. My mind keeps my body safe by making sure I can't run anything.   

So this is what I believe is the real issue.  Mind overtaking body. 

But wait? If I actually have a swollen bursa, how is this mental? Well I believe it is a little of both. But I believe the bursa isn't as bad as my mind is making it out to be, 

First, this is not the first time in the history of my running that my heel bothered me. It feels no more sore than it has in the past, including back in 2016 when I ran all my best races and again in 2020 when I ran my last 3:03 marathon.  In those cases, I worked through it.  It was sore. I ran. I lifted. It got better. It just needed time to catch up to the work load. I found that calf raises were key for me on the past to build up my ankle strength.  

So why is this different?  It is different because in the way dark recess of my mind I am most likely looking for my way out. And the last time I gave myself permission to bail on Boston was when I strained my achilles. I believe I am paying way too much attention to it and making it a much bigger problem in my head that it really is in reality.  

I am 45 years old. Body parts are going to be a little creaky and sore. I don't expect a painless experience. Historically, training for marathons has never been painless. Something is alway the weakest link and I figure out how to manage it.  

I also think I am inadvertently doing things that are making the bursa mad (maybe self-sabotage?).  For example, the flat shoes I wear to work are not serving to help me heal. I noticed this week I was more sore in flat shoes than I was last week when I ran in and worked in sneakers more often.  I also think my form has been too slouchy and I need to stand up taller. When I lean too far forward I feel more strain down the back of my legs.  So I need to stop doing things that are causing me to aggravate my achilles..  

I decided on Friday that I was just going to stop feeding into this issue,  I plan to either will it way and go run and be fine or I will end up stopping  because I make things worse.  

I am willing to assume the risk of increased harm in order to give myself a change to try to power through. I opted for this rather than PT only because I know myself personally and Boston always, always, always gets into my head.  

I think it takes a lot of mental strength to look a mental weakness directly in the eye and tell it "you can't hurt me."  Every single year I think I will see it coming, but I never ever do until I am sucked in to the darkness.  But I do catch myself sliding a little sooner each year.  This is the earliest I have stopped my derailment.  Maybe I have a chance now? 

Wednesday, I decided to test how I felt. 

So what happened when I called out my anxiety for what it is and I decided to run this week?

I felt better running and ran better than I have all training cycle. Was it from the rest? I would love to say yes, but my heel felt worse off for resting, not better.

I believe when the body is responding with physical pain (psychosomatic) as a result of a psychological issue, naming the problem and shining a light on it is the best way to erase the darkness.  

I am shining my light on this here. Either this helps me and I get thought this or I get worse off for trying. At this point, I would rather DNS races because I tried than DNS them because I sat around doing nothing but waiting for insidious pain to go way.    ​

Friday I decided that my heel was going to be fine. I ran a 1M run + .1M walk recovery to see how that felt.  My paces felt great and I really didn't feel like I was any worse off for doing this workout. 

I then went out Saturday thinking maybe I'll do 6M and I just started running... no walk breaks planned... Just running. I did stop to rescue two dogs at two separate points in my run, which were short breaks... but this run just went from 6M to 12M with no really work. My last two miles were my fastest and the whole run felt great.  

I could walk just fine after too.  

The last run of the week was an unevenly 3.2 mile jog with Sidney before I had to rush off to work.   I made a point to wear sneakers to work since my revelation that my flat shoes weren't helping.  

Now the test will be to see what happens next week.  Either I fall apart or my find my flow. Only time will tell! 

Celebrate the small victories. That is my plan. 

On Monday I was able to run 18M with Kim.  Heel cups worked to alleviate the pressure on my heel bursa and I felt pretty good.  Not 100% but truly much better that after any other long run since this bursa has been aggravated.  However, none of these long run are anywhere near the paces I hope to be running at this point in my training. 

Just being able to run 18M is a victory at any pace.  I will celebrate that.

I have been trying to figure out if I trust the STRYD Pod for weeks now. Today I turned it off and let it quietly collect data while I allowed the actual GPS on my super expensive GPS watch collect my distance and pace data ... the exact reason I bought the super expensive watch for.  

When I got home, I took off my shoes and realized my pod was gone. My heart sunk. Oh no!  After weeks of wondering if this thing was worth it's weight in anything.... I was sad it was gone.  I pulled up my STYRD app to see when it stopped recording while I ran those 18M at the beach 45 minutes away from my house... and it was all there.  Hopeful, I headed out to my truck to find it sitting on the floorboard.  Another small victory!

I immediately knew that I would miss using the pod in the treadmill because that was the one place I felt like it has value for me. Immediately I removed it completely from my shoe and decided it will live out its life as my treadmill odometer and we both will be very happy this way. 

I met Dave on Tuesdays for hills. Today was the Spring Climb repeat workout.  But I was worried about my heel.  I wore my heel cups in my Saucony Endorphin Pros because that is what I used on Monday and I felt good,

Oh no... do not try to climb a super steep hill with heel cups in your shoes.  My feet were falling out of my shoes. Completely out the back. I contemplated just stopping half way up and pulling those cups out but it was only .1M and I was half way up... 

As soon as I hit lap to turn back, my feet settled back into my shoes and I all was well... until I started heading down hill and realized my toes were not jammed so far into the toe box that my big toe pretty much blew up before I hit the halfway point.  Ugh.  

This workout is 5 x 2 up and downs... 10 repeats but we only take a short rest after running two complete cycles.  I chose to just continue on until the first break and then I would fix my heel cup issue. 

Once I removed them, I felt better. Running felt good. Still not 100% but I didn't feel like I was being held back from pushing myself. 

At the end of the 4th set, an older gentleman was walking along the bottom of the hill. Dave just flew into the finish and I was trying my best to run fast on the descent.  The man made a joke by holding out his cane across his body as if to brace himself from the impending imaginary collision.  When I stopped I said to him.... "Two to go! When I'm done I may need that cane more than you do"... He laughed and then provided a complement saying "You two are in good shape."   

As we headed up the hill, I commended to Dave about how kind this man was to complement us on being fit when he is out walking with a cane.  Many people who struggle don't have the capacity to be supportive to others who are doing things they can't do themselves. Many can. But many just can't.  

As I finished my 10th repeat, I went to find my heel cups that I had tossed along grass on the shoulder.... I found them neatly stacked side by side on top of a rock near where I tossed them.  This man had also organized my things for me.  Again I commented to Dave about this stranger to use was such a wonderful human being.  We need more people like him in this world.  I hope we see him again!   

In addition to feeling inspired to be a better person through the kindness of a stranger, I also learned that one of climbs was my fastest yet!  I can't complain about my heel or my toes when I am still manage to get faster at this really hard workout.  

More small victories.  I can focus on what is wrong... or what is going well. I have the choice. 

One thing I am struggling with, besides the bursa, is fitting in all my strength training.  I prefer to do 3 session per week but I aim to do them on the same day as hard workouts.   This means Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturday/Sunday depending on which day I run harder. 

But Tuesdays are long day for me. Often I don't get home until 8:30 pm or later... The last thing I want to do is lift weights for an hour and then get to bed late than I aim to while aimed up with adrenaline.  I have been opting to skip it.  I thought about trying to lift Wednesday morning instead... I tried it this week and I could tell that my legs were still tired by Thursday's speed day.  I may just need to settle on two hard strength sessions per week and one extra when time allows.    

It didn't really matter that my leg were tired.  I met Dave for our interval work and after a 2 mile warm up we were devastated to find that all the bathrooms were locked. There are three sets and all of them locked for the first time in forever since I have been training here. 

If we had more time to seek out alternatives we would have gone somewhere else but we just both decided it was easier if we both head back home (me to mind, he to his) so that he could beat traffic and just run solo as much as possible from his house before work. He is tight on time in Thursdays.  This was a big disappointment. I hope next week they are open. 

I decided that my legs were tired from strength training and my bursa was not feeling awesome so rather than do speed work solo, I took a rest day and ran an easy 6 with Sid. 

Because I essentially rested yesterday, I felt great when I met Alanna.  She had a triathlon on Saturday so we kept it short.  It was a beautiful day and it was nice to not rush. 

At this point, I was hopeful that I would get my 20M LR in this weekend. I was trying to take it easy and it felt like it was working.  I wore heel cups in my shoes at work.  I was careful to not irritate the bursa when I could avoid it. I chose my shoes carefully.  I got a pair of Brooks Ghost that helped off-load pressure on my achilles. I felt good by Saturday.  I decided to run 5 before work and I just felt like running was easy again.  It was nice to see a sub-8 minute last mile that didn't feel like I was racing. 

But this workout was cleary "too much too soon" for my bursa.  By Sunday morning, everything was back to being just a little too sore for my comfort level.  I could run.  I know this. I most likely would be fine... but why push it. I struggled with this but I made the decision to rest completely so that maybe tomorrow I can get my 20 done.   

I started this week with a short run, still trying to determine how I feel about the 745 and the STRYD pod.  After a week of messing around with it, watch videos, reading about other's experience, having my own experience where I was running much further than I used to for .3 repeats compared to both my past experience and Daves data, I have decided that I don't want to use it any more to measure my distance and pace.

STRYD suggests that the pod is more accurate than a GPS because it doesn't need to connect to satellites so there is no issue of dropping a connection. But what about connection between the STRYD and my watch?  It seems like that drops sometimes and the data on one watch is not the same as the data on another when both are connected to the same pod.  I could do an offline sync to see what STRYD collected BUT that will sync months of runs into my STRYD log because I can't just select one run to review. It is hassle. I won't do it.   

At this point, I have a choice. Do I want to connect my GPS watch to the complicated government created GPS satellites in the sky to help me identify my distance with the understanding that I may loose a connection and it may not be perfect... or do I want to connect my GPS watch to the "satellite" accelerometer foot pod attached to my shoe with the understanding that my watch may lose a connection there too?  I don't see much of a difference... so I am going to use the GPS satellites for a while and see how that goes since I spend too much money for an actual GPS watch. . 

I'll keep the STRYD.  I think it is more accurate on my treadmill that the actual dashboard display but I can't really be sure of that either. It doesn't matter because I am no using my treadmill much anyway.  

It also seems I can keep it on my shoe to collect data, but if turn it OFF it will  not overriding my Garmin.  That is fine. 

Wednesdays are rest days.

Despite horrible sleep because Yazzy was throwing up at 3 am, I was excited to try my new watch for speed day. Then the very first .3 rep happened.  As I blew past the mark I knew to be the end of the first .3 while actually pushing myself hard, I suspected something was wrong.  The paces for my workout felt physical much faster than what the watch was showing.  Dave's watch was in sync with what we did last week.  I would run to the end of .3 on my watch and when he stopped his it would say .31 or .32.  This isn't much of a difference but it felt like I was running 5:40 pace being told I was doing 6:20... which feel mentally like a big difference.  Dave was using GPS + Gallileo and I was using my STRYD to track distance.   I will be switching to the set up Dave is set to.   

More information on how to choose the GPS set up here: https://expertworldtravel.com/gps-vs-glonass-vs-galileo/?fbclid=IwAR1PiVSW_XIJHVPMgm5fnvVNNzfZiB5VxCcNM8qP-jBhy2t3_-5TEeWxGhc

And more information on how to make a Garmin more accurate here 
www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/the-one-setting-you-should-change-on-your-garmin-watch/?fbclid=IwAR2XS9urVj8ERiegTce9NF4zDoaX5U8_ED2-HKPeumEcPXNboPp2OwyLH68

This week I also had a return of my bursitis.  This stinks. I was hoping to be past this. It has been coming and going for the past few weeks but usually it doesn't last long and it doesn't interfere with my gait.  But this Thursday it was a little more irritated than it has been last week. I don't need this right now.  

Friday: I had actually ordered the heel cups from Amazon while sitting in the parking lot just before meeting Kim for this 16M run.  I had hoped that by the morning my heel would feel better, which was the pattern so far.  But not today.  I wasn't going home. I was there to run so we did but we took it easy and added in a lot of walking which I was grateful for. 

Saturday: I found an old pair of Brooks Ghost which are a 12mm drop and with the heel cups in there I practically eliminated all the soreness while running. It was amazing. I felt normal again. It was miserable with a feels like 102 degrees so I kept the run to 6M and figured I could try for my 20M tomorrow if all was well. 

 Sunday. Bummer.  I woke up a little sore again which hasn't been the issue. I can't imagine how running 20M will help me out so I begrudgingly decided to be smart and take today off.  I have plans to meet Kim tomorrow.  I will wear my beat up all Brooks Ghosts with the 12mm drop and my new heel cups for extra elevation.  I ordered a new pair of Ghosts to get me through this phase.  I moved my 20M LR to next weekend.  Hopefully by then I will feel better and training will be back on track. Hopefully.

​If not, there is really nothing I can do but revise my expectations to match my reality 

Random Stats: 

Physically I feel fitter. My Body Composition is showing my muscle mass improving and my body fat decreasing.  I am definitely stronger.    I did manage two workouts this week but I snapped my screenshot early this AM so it didn't make the cut.  

It is nice to see both Garmin and STRYD predict I am sub-4 shape. That is a fair assessment. This bursa is holding me back from solid LRs that will challenge me.  So for now I just keep doing what I can do and hope that the pieces fall into place.  I already feel like I am running out of time.  I not where I had hoped to be at this point. I have been cautious with my heel. 

I know that if I can't get into solid marathon shape by Boston, I will still be able to build a good enough base to support me getting as fast as I can manage again by Spring. For now I just need to get this heel cooperating so I can get to Boston! 

It is funny how 70+ miles can feel so good, but then a drop back 50 mile week can feel so hard despite being 20 miles less.  It wasn't the actual running part that is the hard part. What makes it hard for me is that when I have less running to do, I start to negotiate about when I want to do it... and some bad decisions lead to hard runs.  But on build weeks, I know I have a lot to do so I make sure I get out the door to do them first and they just get done.  But build weeks makes me tired so I like to sleep a little more on rest week.... and that is just what it is.  A struggle to get all the needs met each week. 

Monday was the day after 4th of July and I was a bit tired from being up late comforting my  stressed out dogs who hate that human celebrate freedom by blowing stuff up.  

I asked Alanna to meet me early because I had three things planned today and I wanted to get like 10-12 miles before the entire day went sideways.  

​The day went sideways before it event started so I should have just slept in.  I actually made to the part 30 minutes before Alanna with a plan for me to run about 3 miles before I met her.. and then I would see how close to 10-12 I could get... but nope. I just sat in my car answering emails and doing training log reviews before she got there.  

Then we ran 6M and I felt like I had enough for the day. 

This week I decided to make my bed more comfortable so I could get better sleep. I got a new gel/foam mattress topper to replace one that was not helping me rest.  

I also decided to get a new Garmin. This was a hard decision because they are incredibly expensive.  I chose the 745 and looked forward to it's arrival. 

After day off Wednesday, Dave and I ran Speed on Thursdays and I was so incredibly happy. My last .3 was at a 5:25 pace.  I was thrilled to be able to move this fast.  It has been a while.  

Like always now, we take the photo for my blog and then sit in the back of his Forester reviewing data and deciding how to revise the workout.  Initially, I wanted to gradually increase the distance of this repeat... but I am really happy running .3s.  They feel hard and I get to run fast and I enjoy that part (and hate it at the same time).  We decided to keep .3's but to cut back the recovery so we can get one more .3 rep in next week.  Then grow from there.

I got my new watch and wanted to give it a try. I felt strong and started easy. This was really not supposed to be a workout. But as the time passed, it felt nice to just open up my stride so I did.  This is not fast enough to be anything worth labeling but it was harder than an easy day and it felt nice for me to finish in the low 8s.  It has been a while since I just went out and run low 8's as an easy day. 

Saturday morning I volunteered with NorthStar Pet Rescue to help out at Transport Day. I get up early, get there at 6:30 am and play with dogs who just got off the transport truck while they wait for their meet-n-greets or fosters to come pick them up.  It is so incredibly awesome to spend a morning meeting dogs and trying to help them realize everything is going to be ok.  I do that by bring a pouch full of freezer dried liver :)  It helps. 

Check out all the great work NSPR does here: https://www.northstarpets.org  

My grand plan was to switch my work shift to Sunday so after Dog Transport I could come home and run my easy 16M... but by the time I started it was late in the afternoon. I was overheating from the start. My new shorts were not working with my bottle and waist pack. I was uncomfortable in every way.  I got out to 8M and ran out of water.  My stomach started to get cramps from the late lunch I ate before I left for 16 in the hot sun...like that would go well.  I ended up having to run/walk maybe 1.5 miles back to the park just to get to a bathroom where I could also get more water. I shut my watch off at 12M called Sid and asked him to come get me. I was done.  He was called to work so he couldn't get me.

I decided to walk home the 4 miles, switching my new Garmin to walk mode... which promptly failed to actually function as a GPS and just logged nothing accurately, making me feel really frustrating that I just spent $$$ on something that I wear on my wrist that is supposed to tell me how many breathes I take while sleeping BUT it can't tell me how far I walked?  Ugh. (Good news it now it works). 

Sid finally joined me for run while I tested out my old Garmin against my new Garmin both connected to my stryd which just caused more frustration. But I sorted that out. One watch has auto calibration of the stryd pod enabled while the other did not. 

What I did learn is to never trust a HR monitor. This is data from the same run from two watches.  

So Random Stats:  Stryd says I can finally break 4:00 hours in the marathon but we are having Trust Issues this week.  

Garmin and I are also having trust issues as well. And apparently the new Garmin does not believe in me as much as the old watch that said I could run a 3:36. 

The Garmin does collect a lot more (probably inaccurate or useless) data. But I enjoy it none-the-less. It is a new toy.  It was a reward to myself for sticking at this for 6 weeks. It makes me happy to having something updated that does actually work better at tracking elevation gain than my 645 did.  I can't wait for hill day to see how far I "actually" do climb! 

That is all for now. 

It has been 5 weeks now and training is finally starting to feel good.  My heel bursa issue is not yet a memory. It is so very minor now that it feels like background noise.  Although my  long run training pace has a lot of room for improvement, I am so very happy to see that my goal of rebuilding my volume is manifesting.  

I was able to run 74.4M in 6 days of work over a 7 day period this week.  It has been a long time since I ran this much. If there is one thing that I can do that will help me get fitter faster it is to first build up my volume and then work on getting faster.  This is not a blanket statement for all. This is what I know works for me.  

My goal for "phase 1" was to build up to a 20M LR at whatever pace felt "good enough" under the conditions/circumstances before taking a rest week and then entering "phase 2" (to work on getting faster).  I am happy to declare "Mission Accomplished" :) 

Monday with Kim at the beach. We are just doing our thing, adding 2 miles per week to each of her runs so she can get back her base again too.  We are in no rush, speed will come later. First we build the ability to endure. 

Tuesday Hills: "The Tour" is a hilly run but it is also the run Dave and I agree is the "easiest" run we do together. No rush, just climbing.  My barometric altimeter is not well.  The data is not accurate but it is good enough.  We climb hills.  It is fun. It is work. We moved this run to Tuesday, after my med-long run with Kim. I could feel the cumulative fatigue in my legs today. I was walking the steep climbs because I just didn't have any power.  But I am fine with this.  I want to climb tired.  Boston's hills are toward the end. I need to practice climbing tired.  So this is a good place for hills. They will stay on Tuesdays.   

Wednesday. Ah how I love my Wednesdays.  Today I rest.  I sleep in.  I walk the dogs. I try to move a little as possible... but because I am busy it is still around 10,000 steps. 

Speed on Thursday: Best decision I could have made was to ask Dave if we could move speed to Thursdays.  I needed a do-over with .3s so we did just that.  Last week I had trouble hold sub-7 pace! This week we had two .3s under 6!  So this was perfect. We decided to repeat .3's one more week since this weekend we have a 20M LR. Once we drop back the LR, we will then increase the distance of speed work at that next speed work.    

Friday with Kim. Easy General Maintenance training.  No rush.  Just miles. 

Long Run Saturday.  Saturday was supposed to rain. Thunderstorms were supposed to hit us.  I stress ate 3 cinnamon rolls in preparation for this 20 mile ordeal.  Instead we got to run in one of the best running weather days in many many weeks.    

We decided to do another interval workout for this. .9M repeats with .1M recovery for 20 miles.  The last 5 miles we worked the .9's hard.  It was nice to finish this 20M run at 7:32 pace even if just for a .9M burst. 

Sunday!  Last run of the week.  I met Kim at the beach again and we did her 14M LR today instead of tomorrow. 

Garmin says I am getting slower.
STRYD says I am getting faster.  

My Last 7 Days data makes me happy.  And my scale data does too. My body composition improving in ways that I care most about (increase in lean muscle with decrease in body fat at a healthy pace.) I am getting more sleep, more steps, and more strength training. My RHR is dropping. This is all good. 

In my opinion, the best measure of race fitness is race pace... but I am not racing right now so I can't use that. The next best thing for me personally (I am speaking only for myself) is to use data from my devices and take that information with a grain of salt.

I can see changes in ways that correlate to improved fitness and performance.  This motivates me to keep working hard.  I am working hard and seeing gains helps.

I can set expectations for myself based upon what I am seeing changing week-to-week.  When I race more frequently, none of this matters.  Only race data will matter if my aim is to race my best.  But for now, for my blog, for my own personal data tracking, I share it. 

Supplements (Security Blanket?  Waste of $$?  Helpful in anyway?):

Without fail people will ask about supplements as if there is some magic pill that will make us fitter, faster, stronger... as if "all runners" should be taking certain things to support training.  I don't believe that.

I don't take a multi-vitamin because I don't think I need to overdose on some micronutrients to make up for deficiencies in others.   I eat nutrition food and get what I need that way whenever possible.  I do also think about what I believe I personally need and I take specific supplements  if I feel I can't get enough of it from actual food.  

It should go without saying, but it clearly doesn't, so I will say it. Don't do what I do. Do what is appropriate and correct for you based upon your personalized needs and your personalized health issues. Not everyone should take anything they want. Understand your health. Understand your medications. Understand that even OTC supplements can cause issues for some people.  Not everything is regulated.  Understand and accept the risks. Be responsible for yourself. 

Often when training hard I do end up adding a few very personalized supplements to my routine. Do they help? I have no idea.  But I do pick them for a reason.  Sometimes that reason is simply because I want to test out how I feel when I take them not because I am certain it will absolute "fix" some deficiency. 

During this training cycle this is what I have decided to take: 

Zinc. I used to eat a lot of oysters. Every other week we would go to this little restaurant that had the best oysters.  It was a ritual after LRs or races and I felt it aided my recovery. Oysters are very high in zinc. But we stopped doing this.  The restaurant closed. I prefer to eat my nutrition in the form of real whole food, but since my bi-monthly dosing of oysters has ended I opted to add zinc to my routine at night. Maybe it will help? Maybe not? I take it night (if I remember) because that is when I am sleeping (recovering).

Iron. I normally don't take iron, but since I donated blood just before this training cycle started, I have been taking iron to help support RBC development. Either it helps or not? I have no idea.   

Two types of CoQ10, Biotin, and Collagen:  I takes these in the AM before my training. I want them circulating in my bloodstream when I am training to give them the best chance of doing anything at all. 

The CoQ10 is added out of curiosity. I used this once before during very hard training and I felt really good during that training cycle.  Was it because of this? Probably not.  Did it hurt me? I have no idea.  CoQ10 has some research showing that it can increase support of mitochondria development, which is what endurance athletes need. (And it has some research that says it is not helpful and waste of $$).  If you would like to read about CoQ10 on endurance here you go.  One study is one opinion, not the whole story. Do your own research too: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stefan-Siebrecht/publication/298043174_Protein_and_peptides_for_human_health_and_fitness/links/5eafd84e92851cb267730dff/Protein-and-peptides-for-human-health-and-fitness.pdf

Biotin.  I am taking this because I have blood sugar regulation issues and Biotin has some evidence supporting it as helping with this problem.  It also has risks. If you don't have issues you don't need to take something that helps regulate issues you don't have.  

Collagen. I added this out of sheer desperation when my achilles tendon and heel bursa started to bother me two weeks ago. Today I feel better. Did it help me? I have no idea. Probably not but it makes my nails less brittle so I will keep it. 

If I don't know whether or not these supplements are helpful why am I sharing this here? Because this is my training blog and this is what I am doing during this training cycle.  I also would have serious trust issues with anyone who insisted some OTC supplement was magical or necessary.  I am just sharing my journey and being transparent.  I added this here at the end because I really don't expect anyone to read this far :) 

Week 4 is done! The good, the bad, and the ugly is all here.  The truth of my journey as I train for Boston at 45 years old with a hope to be able to perform 106 days from today in a way that will make me proud of my work.  

This week, I bombed my speed work with Dave and then promptly "recycled" myself for a speed-work do-over while planning to move hills to Tuesday. This way I can keep training with Kim as she goes longer and longer on Mondays, climb hills on tired legs on Tuesday, and have a chance to nail my speed work on Thursday after a rest day. I raced a check-in race (just a mile) on Saturday and then got a heat-exhausting 18M LR done with Rich.  And this was a 57 mile "drop-back" week.   ​

Kim and I moved our Mondays to the beach.  I just need to see the ocean. It is 45 minute drive each way for me to do this but it is so worth it. The cool ocean breeze in hot humid air makes it feel more comfortable.  The smell and sounds of the surf distract from the work. It is so rewarding to run at the beach for me.

Tuesday, it was hot, humid and even though I thought I was fine after the 10M with Kim yesterday my legs clearly were not peppy and needed more rest.  This workout was .3 mile repeats as fast as possible.  Last week I got down to 5:56 pace but this week I was falling apart and trying with everything I had to hold on to sub-7 pace today. (This did not build my confidence for the Mile race I would do Saturday).

I asked Dave if he would mind a repeat week at .3's because I don't feel good about graduating up to .4's yet since these felt horrible. He was fine with us recycling the workout.  

I also want to make was to move our hills to Tuesday instead (I can climb tired and that is more likely to help prep me for late-race hills anyway). I would like that rest day before the speed work (which we will now do Thursdays). This should help me nail speed-day or at least be better at it. 

On Wednesday, Sidney and I did a lot of walking, with (before work) and without (after work) the dogs today. It was nice to just walk.  I need to bring my phone for pictures of the walk days too. Sidney is getting left out of the blog and he is a big support for me.  The dogs need to make there own appearance here too.  They help me get a lot of time on my feet. 

Thursday was Hill Repeat Day.  We did 10 repeats of the 16% climb.  We made some changes to this workout.  

We decided to stick to just 10 repeats for the rest of the training cycle but we want to improve out time in three ways. We stopped resting at the top and now immediately turn right back around to recover at the bottom before the next round.  That is more like what we will deal with when climbing over a hill.  

So now as we do this workout, every other week,
(1) we will try to climb faster (my fastest split on my Garmin is 1:03),
(2) we will try to get faster on the decline, and
(3) we want to rest less at the bottom.  

Fridays are just a relaxing day.  Run/Walk with Kim.  No rush today. 

Today, Rich joined me to race the first USATF-NJ Long Distance Running Grand Prix Race of the year.   It was 1 mile. :)  My entire race report for The Big Bang Mile is here. 

I ran a 6:19 for 7th place in my heat and 3rd place in my age group (45-49).  This is good. I am happy. I am only in week 4 of training, still focused only on volume building, with some hills, and some fast short speed session.  I am not race-ready. 

My favorite part of the day may have been with Dave D. put down his trumpet to say to us "OMG you are here to run 1 mile, That's hilarious... now go off and do like 20 more!" and Rich says to me quietly "We'll do that tomorrow" :) 

Saturday. This was grueling for me. So hot and humid. "Felt like" 92 degrees. Did I say Humid? It's summer. Nothing is shocking here. I could have gotten their earlier but my phone died over night and my alarm never woke me. Thank goodness for Lapis's big giant paw to my face at 6:20 am. She was wondering why I was still sleeping which means she does pay attention to me :)  She is a sweet dog.  

Coffee and BCAAs on the way to the run. Then just water the rest of the way. No calories. I paused the watch at bathrooms and when back at the car so I could get more water. So this is just run-time. 

I hit the wall hard at maybe 14.5 miles. But that is the point. I want to Embrace the Wall. Give it Big Fat French Kiss and tell it I love it... and I want to visit it regularly in training. If I get to know it now, when I am carb-depleted, dehydrated, under-trained and cumulatively fatigued,  I know it will then not interfere with my carb-loaded, well-hydrated, well-trained, and tapered dreams on race day.  That is what depletion training is all about for me. 

First, my sleep stinks. I should just shut the laptop right now and go directly to bed!

Last week, I said I wanted 7:15 hours average but I got less! 6:39 hours average. I can't function like this. This is in part because my bed situation is horrible but it should be better soon.  Sid and I are trying to find the perfect mattress topper that is good for both of us and this has been a tricky little puzzle.  I think the next topper we get may be the right fit.  We shall see. 

Next, although I gained 0.5lbs this week, it seems that some of that is muscle so I am ok with that. 

AND next, I added strength training 3 times per week but only AT HOME Body-Weight resistance stuff.  I'll get back to gym eventually.  For now I am thrilled that I can use my left foot solo when doing calf raises and single leg hops because as of last week I could not do that (heel bursa was mad). The ironic things here is that my heel bursa improved after I raced he mile?  I am confused but happy. 

I do need to add flex work next. That is always the hardest to make time for. I do add some in throughout the day but I make no dedicated time for it. 

Finally, STRYD and my Garmin both agree that I am getting faster. I have no idea what makes them think these are times I could run, but I would bet if I ran a marathon right now, I would be closer to STRYD than Garmin at this moment. 

That is all I got for this week! Bring on Week 5.  

I am off to sleep now. 

The Big Bang Mile was the first USATF-NJ race of the abbreviated 2021 Long Distance Race Series. I am so excited to be part of this again! 

The race took place at Bell Works in NJ which is "a work, live, play office campus, with tons of hip amenities in addition to the office tenants, a thriving hub of activity, also open to the public."

The conditions were Hot and Humid with some Wind. The race took place in heats and my 40+ Masters Women was at 9:45 am.

The course was an out-and-back with a lovely wide turn at the turnaround. It was fast. No slow 180's around a cone here! At every quarter mile there was a sign and a clock too. This was all very thoughtful. 

I arrived around 8 am to meet Rich and his son for some meandering warm-up miles. 3-4 miles before the race seemed like enough. Rich's son was racing at 9 am and Rich at 10 am. This meant a lot of running back and forth to the starting line so we just ran around the campus until it was time for someone to race. 

The warm up for me really started in the car.  I usually listen to podcasts or audio books when I drive around. But this morning I pulled up the play list I used when I was racing well at the end of 2019. I played it loud. I felt surrounded by rhythm. I realized in that moment how much loud music is a part of my racing, but not a part of anything else for me.  I need this.

When running some warm up miles, I could feel the familiar sensation of adrenaline and endorphins and all the feel-good performance-enhancing neuro-chemicals that completely flood me before a race. I forgot that feeling. I missed it.  This is a special thing the body can do... to get completely amped up in anticipation of an intention to do something really hard. This feeling is so incredible. It feels like magic.   

I return to what I had been doing in the past before longer races. This was just a practice run anyway.  

Like I always do before races, I ate more carbs than I generally intend to eat on a daily basis. So the night before I had sushi (I prefer to eat rice or potatoes before racing, not pasta). We ate at Kona Grill, which I feel was not the best choice and I won't do that again. I don't know if chain restaurant food is just more bloating than local sushi, but it felt that way to me. I drank more water the day before that I normally do.  

I had coffee in the morning, and then on the drive down I had some Fruit punch flavored BCAAs on the way to the race. I did not eat anything on race day morning because after all this was just 1 mile. 

I brought 3 pairs of sneakers with me because clearly I forgot how to race. I ended up wearing all three pairs by the end of the morning, lol.  I warmed up in the Endophorin Pros because I thought I would use them. I didn't feel like I could justify putting a "un-trained" mile in my expensive Nike Vaporfly Next%. But after a few strides during the warm up and ONE HUGE quarter mile sprint during the last quarter of Rich's son Mile (so we could cheer him on at both places) I decided I needed all the help I could get today :) Vaporflys it would be. I cooled down in my Pegasus. 

I brought a gel... for no reason at all. Out of habit maybe? I was not taking a gel before this mile. I don't know if I would take a gel before any mile?  I don't race miles.  This was just a Check-In race and just showing up was winning for me today.  

I was worried about my irritated heel bursa. This was my biggest concern. I didn't want to do any damage at the start of Boston Training just to race a mile relatively "slowly" (as I am not even close to being peak shape yet).  The bursa has been on-and-off the last two weeks.  Today it was fine and I wanted to keep it that way. I would stop if it felt terrible. I knew this. 

However, apparently running a fast mile was exactly what my bursa needed (which makes no sense). Ever since I raced that hard mile, my bursa has been the happiest and least problematic it has been lately. I can jump on just my left foot again which I wasn't able to do comfortable before the race.  

Had this not been a USATF-NJ LDR Team race, I would not have raced today at all.  I know I race most comfortably when I am about 117lb and I was bouncing from 122 to 126 this week. I knew I was little heavier than I prefer to be when I line up to compete. I would have waited if this wasn't a team race.  I am glad I didn't wait. 

Knowing all this about myself, I was confident I could be sub-7, but my goal-window was 6:20-6:45. I wanted to negative split.

​Overall, I was not very confident in my ability to assess what I could really do since I haven't raced since 1/11/2020. I needed to just assess and test.  That is what today was for.  

I line up one row back from the line. There is one command and the gun and I take off fast. Faster than I realized I actually could move. My watch says 5:50.  This felt surprisingly nice but I know this was a very bad move.  I wanted to get out of way of the small group a little before I  slowed myself so I would not cause anyone behind me any issues.  A few moment later I slowed down to what looked like a 6:12 pace on my watch. That feels fine for the moment, but I want to negative split and I don't feel like I could get faster from there. So I slow a bit more. 

My watch seems unreliable by the first 1/4 mark, so I just try to run by feel. It says I am running 6:50 pace but I know by those around me that can't be correct. I hit the 1/2 turn around and split my watch.  First 0.5M -3:02 I actually don't feel terrible. I have a little bit of hope in me that I can and will negative split this thing.

And then I complete the turn into that headwind. Excellent (not). Ok, now I know why 3:02 felt so "ok"... but I also knew negative splitting was unlikely. 

I wasn't able to pick up and hold my pace. I wanted to salvage the last quarter mile at the least. My watch is still telling me I am moving at 6:50 pace or slower, BUT I felt like that couldn't be correct. I am sure others probably didn't notice the wind as much as me but I felt like I was fighting it.

My torso was getting tired. My arms were tired. Everything was tired. All I could think about was how tired I was instead what I should be doing. This needs to change. I cannot use my energy to achieve a goal if all my energy is being used to assess what is not going well.  Feeling like I am working hard is not shocking. This is supposed to be hard. I have done harder things. 

6 ladies were ahead of me. I couldn't tell if any more were going to pass me. I see the "1/4M To Go" sign. That clock reads 4:39. Wait, what? 4:39. 4:30 is 6:00 pace.  If I kicked hard could I possibly run 6:09? But I had no oomph.... I know I had another gear in me, I know I did, BUT it was just so very hard to shift. The work of shifting gears is always so much harder than how it feels after the shift. I am out of shifting practice. Rather than shift to kick, I became complacent. Complacency is the path of least resistance. That is not ok in racing (or life, really). "This is fine.  I am fine. 6:30-6:45 is fine. I don't need to make this any worse. I am almost done. This is a mile. I am not a miler. This is not what I am good at..."  

Then I hear Jim O. yell something to me (and snap me out that negative self talk). I can't tell exactly what he said (later he explained and it was funny), but I knew it meant someone was behind me and I needed to move. So I took a moment to muster up all my energy and I did finally shift, but much later than I should have.

I didn't mind cruising in a few seconds slower, but I would mind if someone blew past me with less than a tenth to go.  Probably with about .1 to go, I was able to open my stride a bit and feel like a runner again. Second .5M - 3:17

Clock reads 6:19. I fail to stop my watch because I am trying not to die.

I need to travel solo to important races whenever possible.  I need my time with music, bad music, loud music, and my thoughts. I want to not worry about what anyone else needs at that time. I won't have the capacity to be there for anyone else when I completely self-absorbed.  I just want to be self-absorbed in my car for the ride over.   

I need to revisit my pre-race routine. Today was not the day to worry about that and I enjoyed having no structure. But in the future, I need make sure I know what I am doing and when I need to do it.  For important races, this routine needs to be non-negotiable. I need to get on the bathroom line when I need to. I need time to change shoes when I need to, I need to make time to do strides when I need to. I need to be lined up when I need to. I know all this, but I do want to get back into the routine. I don't need to be this structured for less than very important races, but I do need to workout the routine and get my timing down. 

I need to re-learn how to trust my body and my mind again when in the middle of a race. Trust is quiet and calming.  Self-Doubt is noisy.  

I need to not use the watch to tell me what I am doing. The watch is a liar. It always is. I never race well when I use the watch to tell me things. I race my best when I use the watch to collect data for me while I use my breathing and the sensations in my legs to set my pace. I am out of practice being in tune with my body. I am out of practice negative splitting.  It has been awhile. I just need more race practice.  I look forward to it! 

Week-to-Week, this blog may seem pretty boring, but I am hopeful this will become meaningful to me (and maybe others) once I work though this training cycle and see what Dave and I can do. I am sharing the workouts we decide to do, showing where we are starting from (the bottom) and anticipating that we will create momentum all the way the leads to Dave and I having some great marathon experiences together.  This is my real life training.  It is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Maybe someone will be inspired.  Maybe not.  Maybe I will simply enjoy seeing how far I can go in a few months of training.  We shall see. :) 

So week three is done. Another week down and I am happy to have completed the three hard workouts on the schedule.  

The plan underwent some revisions based upon how Dave and I were feeling. It is so easy to write out an entirely too ambitious plan when you are writing one for yourself.  I am alway more conservative and more realistic with my athletes than I am with myself.  This is because I know that I will absolutely revise the plan to set me up to succeed without self-judgment, whereas my athletes often experience a revision as an indication of failure... which is never the case.  

So this week Dave and I decided:

(1) The long runs I had hoped to do were clearly too ambitious. The heat/humidity was too much for me (Dave probably too) to tolerate without any acclimation under us. And I haven't run long in a long time. So Dave and I decided we would take a few weeks to build up to 20 miles LR without any pressure to run any specific pace. After we reach 20M, we will take a rest week and then start working on Fast Finish long runs from there. 

Here is the week mostly in pictures. 

Tuesday Speed Alternates: For those following along, I meet Dave on Tuesdays for speed. I developed a new systematic progression for us to torture ourselves with. They won't get truly hard for a while, but right now we are laying the foundation for that hard work.  

This week we ran 9M with 6M of them speed work consisting of .3M hard/ .7M Recovery. This was a bump up by .1M of the hard running from last week with a decrease of .1M of the recovery. We will repeat this on week 4 as well.  During the hard run, we try to run as fast as possible. I don't have any window to target. I don't even look at the pace, I just run as hard as possible until it is time to stop.   

I am happy to see that our speed is getting faster.  Last week during .2's we were actually slower.  Lap 13 was our last hard burst and I am so happy to see a sub-6 pace there.

I went home and did some Resistance Training. Just body-weight stuff at home.   

Wednesday is my Rest Day. I just walk the dogs. I need to get in some flex work but this is always hard to feel motivated to do. I don't know why.  I know it is not just me.  I know many people who would rather do anything else but stretch or foam roll.  

I did make green soup. This is awesome. I have been buying bags of greens faster than I can eat them (clearly I have good intentions but I buying without checking what I need).  I blended a few bags of greens into chicken stock with sautéed mirepoix and some quinoa  I added some Enzo olive oil and red pepper flakes at the end. This stuff is amazing. 

Thursday is Hill Day.  The one rule of "The Tour of Morristown" Hill Day is no one is allowed to turn down a hill.  If we can go up, we choose up over down.  It is like the rules of improv comedy, you are not allowed to say "no"... no matter how ridiculous the idea.  

Friday is another day with Kim.  We do her LR on Mondays, so Friday will be a little easier.  Today was a 6M run/walk day. It was hot/humid and it slowed us down. But we got it done. 

Saturday was my 16M Long Run (any way I could do it). It was so freaking hot. It "felt like" 90 degrees on my weather app but in real life it felt like I was running in Hell. At mile 12, I contemplated calling Sidney to come get me. But I decided I could get myself home even if I was slow.  I knew pace didn't matter and starting my run at 11:00 am meant I was going to suffer, so I wasn't shocked it felt so bad.  I lost 7 lbs on this run from dehydration it was that hot.  But it got done and I know I will be better off for having done it. 

Sunday is my standing 8-12M run with Alanna. We drive 45-50 minutes each way to meet to run.  We don't care really what we do, we just know that if we are getting up early to meet it needs to be between 8-12. Sometimes we do more but not today!  

Today I felt like I was run over by a truck.  I needed to keep the pace easy.  I added a lot of walking. I carried water which I rarely do but no calories.  By mile 8 I was so incredibly hungry. I hit the wall hard.  This is such a great sign for me.  I know it means I am changing.  

This is how it starts. I chase after this bonk. I want to look it in the face and tell it that I am not concerned.  If I can get used to feeling this way in training, when I show up on race day, well-rested, well-fueled, well-trained, "The Wall" just doesn't exist. Today it existed and I was actually happy to run into it again.  I haven't run into that wall in a long long time. 

Stats and prediction for the week: Apparently STRYD believes I am getting slower.  Thanks! Garmin has me the same.  
​
I did my own calculations, which my athletes can tell you that I am quite good at.  Based upon our speed work, I believe we have the speed for a 3:20... but only once our LRs are up over 20. So right now, we aren't in 3:20 shape.  I hope to be by August. 

Week Two is done.

Three workouts. Speed work, Hills, Long Run. Nothing monumental. Just more work than I have been used to doing. My body is reacting to the load. I expected to feel beat up as I return to training..  

Tuesday' Speed with Dave.
We repeated last week's workout (.2M Hard/.8M easy) but the weather was 25 degrees hotter and humid. We didn't meet the goal of running faster than last week but we did "good enough" work.  I want to see our bursts in the low 6's, and eventually sub-6 if possible. We shall see. 

We also a new route which was not a keeper. Too many intersections and uneven sidewalks  slowed us down.  We will return to last week's route next week.

After the speed work, I did only about 20 minutes of strength work. 

Wednesday, I woke up feeling some ache on the bottom of my left foot by the heel. It felt bruised. Not like PF but more like I steeped on something hard? It wasn't horrible but it did make me not want to stand on my left foot for too long. Thank goodness Wednesday are rest days from running.  Dogs got walked and then I went to work. 

Last weekend, I noticed the hill repeats were still in my legs by LR day, a bit too much than I wanted to feel them.  It was 85 degrees last Saturday, so the sudden heat wave slowed me down anyway.

Regardless, I made a decision to move hard hill repeats (the 16% grade climb) to the Thursday before the easy LR, not the Thursday before the hard LR (which we will do every other week to accommodate our schedules).  On alternate Thursdays we will do a longer very hilly run but the grade will be less than 16% for most of the climbs. This will be easy to recover from by LR day. 

Fridays are Kim's easier day. Still using Walk/Run.  .
This run was 5M.  Nothing was swollen so off we go. Easy pace just to be safe. 

47M total with 42M of running (maybe 42.5?). 

I did two strength sessions only because I wanted to rest my heel.  I also failed to do any flex for no good reason. 

After Blood Donation on 5/24, my RHR is now back to 49.  This is good. 

Predictions:

STRYD Predicts my Boston may be a bit faster that last week.
Garmin didn't change, except to tell me that I am "Unproductive" lol

That is all I got for this week!  
​Let's see what happens in a week from now. ​