What a difference a day makes

Today was a MUCH better run -- no headache! I planned to only do 50 minutes but at the 30-minute mark I was feeling exceptional so I did the full 60: 5.58 miles, 10:45/mile pace. I am really happy how well my Sunday runs are going coming on the heels of my Saturday long runs. I would think that I'd be sore and sluggish but my best runs have been coming on Sundays. I seem to be stronger and faster.

It ended up being a really good week: 25.55 miles. Tomorrow starts the 18-week countdown! Right now I'm about where I'll be at the end of Week 6. If I was following a more aggressive training program I'd be heading into some really long runs right off the bat but I'm sticking with the beginner program. Hopefully that will allow me to work on pace and endurance at the same time without pushing myself too hard. I have no time for injuries or burnout. I think this is the right way to go.

I got in 6 workouts this week: 4 runs and 2 strength workouts. I enjoy the weeks where I can get in all 6. With my new job that's not always going to be the case and it requires 4 of my workouts to be pre-work ones. That's going to take a lot of discipline on my part. This week I already know it will be 5 workouts because I have my day in Stamford and then we leave for vacation this weekend. For vacation I'm only putting pressure on myself to get my runs in and I'll take the week off from strength. It seems like a fair compromise. I have a feeling I'm going to be making a lot of deals with myself over the next 18 weeks...

Kicking it old school

I've finally accepted that there is no cute solution to keeping my hair out of my face when I'm running. I've tried pigtails, My hair is layered so a ponytail won't work, so lately I've been doing the ponytail and a thin elastic headband. I end up fighting with the headband the whole time because it's too thin to stay in place but when I've tried thicker elastic ones they're uncomfortable. I don't want to do a hat because my head gets too hot as it is and I wouldn't be caught dead in a visor. So what's a girl to do besides shave my head (which I've thought about on many a sweaty run).

My solution? I'm bringing back the old-school John McEnroe-style terrycloth sweatband. Yes. It's come to that. It may not be my best look but I did not mess with my hair once today. Now that I'm making it my thing I'm going to look for some real old school ones, like those rainbow striped ones from the 70s. Might as well own the look.

Today's run started out excellent. I was feeling strong and doing well about mile 7. Then, out of nowhere, I felt blackout tired. I'm used to having waves of fatigue but they usually pass. This was different. Then I realized that the unthinkable was happening -- I was getting a migraine. I haven't had one in over a year but the signs for me are unmistakable: the feeling I'm about to drop, the circles in my vision, and the tightness in my chest. It's horrible. I realized that I had been looking down while I was running and since it was a super sunny day all the patches of sunlight on the ground coming through the trees was too much on my eyes and sending me quickly into migraine territory. That was a first for me, I've never had that happen on a run before. I didn't even know how my legs were still moving because my head felt completely disconnected from my body.

I was in a remote part of the trail and I kept telling myself to get to a more traveled part in case I needed help. It never occurred to me that if I was really in trouble I had my phone but my brain was shutting down. I decided to walk for a little thinking that if my heart rate came down maybe that would help relieve the pressure in my head. It seemed to work, after 5 or 6 minutes I felt okay. As soon as I started running the lights on the ground were moving faster and I felt just as bad.

On the trail I have to look down because there's so many rocks that could take my ankle out and dips from water runoff. I had to force myself to keep my eyes on the horizon but I was worried that I'd trip on something. I was upset that a potentially awesome run got completely derailed but even though the last 3 miles were agonizing my overall pace was around 11:47 for 10.12 miles. A month ago that would have been a great pace for me so if there's something good to take away from today, it's that I am making progress on my pace.

I don't know what to do next time. I really don't want to wear sunglasses. I finally solved the hair problem (unless it was my John McEnroe headband that caused my migraine by squeezing my brain) so having yet one more accessory to fall off, slip around, and be a giant pain in the butt is not something I am looking to take on. As it is, I fight with my headphones the whole time and I have the ones that hook over the ears. I already run with a pack for my phone, license, iphone, and sport beans. I have to run with a water bottle (which was also a disaster today, I ran out of water 2 miles before I finished and it was freaking HOT). How much other crap am I supposed to carry? I'll just have to hope that most of my runs are overcast. Ugh.

All and all, a good long run. Next week I'll go 8 since I did 10 for 2 weeks in a row, then I'll try to push it up to 11 or 12. I'm still 6 weeks ahead the training schedule for the long run. It's going to catch up FAST in August though.

Here's me in my McEnroe sweatband and a migraine after my 10 miles in the sun. I think I'm rocking the look! HAHA!

Kelly: 2, Sleeping in: 0

I did it! I got up and ran again today getting my 2nd weekday run in. I think today was harder than yesterday, maybe because I knew what to expect. I had already decided that today would be the shorter of my weekday runs. I wasn't quite ready to do the hill course from hell so I opted for the treadmill for 50 minutes. I felt kind of crummy the whole time but I managed to get in 4.46 miles. Again, a little slower than I'd like but hopefully that will balance out in time once I acclimate to running in the morning.

Last night this book came in the mail. I was so excited to get it! I was going to start reading it on vacation next week but I think I might hold off until I get closer to the marathon. It sounds so inspiring and hopefully gets into the nitty gritty of the course. I think if I read it now I might psyche myself out a little. I think I'll wait until my training gets to the grueling stage and I need a boost.

I plan on doing 8-10 miles on Saturday, depending on how I feel, and 4-5 on Sunday. I'm still way ahead of the curve for the training schedule and I should end up with a good mileage week.

Making the Impossible Possible

I am NOT a morning person. My parents registered me for afternoon kindergarten when I was a kid because they knew there was no way I'd be up for the morning session. That has not changed. I can force myself to get up for work, travel, an appointment but it's exactly that -- forcing myself. This wasn't a problem for me when I was funemployed because I'd get my workout in whenever I felt like it -- usually around 11. Now, however, I am seeing the need to make some serious lifestyle adjustments if this training is going to happen.

Starting last week I was able to get up for strength workouts. Somehow that doesn't seem as challenging to do early in the morning because it's a slower pace. My strength workouts are intense and I like to lift heavy but it's not as relentless as running.

This past weekend I surprised myself and moved my runs up earlier than normal. It's good that it's summer and the sun comes up earlier. It's also good that I'm on a normal sleep schedule and not staying up as late. But even those "early" runs on the weekend weren't as early as they need to be to get them in before work on a weekday.

Today was the big test -- getting up at 6:30 to get my run in before work. I can't count on getting it in at lunch like I was hoping, not with my schedule so unpredictable. I hate doing it after work because I'm tired and, again, my schedule isn't predictable. So moving my runs to before work has become critical.

I had set my alarm for 6:45 but my sweet husband gently woke me at 6:30. He knows how important this training is to me and he's been really helpful about trying to get me up. Of course, he goes back to sleep but I am very grateful that he's so supportive and Lord knows he is painfully aware of my aversion to mornings. So I got up, got dressed, and drank some water. I know that's going to be an issue that I'm not as hydrated first thing in the morning but I'll adapt.

I was on the treadmill by 6:38 and I made a deal that today didn't have to be a great run, just a run. I was able to get in 5.31 miles in 60 minutes so I was definitely slower but for my first early morning workout I'm pretty satisfied with that. Miles are miles!

Getting my run in by 7:30ish really gave me a sense of accomplishment! By the time I got to work I already felt like I had a good day. I hope I can make this a repeat thing!

Jared is running NYC!

My mom told me today that Jared the Subway guy is running NYC and sure enough, he is. He said he plans to be at the back of the pack which is where I'll be too. Maybe I'll say "hi." ;) Usually some celeb does NYC, Katie Holmes did it 2 years ago, last year David Blaine was supposed to do it but pulled out. I hope he does it this year because I will find that man in a crowd of 40,000 and pester him for 26.2 miles to do some card tricks for me. Edward Norton and Ryan Phillips both ran it last year. Not that I'd be anywhere near a celeb but it's kind of cool to think you're covering the same miles they are. It's got to be annoying to be them though, it's just as hard for them to run a marathon as anyone else and they probably have a bunch of idiots bothering them the whole time. I wonder if anyone big will do it this year.

It ended up being a good week for running despite only getting 3 runs in. I covered my mileage for the week plus a little extra. Yesterday's 10-miler went really well but I still expected to be sore this morning. Amazingly, I woke up at 6:30 (yeah, I know, so not me) and was on the treadmill by 7:30. I ran for 56 minutes (plus 2 minutes warmup and 2 minutes cooldown) and got in 5.39 miles. I went slower in the beginning thinking I'd be fatigued from yesterday but when I got to around 35 minutes I realized I still had a lot in me so I tried to pick up the pace. I always love when I can throw a sprint in at the end and I felt really good today for the last 8 minutes going up from 6 mph to 6.5 mph. This is all good stuff! Afterwards we went to the campground and I got in a nice swim.

My plan is to run Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. I *plan* to do one as an interval run, one on the hilly course from hell, a long run and then a run like today. Best laid plans though...to be honest, I'll just be happy to get my mileage in. You can get real nutty with a training program but I'm trying not to let that happen. Other than the long run, which is a necessity, I've got to be flexible with my weekday runs because my life isn't predictable with my new job. I think that's good though because I tend to be an all-or-nothing person with my workouts. In the past if I couldn't do exactly what I planned for when I planned it I'd tend not to do it at all. That's really not an option so I'm trying to get my head around the idea that the most important thing is to get the runs in, the timing/day of the week is secondary.

Learning to roll with it

I admit it, this week was challenging. I never really got a honeymoon period with my new job and this week -- my SECOND -- was even more insane than the first. I worked late, worked through lunch, stress, stress, stress. I've got to learn how to compartmentalize work because I can't let it take over what personal time I have if I'm going to be successful in this training.

Even so, I got in a 4 mile run on Tuesday in Old Saybrook. I think I'm going to park my car near the water next time and start from there because I didn't really like running through the center of town and it doesn't get scenic until after the 2 mile mark where I turn around. It was hot, I was tired and stressed, but I got it in. I had big plans to do that on Wednesday but that was the day everything went nutso at work and I put in a 12-hour day. So it didn't happen. Thursday I was in Stamford so that was another 12-hour day. On Friday I did have the time to run but I made the decision not to squeeze it in just for the sake of having a 2nd weekday run if it meant not being as strong today for my long run. I made the right decision.

I got in 10.02 miles today -- 2 more than I had planned but as soon as I started out I felt good and I had done 8 miles 2 weeks in a row so I thought it would be good to shake it up. I'm still way ahead of where I should be for long runs, I don't think I hit 9 miles on the official schedule until the end of July. So as long as I can keep this up the stronger I'll be when the long runs really take off.

I messed up my GPS so it actually registered as 2 runs but here's the deets:

My splits are pretty consistent which is good. My pace was nice for a long run on the trail. It's come down by over a minute from a few months ago. My marathon goal pace is 11 minutes/mile overall so I'm headed in the right direction. Tomorrow I'll go for 4 or 5, depending on how I feel and it will still end up being a solid week of training.

As far as next week goes, I just have to put work in a little box and make my time my own. Wish me luck on that one!

If only every week could go this well

First week of my new job -- 5 of those days being on the road -- and I got all my runs in plus a strength workout. I can't be unhappy with that. I had great mileage for this week -- 23.6. The first month of official training has me coming in around 18 a week so I'm really happy with how I did this week. Yesterday's long run was tough, it was hot and I was a little slower than last week because of it. But...today was an unexpected victory! I did the Branford Road Race (5 miles) and I was hoping to *maybe* come in at 55 minutes and I came in at 52-something! I can't wait to get the official time. I just got caught up in the spirit of the race and it pushed me along at a much better clip than I thought possible. I hit the first mile marker at 9:40 and while I was super psyched I also knew I had to slow down a little or I'd never finish. I definitely struggled with controlling my pace today, I was either slowing down or speeding up, I don't feel like I was ever in a steady stride but I'm definitely not unhappy with the results.

The race was really fun, I've always wanted to do the Branford Road Race but it never worked out. The course was beautiful and there were so many nice people who had their sprinklers and hoses going. At the end of the race the fire department had a huge sprinkler going and between that and the cold watermelon, I was a happy camper.

I got to meet my aunt and uncle's Cross Fit friends. They are all in INSANE shape -- so inspiring! Someone from their group did the race in 27 minutes, that's CRAZY! It was a lot of fun to do the race with my aunt and uncle (we all ran on our own though). That's not a real tattoo on my uncle, they all airbrushed themselves before the race. They're so hardcore into Cross Fit and it pays off. If it were closer I'd start going too. Afterwards we went in their hot tub and pool and I can't think of a nicer end to a great week of running. If only the rest of the training goes as well! ;)