Weekly Roundup 3.18-3.24

Week 13 of 16

Hello 33!  Monday was my birthday and it was a great day.  I came in to work to presents and cards from my coworkers.  Eric brought me coffee from Marylou’s.  My pool class sang to me.  The sun was shining and I even got to leave for the day at 3pm.

I took advantage of the shorter day by heading to Cotuit after work for a 5 miler by the beach.  It was perfect!  After my parents brought me sushi for dinner.  I opened presents.  We went for a walk with G then had leftover birthday cake from our Sunday dinner the day before.

The celebrations continued on Tuesday morning with my spin birthday party.  I had a full class and everyone brought the energy!  So fun!  I even stayed on the bike and pedaled the whole class—first time since my injury.  That afternoon I began a new program in the gym by Craig as a lead up to the marathon and then later that night I made an appearance at Run Club and actually ran with the group!  Woo woo!  It was pretty chilly but the best part was that it stayed light our entire run.  Thank you daylight savings.

Since I’m still not 100% I didn’t want to push it and run again on Wednesday so I decided to take G out instead.  Good, short recovery day followed by a full day off from running on Thursday.

I had to work Friday morning but I went home for an easy 4 miler.  It was cool and damp and I have zero interest in running but I got the job done.  Yuck.

Saturday was a funny day.  We woke up to snow on the ground on Cape Cod.  By the afternoon, the temperatures were supposed to be in the 40s but the wind speed 20-30 mph with gusts over 40 mph.  I waited all morning until 1:00—supposedly the warmest hours of the day.  I ran from my parent’s house in Falmouth and actually planned my run so that the wind would be at my back along the water.  I usually run the reverse route thinking I’ll be fine but then totally regret it.

For most runners training for Boston, this was the infamous “last long run” before the race.  It’s normal to run 20-22 miles before a 3 week taper.  For me, I had 16 planned.  I ran 16 miles once—just over a week before my injury.  I still get nervous before every long run over 2 hours and even more so for this one being so close to race day with a stubborn hip and a few weeks of missed training.

Other than feeling completely exhausted and beat up from battling the wind, I was happy with my efforts.  I was happy I waited to run when I did and I was happy to get in 16 miles and I was even happier about my pace in those conditions.  I finally feel like I’m marathon training again.  Instead of beginning my taper, I plan to get in one more solid week of training with one more long run.

Upcoming events:

·      3 weeks until the Boston Marathon!

Monday 3.18.19

Happy Birthday to me!

5 miles (38:32)

18’ walk with the fam

Burdenko H2O

Tuesday 3.19.19

Run Club! 3.45 miles (29:10)

Taught spin class

Lift

Wednesday 3.20.19

1.56 miles with G (13:49)

Thursday 3.21.19

Taught spin class

Power Water

Friday 3.22.19

4 miles (31:04)

Saturday 3.23.19

16 miles (2:01:38)

Sunday 3.24.19

Taught spin class

Burdenko H2O

ICYMI

Week 1 of 16             Week 5 of 16             Week 9 of 16

Week 2 of 16             Week 6 of 16             Week 10 of 16

Week 3 of 16             Week 7 of 16             Week 11 of 16

Week 4 of 16             Week 8 of 16             Week 12 of 16

This week’s mileage: 30 miles

This week’s G mileage: 1.5 miles

March Totals: 84 miles

2019 Totals: 244 miles

Weekly Roundup 3.11-3.17

Week 12 of 16

Can you believe there is only 4 weeks left until Boston?!  I can’t.  I mean I know I missed a couple key weeks of training but still.  Time is flying by!  And the good news is that I’m not 100% but I’m pretty darn close.

This week started out with a beautiful 6 miles on Monday.  I was feeling super sluggish throughout the day—daylight savings always kicks my butt—but I couldn’t help but have a great run with the sun shining and hints of spring weather.

I decided to take it easy on Tuesday and opted indoors on the elliptical plus a strength training session.  It was another nice day but I didn’t want to overdo it after 10 miles on Saturday and 6 on Monday.  I was back outside on Wednesday for 4 miles with temperatures dropping again.  I pulled out my 2018 Boston Marathon jacket for some extra motivation.

Thursday night kicked off “birthday weekend” with two really fun spin and swim classes.

I got my nails done on Friday morning before seeing Kathy for PT.  Even though I’d been feeling much better, she suggested I come in for some manual work and to get taped before my weekend long run.  It’s so hard to say no.  She’s too good to me!  I also never get to see her because her only days in the Mashpee location are on Fridays when I’m off so it’s always fun to get to chat with her.

The rest of the day was great.  I treated myself to a big iced caramel macchiato at Starbucks and an everything bagel at Bagel Havel.  I went for a short run with G—our first together since my injury!  Later in the afternoon I went to Naukabout for some day drinking with Craig then came home to carb load and get to bed semi-early to rest up for my long run.

My alarm went off much earlier than I wanted on Saturday morning but I was headed to Plymouth to meet up with my friend Steve who then was driving us to Boston to run on the course.  The Marathon Sports Wellesley store is located at Mile 14.7 which is perfect to run and experience the later stages of the race.  They held group runs each week during Boston Marathon training but this was the first I was healthy enough to attend.  Running out was great.  I was looking around trying to take in some of the sights along the course.  Sights I did not see on April 16, 2018.  Seriously though, nothing was familiar.  Nothing!  When I said I ran with my head down to block out the rain, I was telling the absolute truth.  

Along the way we got to run the Newton hills and I now know what hill is Heartbreak Hill.  In case you missed my race report from last year’s Boston Marathon, I was halfway up Heartbreak Hill when I asked another running if we were on Heartbreak Hill.  It’s still not as bad as I imagined.  I’m still thinking it’s more of a mental battle for people.

Once our watches hit 7 miles we turned around to face some nasty headwinds all the way back.  The wind was constant and brought us to a standstill at times.  I remember turning to Steve and saying it felt like we were running in slow motion!  It was brutal.

We got back to the store to a little party with Hoka and I finally tried 26.2 Brew—the beer brewed by Sam Adams made specifically for the Boston Marathon runners.  I also picked up my Boston Marathon jacket as an early birthday present.

After the run I went straight to my parents’ house for a *late afternoon* birthday brunch.  My mom made French toast casserole, bacon and a nice fruit spread while we sipped on mimosas.  

We also made a stop to Dairy Queen.  It was opening weekend and we couldn’t pass up buy one, get one.  I met up with Katrina for a while that night to complete the day.  I was exhausted but it was so good to see her and catch up.

The birthday celebrations continued on Sunday.  David and Lindsey made me feel special all day at work.  One of the spinners brought us Irish soda bread.  I am pretty anti-St. Patrick’s Day but I gave it a try!  After work I had my annual birthday lasagna with my parents along with my mom’s famous birthday cake.  Overall a fantastic birthday weekend.  Big thanks to everyone that made it great.

Other highlights:

·      My birthday is on Monday!!

·      I always like to share cool products so check out these awesome custom socks Lizzie sent me for my birthday.  It’s Georgie!  The company is called Divvy Up.  Aaaamazing!

Upcoming events:

·      4 weeks until the Boston Marathon!

Monday 3.11.19

6 miles (45:55)

Burdenko H2O

Tuesday 3.12.19

30’ elliptical

1/2 Taught spin class

Lift

Wednesday 3.13.19

4 miles (30:36)

Thursday 3.14.19

1/2 Taught spin class

Power Water

Friday 3.15.19

2.06 miles with G (20:43)

10’ elliptical

Saturday 3.16.19

14 miles with Steve (1:56:45)

20’ walk with the fam

Sunday 3.17.19

1/2 Taught spin class

Burdenko H2O

ICYMI

Week 1 of 16             Week 5 of 16             Week 9 of 16

Week 2 of 16             Week 6 of 16             Week 10 of 16

Week 3 of 16             Week 7 of 16             Week 11 of 16

Week 4 of 16             Week 8 of 16

This week’s mileage: 26 miles

This week’s G mileage: 2 miles

March Totals: 54 miles

2019 Totals: 214 miles

Weekly Roundup 3.4-3.10

Week 11 of 16

I’m back!  So I’m not 100% but I’m back to running and overall feeling pretty good.  I totaled 22 miles on the week with a “long run” of 10 miles.

Monday was awesome running weather for March and I couldn’t wait to get out the door for a run.  My plan was to run 3 miles but that weather!  I ended up running 5 miles and felt great.

I tried spinning on Tuesday morning for the first time since my injury but started to regret it towards the end of class.  I originally thought sitting was aggregating my hip but the angle in a standing climb was not ideal either.  Boo.

Tuesday afternoon I got in a strength training session followed by a short, easy treadmill run.  I may have overdone it so I took Wednesday completely off and only taught about half of my Thursday night spin class on the bike.

I met with Kathy for PT on Friday morning then headed home to a 4 mile run.  Later that day Georgie and I met up with my mom for a nice beach to beach walk in Cotuit.

I had mixed emotions about my “long run” on Saturday morning.  It was another awesome March day and I was looking forward to getting out the door but I was supposed to run my first 20 miler this week.  Kathy said I should run 8.  I was thinking more like 10-12 and honestly I was more nervous about running 10 miles then I usually am before running 20 miles.  It was a big run for me.  If it didn’t go well and the pain returned, I knew that was pretty much it for my Boston 2019 training.  I am running out of time and I couldn’t afford another setback.

The good news is, I ran 10 miles pain free.  I was sore after but that is expected.  In terms of cardio, I was struggling.  I stopped a bunch of times.  I visited Lola and Parker.  I searched for sea glass at the beach.  I took my time and enjoyed it. 

Next week I will shoot for 14 miles…

Other highlights:

·      I’m famous!  Just kidding.  But my hand is up on the Ruffwear website.  “Jones on the Job” is a model for their brand new Service Dog line.  So cool!

Upcoming events:

·      5 weeks until the Boston Marathon!

Monday 3.4.19

5 miles (39:02)

Burdenko H2O

Tuesday 3.5.19

3 treadmill miles (25:07)

Taught spin class

Lift

Wednesday 3.6.19

Thursday 3.7.19

1/2 Taught spin class

Power Water

Friday 3.8.19

4 miles (30:40)

20’ elliptical

25’ walk with G and mama

Saturday 3.9.19

10 miles (1:19:26)

Sunday 3.10.19

1/2 Taught spin class

Burdenko H2O

ICYMI

Week 1 of 16             Week 5 of 16             Week 9 of 16

Week 2 of 16             Week 6 of 16             Week 10 of 16

Week 3 of 16             Week 7 of 16

Week 4 of 16             Week 8 of 16

This week’s mileage: 22 miles

This week’s G mileage: 0 miles

March Totals: 28 miles

2019 Totals: 188 miles