Week 4 done, training for Glass City Marathon. This week has been a week of deep thoughts and reflections. One month into my training plan and I feel like some adjustments need to be made. My body is not holding up, or responding well, to the longer runs or efforts at speedwork. No decision has been made yet, so I’ll keep those ideas in my head for a bit longer.
- Miles run: 33.5
- Elliptical: 110 mins
Monday – 4 easy miles. My foot pod measured this at 3.88 miles. It also clocked in my heart rate at an average of 138, so I was super excited to see that stat. Still, my legs were a bit sore and this didn’t feel like the easy run it could have been, but still, 4 miles done. I’m getting closer to my goal of getting 400 miles on my Kinvaras 🙂
Tuesday – 5 miles, hills! This was a very random last minute decision to go run with the “5:30am hill runners”. I am always admiring this group of ladies from the MRTT group who are out running the “hilly” section of a nearby town all during the year, so I decided to join them. My plan called for Fartleks today, but we all know “hills are speedwork in disguise”. I’m so glad I went! I ran with new people. I caught up with old friends. Good for the soul run.
And bonus, I picked up a little treat at Starbucks for getting up at 4:50am AND running outside. Yeah me!! [edit: I was ready for a nap on my desk at work by 11:00am. Getting up earlier than 5am is rough! LOL!!]
Wednesday – Cross train, elliptical 30 mins. I actually went to the gym after work today. Feeling accomplished!
Thursday – 7 miles, tempo run. “Tempo” is a loose term these days. This was supposed to be 20-30 seconds faster than my goal race pace, but I just couldn’t do it. I did run the miles at my goal race pace, but I couldn’t speed up any faster.
Interesting reaction of the week – I posted a run picture on Instagram and Strava. I had friends on both platforms commenting about my running form! One commented on my heel strike (yep, I sure do!) and the other noticed how my foot rolls out. My foot roll is noticeable because my shoe sole always wears out there first, but I’ve never had any comment from the run analysis that I’ve had done, so it doesn’t bother me! [shrug]
Friday – 4 easy miles. It’s so great that my light vest turns red when it’s time for a new battery! Also did strength work at the gym with Alan.
Saturday – 13.1 miles, Long run. No, not an organized half marathon, but when my plan says 12 miles, I’m too close to this distance NOT to go that far! 😉 This run was another resounding “meh”. I had a plan to run the first 4 miles at 10:30 but it was closer to 10:00. Next set of miles were targeted for 9:30. No problem there. But for the last miles I wanted to get race pace… but once again, I couldn’t do it. I felt decent for the first 10 miles, but after that my glute/hammy pain was just very uncomfortable 🙁
I also went to the Humane Society and renewed my commitment to dog walking. My daughter wanted to start back up, and it’s a great way to spend time with her, while helping the animals.
Sunday – Cross train, 45 mins elliptical. And people think running on a treadmill is boring? Bahaha!! Need to burn off calories because we celebrated two birthdays this past week – my Mom and Dad! All the yummy cakes. I love to bake cakes 🙂 My Dad’s cake was chocolate, with peanut butter frosting. It turned out really good!!
And finally – the greatest innovation in our house…. A clothes rack! For YEARS I have asked (nagged!!) my husband to hang up his workout clothes so they dry. Despite my constant asking, they still end up around the tub “drying”. Did you know that clothes don’t dry if they lay around in a ball for days? Look at this. Game changer!!!! It’s the best!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: What solution do you have at your house for wet running/workout clothes? Come on, you know you have wet stinky clothes at your house!!
Q: Do you have to wake up before 5am? If so, what time do you go to bed?
5:30 is a regular wake up time for me. Getting up a half hour earlier was tough! I like to be in bed by 10:30.
With two teens in the house, I always have laundry. I generally wash my clothes as soon as I take them off bc there is always laundry. I get up around 5am each day and am almost always in bed around 9pm. I love my sleep. Those cakes look awesome by the way!
Oh wow, I pretty much only do laundry once a week! Of course, it’s a full load of workout clothes by then. My challenge is more to get my son to toss his clothes in the wash. Even though I have two teens also, I really don’t do much laundry. And I’m not sad about that 🙂
Yeah getting up that early would definitely have me ready for a nap by noon, lol. I consider myself a morning person, but the earliest I can start a workout is 6am. When I had to do long runs over the summer I was leaving my house around 5:30 and that was rough!!
5:30 in the summer is practically daylight though… 5:30 winter might as well be 3am. haha!! The urge to resist hibernating is hard!
Ah that’s tough that your plan and your body are not getting along. I’ve never been able to follow a race training plan, I just haven’t found a good place between too easy and too hard. Good luck, I know you’ll find your way. Laundry on the other hand – I have an “isolation bin” (a milk crate) in the basement for my nasties to hang out in until laundry day. My husband and I have very different laundry standards so we never tried to merge that part of our lives – he takes care of his and the stepsons laundry, I do my clothes and all of the household stuff like towels and so far so good. We’re both good about keeping our dirty clothes out of sight and out of mind and we’ve made decent progress on getting the stepsons on the same page.
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We have a laundry chute at our house and I love it!! Otherwise I’m not sure I would make the trek to the laundry room as often as I need to 🙂 I definitely follow training plans too much – deviating from the plan is hard for me!! If the plan says 6 miles, I’m running 6 miles. Not always a good thing!
You definitely deserve a treat for getting up that early! Way to step out of your comfort zone. I hang my wet clothes up until they dry then add to the laundry pile. Sorry you are feeling like your body is not cooperating. Have you though about modifying your plan a bit to be a little less mileage? Keep us posted! Thanks for linking up today
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I’ve come up with about 5 different scenarios as to what I might do for my training plan! One of them is “just don’t run”. I’m hoping the best plan will reveal itself as the days go on.
I’m awake most mornings before 5:30 (without an alarm LOL), but I often get up before 5:00 if I want to do a longer workout (or am meeting barb for our weekly #5at5). I’m never, ever, in bed before 11:00…just cannot get my brain or body to turn off any sooner. My vest turns red all the time, it seems. But I do use it a lot LOL Great job on that early morning run OUTSIDE!!! 🙂
I wonder how the cold affects the “red zone” of the vest. When I went to put new batteries in it I noticed it was working as usual. I’m sure your vest has been used 100x’s more than mine already! 🙂
I bet the cold is a factor. It seems like this last set of batteries only had maybe 5 weeks of use before the vest was “in the red.”
I have a drying rack in my living room. It’s less than ideal for various reasons, but there’s better sun in there for things drying, and it’s the only one with space. I hung them on my shower bar for years, but found in summer humidity they didn’t dry.
Sorry to hear your glute/hammy were an issue past ten.
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Thanks! My glutes & hammies are making me sad, that’s for sure! I have a big drying rack where I hang our active wear after washing. I love that thing!
I start runs sometimes at 5 am; makes for early bedtimes for sure! Definitely deserves a Starbucks treat. Nice work!
Kudos to you on those early workouts!! It so weird that my kids (teens) now go to bed later than I do. Yikes!
Omg I’m so jelly you got your hubby to hang that up for you! I’ve been waiting probably a year now for mine to do stuff and nope. Yum I love to bake cakes too. Haven’t done anything in a long time since I’m not supposed to eat them. Haha!
I get up at 5 and head to bed at 9. I don’t go to sleep until 10 or so.
I think my husband was just sick of hearing me nag about his clothes laying all over the bathroom! haha! But yes, this project was done in record time, so I was really happy 🙂
I struggle with early morning runs especially during the week so yep, I’m in the 11am dozing at my desk camp! That solution for sweaty clothes is awesome – what my husband and I do, is hang them on the shower glass doors, but often they (mine) end up on the towel rack, but then the towels get all stinky! So yep, we need that rail!
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I have tried hanging my stuff around the shower, but I guess my husband doesn’t realize that when the clothes are dry they need to be tossed in the wash… not left hanging to get all wet by the shower again! Or maybe he just didn’t want to touch my stinky clothes… who knows! Either way, the process failed!
I wake up at 4am every day now. Before Grayson was born it was 4:30 but I used to “sleep in” until 5:30 or 6 on the weekends. He wakes up at 6 so I feel like I need my time before he wakes up. I got to bed no later than 9. I am hoping that once he starts taking one nap (he still takes 2) that he might sleep a little later. We’ll see.
We don’t really have a solution for the wet clothes here! I usually just lay them in the bathtub and try to do laundry as often as possible.
There you go – hide a rack behind the door! 🙂 You win the early riser award!! Do you go to bed around 9pm in the summer too? That would be hard for me to sleep before the dark of night.
Yep- I have no problem going to sleep early lol!
I have some funky overpronation, so my feet look like that when I run. I’ve managed the heel strike and do a better job about striking midfoot until I get tired. However, if what you’re doing works for you, have at it!
Our workout clothes go straight in the wash, and then we hang them in the laundry room to dry. In Florida, we don’t usually need a lot of the bulkier layers so drying is quick.
It’s so hard to maintain a good form when you’re tired! I agree, if it’s working, it can’t be that bad!
Great idea about volunteering to walk the dogs at the Humane Society! I’ll have to look and see if that’s an option around here.
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The dogs are so happy to get out for a walk! It’s a big leap for me because I’m afraid of dogs! All of the barking in the kennels is a bit stressful, as is getting dogs on leashes during all of that barking, but when they get outside on their own they are wonderful doggies.
Huh. I wonder what’s changed that you aren’t able to hit your paces you want to hit? I know what you mean about “tempo” being a loose term. I actually feel like all my runs are just … runs hahaha! Ron made a schedule for me and my next run is a tempo run and I’m like, welp… I’ll try!
here we have drying sports clothes all over the radiators. sigh.
I am still setting my alarm for 5 and getting up on average at 5:45. I try to go to bed by 10 but that also seems impossible! 4:30 is SO early! Sounds like it was really worth it for you though!
My hamstrings are just too tight and uncomfortable for me to go as fast as I wish I could. I know it’s not going to be beneficial to push hard, so I don’t do it. It’s so frustrating!!
I have kind of like a wire mesh hamper so I hang my clothes there to dry. I also wake up around 4:30 to go running too so I need to be in bed between 9-9:30. Since I have the foot pod, I never go by the distance on the treadmill but what it says on my watch. Will you be getting another pair of Kinvara’s?
I don’t think I’ll get some Kinvaras for my next pair. I might try something different, like maybe some Brooks? I’m looking for something durable for long runs. My foot pod was really close on my treadmill distance today. It said 6.07 and I ran 6 miles according to the treadmill. That’s pretty cool!!
Happy birthday to your parents! Chocolate & PB are my favs. My Dad loved snickers; we had them at his service. 🙂
We do have a lot of hooks in our bathroom, so I hang up clothes to dry there. I also have a towel warming rack — I don’t dry out clothes there often, but I often put the clothes I’ll change into after a run on it in winter. Changing into warm clothes? Heaven!
People shouldn’t be commenting on your form unless you ask. One of my feet has a tendency to turn out, and I know a lot of runners do that too. Not quite sure why.\
I would never, ever tack on a single extra step to a planned training run. But I’ll sometimes do it when I’m not training.
And yay for dog walking at the shelter!
I am a HUGE chocolate and peanut butter fan! My mom likes white cake, which I wasn’t sure if I’d like it as much, but that cake tasted like a wedding cake! YUM! I also like to incorporate some cookie dough into my birthday treats. It’s all good!
I put my wet clothes around the bath, sorry! But if there’s a wash ready to go, I’ll throw them in there immediately. Great photos and good runs, sorry about the meh. I’ve been feeling like that tbh, all distances seem to be a struggle this time. I don’t know whether I’m not getting enough rest of whether I should have concentrated on my strength beforehand a bit more; I also was carrying a bit more weight due to some medication and not sure if that’s not helped. In my case, I’m probably not doing a marathon (I have a reserve place for London with my club) so the pressure is off a bit, which actually doesn’t help!
This winter gloom can quit any day now! It really sucks my motivation away. Training for a spring marathon really is a mental challenge. I do prefer a summer training cycle! So you could run London if you wanted to? It’s the same day at my Glass City Marathon.
Oh, no – quite the opposite! The club gets two places in London and drew two people to have those places in a ballot, and then two reserves for if they can’t do it for some reason. So I might HAVE to do it, and with little notice, but I probably won’t. If I do, the cut-off is longer than most, and I can run it with a friend who is a bit slower than me. If I don’t run it, I am running round a long bus route around the city the weekend after. But it is turning out to be harder to motivate myself than if I had signed up for a marathon and knew I was doing it!
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That would be hard being a backup!! Not sure I could take the waiting game.
I’m just glad you didn’t post pictures of all my running gear laying around the tub! People would probably wonder how much of a slob I really am.
No one needs to see that mess!! 🙂
Do you think that you didn’t take enough of a recovery between training cycles and that your body isn’t ready to ramp up to those miles and that might be causing your blah feeling? It’s so hard when your brain wants to run and your body isn’t quite ready.
Several days a week I get up as early as 4:15 AM and I’m getting much better at going to be earlier – I consider falling asleep by 10:30 PM a win for me.
We hung an over-the-door set of hooks on the door leading into our water closet in our master bath for our drippy wet clothes and that was a game changer, too!
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