Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

I guess I shouldn't complain about the 36 degree weather I had to run in this morning that wasn't complimented by any snow, ice, or even rain. (Whatever, it was still really cold to me, haha.) But you are a trooper for even getting out there in those conditions! Glad you didn't fall!
 
I guess I shouldn't complain about the 36 degree weather I had to run in this morning that wasn't complimented by any snow, ice, or even rain. (Whatever, it was still really cold to me, haha.) But you are a trooper for even getting out there in those conditions! Glad you didn't fall!

If I waited until the weather was decent, I’d barely run outside at all. The joys of the Midwest.

I’m jealous of your warmer temps, but I wouldn’t want to deal with crazy heat, either.
 
So, this was my first week of actual training. I decided to go back to DopeyBadger's plan for Run CRANDIC from last year since it's a marathon-specific plan and the dates still (mostly) match up.

Tuesday
2 mile WU + 6 miles @ Tempo + 0.5 mile CD. Actual run: 6 miles @ 9:22/mile. So, not off to a great start. It was still icy from the weekend and a Tempo run just did not seem viable/safe at all. I also tried to rationalize that jumping into training with a Tempo run might not be the wisest plan. So, it was 6 "easy" miles instead.

Wednesday
6 miles @ EA. Actual run: 6 miles @ 9:41/mile. Ah, much better.

Friday
6 miles @ EA. Actual run: 6 miles @ 9:19/mile. So, for a brief period on Thursday we had GORGEOUS (for February in Iowa) weather. 40s and sunny. The ice and snow was finally melting. Then, the temps dropped 40 degrees (seriously) overnight and everything froze again. So, I did not get to enjoy the reprieve from the icy sidewalks. I've gotten fairly adept at running on the ice - with a couple of close calls - so it wasn't that bad.

Saturday
7 miles @ EB. Actual run: 7 miles @ 8:58/mile. Fairly pleasant run. Mid-20s and sunny. The sidewalks weren't too bad and far more clear than they had been in more than a week (but still very icy and slushy in spots). Not sure if it was the conditions or conditioning, but EB felt a little strenuous at times. That said, I think this EB was more like my LR on my last plan, so who knows? It's also a little tough to control your paces when you go stretch of ice, stretch of sidewalk, stretch of ice...etc.

Sunday
7 miles @ LR. Actual run: TBD. I haven't actually gone out yet and I'm not sure if I'm going to. We got a few inches of snow overnight and I am just a little over running in this garbage. I know, I know, if I wanna do a marathon, I need to toughen up and just deal. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to train for a marathon in February, March and April in Iowa. So, we'll see. But first I need to walk the dog across the tundra and fire up the snowblower. Josie has a keyboard performance later, too. So some of it will just come down to time.

All that said, I'm going to sign up for Run CRANDIC. I obviously did not completely stick to the plan this week and didn't even have any really challenging runs, but everything felt like I could go forward with a training plan and be ready to race in about 10 weeks. I have a feeling I'm going to be a little under-trained, but I'm not setting out to PR anything, so whatever.

Miles This Week: 25
Year To Date: 99
 
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If you could hear me, I'd be sighing deeply over this weather. I am #OverIt. If it's not snow, then it's ice. If not ice, then slush. Or, it's 5 degrees and windy. I'm not asking for much, but a few days of 50 degrees or above would be so freaking nice.

Tuesday
1 mile WU + 7 miles @ Tempo + 0.5 mile CD. Actual run was 8.33 miles @ 8:28/mile. Despite the ice, the first half of the run went really well and I was at or below my paces. But I fell off a bit in the second half. Not sure if the sidewalks were worse (they were bad pretty much everywhere) or if it was conditioning. All in all, it wasn't a bad tempo run, especially since I'm not convinced I'm going to stick with these prescribed paces.

Wednesday
6 miles @ EA. Actual run was 6 miles @ 9:32/mile. Easy peasy. Nothing really stands out.

Friday
6 miles @ EA. It was actually sunny and *almost* warm (though deceptively cold at the same time) on Friday. The sidewalks started to clear up just a bit, which was really nice. Probably the least icy run I've had in a month.

Saturday
10 miles @ EB. 10 miles @ 9:00/mile. So this EB is tougher than the EB I have been used to for the last 3-4 (or more months). Saturday was a challenge. It was also slushy and awful out. We got some rain overnight and it just turned everything into wet garbage. My shoes were wet within the first mile. That certainly didn't help matters. I did see a few people I knew as I was running (they were driving, getting out of cars) and I got some honks, shout outs, etc. That was a nice little boost. I mostly hit my paces, so despite sloshing around for 10 miles, it wasn't all bad.

Sunday
9 miles @ Long Run + 3 miles @ Tempo. Actual run ... nada. It Saturday afternoon and evening and then the temperatures plummeted. When I woke up Sunday morning, the wind was blowing so hard it sounded like a Mack truck blasting by the house. I took my dog out for a walk to test the sidewalks and they were glazed with ice. I could barely walk him without slipping on my butt. So, I made the call to cancel today's run.

I'm increasingly convinced I'm going to end up under-trained for the April marathon. It won't be a huge deal since this isn't an "A" race by any means, but I don't want to struggle, either.

In other news, I've more or less mentally sketched out what the rest of my year is going to look like, running-wise. I'll continue with my plan toward Run CRANDIC at the end of April. Assuming my recovery is brief, I'll probably just take a week off. I'll count the weeks backward from Lakefront in early October, but since that is my "A" race for 2019, my plan is to go through the same training plan I'm on now, but with more adherence to the prescribed paces. Prior to launching into that plan, I'd like to redo my DopeyBadger speed plan from fall 2017. I think that'll keep my mileage down a bit during the summer, while getting my paces back up and segue into the "A" marathon plan nicely.

After Lakefront, I'll again take a week or so and then go into my Dopey training plan from fall/winter 2018/19. The plan for now is to do Goofy, but I figure the extra mileage can't hurt anything and should leave more more than adequately prepared for Goofy 2020.

From Marathon Weekend 2019 to Marathon Weekend 2020, that'll be four marathons in 12 months, which is twice as many as I've ever attempted, but as long as I stay healthy, I think I'll be in really good shape. I'll also be positioned well for my "10 marathons before age 40" goal since I'll be 36 when I complete marathon number 7 next January.

Miles this Week: 30.3
Year to Date: 149 (should I set a goal of 1,000 miles again in 2019?)
 


I can commiserate with the weather. We have had lots of rain and ice with some snow mixed it. It was 40* on Saturday which made for a nice day, but I stepped in so many mud puddles and then areas that don't get direct sunlight were still a sheet of ice. I am so ready for Spring.
 
Sounds like a great plan to get your races in!

I totally hear you on the weather... I haven't run outside since the marathon. This weather totally sucks... I'm not sure how you navigate the snow/ice, let alone the negative temps. You're a brave man.
 


I can't imagine running in all the snow - DC has been miserably cold and slushy, but at least we don't have the overwhelming snow that the midwest has.

I will say yesterday was 55 and sunny, and I was running in a tank top, and I remembered why I normally enjoy this.
 
Can I just vent for a minute? Because this week has been garbage. Really, most of the month was February was garbage.

I'm struggling with work. I'm still trying to get my house put back together after getting water in the basement. And this weather is slowly killing me. Just when I really need a warm spell and some good runs to clear my mind and relieve some stress, I pretty much get the opposite.

Anyway...

Tuesday
2 mi @ WU + 5 x 1 mile @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD. Actual run: hot garbage. The sidewalks were so icy that it was impossible to build any momentum or stick to any pace. 25 yards of running, 10 yards of ice. 30 yards of running, 5 yards of ice. I got so frustrated around mile 2-3 that I almost turned back. I stuck it out as much as possible, running when I could/walking when I had to. Got in 6 miles at an average pace of 7:51/mile. I really needed this run today and it just didn't happen.

Wednesday
I was out of town for work, got home late and didn't get a run in.

Friday
6 miles @ EA. Actual run: 6 miles at 9:08/mile. I got off work a little early, ran a couple quick errands, but was able to get this run in during semi-decent (relatively speaking) conditions. Sun was shining, temps in the mid-30s. I'll take it.

Saturday
9 miles @ EB. Actual run: 9 miles @ 9:04/mile. Weather again was pretty decent. At some point between the Friday and Saturday runs, I wrenched my right ankle and knee. I honestly don't know if it was from twisting on ice at some point or maybe stepping on a toy train and rolling it. Either way, it was a bit achy and I didn't pay too much attention to pace. I didn't feel it too badly during the latter half of the run.

Sunday
9 miles @ LR. Actual run: 4 miles @ 9:04/mile. It was 5 degrees when I left my house for the run and it was just too darn cold. I decided some miles were better than none and set out to try for four. By the time I hit 2-3 miles, I had warmed up a bit, but I was so mentally set on doing 4 that it was hard to pivot and stretch the run out a bit. My knee and ankle were tender again, as well.

So, in terms of mental training, I am not in an awesome spot right now. The cold is sucking away my interest in running and making the times I go out to run far less enjoyable. I'm also getting increasingly concerned I'm going to be under-trained for the marathon at the end of next month. I know I have time, but the mileage is building up and I'm not where I should be in terms of physical training.

I fully expect the mental aspects to recover once spring finally arrives, but the next couple of weeks (at least) are going to continue to be tough. Sigh.

Miles This Week: 25

Year to Date: 174
 
This weather has been terrible, and I keep telling myself that it has to eventually be warm! Vent away here, and I hope for a freak warm spell or an early spring for all of us.
 
So, the first half of this week was kind of a mess. I had appointments Tuesday and Wednesday evening that cut into running time. There was no real way to stick to the plan.

Tuesday - No run.

Wednesday - 4 miles @ 9:29/mile. Nothing much to report. Average run.

Thursday - thought about picking up a few extra miles, but decided to save my legs for this weekend.

Friday
6 miles @ EA. Actual run was 6 miles @ 9:06/mile. On Friday, I was able to get back on the training plan, even for just a 6 mile run. It was a little warmer (relatively speaking) that afternoon, maybe even above freezing? I don't totally recall.

Saturday
10 miles @ EB. Actual run was 10.2 miles @ 9:18/mile. There was rain in the forecast for the entire day on Saturday, but it was also supposed to be above freezing. When I got up Saturday morning, I saw the rain wasn't supposed to start for an hour or so. I got dressed to run, threw on my raincoat instead of my running hoodie. The first three miles weren't too bad - overcast and maybe a little misty, but not bad at all. By the time I hit Mile 4, though, the rain had picked up enough that I had to take off my raincoat, put my arm band on underneath to prevent my phone from getting wet and put my coat back on. I was pretty sweaty and lost a ton of body heat in the minute or two I was re-situating everything.

The rain continued to pick up from there. It was never a downpour, but it was definitely raining steadily. Around Mile 6 I started feeling really hungry, even though I'd eaten a Clif bar before getting ready to go. I started to fade a little bit at that point, with my paces dropping from 9:17 at Mile 7 to 9:43 at Mile 10. Some of that was likely due to icy sidewalks, but some of it was definitely conditioning.

I unfortunately finished my run at solid half mile from my house and was soaked. I started walking and as I was pulling out my water bottle, I slipped on some ice and crashed down. I mostly landed on my backside, but came down a little bit on my right shoulder. My hand, which was holding the water bottle, plunged into the icy snow and got cut in 5-6 different spots. After weeks of running on the ice, this was my first fall and I was walking. I had blood running down my right hand as I continued home and the wind picked up. All in all, it was pretty miserable as I lost my body heat, was bleeding and just getting soaked. I trotted .2 miles just to get home a little bit faster, nearly slipping again in the process.

Sunday
15 miles @ LR. Actual run was 15 miles @ 9:00/mile. I knew this was going to be a bit of a test. I have missed a couple longer/strenuous runs due to weather and this was my longest run since the marathon. With only seven weeks to go until CRANDIC, I needed to know I could handle this kind of distance.

Did I mention it rained all day Saturday? Well, some of that water stuck around a froze, so this run was *real* interesting. My neighborhood was especially bad, so the first mile was spent wondering if 15 miles were going to happen and what kind of pace I could actually maintain and trying not to fall again. I told myself that as long as I didn't fall and get hurt or soaked, I would do whatever it took to get 15 miles in. Fortunately, things cleared up a bit after Mile 1, though there were definitely some real shady spots.

I had some energy chews that I started at Mile 2 and did every other mile after that through Mile 12. I also threw a mini Slim Jim in my pouch and ate that at Mile 7, since I had gotten so hungry the day before. Turns out, really cold Slim Jims aren't particularly appealing, but I ate it anyway.

Somehow, I was able to maintain a pretty decent LR pace throughout the entire run. I think it helped somewhat that, although it was only 28 degrees or so, it was really sunny. You can almost feel Spring trying to break through.

Around 12.5 miles I encountered a really steep hill and did walk that (about two blocks) to save my legs for the home stretch. That doesn't show up in my time and could have ran it if I needed to.

I even managed to finish my run .4 of a mile from my house, which was mildly miraculous given some of the guesswork that goes into routes of this distance. So that was pleasant.

All in all, this was a really good run to end the week on. My pacing and stamina were good and mentally, I felt good and determined. A lot can happen between now and April 28 and I'm a little concerned that I only have five more weeks of real training, but I think that if I stay injury free, I should have a decent enough race experience. Just no expectations of anything resembling a PR.

Miles This Week: 35.2
Year To Date: 209
 
*taps microphone*

Is this thing on?

So, it's been a few weeks since I've updated this log. I have been running during that time, but haven't been in much of a mood to ruminate on running, pace, goals, progress, etc.

I have had a few epiphanies, breakthroughs, etc. in the last few weeks, though. First and foremost, I was starting to lose my enjoyment of running. It was starting to feel much more like a chore than something I do for fun, fitness, etc. I wasn't enjoying it. So, I started thinking about what I wasn't enjoying. Certainly, the weather was an issue, but there's not much I can do about that and since I have a marathon in four weeks, I'm pretty much obligated to gutting it out.

Speaking of that upcoming marathon, I'm just not feeling it. I had so much momentum and excitement coming off Dopey that I felt like I could dive right back into marathon training. I don't know if it's been the weather, cumulative fatigue or just the fact that this was never going to be my "A" race, but I can't get excited about it. I'm signed up, I'll run it and I'll finish, but I'm not expecting big things.

So, that brings me to training. If running is feeling like a chore and I'm training for a race that I'm not mentally invested in, why was I trying so darn hard and putting so much effort - physically and mentally - into training if I wasn't enjoying it? As luck would have it, a coworker/fellow runner posted an article about the joys of being a "slow" runner (I say "slow" because it's all relative and there will be no speed shaming in this space - a marathoner is a marathoner, where you do it in a 7 minute/mile pace or 16 minute/mile pace). But the author's main point was, why get so hung up on pace? Run for fun.

So, for this race at least, I'm taking a page out of Elsa's playbook (this is the Disboards after all) and I'm just going to let it go. I've decided to largely skip the speed days in favor of just getting some miles in. I'm still sticking to prescribed distances and trying to stay in the same vicinity of my EA, EB and LR paces, but not worrying about it too much, either way. Honestly, I've been largely faster than my EA and EB paces and falling into a LR-ish pace most runs.

What's this going to mean? Probably an average at best marathon next month. I know I have done my best runs when sticking to DopeyBadger's plans, no doubt about it. But for right now, I need to take a step back, realize I'm not running this next race for time and I don't need a PoT for the foreseeable future and just run because I enjoy it. The last thing I want to do is burn myself out. I'll re-evaluate after next month's marathon, check my timing and decide what I want to do for Lakefront. Fortunately, I have six months to figure it all out.

So, here we go...

Tuesday
6 miles @ 8:47/mile. I honestly don't know what I did to maintain that pace, but I'm guessing it was warm out. We had a couple days this past week when I was able to run in either shorts or shorts and short sleeves. It was really sticking nice. I'm guessing the warm weather improved my mood and pace a bit.

Wednesday
6 miles @ 8:52/mile. Another nice day, I'm guessing.

Friday
5 miles @ 8:54/mile. I was going to do six miles, but it was raining and the rain started picking up, so I cut things a little short.

Saturday
10.01 miles @ 9:07/mile. The weather cooled off quite a bit after the rain, but this was still a pretty pleasant run. Mid-40s, maybe.

Sunday
10 miles @ 8:52/mile. This was scheduled for an LR, so I did try to push a little harder for this run and keep in in the 9-minute mile range. The tough part is turning off auto-pause on Strava so I get dinged for waiting for a walk light, etc. Hard to say what my true pace was, but this all felt good.

So, this felt like a pretty good week. Warm weather definitely helped and I'm ready for more of the same, but this is the Midwest so I know we'll get snow *at least* one more time. That said, it was nice to just relax and run. I'll continue with this approach to pacing, while sticking largely to the prescribed distances. Next week is 17 miles then we start the countdown to the marathon.

Miles This Week: 37
Year to Date: 314
 
The weather really impacts my mood about running. We have gotten into the perfect running weather season here so I have been happy to get my workouts in whenever I can because there really is no bad time to do it. So I feel you there. It really takes the joy out of it.

I like your plan. Sometimes it's just good to go to a race for the thrill of running with other people who are just as crazy as the rest of us and just run it. Because you can. I hope you get outta this funk soon! :)
 
So, for this race at least, I'm taking a page out of Elsa's playbook (this is the Disboards after all) and I'm just going to let it go. I've decided to largely skip the speed days in favor of just getting some miles in. I'm still sticking to prescribed distances and trying to stay in the same vicinity of my EA, EB and LR paces, but not worrying about it too much, either way. Honestly, I've been largely faster than my EA and EB paces and falling into a LR-ish pace most runs.

I was in a similar situation going into the WDW marathon. I really wasn't enjoying my runs at all and I only ran because I had to. So I just started doing all of my runs at easier paces and while I still wasn't loving running, it wasn't as bad. Eventually I started to really enjoy running again, and that's when I started to slowly reintroduce faster paces.
Hopefully something similar will happen for you and taking your runs at an easier pace will bring back that enjoyment of running that you're missing now. Good luck!
 
The weather really impacts my mood about running. We have gotten into the perfect running weather season here so I have been happy to get my workouts in whenever I can because there really is no bad time to do it. So I feel you there. It really takes the joy out of it.

I like your plan. Sometimes it's just good to go to a race for the thrill of running with other people who are just as crazy as the rest of us and just run it. Because you can. I hope you get outta this funk soon! :)

Thanks! The weather has truly been such a drain. Hopefully, we’ve turned the corner on that front.
 

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