Training to Taste: A Wine & Dine 2016 Training Report

[Ariel484]

Awesome job!! Congrats on your new PR!

I hope that the tailbone is feeling better...I've had pain there before (in college when I fell right on my *** playing intramural broomball...) and it sucks!!

 

[cavepig]

Thought I'd come out of lurking & say Great race! Smart idea on the pace card, I've grabbed bands at races but never used one, a specific one to me might be wise as calculating in my head I usually get off.

 

[ZellyB]

Woohoo!!! Congrats on your new shiny PR!! What a great race and sounds like you did a fantastic job in some tough weather. Way to go!!!

 

[CherieFran]

Great job, especially in that heat! What is it about miles 9-12. They get me every time.

Thank you!! Congrats on your PR as well! I think 9-12 is the zone where you've been running for a very long time but it's still too soon to start looking forward to the finish.

Congrats on the race! Given the conditions, you performed very well! Way to go!

Thank you!!

Awesome job!! Congrats on your new PR!

Thank you!!

I hope that the tailbone is feeling better...I've had pain there before (in college when I fell right on my *** playing intramural broomball...) and it sucks!!

It's feeling about 90% better. At least you had a legit excuse. Mine's like the lamest overuse injury of all time!

Thought I'd come out of lurking & say Great race! Smart idea on the pace card, I've grabbed bands at races but never used one, a specific one to me might be wise as calculating in my head I usually get off.

Thank you!! This race didn't have pace bands or pace groups so I had to improvise. It turns out that I made a math error anyway! Luckily it was early enough in the race that I could figure out something wasn't right and it was only wrong for one split. Oops!

Woohoo!!! Congrats on your new shiny PR!! What a great race and sounds like you did a fantastic job in some tough weather. Way to go!!!

Thank you!!

 

[CherieFran]

Week of 9/19 - 9/25​

A designated "recovery" week for my half marathon, so an extra boring update!

Monday: Rest

Feeling a little sore but not too bad. My right knee is probably the most unhappy part of my body but I don't think any serious damage there. I actually think I was more sore after my ten-miler a few weeks ago with all those hills!

Tuesday: Rest

Soreness is improving. Got a little bonus sleep time with not having to fit in a workout. Highlight of the day was the doggie pool party in my building to celebrate the end of the pool season. Mushu wasn't into the water but had fun running in circles chasing tennis balls around the edge of the pool:



Wednesday: 2 miles/18:33

Kept the pace easy for a short treadmill run. Was hurting a bit for the first few minutes but all seemed okay once I warmed up.

Thursday: Rest

Traveling to visit my family in Texas for the first time in almost three years!

Friday: 3 miles/25:55

Hit up the trail where I did most of my training for my first (through fifth) half marathon and my first marathon. Still nice and toasty and humid in Texas. No sign of fall yet!

Saturday: 3 miles/26:34

Another day on the trusty trail. Ran south instead of north to mix it up a bit. Still hot and humid. Looking forward to some cooler runs on the east coast next week! ::Fingers crossed::

Sunday: Rest

No long run for me this week! Next week I'll start on the 7-week plan I cobbled together for Wine & Dine. Major focus on the back-to-back weekend runs. Not planning on speed intervals but I think I'll stick with a weekly tempo run to mix it up some.

 

[roxymama]

Caught up on your journal finally! Hoping you get some cooler weather and your soreness eases up. I can't believe how close it is to wine n dine already...I am excited for you !
What part of Texas are you headed to? I have some family in Austin and I wish I got down there more because it's always a fun time.

Ps. Hi Mushu!!!

 

[roxymama]

I forgot I wanted to say how awesome it was you did that whole race with no garmin and PRd!!! I'm not sure if I have that mental strength but super impressed by that! Congrats on all your races and great recaps also your so speedy!

 

[Ariel484]

Sounds like a good week - you deserve it!

Not sure my dog would go in the pool either...totally meant to take him to the end of season pool party here and forgot!

 

[ZellyB]

Great recovery week. A doggie pool party is an excellent idea for the end of the season. My dogs are not fans of the pool either, but glad Mushu had fun anyway!

 

[CherieFran]

Caught up on your journal finally! Hoping you get some cooler weather and your soreness eases up. I can't believe how close it is to wine n dine already...I am excited for you !
What part of Texas are you headed to? I have some family in Austin and I wish I got down there more because it's always a fun time.

Ps. Hi Mushu!!!

Mushu says hi back! I was in Dallas. It was a fun trip but still so summer-y there. Bleh! I actually grew up in Austin. I appreciate its "cool-ness" a lot more now than when I was growing up!

I forgot I wanted to say how awesome it was you did that whole race with no garmin and PRd!!! I'm not sure if I have that mental strength but super impressed by that! Congrats on all your races and great recaps also your so speedy!

Thank you!! I love your garmin sticker! I might steal that idea if I ever decide to do a blind run while wearing the garmin. No way I could avoid peeking otherwise.

I worked really hard on the speed this cycle, and it paid off. But I've been trying to slowly chip away at it for the last 6 years. It amazing how paces that once seemed totally unfathomable gradually get potentially within reach. Makes running fun, right? As soon as you conquer one goal, you automatically have a new one!

Sounds like a good week - you deserve it!

Not sure my dog would go in the pool either...totally meant to take him to the end of season pool party here and forgot!

I tried to put him in the water on the top step and he spread his legs and each of his toes like he was a cartoon cat! A water dog, he is not!

Great recovery week. A doggie pool party is an excellent idea for the end of the season. My dogs are not fans of the pool either, but glad Mushu had fun anyway!

Only a few of the dogs actually went into the water (the labs, mostly) but they all had fun running around with their friends. I love that my building does it every year before they drain the pool.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Only a few of the dogs actually went into the water (the labs, mostly) but they all had fun running around with their friends. I love that my building does it every year before they drain the pool.

What a great idea!

Good luck with the W&D plan - how exciting!

 

[CherieFran]

What a great idea!

Good luck with the W&D plan - how exciting!

Thanks! I can't believe W&D is just over a month away! So excited!! Can't wait to start stalking the weather!

 

[CherieFran]

Week of 9/26 - 10/2​

Before I launch into the week's training, the running-related excitement of the week was that I signed up for a marathon! Ack! I had been contemplating it for a while and got a discount code last week, so I pulled the trigger. It's the DC Rock-n-Roll marathon in mid-March. I ran the half marathon at this event in 2015 (and it was a gross, rainy day where I was very grateful I wasn't running the full). The last (and second after WDW in 2013) marathon I ran was Marine Corps Marathon in 2014. It was a disappointing race. I had hoped to finish sub-4:30 (I actually wanted to "Beat Oprah" - who ran the race a number of years ago in 4:29:15) but ended up just under 4:50 and was miserable and in pain for the whole second half of the race. With my 1:50 half marathon time now, I am have my eye on a 4:00 marathon, which is one of those "bucket list"-type goals. I'm hoping after this last round of training that I've established enough discipline to be able to get the training in that is needed (which I definitely didn't do for MCM). I'm planning on using Hidgon's Novice 2 marathon plan - 18 weeks will kick-off immediately after Wine & Dine. Eek!

Monday: Rest/Cross-training

Took a nice long, slow walk with Mom before flying back to the East coast.

Tuesday: 3 miles/26:29

Back to business as usual on the work treadmill. Nothing too exciting here.

Wednesday: 3.4 miles/30:00

Tempo run on the treadmill at work.

Thursday: 3 miles/26:28

Another easy run on the treadmill.

Friday: Rest

Used my lunchtime to take a field trip to my favorite bagel store to stock up my freezer!

Saturday: 3 miles/26:37

First outdoor run this week, and it was raining. I can't even remember the last time I ran in the rain. The miles felt decent although stepping in puddles will never be my favorite thing.

Sunday: 6 miles/54:26

Starting the long run build up all over again. I took a slightly different route than usual as there was a half marathon going on between my apartment and my usual trail (I thought briefly about doing a last minute sign-up and thought better of it. If the weather had been forecast to be about 10 or 15 degrees cooler, I might have done it). So I headed north instead of south. It was still cloudy and damp but not raining. I had a few spots where I had to watch my footing on wooden bridges covered with wet leaves but it was pretty uneventful otherwise.

Unbelievably enough, I took zero pictures of Mushu this week! So here's a throwback to puppy Mushu perfecting his guilty face:

 

[ZellyB]

Yay for signing up for a marathon. You'll do great.

 

[CherieFran]

Yay for signing up for a marathon. You'll do great.

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm hoping for minimal winter precipitation so I don't have to do any long runs on the treadmill!

 

[CherieFran]

Week of 10/3 - 10/9​

So...apparently I can't count! It suddenly occurred to me on Saturday that it was four weeks until W&D weekend but it seemed like I had a lot more long runs on my training plan. Sure enough, when I typed up this training schedule in, like, April, I included an extra week between my September half and W&D weekend! I have no idea how I managed that and can't believe it took me this long to notice that something was wrong! Thankfully, my training plan for the half last month already had me doing weekend back-to-backs so I'm in pretty good shape both for the half distance and the challenge aspect. My schedule called for 7 (this week), 9, 10, 11, 12 so I've changed it to 7.5 (this week), 9, 10.5, 12. It doesn't throw things off too much, but seriously, how did I mess that up?

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 3.4 miles/30:00

Treadmill tempo run.

Wednesday: 4 miles/35:00

A pretty nice fall morning for an outdoor run.

Thursday: 3 miles/ 26:29

Treadmill treadmill treadmill

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 3 miles/26:09

Threatened to be a rainy morning run but it held out until the halfway point and then only lightly sprinkled. It rained more steadily for the rest of the day, and Mushu was not thrilled:



Sunday: 7.5 miles/1:08:32

First run of the season in my favorite temperature zone (mid-50's)! It was a bit too windy to be 100% enjoyable but happy that it is finally feeling like fall. I always struggle a bit to re-calibrate my clothing when the weather starts to change. Normally, I think I'd still stick with shorts and a t-shirt in the mid/upper 50s (I tend to be hot when I run) but the wind made me nervous so I wore long-sleeves instead (and still wore shorts). Ended up being the ideal outfit as I pushed the sleeves up and pulled them down a number of times as the wind varied. The most exciting part of this run was that I decided to break out the Disney tunes. I listed to the 4 parks - 1 world soundtrack and made it through all of Magic Kingdom and most of Future World.

 

[ZellyB]

4 weeks until W&D!! Woohoo!!!! I'm loving these new cooler temps. Heavenly. Mushu is so cute in his raincoat.

 

[Ariel484]

I totally know what you mean about forgetting how to dress when the temperatures change. Happens to me every year! And I too have miscounted the weeks left in a training plan. Such a panicky feeling but glad it doesn't mess up your schedule too much!

Mushu is looking quite stylish in his rain coat. I think yellow is his color!

 

[roxymama]

I'd type more but I died at my desk when I saw Mushu in his raincoat. GAH!

This time of year is so tough with clothes. I had shorts and a long sleeve pullover for my long run and could not decide the whole time if short sleeves or capris would have been better??

 

[CherieFran]

4 weeks until W&D!! Woohoo!!!! I'm loving these new cooler temps. Heavenly. Mushu is so cute in his raincoat.

Flying down three weeks from today. Hooray! The weather has been perfect here all week! I love Fall sooo much!!!

I totally know what you mean about forgetting how to dress when the temperatures change. Happens to me every year! And I too have miscounted the weeks left in a training plan. Such a panicky feeling but glad it doesn't mess up your schedule too much!

Mushu is looking quite stylish in his rain coat. I think yellow is his color!

I'm struggling with real clothes and running clothes this week! I'm always afraid to pull out a coat/jacket that's too heavy too early because what happens when it gets even colder? So I spend a lot of Fall being cold.

I'd type more but I died at my desk when I saw Mushu in his raincoat. GAH!

This time of year is so tough with clothes. I had shorts and a long sleeve pullover for my long run and could not decide the whole time if short sleeves or capris would have been better??

Mushu hates his raincoat but he hates getting wet even more. He tends to hid under furniture when I bring it out.

I wore capris on the Wednesday run when it was about 60 out and that was a big mistake. After about 2 minutes I was way too hot. My big problem is that I fear being cold while waiting for my Garmin to find the satellite (it always seems to take forever when it's cold out) so sometimes I'm tempted to dress warmer than I really need once I start running.