Training Log Archive: abiperk

More trail mapping, this time on foot with a friend. Wet and rainy.

First ride since Nationals - mapping trails. A mix of riding and hike-a-bike, limited on time. Definitely felt out of bike shape, but none of the acute soreness I was experiencing earlier in the fall. Maybe a month of Vitamin D supplements and a few weeks of Vitamin B (also found to be deficient in a follow-up test) are working!

Walk to Thanksgiving dinner with my dad, Z in the stroller. Pit stop to retrieve a renegade stuffed monkey.

Event: Philadelphia Marathon
 

Still not entirely sure what to make of this morning...

The backstory: I ran my first marathon in 2006 with a couple friends, having never run more than a couple miles at a time before I started training (swimmers are notoriously crappy runners -- or at least notoriously running-averse). Then I figured out a natural pace for myself and dropped over an hour in my second marathon in 2007, and decided at that point that I wanted to chase a BQ. In 2009, I trained hard with the sole goal of qualifying, and was on pace until I slowed to help a friend who was struggling (Brent still yells at me for that decision). I got into AR more seriously right around then and haven't trained for another BQ since, though I had a great race at Philly in 2011, when I ran the first 22 miles with a friend, and ended up with a ten-minute PR.

This year, I decided to return to the BQ quest, but with NAARS and USARA right in the middle of the peak training period, and not wanting to train for a marathon at the expense of those races, I didn't train as well as I would have liked, and also went back-and-forth a whole lot about whether even to line up at the start.

Ultimately, I committed to it, and tried not to put pressure on myself to get a specific time. Then the race started this morning, and I couldn't stop looking at my watch. I fell into a comfortable pace right between 8:05 and 8:10 per mile, and felt fine physically, but by the time I got to the halfway point, I realized that I was totally hating the experience. Hating the claustrophobia of sharing the streets with 30,000 other runners, hating bobbing and weaving and tripping over people, hating chasing a time, and hating hating hating my damn garmin. It wasn't that I was altering my pace based on what it said - just that I was checking it every five minutes to see where I was.

I kept going for a little while longer, and then just before mile 15, about two hours after I'd started, I just stopped running, turned around, and walked back to the finish.

It was a rough week here - we had a threat of mass violence against all black students on campus following a protest on Tuesday night, which left everyone reeling for so many reasons. So, lots of stress and anger and anxiety, very little sleep, etc... Then, I woke up sick on Friday morning.

So maybe it was that. Or maybe it was something else. Not really looking for excuses. Just trying to wrap my head around the day.

C • Good call 3

Foam rolling. My calves don't seem all that enthusiastic about running a marathon tomorrow morning.

"Off-season" begins mid-day Sunday, and I'm looking for some good strength training routines for the winter. No access to gym equipment, but I do have a TRX and some free weights. Suggestions?

Foam roller until Z woke up.

Registration complete - Rootstock Racing will be represented at the 2016 Itera race in Ireland!

C • Yea!! 5

Quick pre-marathon tuneup - mostly lower back and calves, which have been pretty tight recently.

Also super excited to confirm during the appointment that Jenkintown Chiropractic, specializing in sports medicine, has signed on as a sponsor for the Schuylkill Valley Family Adventure Race next April.

Last xc meet of the season, a combo of course jog with the girls and running around during the race. Z was with me in the jog stroller for about half of it.

1 mile @ 9:07

4 miles @ 8:00

1 mile @ 8:53

Interrupted briefly by guys coming to look at our furnace.

6 easy miles. Calves were sore from wearing heels all day yesterday, and i was generally fatigued from three long work days last weekend/yesterday.

1 mile w/u

2x800 @ 3:34 w/ 1:00 recovery in between

90-second recovery

3x400 @ 1:45 w/ 1:00 recovery in between

90-second recovery

4x200 @ 0:47 w/ 1:00 recovery in between

c/d to 5 miles

Back to the family race with B&Z.

To Chestnut Hill and back with a friend, Z in the stroller.