Yikes - how did that happen? It's been a crazy 6-7 weeks since my last check-in and I figured I'd update my Marine Corps Marathon Training and the start of incorporating Dopey Training into the mix.
When I last checked in I had just finished my 18 mile training run and had entered the serious marathon training mode. I was hitting all my training runs and slogging through the summer heat. I knew the next few weeks were going to be crazy and that proved to be true.
In early August I took the girls on a road trip from Houston to Virginia, hopped on a plane to Wisconsin for work and the back to Virginia to drive home to Houston via North Carolina and Georgia. One of the fun things about travel is getting to run in new places. In a little over one week time frame I ran in Houston, TX, Winchester, VA, Madison, WI and Fayetteville, NC. Look at some of these views.
Bonus of running in places other than Houston - lots of hills.
The downside of the trip was it was a lot of traveling and a lot of time in the car. All of that got me off schedule a little but I came home and officially kicked of my Dopey training with my first back to back weekend. I woke up early on Friday and ran 4 miles before work and then got up Saturday at 1:00 am to start my 21 miler at 2:00 am to attempt to beat the heat. 21 miles on August 22nd and I finished it feeling great. No pain, no soreness, no dizziness, no upset stomach. I was confident and feeling like I was going to rock Marine Corps.
It was hot and muggy but I pushed through
I even found time to read a little Huck Finn with Mark Twain outside the library
But it was a 2 shoe - super squishy hot - muggy day. I ended that 21 miles with a nasty blood blister on my toe and some even worse skin chafing. I'll save you those pictures.
But even with those minor complaints I felt great after the 21 miler. I was confident, I finished at a training pace in a pace that would definitely be fast enough to beat the bridge in DC. I was on top of the world.
Until I went out for a simple midweek run on Tuesday and suddenly I felt like I had dead legs. My legs were tight, my ankles were hurting and I got nervous and anxious.
That weekend I had more travel. This time I went to Tennessee for my cousin's wedding. I managed some more destination running in Tennessee before the wedding and Don Quixote met me at the finish line to let me know just how crazy I am.
I had to really slow that run down because my calf was really getting tight. I think it might have been one too many hilly runs in the month of August.
Unfortunately I woke up the next morning with a sinus headache and the resulting sinus infection had me unable to run for about a week.
As I was trying to ease myself back into a workout the next week I went to my weekly BodyJam class at the YMCA. About halfway through the class I felt something pop in my right calf. I don't normally curse, but the words that came out of my mouth would have made Coach O'Brien of the Texans proud. I was glad the music was very loud. I was not glad my calf went pop.
I immediately shut it down. I hobbled out of the class and down the hall to the exercise room where I found the trusty foam roller. I rolled out my calf and then stopped at Walgreen's and picked up an ice pack on my way to the dance studio to get Megan.
The next morning I immediately contacted my coach (Jeff Galloway) to see what he suggested. I was supposed to run 24 miles that coming weekend. He advised me to continue with the foam roller or the stick and to walk my 4 miler on Saturday and walk my 24 miler on Sunday. Yes you read that correctly I said walk the 24 miler on Sunday.
Fortunately I got a nice attitude pick me up because Jeff was actually in town that weekend to kick off the fall half marathon training season.
Spending time with Jeff is always motivational.
So the next morning I went out on my 24 mile walk. The good news was it was cooler and dryer than it had been for the previous couple of months.
My favorite running partner Shadow joined me for the first 9 miles and then again with James and the girls for the last 3 miles.
I survived 24 miles. Walking 24 miles was much harder than running 21 miles 3 weeks earlier. Not physically but mentally. It was a long long long time on my feet by myself. Fortunately I had some great podcasts to listen to. I definitely wasn't going to beat the bridge at that pace. I finished up around a 19:45 min/mile average pace. It was slow. But my calf didn't hurt and I was able to stay on schedule and on track.
Later that week I started easing back into running with some short run intervals. It was slow but at least it was running.
Sunday September 27th I officially kicked off the fall racing season with the Houston Texans Running of the Bulls 5k. I'm going to attempt a full race review later in a separate post but from a marathon training perspective I learned a few things.
1) do not attempt to run a 5k at 5k race pace when you have done all your speed work and training sessions for the past 6 months at marathon race pace
2) do not attempt to run a 5k at 5k race pace when the temperature is in the upper 70's/low 80's and the humidity is high
3) do not attempt to run a 5k at 5k race pace when you are 11 days out from an injury and not fully recovered.
In case you couldn't tell I did not finish the race at a 5k race pace. I started it that way for about the first 1.25 miles. My ankle was tight, my legs were like lead and it was hot and humid. I slowed down for the last part of the race and finished up with a 11:59 min/mile pace which is slower than my 10 mile race pace or 1/2 marathon race pace which leads me to my next decision.
The Huntsville 10 miler on 9/27. I was thinking about running this to try to improve my corral placement for Dopey. The deadline to submit an updated time is 10/6. The time I have submitted predicts my marathon time at 5:32. I figure if I want to move up a corral I would have to get that predicted time under 5:30 and to do that it would require a 10 miler in 1:55. That would be a PR for me and 11:30 min/mile pace for 10 miles. Theoretically it should be doable based for me to run 11:30 pace for 10 miles, but at this stage I know I would need things to align perfectly for that to happen. Perfectly would mean a 60°F or cooler race day, no injury and probably a true taper for that race (which I can't afford to do right now with the marathon in 30 days). Well the 60°F isn't going to happen in Huntsville in September. The current forecast is a low of 68° and a high of 90°. The calf tightness is still lingering and I have a flight later Sunday afternoon for work. So for all of these reasons I am glad I held off on registering and I feel no obligation to race this weekend.
So where am I with MCM in T-minus 30 days. I'm not sure. Mentally I'm struggling. The last month has taken me out of my game some. I'm working on the mental training and mantras I need to get through the last push to the marathon and to get through the race.
Next week I'll be in Branson so I'll have one more opportunity for some real hill training during the week. Then I have my last long run scheduled on 10/3. The training schedule calls for 6 miles on 10/2 and 27 miles on 10/3. No that was not a typo I will be running 27 miles in just over a week.
After that we will see how I finished, how I feel and where I'm at and at that point I will set a few goals for Marine Corps. The ultimate goal is to beat the bridge and finish the race.
And when my last long run is finished it will be taper time - the time where I try not to go completely crazy and get healthy in preparation for the race.
