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You know that marathon I was supposed to go and run a PR at?  The one that was supposed to be my goal race for the year until I decided to back out? 

Yah that one.

The PR Plan.

As I sat on the couch yesterday morning tracking my friends online, I told Chris "I am supposed to be running a marathon right now." But I wasn’t, not at all.

Today I had a friend ask me how I felt about it. If I was sad I wasn’t there or if I was jealous or felt like I missed out?  Honestly I didn’t really feel much at all towards the day.  Mostly it felt like any other Sunday, but I know I felt a few things. 

Jen and me!

I was sad I wasn’t in Portland hanging out with my friend Jen.
I wasn’t jealous at all of all the people who were out there running.
I was actually happy and relieved I wasn’t one of them running a marathon yesterday.
Most of all, I was glad the “DNS day” was behind me.

So I guess that means I made the right choice. 

I used to always be jealous on big race days that I wasn’t running too, but I wasn’t at all yesterday and that’s totally fine.  I know when I get that envious feeling back again, then it will be time to train hard for another marathon. 

With marathon training, you have to have that want and the fire to make big things happen, and this fall I didn’t have that in me.  I am so glad I recognized it sooner rather than later, because I am loving my running life right now and know that spark for something big will be found very soon.  I have found the spark for the little things lately and that’s just as important too. 

In the meantime, I am glad I don’t have think about 10/9 when I get asked if I have anything big coming up because as much as I know it was the right choice, it does still sting a little to know I didn’t follow through.  But now it’s over, passed and done and time to move on. 

But don’t worry Portland, you are still very high on my to do list and I will cross that finish line one of these years.

Congrats to all the amazing runners yesterday who completed one of the many races that took place yesterday!  There were some amazing stories that took place on the roads yesterday and I can’t wait to read about them all.  I hope you are all basking in the post race glow and drinking a lot of beer doing a lot of celebrating! 

Have you ever DNS’ed a big race?

I thought being  funemployed would help get me into a running routine or at least make me excited to run since I could go run new places and not have to be anywhere after.  Instead it has caused me to have the mentality that “I have all this free time, so I can just run later.”  Well later is hot and I hate hot so then I am cranky. 

Needless to say I am giving myself a kick in the pants to get recharged and going.  I am going through the motions pretty well but I need to get a little spark.  I have 6 weeks left.

I can do this.

As you can see this week was a lot of shifting around of workouts and just doing what I could to get in some miles.  Let’s hope next week doesn’t see so many workouts with lines through them – I hate doing that!

Monday
rest

Tuesday
8 easy 6 easy

team lemon run club night!  As always Tuesday was a hotttt one.  It seems that Tuesdays, the day I am required to run in the evening, is always the hottest day of the week.  I had planned on doing 8 miles, but got 6 done.  I ran 3 before on my own, then 3 with Kristin and Sima.  I was happy to call it a night at 6.

6.0 miles/54:36/9:06 avg pace

Wednesday
12 ML 6 easy

My last day of work!  I woke up early and met Kristin for a morning run.  I planned on doing my medium long run and was going to add on after our run, but we were both just feeling generally BLEH for lack of a better word.  We were back at the start just under 6 miles and called it a morning. 

I planned to either go home and finish my run, or do a double and run later in the day.  Well I went home and fell back asleep for an hour, and then Chris’s shift got cancelled so I we decided to celebrate my last day instead.

5.75 miles/51:32/8:58 avg pace 

Thursday
9 tempo 11 ML

My first day off!  I ended up sleeping in longer than I wanted but finally got out the door while the air was still slightly cool.  It warmed up quick, especially out of the shade, but I just tried to enjoy myself and silence the mental meanies that have been coming out lately.  I was very happy to have 11 miles done.

11.0 miles/1:38:08/8:55 avg pace

Friday
4 easy 4 hike/trail run

Chris’s work schedule changed again so we had the day to ourselves!  I had a hard time pushing myself out the door for yet another around the neighborhood run, so we decided to go out to the Oakland hills to take Kylie and Emma for a hike/trail run.

This is one of my most favorite places to be, it’s so green and lush even in the middle of summer and I just love being there.  Being out there definitely made me miss trail running too, so I see adding more of that in the near future.  It’s definitely a great way to refresh the running soul. 

Kylie and Emma had a blast and were WIPED out.  Emma is totally in her element trail running and was definitely showing off for Chris.  It was a great morning.

I am guessing we went around 4 miles.

Saturday
17 long

The Giant Race long run!  I am still so happy with this day.  I love when things work out unexpectedly and turn into such a great run.

17.05 miles/2:33:34/9:00 avg pace

Sunday
5 easy 8 easy

I struggled getting out the door after a lazy morning and set out into a very warm afternoon.  After 2+ miles I was back inside and on the treadmill.  You know if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time that I hate the treadmill, and even though I have one in my house I hardly use it.  Well today it got used because I was desperate.

The one good thing is on easy days you can make sure the pace is easy!  I just plugged along and got 6 more miles done.

8.25 miles/1:17:08/9:21 avg pace

Total for the week: 52.1 miles

6 weeks to go!

I can do this. 

Monday
rest

Tuesday
9 GA (General Aerobic)

team lemon run club night!  I ran 4.5 miles before, then met up with the group and did 5 more.  It was another warm night in the East Bay.  Although this summer has been pretty mild except for a couple heat waves, I still will never like running when it’s in the 80s.

9.5 miles/1:22:44/8:42 avg pace

I will be sick with you too.

Wednesday
6 recovery sick

Ended up at home in bed with a migraine.  I slept the entire afternoon and night, and my pups definitely kept me company.

We <3 The Walnut Festival Run!

Thursday
6 recovery GA

A prime example of me not running at recovery pace when I am supposed to!  I only had an hour after work to get my run in before heading over to the Walnut Festival Run registration party, so I think I was just in a hurry and pushed the pace.  Plus my legs felt good. 

6.0 miles/51:50/8:38 avg pace

Friday
9 6 GA

I set out after work with intentions of having a good run!  I got started and just didn’t feel good.  I tried all my mental tricks to get me into the run, then my stomach got pissy and I had to find a bathroom.  This just frustrated me more and I ended up stopping at 5 miles. 

I got in the car and drove home and felt better so I hopped out of the car and started running around the neighborhood with intentions of getting 3 more miles in.  My legs were dead right when I started but I pushed them along.  I made it 1.5 miles before they just stopped running.  Luckily I was around the corner from home and just decided to call it a day.

6.5 miles/57:11/8:47 avg pace

I was super cranky after this run, but just tried to get over it.  A beer (or two) helped.

I love everybody and everything.

Saturday
5 7 recovery 

The morning I told my legs to listen to me and slow down and they did.  Kylie and Emma also went out for their first run in a while!  I hadn’t taken them in a while since I wanted to make sure Emma was healed and because I have been running a lot after work when it’s hot, and we are very cautious about running them in the heat.

7.2 miles/1:06:43/9:16 avg pace

Being stared down while I eat my pre-run breakfast.
 

Sunday
15 long

It had been a long time since I had done a long run completely on my own and I had plans to do so for this one.  Although I LOVE running with friends,  I think it’s important to do some long runs on my own too since I will be running the marathon on my own.  Plus it’s just nice to zone out and get some alone time every once in a while.

I had a bit of a hard time figuring out where I wanted to go, but finally pushed myself out the door for a simple out and back route.  The first couple miles were meh like always, but I found my legs and my zone and ended up having a solid long run!

15.0 miles/2:11:05/8:44 avg pace

The bad part?  My feet were tore up after this run!  Between my concrete stubbed toe on Monday and the blisters I got on this run (I still randomly get blisters all the time), my right foot has seen better days.  I am babying like nuts so hopefully it will feel better ASAP!

Total for the week: 44.2 miles

This coming week the volume really picks back up!  I just need to remember to take it easy when I need to, run hard when I need to and of course have fun.  Plus after Wednesday I will be on a staycation (!!!) for a little while, which will be good for getting lots of running in!

7 weeks to go!

As I mentioned on Friday, this week I struggled with a lot of tired runs and just an overall general fatigue.  Whenever I did run my legs felt great, but the rest of me did not.  I did do most of my runs after work when it was much warmer, but still, I just generally wasn’t feeling fantastic.

Um hello Aron, you did just run a marathon, had a crazy month and just quit your job.

When I originally decided to tackle the multiple marathons, I was going to use my old favorite Pfitzinger between marathon schedules which allows for recovery and re-building after a race, but capitalizes that you have endurance and fitness from your last training cycle.  When I decided in the middle of SFM training to switch up my schedule and use the “Run Faster” training plan, this multiple marathon schedule went out the window and my plan pretty aggressive soon after SFM.

Long story short: it’s back… kind of.

Base plan
 

After last week and feeling like I did this week, I looked at what I was running and it pretty much matched perfectly to what the Pfitz plans call for.  I guess he knows what he is talking about. 

I am still going to incorporate a lot of the “Run Faster” workouts that I liked so much into my schedule, but use the Pfitz plan as a base with mileage and long runs.  Simply put, I am making my training plan work for me yet again.  I hate that I have had to switch things up so many times this year, but I guess that’s what happens when you run extra marathons!

Between my insane month of July, a tough marathon and the stress of interviewing, accepting a new job and finishing my old one, I was just been plain tired.  Instead of pushing myself into exhaustion, I recognized it, adapted and am now very happy with where I am at, rather than feeling behind.  I slept a ton this week, got in some great workouts and ended the week feeling really energized, which is a good place to be.

Monday
45 min spin

I decided to get out my spin bike for the first time in forever!  Chris set his bike up on the trainer and I hopped on my spin bike and we spun away while watching TV.  He was doing 10 min hard, 5 min easy, but I just went hard on commercials.

Tuesday
7 easy

Weekly team lemon run club!  I ran 2 miles before run club and felt great, then ran 5 with the group.  At the 2.5 turn around all my energy left and I just felt really bad.  Luckily I was with my friend so we chatted away which distracted me from my lack of energy. 

7.3 miles/1:05:48/9:00 avg pace

Wednesday
4 easy

I ran after work and I just did not want to be running.  My legs felt great but I was tired and hot, but made myself go.  When I got to 2 miles and still didn’t feel great, I turned around and called it a day.

4.0 miles/35:14/8:48 avg pace

Thursday
7 miles

I wasn’t sure if I was even going to run this day.  Based on my previous 2 days I thought maybe a rest day was the best thing, but Chris decided to go swimming that evening so I just decided to see what I could fit in run wise.  I was tired the first couple miles but around mile 4 it was like magic and I found some energy and spring in my step.  I made myself hold the pace back a little bit and was so happy after this run to just be feeling better!

7.0 miles/1:03:17/9:02 avg pace

Friday
rest

Saturday
12 long

Run in Half Moon Bay with Alyssa and Alisyn!  Great run, felt strong at the end and just happy to be out there with friends and beautiful scenery.

12.1 miles/1:48:52/9:01 avg

Sunday
29 mile bike ride
6 mile easy

I did my first bike ride in forever with Chris!

28.7 miles/1:55:04/15.0 mph

I made us breakfast after our ride, then Chris had to go to work so I eventually made it out the door for my planned run.  I figured this run would be very slow for a few reasons:

1. I had just ridden 29 miles, which was also my first ride in forever.
2. I was running at noon and it was very warm and very sunny.
3. I had eaten a big breakfast a couple hours earlier.

Sounds like a standard recipe for disaster run right?  I was ok with that, it was a recovery run and should be slow.

Well no.  I was running along the first mile, not looking at my Garmin until it beeped, and my legs felt really heavy.  I figured I must have been going 9:30+.  When I looked down and saw 8:50 I almost laughed because I seriously did not feel like I was going that speed.  I did my best to try to slow down the rest of the run, but it never happened.  I felt like I was crawling along!  It was so weird.  So even though I didn’t hit my recovery pace, I definitely felt like the effort was easy.  I was very happy to be ending the week feeling so good.

6.0 miles/52:53/8:48 avg pace

Total for the week: 36.4 miles

Next week is more of the same!  My runs will be getting a little longer, I will get to pick up the pace a little bit, and my overall miles will increase some.  I am feeling good and happy I have taken the last 2 weeks easy to let myself recover.