So…there’s been no posts here since my “I’ve Overtrained..” one. Yup. It’s been an emotional battle since then. For several months I’ve been up at the crack of dawn, daily, running or boxing. With an apparent Achilles Tendonitis creeping up on my left leg I took to rest, that was three weeks ago. Since then I’ve tried to run twice and failed by mile 3. I’ve continued to box, although not as often as I was. I attempted swimming and was bored to death. I’ve done the icing, the roller stick, bought the pacer and HRM. And I’m scheduled to see an Orthopedic Specialist this coming Thursday. So not excited to hear what he has to say as I’m pretty sure it lies somewhere in between “rest for 6 weeks” and “rest for 8 weeks”. Womp womp.
Here’s the thing…I can’t rest. Not in that way. Assuming I’m right I foresee a return to spinning classes, I need something ass kicking and swimming doesn’t do it. I’ll stick with boxing, maybe reduce it to 2-3 times a week and avoid the movements that impact my achilles.
Regardless, I’m running that damn marathon November 18th — even if it’s the first mile I run from now till then.
I stopped by Pacers to pick up Body Glide yesterday, a new necessary addition to my beauty regime, and grabbed a few of these Accel Gel packets without much thought. At home I took a moment to read the ingredients: Water, Fructose, Sucrose….ugh. Are they all like this? For longer runs I’m going to need something along the way and everyone says get gel packets but this sounds gross. Question: are these the typical ingredients to expect from them all or are there better brands?
Knocked out 8 miles on the treadmill today. After serious dehydration last weekend I thought it best not to test myself in a heat wave. That’s the longest run on the marathon training schedule to date and thankfully it was pretty painless. Also impressive pace keeping the average under 8 minutes per mile, love it!
I’m still boxing three times a week and it’s still kicking my ass. This week I also had a personal training session with Nathan Carter, a new trainer with MyBootcamp. That was Thursday and I’m still feeling the burn, love a good workout that keeps on giving!
Coming up: It’s an 18 mile week spread over 4 runs, 3 boxing classes, and another session with Nathan where he plans to surprise me with something new. Always a fan of mixing it up — bring it!
When the new Nike Running site launched earlier this month I was excited to see the new analytics and graphs comparing your activity to your own demographic and the whole Nike Plus community. Just a few weeks ago I was only leading in pace but a recent analysis shows I am above average for my demographic and the community on all four!
In the last 30 days I’m leading on average pace, average distance per run, total miles, and Nike Fuel points earned. Killer! I do know that my biggest competition lies in my own mind, but it’s fun to see that I’ve made great strides — pun intended — over the last few weeks.
This quote rings true to me. I didn’t run track in High School, only the odd relay race on Field Day. I think having spent more time running by myself on a treadmill, track, or trails — as opposed to competitive running — I came to this realization sooner rather than later.
On November 18th, 2012, I know as I enter the double digits of that marathon it’ll be a inner battle, but one I intend to win.
Yesterday was the first “longer” run on my marathon training schedule, 7 miles. So 7 miles is nothing close to where I’m headed but it’s more than the 4 miles I’ve been averaging. My friend Lior is visiting from Denver (or Menver as he calls it — apparently I need to visit) and joined myself and Cheryl for the run. Being a tourist Lior asked to run around the Washington monuments and we happily obliged.
Now, big lesson learned here folks — Do Not Run in 90 degrees at 9:00 AM. Just don’t. Luckily I had running partners to push me through because I don’t think I could have braced it alone.
We ran from Smithsonian up behind the Capitol and back down the Mall over the bridge to Arlington and up towards the Cemetery…and back around till we clocked up 7 miles and not a step more. I was truly and utterly knackered. I didn’t know how bad until I got home and my body threw up the 2 pints of water I’d just consumed. Horrific! Clearly I was dehydrated, not smart. Lesson learned.
Now I need to suck it up and start wearing one of those highly attractive “water fanny packs” or something. Good stuff.
Been there, done that. Quite regularly actually. It’s mind over matter, time after time. Obviously as you train more and train harder you can go further before your mind starts to argue with matter, but it always comes down to you — what’s in your head, and whether you have the WILL to push through. Do you?
So there it is folks — the next 25 weeks of my life. On November 18, 2012 I’m going to run 26.2 miles through the city of Philadelphia, even if it kills me.
One week in and I will admit it was actually a little difficult to stick to the schedule, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. Last week I ran 27 miles following 26 the week before that, then this week I was limited to just 15. I’m left feeling a little short, or something. It will be another two months before I am back at the same distance per week but I understand (and have been lectured by a half dozen friends) that I must NOT go over the schedule.
So I’m joining LA Boxing in Clarendon on Monday. If I can only run 4 days a week then I need something that kicks my ass the other 3 without putting stress on my legs. What better sport?! That and it’s always good to keep mixing up your routine, shocking your system.
Alongside the scheduled training my sister advised I sign up for other shorter races over the next few months so I’ve done just that. Here’s the line up:
