Week 17 of Marathon Training/Week 22 of 2015

Usually my long run is on Saturday, but last Saturday, May 23rd I couldn't fit it in because I had relatives in town, I accidentally slept in for the first time in 17 weeks, and my son's graduation party and graduation was  that day so I only had time to run 7 because I run slow.

I decided that since Monday was a holiday and I'd have lots of time that I would get up early to run my final LONG run.  So the week will have an extra amount of miles and that is totally okay.  I feel that because I took the time to do this long run that I am more confident and ready for my big race on June 6th.  Let's just hope the weather cooperates.


Monday:  Ran 23.03 miles, plus did a lot of walking later in the day shopping.

My Garmin watch showing my awesome training run.

The massive frog I saw during my run in the first 2 miles.  This frog was bigger than both my feet combined.  Too cool.  This picture seriously doesn't even begin to show how big he was. 

Tuesday: Body Sculpt twice, Bike ride with Alyssa 2 miles, walked 1/2 mile

Wednesday:Swam 2200 yards, Sculpt class, Ran 3.04 miles, walked 1/2 mile

Thursday:Ran 6.02 miles, walked 1/2 mile

Friday:Sculpt, Biked 8.19 miles.  It would have been longer, but Jason's bike got a flat so I had to ride home then come back and get him.  Walked 1/2 mile

Saturday:Ran10.04 miles, Swam 2400 Yards, Biked 

Sunday:7 mile bike ride with Scott, 5.06 miles by myself

Totals for week 17
Ran 42.13 miles
Biked 22.25 miles
Swam 4600 yards = 2 miles 1080 yards
4 Sculpt classes
Walked at least 2 miles

Totals for Year 2015
Swimming:  67,528 Yards=   38 miles 648 yards
Elliptical :    14.45 miles
Biking inside: 274 minutes 
Biking Outside:  100.39 miles
Zumba class:        5.5 classes
Sculpt classes:        105 classes
Les Mills Body Pump:  1 class
Les Mills Body Flow class:    14 classes
Walking:   48.05 miles

Running:      588.07 miles

I am ready for the marathon this next Saturday, June 6th!  I feel more ready than ever before.  Hoping I feel good during it and that I run strong.  Plus I'm hoping for excellent cool weather.   The things I've changed this year in training is I have swam more, much more.  I have done a ton of hip exercises to strengthen my IT band, I have done a massive amount of core exercises in my Sculpt classes and I have taken Yoga once a week almost every week.    Bring on the Marathon!

Marion Arts Festival Half Marathon - Saturday, May 16, 2015 - Marion, Iowa

The morning was warm. Not too bad, but not too great. I picked up Susan at 5a.m. to travel to Marion to get my favorite parking spot for this race 2 hours early. I went super early because I had 7 miles to run before the race to be able to get my 20 miles in for my marathon training.  I only was able to do 5 before the race since packet picket up took a little longer than I expected and I wasn't paying attention to the time.

The race was going well until mile 11.5 in the race.  Susan's foot caught a raised edge of the pavement and she went down super hard.  Her head hit and her arm hit bad.  I couldn't believe she was on the ground.  She looked in so much pain and her disappointment was super great.  I'm glad we stayed together so I could help her up.  After some medical attention (people on bikes getting her ice), she wanted to walk to finish.  I walked with her.  She told me to run ahead and finish and I wouldn't leave her.

The huge bummer about this is she wanted me to run with her to pace her to have a faster half marathon.   I didn't mind running with her because today I was just going for 20 miles running, not any personal records, plus I wouldn't want to try for a personal record time in this heat.
Her previous record was 2:39 and we were on track for a 2:25, which would have been a major PR for her.  Next time.

It ended up that she broke her Humerus bone.  Not so funny.  She won't be able to swim for a while and she's an extremely competitive swimmer.

After the race I ran a couple more miles while she was in the medical tent.  I did complete 20 that day, but the day just didn't seem fun anymore.  I just feel so bad for her.

Susan and I just before the race started.  She wanted me to tape up her knees like I do mine.  The tape is knee saver.   I personally believe that anyone with sore knees or knee tracking problems should use this stuff, it saves you hours of pain and you can do more physical things you want to do.

I saw this street sign in our first 2 miles of the race.  Too cool.  It reminded me of my marathon coming up called Sunburst Marathon.

front of shirt

Bib with medal

back of shirt

A picture of some of the stuff in your packet.  I do like getting biofreeze
samples and other fun stuff.

This is us after the race.  She may have a smile, but she was in massive pain.

Week 16 of Marathon Training

Monday:  Ran 3.03, Sculpt, walked half mile
Tuesday:  Swam 1000 yards, Sculpt X's 2, Ran 4 miles, walked half mile
Wednesday:Ran 8 miles, walked half mile
Thursday:  Ran 1.03 miles, Swam 1000 yards, walked half mile
Friday: Sculpt class, walked half mile.
Saturday: Ran 7.30 miles    (no long run due to an accidental over sleeping for the first time in 16 weeks).  I couldn't do it later because I had relatives in my home from Ohio, my son's graduation party was that day and his graduation was that night.  I decided to rest on Sunday and run long on Monday morning due to it being a holiday and I'd have lots of time to do it.
Sunday:  Rested and lots of housework.


Totals for week 16 of Marathon Training:
Ran 23.36
Swam 2000 yards
Sculpt classes:  4
Walked 2.5 miles
Biked:  unfortunately none

On May 21st I posted this on the 50 States Marathon Club Facebook page:

Need advice. My marathon is on June 6th and it's been a year since I did one last. I've been following a combination between a beginner and intermediate marathon training schedule. Both had me run a 20 last week which I did. And 18 two weeks before.

On the actual marathon site there was a beginning training plan listed which I looked up yesterday. It said I should have ran 23 last weekend and 20 this week then taper. Now I'm wondering if I should do 20 this weekend like their schedule says , or squeeze in 3 more for 23, or stick with the plan I've been using and do 12 this Saturday?

I received many different answers, but this particular answer I felt helped me make my decision the most:

Well, it wouldn't be a marathon discussion without a difference of opinion so here goes. 

What virtually everyone else has said about 20 being plenty and the value of a 3 week taper *is* conventional wisdom but it's not gospel or an immutable law of physics. A lot of conventional wisdom is just plain wrong. 25 years ago, the medical community was CERTAIN it was life-threatening to allow babies to sleep face up because, empirically, it seemed obvious they could choke if they regurgitated. When actual studies were done, though, it turned out sudden infant death was associated with sleeping face down. Oopsie!!

Thousands of 50 Staters and Marathon Maniacs have made it abundantly clear our bodies aren't nearly as fragile as we once thought. I've paced 46 marathons, mostly in the 4:45-5:15 range which means more first-timers than BQ hopefuls. Chatting with my group members before the start about their training, I get worried if their longest training run was 18 or 20 miles because they tend to drop out at 20-22 miles. 

There's a reason for that. Most training schedules add a mile or 2 to the long run week by week precisely because the body can push itself 10% farther than its previous max before feeling like it's in unchartered territory. If your longest training run never jumped by 6-8 miles, why attempt such a Herculean leap on race day? 

The injuries that interfered with running your other marathons sound like unfortunate coincidences, not due to under or over training. Plain old bonking is far more common. 

I would recommend a 22 mile long run this weekend then start a 2 week taper. 22 would be that magic 10% increase, plus it resets your max so that on race day you won't be in unchartered territory until mile 24.2 (10% beyond your longest training run). If you can make yourself run it 30 seconds per mile slower than race pace, that's even better because you'll have put in close to as many minutes on your feet as you will on race day. 

Just one marathoner's opinion. The MOST important thing is to trust your gut and your training. You've done the hard part. Whatever you decide to do the next 2 weeks, you've done everything within your power to have a good outcome. Believe that and have a good time (the kind that ISN'T measured by a clock).


________________________________________________
Well I took his advice to heart and decided to do another long run of 22 - 23 miles.  I didn't have time for it on Saturday, as I accidentally slept in for the first time in 16 weeks on a Saturday, but I did do 23.03 miles on Monday in Week 17 which you will read about next week.


Totals for Year 2015
Swimming:  62,928 Yards=   35 miles 1328 yards
Elliptical :    14.45 miles
Biking inside: 274 minutes 
Biking Outside:  78.14miles
Zumba class:        5.5 classes
Sculpt classes:        101 classes
Les Mills Body Pump:  1 class
Les Mills Body Flow class:    14 classes
Walking:   46.05 miles

Running:      535.94 miles

Columbus Distance Classic half marathon-Saturday, May 2, 2015-Columbus, Ohio

I started the long drive from Iowa to Ohio on Thursday, April 30th at around 3:30 a.m.  I wanted to be in Ohio by between 12-1p.m. to get to the running expo.   Everything went as planned and the drive went really nicely.  Only thing is I was really tired and it didn't help that Scott, my youngest child that was with me slept almost half the time.

First was the running expo and while we were there I heard they had a Plank competition.  If you are really unsure of what a plank is, please go to this link and watch this short video: Plank video
I knew I could do a 4 minute plank and hoped that would win the 60 minute massage.  So I entered only with 6 other people.  I was talking, laughing, goofing off until around 4 1/2 minutes, then things got serious.  I needed to concentrate on breathing and just holding my body up.  At 5 minutes in everyone dropped except me and a fit skinny guy.   At 6 minutes in I really started to hurt, everything in my body hurt, my abs especially and my low back.  At 6:30 I was shaking uncontrollably.  I wanted to win so I held on.  At 6 minutes 50 seconds my body fell forward, I let out some kind of groan and I dropped.  I was hurting.  So the guy next to me won.  Bummer.

Here's the most awesome thing.  The Columbus Dispatch paper was there and she interviewed me afterwards.  She put me in the paper on page 2, a huge picture of me and said that I was outlasted by a male competitor, however she never even mentions his name or has his picture.  Too funny.

Scott on the way to Ohio.  He slept half of the time.  Seriously, it was hard to stay awake and drive.

This is that picture of me in the Columbus Dispatch paper.  If you double click on it, you will see the article written about the plank competition.

Personally I feel the competition should have been best male and female and not compared guys against girls.  Oh well, hope he was hurting when I made him plank almost 7 minutes to beat me.  I need to plank more to win next year.  The race went well.  I beat last year's course time by 7 minutes.  It wasn't a PR, but it was close.  Seems like all my half marathons are shorter than 2 hours 10 minutes now and that's such an improvement over past years.  Next race is a half marathon in Iowa in two weeks.

This is actually a 13.1 sign.  But it's hard to tell that.  Either way, this picture was taken at the Expo two days before the race.

Yummy birthday cake.

We threw a surprise party for my Dad.

Amazing sunrise the morning of the race.

Racing Bib and medal.

A super soft, dri fit, Brooks shirt.  I think it's the best shirt to date that I've ever received from a race.  Love it and have worn it several times post race.

Me and my Mom!

After the race with the finishing medal.

Cool license plate.  It says 5K RNR

On the way home, the exit sign I saw off I-80.  Too cool since I'll be there in a month doing my marathon.

Week 15 of Marathon training

Monday:  Body Flow, Ran 5.06 miles, Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Tuesday: Sculpt, ran 10.04 miles, Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Wednesday:  Swam 3200 yards (64 laps, 128 lengths in 25 yard pool), Sculpt, biked 20.55 miles, walked 1/2 mile
Thursday:  Rest, walked 1/2 mile
Friday:Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Saturday:  Ran 20.06 miles, walked 1/2 mile
Sunday: Rest, stretching

Saturday's long run. 

Swam:3200 yards
Biked: 20.55 miles
Ran:  35:16 miles
Body Sculpt:  5 classes
Body Flow class: 1 class
Walked 3 miles

A good week except I skipped my 5 mile scheduled run on Wednesday to swim long and bike 20 miles.  Feeling ready to run a full marathon in just 3 weeks!!

Totals for Year 2015
Swimming:  60,928 Yards=   34 miles 618 yards
Elliptical :    14.45 miles
Biking inside: 274 minutes 
Biking Outside:  78.14miles
Zumba class:        5.5 classes
Sculpt class:        97 classes
Les Mills Body Pump:  1 class
Les Mills Body Flow class:    14 classes
Walking:   43.55 miles

Running:      512.58 miles

Week 14 of Marathon training

Monday: Les Mills Body Flow class, Body Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Tuesday:Body Sculpt, Swam 1200 yards, Ran 5.03 miles, Body Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Wednesday:Ran 6.08 miles, Body Sculpt, walked half mile
Thursday:  Ran 9.28 miles, walked 1/2 mile
Friday:Swam 1500 yards, Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Saturday:Swam 3000 yards, Ran 13.13 miles
Sunday: Biked 4.11 miles


Totals for Week 14 of Marathon Training and week 19 of 2015
Sculpt classes: 5
Body Flow class:  1
Swam: 5700 yards = 3 miles 420 yards
Ran:33.52 miles
Biked:4.11 miles
walked:2.5 miles


Totals for Year 2015
Swimming:  57,728 Yards=   32 miles 1408 yards
Elliptical :    14.45 miles
Biking inside: 274 minutes 
Biking Outside: 57.59 miles
Zumba class:        5.5 classes
Sculpt class:        92 classes
Les Mills Body Pump:  1 class
Les Mills Body Flow class:    13 classes
Walking:   40.55 miles

Running:      477.42 miles

Dam to Downtown 10K,April 18, 2015-- Iowa City, IA

The night before this race I posted on Facebook that I knew I could beat my last personal record of 59:23 in the 10K that I had just set the summer before.

After I posted my public goal I panicked a little because I realized that this course the next day was super hard for 10K's.
I knew I had to do my very best then I could achieve this great goal. The problem was this course is not race friendly.  It has at least 5 LONG STEEP HILLS and the entire course is rolling hills and harder than I had remembered.

I have ran this course twice in the past.  First in 2010 and my time was 1:05:58, then in 2012 when I was 39 I ran again for a time of 1:01:28.  So then I started to doubt myself.  I am 3 years older, have I gotten faster?

I warmed up with a very slow 2 mile run, some stretches, and leg exercises.

We all walked across the bridge over the Dam and waited for the start gun.

I started out faster than my comfort pace and hit the first hill.  I ran the hill just fine.  The 2nd hill happened And I was able to run it just fine.  Then the 3rd long hill.  Somehow I had blocked that hill out.  I did well until near the top and then walked it.  My legs were on fire.  I wasn't sure that I could run another 3 miles.  Those hills were bad.

I really struggled through the next 2.5 miles.  Dubuque hill really kicked my butt.  Then there was Tyler Sullivan at mile 5.7 on the side of the road.  He started to run with me to help me finish strong.  He talked to me and pushed my pace.

I ended up getting a new PR by 21 seconds.  I know to some this isn't much but on this course it was a lot.  Plus it was a 2 minute 26 second PR on this course 3 years later.  I feel that a 56 minute 10K is within reach on a flat course.

Here are the results for this year:2015 RESULTS.  Now for some pictures

My watch that shows my recorded time.

A picture my friend Susan took before the race.  I look scared to death which I kind of was.

Jason got this picture of me almost at the finish line!

Caleb, his girlfriend Megan and a sign Caleb made.  Too funny

My good friend Tyler Sullivan who helps me run faster.  Tyler placed 3rd overall in the race.  He is super fast.

My bib

Front of shirt

Back of shirt.

Live Healthy 5K-Saturday, April 11, 2015-West Liberty, Iowa

I only signed up for this race because it was $10.00 and I thought it was on a different weekend. Turns out it was on the day I had to run 15 miles. I got through it but didn't push it with speed at all because I knew I had 9 more miles at the end.  I was super tired when the morning was over.  It was kinda cold that morning so I ran in a long sleeve shirt and running tights.

Here are the results if you really care that much:  results

My bib with the finishing medal I was given when I finished the race on the left.  Then the 2nd place medal I won in my age group on the right.

The shirt.

This day I had to run 15 for my marathon training.  I ran 3 before the race, then did the 5K (3.1 miles) then did 9 more miles, then traveled home.  Here is a picture of my Garmin watch showing how long it took me to run 15 miles!

Fools 5K--Saturday April 4, 2015 - Cedar Falls, IA

A beautiful morning for a race.  A little cold, but perfect to try and run a personal record.  My friend Tyler ran the race and finished 6th Overall out of 988 total people.  Here are my results if you really care:  Michelle's Individual results   After the race was the best food you will ever get after a 5K race.  There were breakfast burritos, yogurt, donuts, cookies, fruit, granola bars, chocolate milk, and much more!

Me finishing in record time.  My official chip time was 26:51 which is a 5K certified course personal record.

Fun picture after the race.

Lisa and I after the race.

This is what my bib should have looked like, instead several racers and I were given last year's left over bibs.  Super tacky in my opinion.  I put this one that someone mailed to me in my scrapbook.

Here was my actual bib for this year's race with LAST YEAR'S DATE.

Front of shirt.

Back of shirt.

Week 13 of Marathon training

Monday:  Swam 750 yards, Body Flow class, Ran 4.03 miles, taught Body Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Tuesday:  Ran 9.03 miles, taught Body Sculpt, Body Flow, walked 1/2 mile
Wednesday:2100 Yards, Ran 5.03 miles, taught Body Sculpt, walked 1/2 mile
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Walked 1 mile
Saturday: Ran 18.1 miles, walked 1 mile (1 mile running warmup, 13.1 mile race and 4 mile cool down run)
Sunday:  Walked 1.5 miles

Totals for Week 13 of Marathon Training, week 18 of 2015
Swam 2850 yards =1 mile 1090 yards
2 Body Flow Classes
Walked 5 miles
3 Body Sculpt classes
Ran 36.19 miles

Totals for Year 2015
Swimming:  52,028 Yards=   29 miles 988 yards
Elliptical :    14.45 miles
Biking inside: 274 minutes 
Biking Outside: 53.48 miles
Zumba:        5.5 classes
Sculpt:        87 classes
Body Pump:  1 class
Body Flow:    12 classes
Walking:   38.05 miles

Running:      443.90 miles