Heartland Series Training Week 10 (Wicked Race Weekend)

Another up and down week!

I wore make up and did my hair this week.  I NEVER do that so had to take a pic:)

Monday:  Planned pool + strength.  I honestly wanted to do a pool work out and 3 rounds of strength training, but one of my machines in my lab went haywire, and by the time we got it back on track, it was past the time I could go.  I just had one of those days with pretty much everything in the lab, so when I got home, I had a beer and some easter chocolate, and honestly felt better about life.  My hubby cooked an amazing dinner, and after some digestion time, headed upstairs to get some strength training in.  I will be very honest, my foot was bothering me a lot all day.  I had planned on taking a full week off of anti inflammatories, and had gone about 3 days without any, but I was ouchy Monday morning, so opted to take some more.  I am hoping that this isn't a bad omen.

Tuesday: Planned 4 miles.  We ran in shorts and had to battle some very fierce wind.  I can tell that I am in shape, but not enough to battle these crazy spring Kansas winds without feeling like I might die.  I am going to be very honest and say that even with the anti inflammatories on board, that I had some pain in my foot throughout my run.  It was more like a running on a bruise than any sharp stabbing pain, but it was there.  The pain certainly wasn't a deal breaker, but it still makes me feel like this is not healed and maybe we need to do more to figure out what the hell this is (see a podiatrist or nerve specialist?).  I was pretty sad after this run, that maybe the weekend activities of running 6 on the road and pool jogging was too much, and that maybe we should be going much more slower with this.

Doug and has wonderful wife Conni!  He really is the magic man with magic hands!

Wednesday: Rest day.  First, I had a date with the bringer of pain.  He always makes my foot feel SO much better, and he did not disappoint.  Overall, that was the first massage in three weeks that i didn't want to cry during and after.  He still can't find anything wrong anywhere that would be causing the pain, so he gave me the green light to attempt the race, with taking it easy as my mantra.  He also informed me he had several runners with dogs this year, and that we had to start at the back with the strollers.  No big deal for me, not going for a PR, just going for fun, and may be walking at some points, so to the back I go.

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Also had a webinar at night with my running partner sponsored by Team Beef about using lean beef to fuel the athlete.  Really insightful and really fun.  Got some questions answered that I always have had, so feeling so much more empowered about the nutrition choices I have been making. I am heading in the right direction, just need to tweak a few more things.  Blog post to be forthcoming on some of the cool things I learned!

Thursday:  Planned 5 miles.  Well, Kansas decided to go crazy all in the span of a day.  Wednesday we had wildfires burning out of control in southern KS that were causing massive amounts of smoke in the northern part of the state plus ash was falling from the skies.  We had horrible wind gusts up to 40 MPH in some parts of KS that sure wasn't helping the fires.  Then sometime over night and thursday morning, we got snow dumped on us.  It wasn't much, but to see the ground covered after an 80 degree day the day before was very surprising.  Here are a few photos that my good friend Alice took and posted of the hazy smoke that blanketed us most of the day Wed and the snow we woke up to Thursday morning.  After work, I headed out to do my 5.  I decided to run with music, something I normally don't do, just to distract myself.  I had pain, but it was different, more in the arch of my foot.  I kept telling myself different pain is a good thing, which is different than anything else I have ever done.  Any pain is usually bad right?

Friday: Planned 1 hour or more on the bike.  I had taken the day off and I was planning on dropping the kiddo off at the preschool, getting a bike ride on the trainer, and then showering and heading back to go with his class to the Easter egg hunt.   Andrew woke up with a sick tummy.  He attempted to throw up once and nothing happened.  Then he started running a low grade fever.  I had hoped by letting him go to school later that maybe he would feel better, but then the puking began.  Luckily hubby was able to come by on his lunch break and drop off some 7 up and gatorade and saltine crackers, because Andrew wanted water and that was making him throw up.  Around noon, the fever broke, and Andrew began to feel better, which honestly was my worst fear.  I didn't want him to feel better and then want to go to the hunt, but at the same time I hated seeing him feel bad.  So instead of a bike ride, i got a day to snuggle with my baby, and then at night got to see my running partner be married to the love of her life.  I at least got to carb load at lunch for my race.

Saturday:  Planned Wicked 13.1  This one gets it's own post:).  While I was no where near a PR, I finished with a smile on my face and some new friends.  Any race I get to do with Stella Ella is a bonus!  Hoping maybe next year I can do the full with her so she gets to have her very own marathon medal as well.  This is her second year of doing this half and even though it has grown significantly, we had a great time! 

Sunday:  Rest day/Easter Sunday.  Pretty sore from those hills since I have been on nothing but flat.  I had taken a nice long soaking hot tub bath the night before since Andrew fell asleep early, which I think helped a ton.  I figured my foot would be horrible today with the hills and the distance we traveled, but I never even took meds last night (Went to bed early) and haven't taken anything this morning.  Maybe we really are on the down hill of this stupid injury?  I hope so!  I would like to run the next three races with confidence and maybe a little more speed. I know I haven't put in the work to get a PR  and that my A race may have to be moved to the fall but it would be nice to get that time down a little.  I think my official time yesterday, with the extra distance (we ran the wrong way and had to turn around which added some time) was 2:22.    

Total miles for the week: 22

I look forward to getting more consistent miles this week (please please foot, mentally I need four runs a week:).  I have another half on April 9th, so I need to be smart and not anger the foot.  I look forward to what this week will look like, dependent on how my foot reacts to all of the fun things I did this week.