Training week 19: 1 week (It's the final COUNTDOWN)

Wow, already the week of.  Butterflies are doing a war dance in  my tummy now.  Not about running per se, as I know I can do this.  More about details.  Type A all the way, right?  Here is how the week went down.

Monday: Day off.  We ended up putting my wonderful red dog to sleep that night.  He was almost 17 and his body had started giving up.  He had been on a hunger strike for several days and it didn't matter what we fed him, nothing  was wanted.  RIP big man.  Run free with Miss Berry dog.

Tuesday: 5 miles with 10 x 20 second strides.  Work out DONE as is.  My legs are coming back!  Even our easy pace was around 10:30.  I am so ready!

Wednesday:  Mom and Tommy are here to take care of squirt and the dogs.  No work out planned.

Thursday: 5 miles with MGP sprinkled in.  My legs felt so awesome FINALLY!~

Friday: Travel to Chicago

Saturday: 3 miles with the Another Mother Runner Tribe.  lots of starting and stopping and picture taking but nice

Sunday: CHICAGO MARATHON!  Recap soon!

Miller man 1999?-October 5, 2015

Good bye my big red dog.  You have taken me on quite a journey.  While strawberry started this crazy life of dog agility and dog agility friends and the crazy world of Australian shepherds, you continued it.  I still remember the day we saw you in the shelter, your big golden eyes peering at me while you hid under my chair. You stole my heart from that very first time.  I knew I had to have you even though I was a poor grad student with another aussie and a red horse.  You weren't always the easiest dog to love, you haven't ever been overly cuddly or one to sleep on the bed at night.  You were content on your dog bed, just hanging out.  You HATED agility when we first tried it.  You would do one obstacle and then hide under the truck.  You also had a horrible recall and would escape and run the neighborhood till you felt ready to come home.  I still loved you and will  never forget how soft your fur was and how crazy your bark was.  You took me so many places, places I would have never gone.  Of course after I got a little aussie puppy to be my next agility star, you decided it was your time to step up.  You had the most phenomenal running a frame, one that I didn't have to teach at all, you just did it no matter what. I think I can count on one hand the number of times you missed the zone (once at nationals but the video shows you clearly did hit it:) Your loud mouth made people stop and watch and you taught me so much about dog training.  You were stubborn and loud and awesome and amazing and I will miss you so very, very, much.  In the end, you told me it was time, that you had had enough of raising aussie pups, had enough of dealing with crazy foster dogs and had enough of raising a red headed two legger.  Your mind was still very much intact but your body just didn't want to cooperate and that bothered you.  I saw it in your eyes when I had to help you walk or come down stairs in the middle of night to help you back to your bed because you had fallen.  We decided to go out on a high note, before things got bad and I hope that is the best gift I could give you, better than any dog bone or piece of cardboard (yes you were weird like that).  Rest in Peace my sweet red loud aussie. Miller, you may be gone but never ever forgotten.  Go find berry dog and run free and bark loud and tell her that I love her and miss her too.

Training week 18: 2 weeks till Chicago (Big GULP)

After my body decided to fall apart last week, I was excited to see some lower mileage this week. This is how the week played out.

Monday:  Planned one mile repeats (x 5) at MGP.  What happened-Slow and easy 6 miles.  My leg was still bothering me and I just didn't want to chance it.  Instead we took it easy and tried not to get run over by grain trucks. They are almost done with the corn but then some of the beans look ready so we will be dodging trucks for a little while longer.  At least our local farmers know us and make every effort not to run over us.

Tuesday: Rest day-Saw Doug at Body first for one last tune up.  He spent the entire time trying to get my left leg to loosen up and submit.  Had to make another appointment just so he could work on my right side.  It was bad but nothing he couldn't fix and I am so grateful to have him there to work on me when I need it.  I really don't know how anyone makes it through any training cycles without people like Doug.

Wednesday: Planned 4 miles at MGP with a mile warm up and cool down.  What happened: Another easy 6.  After my massage I was super sore so I took it easy.  I wanted all of the tweaks Doug did to actually work and not undo all of the progress.  We even walked some and talked lots and I can't wait to train for the Heartland Series with Mel G!!!!

Thursday: Rest day.  Except I was on my feet all day long at work.  I usually do a combo of sitting and standing and I have been standing pretty much all week as we do the final moving of our labs.  I was exhausted when I got home and still had a business dinner to attend.

Friday: After a long night up with Miller, I had an option to cross train before my last long run.  It didnt' happen.  I was exhausted.  We took miller to the vet to make sure we shouldn't be doing anything more for him to keep him comfortable and to discuss end of life options.  I have cried much the past few weeks as I know this is where we are headed.  The old man's body is just petering out and I want to make the decision before there is any pain involved.  We decided to try an injectable pain med to see if that helped him in any way.  I do think he was feeling better Saturday so we may try a few days of this strategy and see how it goes.

Saturday: 10 miles on the plan.  10 miles done in wonderful fashion.  I feel like my body is starting to heal and be happy again and I am getting pretty darn excited.  Saw some lower paces even though I was taking it easy and that always makes me smile.  Chicago, here I come!!!


Sunday: Rest day

Total miles for the week:  22

I am going back to Doug on monday to finish my tune up.  I am getting so excited and so ready to run this race!!!!

Random thoughts by Michelle

I saw this on FB today and it just cracked me up.  Yep, totally me as I sit here sipping my pumpkin spiced coffee from my keurig.  I had pumpkin beer last night, as well as a pumpkin latte from my favorite local coffee store yesterday to celebrate national coffee day.   I embrace all the things pumpkin for sure.

This cracked me up too.  Every time I get excited for a cool down, it just turns around and gets hot again.  Like monday.  We sweated our asses off during our easy 6.  Come on summer, just leave already!  It was so hot stella ella couldn't even come with us.  Seriously summer, go away!

This came this weekend too.  I am a bundle of nerves, not about the run itself, just all of the details.  I know you aren't suppose to walk much the days before, but I HAVE to see how long it will take me to walk to my corral and gear check and map out a route.  If I don't,  I will be a mess the day of.  Still not sure how we are going to get from the airport to the hotel or from the hotel to the expo, but I guess we can figure that out when we get there.  I am such a planner, that going to a city i know nothing about and dealing with public transportation possibly scares the hell out of me.  OH well, we will make an adventure of it for sure and probably learn a lot in the process.  I am hoping I can do several big city marathons, so I'd better learn quick:)

This also came this week in the mail!  I won this super cute hat from Allie over at Vita Train for Life.   If you don't follow her blog, you are missing out.  She rarely gives things away, so when she had this new hat from Trailwind up for grabs, I had to enter.  My favorite hat sadly is having mold issues, even though I take care of it like my own child.  Even though I wash it, you can still see where the mold was, and it makes me feel very icky.   I took this hat for a spin monday on our sweat fest and it worked beautifully.  Will be interested to see how it does with my head lamp.  

Well, have a great hump day.  Just needed to get some randomness out.  Looking forward to a nice COOL run tonight.  I am really enjoying and embracing the taper.  My body needed it and I needed it mentally for sure.  

Volunteering for Konquer the Konza

 I ran this beautiful course last year as my first 25 K trail run.  This year, they had added a 10 K option so I had signed up for the shortened course.  Then I got into Chicago.  I decided it wasn't a good idea to do a trail run this close to the actual race.  I would be that person that tripped and fell and broke my ankle two weeks out. SO, based on that feeling, I recorded another DNS and instead volunteered.  The first year of this race, I volunteered to be at the top of the stairs.   I asked to be there again this year and my wish was granted.

The stairs are a set of irrigation measures that look like stone steps.  They are not evenly spaced and most people walk up them.  It is a tough ascent.  It kicked my ass both times I had to go up it last year.  I saw lots of puking the first year, but this year was better, thank goodness!

I got up to my spot pre sun rise.  I saw deer, heard turkeys, and saw lots of butterflies.  I cheered loudly and rang my cow bell, and almost lost my voice more than once.  I brought a pack with lots of goodies for runners, just in case,  but no one needed them. I only had one hiker that was a butt head.  Most runners were very appreciative and we took lots of pics and got lots of high fives and sweaty hugs.  I had two runners I was concerned about, but they all finished safely and healthy.   I LOVE cheering them on and ringing my bell, and If I get into another fall marathon next year, I will for sure be up at the top, cheering on my tribe.

I even got a nice hike in and out with my pack, so I could count that as cross training today!  It was perfect weather, cool at the start, with the temps heating up as the day went on.  The humidity was pretty high, so I totally felt for the runners, and the second time through, many were pretty much drenched.  I had brought Nuun tablets just in case and two big bottles of water, but everyone seemed to have plenty of water.  The best part of this race is hands down the views.  The worst part of this race, you are on the prairie, so not much shade.  You really are at the mercy of the sun and it can get pretty warm in september. Plus, well, the beautiful Flint hills are pretty, well, hilly. All in all, this is an awesome race and I love volunteering for it! I hope they continue to do it and make it better every year!

Training week 17: 3 weeks till chicago. Taper, maybe?

Well, I thought my taper would start after my 20 miler but my coach had other ideas.  Here is how the week turned out.

Monday: planned 3 x 2 mile repeats with a mile warm up and 0.5 mile cool down.  What happened: hip was tight and sore during warm up, and pain in my left leg started and continued through warm up.  Took off compression sleeve thinking that might make it feel better.  It did, but there was NO speed work in these legs.  In fact, there wasn't even 8 miles in these legs.  I settled for 6 with walking interspersed.  Came home and did an ice bath on my leg immediately.  I don't mess around with pain and certainly not this close to the big date.  6 easy peasy miles

Tuesday: A much needed off night.  I hate not doing things when the weather is SO nice, but this was the last night of soccer.  

Wednesday: Planned was a 9 mile progression run.  Each mile would get faster by 10 seconds.  I was so looking forward to this run.  I know, weird right.  I love different types of work outs, and i haven't done a progression run in a long time.  What actually happened: an 8 mile easy paced run thanks to my leg.  While it didn't hurt during my run, it pretty much hurt all day during the day. 

What is so odd (other than the fact that his helicopter circled us the whole time we were running and then landed right next to us) is that my leg had zero pain during the run, and I actually felt like I could do the run as prescribed.  My very speedy, very wise running pal Mel held me back and said nope.  8 miles of rain, helicopters and good music.

Thursday: Strength

Friday:  Planned 4 mile recovery run.  What happened: No run.  Decided while the pain is much better in my leg, another day off from running wouldn't hurt.  Honestly, if I wasn't volunteering for the Konquer the Konza on Sunday and needed to be there so early, I would have just moved my long run till Sunday.  At this point, rest is a good thing and junk miles don't help anything other than prolong healing.

Saturday: 14 mile long run with some race pace segments built in.  What happened: Lots of things I haven't experienced in a long time like an upset tummy, my right hip having severe cramps at mile 12 and making me walk for a while, and me wanting to quit multiple times.  I ended up at around 13.5 miles when I passed the house and i just threw in the towel.  I seriously feel like an old woman right now.  We did complete our virtual half marathon so there is that.

This was a fun virtual to do with a super cute tech shirt and medal with a doggy on it.  I printed the bib and put stella's name on it instead of mine.  I LOVE doing virtual races that benefit dogs or activities with dogs.  

Sunday:Strength and volunteering for Konquer the Konza 25 K and 10 k race (will probably post a recap even though I am not running this year).  

Total miles this week: Not as many as i was suppose to but eeked out 27.

After talking to my coach, I know this is normal, but I hate that I feel so tired and so out of it when I am getting a ton more sleep lately.  I am ready for the taper to do it's magic and heal me.  I am also looking forward to my trip to Body First to get some help on getting the kinks out.  To be continued till next week:)

Training week 16: 4 weeks till Chicago!

Wow, only another month and only one more week of hard work outs.  I AM SO READY FOR TAPER.  Remind me I was yelling this as I am going taper crazy.  Of course the weather has taken a turn back to more summer like temperatures, just in time for my last hard week.  I am sure once I am in taper, the weather will be the most perfect weather EVER.  That is my luck.  While I am getting more sleep thanks to miller miraculously recovering, I am still opting to do weekly runs at night versus getting up at 4 am due to the length of the runs.  Here is how my week went:

Monday: a repeat of last week's repeats that I didn't get to due to sleeplessness (Scheduled 2 mile x 2 repeats, 400 meter recovery, 1 mile repeat, 400 meter recovery, 1 mile warm up and cool down)  Recruited the speedy Mel G to come suffer with me.  The run went surprisingly well.  We had no issues hitting our paces, in fact sometimes we had to slow down.  I was amazed that I didn't struggle with this run, even with the 20 mph sustained winds.  I had a pretty big runner's high after this one for sure.

Tuesday: Day off due to Andrew's soccer practice.  Soccer was more about running around the field and playing with his friend than doing actual soccer. I think he just got bored when they gave lengthy discussion about what they needed to be doing instead of just doing.  Oh well. Just glad he is staying on the field for the majority of the 45 minute session and not crying.  

Wednesday: My last tempo run.  Nine miles of glorious speed.  This run was going to be tough thanks to me pushing it back to try and avoid the horrible heat we have had this week.  I was kind of nervous to go out at dark, especially if it was too hot to take Stella too.  AND there was the wind.  14-20 mph out of the south, south east.  I ended up putting my big girl panties on and heading out with Stella in tow and my headlamp.  While it wasn't the ideal run ( 2 miles directly into that sustained wind, I finished, ending with almost 9.5 miles.  The 2 miles into the wind were my slowest, but managed to stay in the low 10:20s.  I managed a 10:15 on my 3 mile segment, a 10:23 on the 2 miles directly into the wind, and a 10:18 for my last two mile segment.  Of course I couldn't sit up and enjoy it, as it was 10:00 by the time i got home so a quick chocolate milk and shower were all I got to celebrate with before hitting the hay.  9.43 miles total.

Thursday:another rest day.  Yeah, I know, I need to do strength but I just felt exhausted and hungry and I gave in to my lazies.  Boo.

Friday:Recovery run.  Was suppose to do 5.  Headed out with storms to the south and the radar promising that they would stay to the south.  While I never had any rain, the clouds crept closer and closer and the lightening got brighter and brighter.  It was enough to convince me to head back after a little over 2 miles and stay safe. I think I ended up with 4.4 miles total.  Deuce ran with me and someone was NOT happy she got left at home.  

Saturday: 20 miles.  See recap here.

Sunday: Strength

Bring on the taper craziness!