Week in review Jan. 23-29: Lots of running, again

Another 30+ mile running week, and it shows.

Since I now have the Gasparilla Ultra Challenge on my race calendar, I’ve had to shift around training goals. Running and running long back-to-back are priorities one and two right now.

As a result, I’ve been running more than I have in a LONG time. For the past two weekends I’ve managed a medium-distance run on Saturday and a long run on Sunday. Shorter runs, yoga and weights fit in where they can, and swim and bike are not in the rotation.

I figured out that running yesterday for 13.75 miles was the first time I’ve run more than 13.1 miles since my last marathon in October of 2015!!! Three of the four weeks in January have been 30+ running miles, which I haven’t done consistently in at least a year and a half, since I was building for that marathon.

I’m not going to lie: I am a little scared that something is going to pop up. My tailbone got a little cranky at the end of my run yesterday, and my knee was feeling tight afterward. Both made me nervous. But I can’t NOT train back-to-back long runs for a race that IS back-to-back long runs! (I am reassured that I feel almost normal today.)

So, my plan of attack for the next month is to cut mid-week runs down to two, so I don’t overdo it; keep up with the stretching/yoga at least twice per week; and do ONE weights session per week, mostly to make sure my glutes behave. I want to make sure I’m getting enough rest, and it seems kind of silly to add anything else to my plate right now.

TL, DR: Last week was a lot of running.

Run: Four times, three on the treadmill, for 33.25 miles in about 5:25. This bulk of this comes from a medium run (8 miles) Saturday and a long run (13.75 miles) Sunday.

Yoga: Twice, one private class and one self-guided, much-needed session after my long run, for 1:30-ish total.

Weights: One video for about 1:05.

Total: Seven sessions in almost exactly 8 hours.

For better or worse, this will all be behind me in a month. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I am SO excited for this race-cation, to hang out with my sister, and to attempt a new challenge. It will be an adventure for sure.

My first 100-mile running month in a year and a half!

100!

On today's medium distance run I passed the 100-mile mark for the month. I haven't done that since August of 2015, when my IT band and SI joint decided to go rogue.

I was diligent with rehab and now I am in a regular rotation of weight training again. I rebuilt slowly and smartly. I don't run six days in a row anymore. I never, never want to be back in a place where it is painful to run.

Every day I can run is a good day. I won't forget that.

Getting my om on

Yesterday I did something I’ve never done before: I had a private yoga class. And it was amazing.

I’m no stranger to yoga; I’ve been practicing since high school. I’ve tried many different iterations: studio classes, college classes, downloads, etc. Most recently I haven’t done anything more than take a few minutes here and there to try to open up my hips and get some movement in my back.

But, it’s been a LONG time since I attended an actual yoga class. It’s a shame, since there are several good ones in my neighborhood. I already belong to the entire Y chain and go to the occasional barre class, for goodness sake, so I just can’t justify yet another fitness-related cost to attend a yoga studio.

So when a gift certificate for a private class got re-gifted to me for Christmas — I ain't even mad — I was excited. And it was a great experience! After chatting with the instructor and getting a feel for what we wanted to accomplish today, we did some centering, sun salutations, hip openers, and balancing poses, which I remembered in a hurry that I'm really bad at. The hour flew by and I left feeling like a new woman.

I don't have the budget to be doing these too often, but if Santa brings me another private class next year, I won't complain.

Week in review Jan. 16-22: A complete change of plans

I had been doing well with my three-day rotation of run, run, lift in recent weeks. I didn't do anything else these last two weeks, but that was OK since those were my priorities.

But I've had a complete priority shift since I got an open spot for the Gasparilla Ultra Challenge next month. I ditched a planned weights workout on Sunday for extra running miles, and I'm not even going to try to swim or bike right now. Runs, long runs, yoga and weights — in that order — are my focus these next five weeks.

SOOOOOO, that's what I ended up doing last week:

Run, run, run, do some other stuff.

Run: Three times, once on the treadmill and twice on the road, for 25.75 miles in about 4:11. I lost an evening to a hair appointment so I didn't hit 30 miles again, but I'm OK with that.

Weights: One barre class for about an hour.

Yoga: One 20-minute session on my own.

Total: Five sessions in about 5.5 hours.

Not bad. I got done what needed to get done (namely back-to-back longish runs) and fit in a few other things. That's about all I can hope for in the coming few weeks.

A long run conundrum

Since I'm suddenly running 30+ miles in two days next month, I had to completely re-haul my training plan. I want to do back-to-back long runs for the next few weekends so I'm at least a little prepared.

I had done 7 yesterday and I wanted to do 11 today, since I had done 10 last weekend. As the miles ticked by, I thought, "The races will probably be two hours of running on Saturday and three hours on Sunday. Since I did just over an hour yesterday, shouldn't I do two hours today?"

I figured I would be OK adding an extra mile to make 12. But I was ticking off miles in the 9:5X range. So do I do an extra bit to make 2 hours, or stop at 12 miles and have to look at a 1:59 run time?

In the end, I decided to run an extra quarter mile to go over the 2-hour mark. It was kind of funny at the very end, because my mileage was getting to 11.97, 11.98 and 11.99 and I was still at 1:59 for time. I could have slowed down, I guess, but I actually sped it up to make that extra 0.25 worth my while.

2 hours or 12 miles? Decisions, decisions.

My knees and tailbone are a little cranky afterward, but it's reassuring to know I can handle 1 hour and 2 hours on back-to-back days. If I can increase both a bit in the next few weeks, I'll feel a lot better about being prepared for the challenge.

Gasparilla, the day after: What have I done???

I was on cloud 9 last night after a spot opened up in the Gasparilla Ultra challenge next month and I signed up. Then, I started doing the math. Then, I started getting scared.

A 15K and a 5K on Saturday. OK, that's 12.4 miles. I can do that.

But the next day is a half-marathon and and 8K, which is 5 miles, so that's 18.1 miles total. Wow... that's a lot. I've only run double-digits once since the Freep half marathon in October. Will I be able to pull something out of my rear end in the next five weeks?

I have a couple of things going for me. One, I'm not taking this too seriously. This is for fun and for a race-cation. Two, I've been doing well with overall mileage lately. I've run two 30-mile weeks in a row, and have been feeling OK.

I think my plan of attack for the next few weeks needs to be a focus on back-to-back long runs. In the past few weeks, I've done a bunch of 7 mile/7 mile runs on consecutive days, a pair of 6.5 mile/9 mile runs, and one pair of 10 mile/7.5 mile runs. At least I'm not coming from nothing.

I'm going to try to add a few miles on those consecutive days runs for the next few weeks and see how it goes. I did 7 today, and I'll try to do 11 tomorrow. If I add 1 per run per week for a couple of weeks, and am still feeing good, I'll feel a lot better.

Wow — 30 miles in two days is a lot. I hope I can handle it.

Gasparilla!

Besides The Big Thing I was depressed about today, I just wasn't in a good mood -- I have a zillion work projects, my weight loss has stalled, I haven't been sleeping well, etc. etc. But late this morning I checked my email and found this:

I squealed with delight and raced into my boss's office, where I was able to babble out what had happened. Once my boss gave her OK I responded to the email to say YES I was still interested! After work this happened:

The Ultra Challenge is four races over two days: a 15K and a 5K, followed by a half-marathon and an 8K:

I was on vacation this summer when the race announced they only had 100 spots left, I missed it, and it sold out. I had asked to be put on the wait list but when the weeks to go got down to single digits I started to give up hope. You can imagine how surprised I was today when I got the email out of the blue.

Training is going to be... interesting. I've run two 30-mile weeks recently, which is good, but I've topped out at 10 miles. So I have a few weeks to get into race shape. I want to add a few miles to my long runs, do some longer runs on consecutive days, and maybe do a few two-a-days to prepare.

Making it a race-cation will be fun. I'll stay with my sister, and I already have plans to hit up a spring training game while I'm down there, too. I haven't been to Florida in two years and I'm overdue for a visit.

Yay! This seriously made my week! And now I have a fun goal to get me through the next chunk of dreary and cold winter training.