Running Update: A change of plans & February training recap 🏃‍♀️

Helloooo, everyone! It's been a little while since I've updated y'all on how my training is going. Honestly a LOT has been happening in my running life lately so I thought I'd do a larger update encompassing everything for you instead of my usual training log style update (though if you'd like to see my training log, skip down to the bottom of this post!). Let's not waste any time and hop right into what's been going on!

1. Milwaukee Marathon Postponement & Change of Plans

My face after finding out about the postponement. :/

The biggest update that I have for you guys is that the Milwaukee Marathon - the race I've been training for all winter - made the announcement last week that they are postponing their race until October. I totally understand why they made the call and I agree that safety of the public is priority #1, but I was super bummed when the announcement came out! Training has been going pretty well this winter and I was excited to head out to Wisconsin and see what I could do after a year off of marathons. Unfortunately Milwaukee wasn't in the cards for me this spring, so I immediately went into problem solving mode.

My first instinct was to find a replacement race. There are plenty of April races that are still on the books (for now), but I didn't want to risk registering for another race that ended up postponed or switched to virtual. Additionally, I was looking for something in a state I haven't completed yet or do not already have a race I'm registered for. It was honestly slim pickings! However, I came across the Carmel Marathon in Carmel, Indiana which seems *very* confident the race will be going off without a hitch. It's the weekend before I was originally scheduled to run Milwaukee, it has full support of their local government, and it seems to have some excellent COVID-19 safety protocols in place as well. So I decided to take the gamble and register!

Luckily there were still some spots left in the marathon field so I was able to snag a bib. I've spent the last week planning my trip. I was able to switch my flights for Milwaukee over to Indianapolis, get a refund on my MKE AirBnB and find some accommodations nearby Carmel, and switch all of my PTO requests at work. All systems are GO for a trip to Indy this April and an official 26.2 is on the docket. Fingers and toes crossed that everything continues to stay on!

Now that Milwaukee is bumped to October, I am going to be a BUSY runner this fall. I'm not sure when in October Milwaukee will be scheduled as they haven't announced it yet, but I already have the I-35 challenge (Kansas City & Des Moines) on the calendar that month. I'm really unsure how I'm going to balance it all, but summer is going to be a TOUGH training season. It's going to be so important that I do everything I'm supposed to do in training so I can cross all three finish lines! Wish me luck 😅

2. Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

A couple of weekends ago I participated in the Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend! Running these races at home was definitely not the same as running at WDW (for obvious reasons), but I did my best to make the most of it by dressing up each day, listening to Disney tunes, and trying to partake in Princess-like activities during my non-running time. I even had Snowy running with me most of the time! Doing these races has me so excited to finally return to a runDisney race, whenever that might be. I have my heart set on Dopey being my runDisney return, but I honestly wouldn't hate participating in another Princess weekend if that's the earliest we can get back to it! Anywho, here's some photos from the weekend:

5K flat runner! Reprising our Evil Queen/Snow(y) White costumes 🍎💀❆

Snowy having a blast running in her costume!

Finish line pics!

5K finisher certificate!

10K flat runner - wanted to go with a Rapunzel theme since the 10K was themed after her! 🌞

Finish line pic!

10K finisher certificate!

Half Marathon flat runner! Of course I had to wear my Belle costume again because the half was themed after her this year! 📚🌹

Found a "character stop" around mile 12! 😜

Finish line pics!
(I actually have 16 miles to run on this day, so I finished the half in a random spot on my route. Definitely needed to stop and commemorate the moment, though!)

Half Marathon finisher certificate!

And because the Fairy Tale Challenge was themed after Tiana, I wanted to do a Tiana-like activity and tried my hand at making beignets! They were a little on the cakey side and tasted more like a donut than a beignet, but they were still so delicious. I'll have to tinker with the recipe a bit to get the fluffiness down to a science, but I think Tiana would have been proud of me for my first try! Looking at these pictures seriously makes me want to whip up another batch right now. 🤤

I vlogged my entire Princess Weekend experience as well, so if you'd like to see everything
~in action~ take a look at the video below! 👑

3. Strength & Stretching (or lackthereof)

This training cycle my strength training and stretching game has been abysmal. I know this is going to bite me in the butt when April rolls around, so I really want to get back on the horse of being disciplined in this department. It's already starting to come into play for me - I did a 5 mile run on Wednesday and was randomly SO SORE yesterday? I'm still feeling really sore today as well. That's.. not normal haha. I really need to do better! So for these last few weeks I'm going to intersperse a bit of strength training (without going too overboard) and a lot of stretching. I also sit on my butt most of the day, so I need to make sure I'm getting up and moving around a bit more often throughout the day. Hopefully all of that helps and I'll feel good through 26 miles on race day!

4. Training Log!

As promised, here's all of my training data from the last month. Aside from 2 skipped runs, I've been VERY consistent about getting my miles in which I am super proud of myself for. There's been so much going on in my personal life that it would be so easy for me to skip out on runs in favor of other things, but I've been dedicated to this training cycle. I'm hopeful for a good race this April and to finish this training cycle strong. 💪

Week 6: January 25, 2021 - January 31, 2021

Monday, 1/25 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/26 → 1 mile walk + 5.19 mile treadmill run @ 11:34/mile

Wednesday, 1/27 → Rest

Thursday, 1/28 → 1.23 mile walk

Friday, 1/29 → 6.5 mile treadmill run @ 11:25/mile

Saturday, 1/30 → 3.08 mile run @ 9:35/mile

Sunday, 1/31 → 13.01 mile run @ 10:22/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 27.78

Week 7: February 1, 2021 - February 7, 2021

Monday, 2/1 → Rest

Tuesday, 2/2 → .37 mile walk

Wednesday, 2/3 → 7.51 mile treadmill run @ 11:15/mile

Thursday, 2/4 → 1.61 mile walk

Friday, 2/5 → 5.31 mile treadmill run @ 11:18/mile

Saturday, 2/6 → 14.2 mile run @ 11:03/mile

Sunday, 2/7 → 1.07 mile walk + 1.01 mile walk

Total weekly running mileage: 27.02

Week 8: February 8, 2021 - February 14, 2021

Monday, 2/8 → .68 mile walk

Tuesday, 2/9 → 1.65 mile walk + 7.5 mile treadmill run @ 11:19/mile

Wednesday, 2/10 → 1.8 mile walk

Thursday, 2/11 → 1.63 mile walk

Friday, 2/12 → Virtual Disney Princess 5K
3.21 mile run @ 11:05/mile + 1.5 mile run @ 11:52/mile

Saturday, 2/13 → Virtual Disney Enchanted 10K

1.41 mile walk + 6.27 mile run @ 10:27/mile

Sunday, 2/14 → Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon
13.12 mile run @ 11:06/mile + 2.89 mile run @ 11:15/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 34.49

Week 9: February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021

Monday, 2/15 → Rest

Tuesday, 2/16 → 1.66 mile walk

Wednesday, 2/17 → 5.05 mile run @ 10:40/mile

Thursday, 2/18 → 1.61 mile walk

Friday, 2/19 → 6.5 mile treadmill run @ 11:36/mile

Saturday, 2/20 → 4.18 mile run @ 10:07/mile

Sunday, 2/21 → Rest

Total weekly running mileage: 15.73

#Sub5orBust: Milwaukee Marathon Week 4 & 5 Training (January 11 - January 24, 2021)

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Milwaukee Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

The last two weeks blogging has really been put on the back burner - sorry about that! Once I got back to work on the 11th I went right back to full steam ahead with my job and creating content has been the last thing on my to-do list. However, I've still been training away for Milwaukee! Also in exciting news, I've officially booked my flight AND my Air BnB, so the trip to Wisconsin is feeling more real every day! My fingers and toes are still crossed and will be crossed until I toe the starting line on April 10th. You can never be too sure these days, I guess! 😂

Week 4 I really started to feel the fatigue of training, as I always do. I always struggle when it comes to eating enough while I'm training, so I'm just tired a lot. Add on these gloomy winter days and finding the motivation to not hibernate is my biggest challenge. I went into this week wanting to continue to incorporate my training since my mileage was fairly low, but honestly I let my tiredness get the best of me and I ended up skipping all of my strength work outs. 😑 I'm really happy that I still hit my mileage, though!

Week 4: January 11, 2021 - January 17, 2021

Monday, 1/11 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/12 → 6.12 mile run @ 10:23/mile

Wednesday, 1/13 → Rest

Thursday, 1/14 → 5.13 mile run @ 10:36/mile

Friday, 1/15 → Rest

Saturday, 1/16 → 3.1 mile run @ 9:46/mile  + 1.09 mile walk

Sunday, 1/3 → 7 mile run @ 10:05/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 21.35

Last week was FRIGID. Guys... I hate the winter so much. 😂 Honestly getting out the door on days that had a real feel of 16 degrees (Saturday) and 11 degrees (Sunday) was next to impossible. BUT I DID IT. And I can't wait until the world finally warms back up. This weather is TERRIBLE. 😖 I'm hoping for a beautiful spring day in Milwaukee in April. Maybe if I envision it hard enough it will come true? 🤞

Week 5: January 18, 2021 - January 24, 2021

Monday, 1/18 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/19 → .75 mile walk + 2.11 mile walk

Wednesday, 1/20 → 5.07 mile run @ 10:19/mile

Thursday, 1/21 → Rest

Friday, 1/22 → 5.12 mile run @ 10:46/mile

Saturday, 1/23 → 3.01 mile run @ 9:46/mile + strength

Sunday, 1/24 → 12.01 mile run @ 10:09/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 25.21

The weather for week 6 isn't going to be much better than the last two weeks, but I am just telling myself that running in these conditions will make me a better runner when it comes to race day. I'm not sure how true that actually is, buuuut we can dream! Including this week, we only have 11 more weeks of training to go before race day. Are longest mileage weeks are all ahead of us, but these are the weeks where I can really see what my body can do and start to mentally prepare for that 26.2 mile haul. My goal for this week is to complete my 2 days of strength training and stretch, stretch, stretch. I'm definitely feeling the tenderness in my legs and need to be better at recovery!

#Sub5orBust: Milwaukee Marathon Week 2 & 3 Training (December 28, 2020 - January 10, 2021)

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Milwaukee Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Hi folks! I'm back with another #Sub5orBust training update. I was planning on sharing my training for week 2 last Wednesday, but then, ya know, a coup attempt at the US Capitol happened and it just didn't feel exactly right to talk about my training then. 🙃 So I decided to combine weeks 2 and 3 in this update so you can see how training is going all in one spot!

Week 2: December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021

Monday, 12/28 → Rest

Tuesday, 12/29 → 4.21 mile run @ 10:11/mile + 2.2 mile walk

Wednesday, 12/30 → 6.5 mile run @ 10:07/mile + 0.7 mile walk

Thursday, 12/31 → 3.02 mile run @ 10:15/mile

Friday, 1/1 → Rest

Saturday, 1/2 → 1.14 mile walk

Sunday, 1/3 → 8.12 mile run @ 10:00/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 22.99

During week 2 I was still concentrating on finishing my #RunMA Challenge miles, so the beginning of the week was kind of all over the place with my distances. If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I was able to complete the challenge, and I'll share my thoughts in a separate blog post in a few days. Once I finished the challenge, I wanted to give myself a little break from running, so I took a rest day on Friday and Saturday before hopping into my official training plan on Sunday with an 8 mile long run. It feels good to have a bit of the pressure to run taken off, and to get to enjoy some rest days again!

Week 3: January 4, 2021 - January 10, 2021

Monday, 1/4 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/5 → 5.03 mile run @ 9:50/mile + 1.52 mile walk

Wednesday, 1/6 → 1.01 mile walk

Thursday, 1/7 → 5.09 mile run @ 9:41/mile + Phase 1 lift

Friday, 1/8 → Rest

Saturday, 1/9 → 3.03 mile run @ 9:47/mile + Phase 1 lift

Sunday, 1/10 → 10.02 mile run @ 10:03/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 23.17

First full week *officially* on the training plan! I think this week's runs went really well, despite my absolute dread of going out and running in the cold. 😩 It was CHILLY last week and I just can't wait for these cold months to be over with. Unfortunately I'll have to be training in this weather for the majority of this cycle, so I just have to suck it up. 💀 I also started incorporating my strength training this week, which has felt good! Brett has been helping me out a lot with combining the strength training plan from Runner's World and giving some of his own recommendations as his amazing personal trainer self. (One of the many many reasons that I'm lucky to have him around!) Everything seems to be clicking right now, which I am of course super happy about!

Shout out to my four-legged running buddy, who helped me on many of these runs!

This week will be a lower mileage with a 6, 5, 5k, and 7 on the calendar. I'll probably work with Brett to make the lifting a little more challenging this week and take advantage of the down time to rest and stretch. Pretty soon mileage will start to spike and I gotta savor these days while I can! 😂

🧡Don't forget! You can save 10% on your Milwaukee Marathon registration (any distance!) by using code "BR10" at check out! Head over to runmilwaukee.com to register today!🧡

#Sub5orBust: Milwaukee Marathon Week 1 Training Update (December 21 - 27, 2020) | Blogmas Day 29

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Milwaukee Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Monday, 12/21 → 6.05 mile run @ 10:31/mile + 1.46 mile walk

Tuesday, 12/22 → 6.05 mile run @ 9:49/mile + 1.52 mile walk

Wednesday, 12/23 → 4 mile run @ 10:03/mile + 3.7 mile walk

Thursday, 12/24 → 5.1 mile run @ 10:30/mile + 1.71 mile walk

Friday, 12/25 → Rest

Saturday, 12/26 → 10 mile run @ 9:51/mile + 2.44 mile walk

Sunday, 12/27 → 1.02 mile walk

Total weekly running mileage: 31.2

First week of "training" is complete! I put training in quotations because honestly the runs I was completing this week are not at all part of the training plan and were all dedicated to finishing the #RunMA Challenge. Once 2021 begins I'll revert back to the actual training plan and will be running significantly less week to week until I get further into the plan, but overall I'm feeling great about my fitness levels entering this training cycle. Week 2 will be more of the same (in regard to dedicating my runs to finishing #RunMA and not working on the training plan), but I'll be able to get back on track soon.

Because we were traveling last week, I definitely didn't really do much beyond getting my miles in. Once I'm back on track with my actual training, I'm going to incorporate my lifting plan as well. Basically, everything will be back on track (hopefully) at the end of this week! It'll be good to just have this one thing to focus on, especially once things settle down post-holidays!

The Week I Didn't Run + What I've Been Doing Instead (We're Moving!)

Sometimes life is just too much to have any motivation to do anything else but exist. That was me this past week. A couple weeks ago Brett and I came to the decision that it was definitely time for us to move out into our own place. This is something we've been thinking about for a while and a direction that we wanted to move in for a really long time. We haven't had a place to ourselves since 2013, and even then we were living on a college campus, where we both worked, so it still didn't feel like we were truly on our own. We've been together for 7 years now and it's finally time that we found a place that belongs to just us. No roommates. No work obligations. Just us.

The next few days after deciding it was time, we reached out to a few different apartments to set up viewings. I gotta say - it's weird apartment hunting when there's a global pandemic going on. It's a risk interacting with new folks while maintaining social distancing and a risk looking at new places that aren't your own. Luckily, this apartment hunt did not take us too long. The process to find the apartment we ended up going with went like this:

Tuesday → Contact the landlord to express interest

Wednesday → View the apartment

Thursday → Submit an application, get approved, sign a lease

And boom, we had a new apartment.

Though the process was quick (it was only about a week of searching), it was stressful and sadly, without going into detail, we're moving again because of a not-great living situation. This is twice in a row that we've felt we had to move quickly because of our living situation being negative, and it's always stressful. Because of this, my motivation to do anything outside of the minimum was at a zero. Add in the fact that it was gray and rainy everyday last week, I had absolutely no desire to go running or exercise.

So, I didn't run last week and I don't really have a training update for you for this week. 

BUT!

Now that our new lease is signed and we have plans to start moving in to our new space next Monday (!!!). Brett and I are both feeling so much better and are truly excited to start this new chapter in our lives together. Physically moving into our space will, of course, be taxing, and it will take a while to get used to, but we're ultimately so thrilled to finally have a space of our own. 

I'm also excited to get back to training this week! Now that this part of my life is figured out and we have some next steps in mind, I'm feeling like I have the mental capacity to get back to my training plan. Rock n' Roll just postponed their San Diego race weekend which happens to be the weekend before Seattle, so I'm really not feeling confident that Seattle will be happening as scheduled. 

With that in mind, I'm going to be tweaking my training plan based on how I'm feeling. With the stress of the COVID-19 outbreak and the additional stress of needing to move, I feel like I've fallen a bit behind what my usual marathon training schedule would look like. That would typically stress me out, but because I'm fairly certain that Rock n' Roll Seattle will be postponed, I'm feeling like running the mileage that feels good to me while still working in my usual 2 mid-distance, 1 short, 1 long run schedule and keeping up my general fitness will be the best for my mental and physical health. I'll keep you posted with my actual runs on a weekly basis!

Here's what I've been doing *instead* of running:

Reading up a storm! As you know I'm participating in the OWLs readathon this month and it's been great to make time for reading each day! This isn't part of my OWLs TBR, but I have a collection of Flannery O'Connor stories that I've been trying to read from every morning when I wake up. It's kind of nice to start the day with a short story and I'm excited to continue reading this. My goal is to read a story each morning until I finish the whole collection. It's been sitting on my "Currently Reading" shelf since last march so it's about time it gets the attention it deserves!

\

Geocaching! This is something that I've been wanting to try for ages and over the weekend I finally tried it out. It is SO much fun! I found two things on my first hunt and I can't wait to go on even more hunts as the weather starts to warm up. I'll be sure to update you on my geocaching adventures on my socials, and probably right here on the blog as well!

Following CDC recommendations :P I barely leave the house these days except to go to to grocery store (which I try to limit to once a week) or to run/walk outside. This weekend I had to go to laundry and since the CDC recommends wearing a mask in public places to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (this is more so in the event I have it and I don't know it, I won't accidentally spread it to someone else, and not to prevent myself from getting it) I wore a buff to the laundromat. I felt like a huge weirdo because no one else was wearing one, but I want to do my part as much as possible!

All in all, I'm thankful that Brett and I have our health and we have each other in this time. Moving is going to be a huge time commitment and I'm sure it will bring its own set of stressors, but we're excited to finally be in our own space together and I'm sure there are many happy memories in our new home to come. 💙 Updates will of course be shared so soon! 😊

What Comes Next? // #Sub5orBust Update

...you've been freed!

Don't you know how hard it is to lead?

(Had to make the Hamilton reference. 😂)

I was planning on writing this post at some point after the LA Marathon anyway to outline my next race plans, but because of COVID-19, the future is a bit hazier than any of us are used to at the moment. As of right now, none of the races that I'm registered for have been cancelled or postponed, but that can change at any moment. I'm not really someone who likes to sit around and wait for other people to make decisions for me, so even though the likelihood of my next races getting the ax is rather high, I'm still planning to train for them like they're going to happen as scheduled. I just don't see any harm of following a training cycle when the race itself is up in the air. If anything, I'll continue to improve my running and be in better shape for when my next race day comes around!

Here are the next two races on my 2020 calendar:

Providence Half Marathon

May 3, 2020

I am genuinely surprised a decision hasn't been announced yet for this race. I've seen multiple races at the end of May already getting postponed, but it has been a little radio silent from the race directors for the Providence Marathon. Folks on the Facebook event page (including myself) are getting restless to hear back and I'm hoping they will post something soon. Either way, I'll have a half marathon scheduled in my training for this weekend, so if I can't run an officially sanctioned race in Providence, then I'll just run a solo half around my neighborhood!

Rock n' Roll Seattle Marathon

June 7, 2020

Washington being a hot spot for COVID-19 at the moment makes me really doubt that this race will go on. Rock n' Roll has already postponed their late-May event so I know this one is next on the chopping block. I hope this is going to be a postponement instead of a cancellation and fingers crossed it won't wind up on a weekend that I'm already registered for another race.

Whatever happens with Rock n' Roll Seatlle, I know that I'm going to need to focus on HILL WORK for this marathon. I've naively gotten used to running on flat bike paths, so for this training cycle I'm going to add in a day of just running up and down a hill in my area. 😂 I have a few steep bois in mind, and I'm definitely not looking forward to it. 😜

The training plan:

I'm going to be using the same marathon training plan I used for my last cycle, but I'm going to hop in on week 6 since I'm already up to marathon fitness. For my strength training I will be relying on my live-in personal trainer (aka Brett) to help me do more full-body strengthening. The strength training plan I used last time, while effective, only focused on my lower body. I want to be strong all around if I can be! In short, this training cycle will be all about building on my strength, identifying weak spots and working on those (MY HIPS), and hillz hillz hillz. Here's what a typical week is going to look like this time around:

Here's the marathon training plan I'll be using!

Monday: Rest!

Tuesday: Run #1

Wednesday: Run #2 + lift

Thursday: HILLS 💀

Friday: Rest!

Saturday: Run #3 + lift

Sunday: Long run

I found that posting weekly training updates here on the blog kept me accountable, so I will be bringing those back! I'm also planning to do some virtual buddy runs on my Instagram stories throughout the duration of this quarantine/social distancing time, so make sure to follow me over there to hear when the next one is! I'll try to post at least 24 hours in advance so you'll be able to join in. 😊

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there! 

I'll be writing again soon. 💜

#Sub5orBust: Week 15 Training Update (January 27 - February 2, 2020)

Monday, 1/27 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/28 → 7 mile run (treadmill) 

Wednesday, 1/29 → Rest

Thursday, 1/30 → Rest

Friday, 1/31 → 3 mile run (treadmill)

Saturday, 2/1 → Rest
Sunday, 2/2 → 5 mile run (treadmill)

IT'S OFFICIALLY RACE WEEK AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! 

Can you tell I'm feeling ALL THE FEELINGS? 😂 I'm so excited and nervous and confident and curious and PUMPED for Sunday. It's going to be so great! I didn't stretch at all last week which was really dumb of me. I feel like everytime I make a promise to myself that I'm going to stretch it just does not happen. Sooo.... this week I WILL NOT STRETCH AT ALL!!! Reverse psychology, right? 😜

For real though, all I have on the docket this week is two 3-milers and a two mile shakeout on Saturday. It's all about taking it really easy this week, (not) rolling out, (not) stretching (#reversepsychology), hydrating and getting my mind right. I'm going to try to make my diet really clean this week as well so I'm not feeling super blah on race day. I'm actually hoping to do a "what I ate during race week" post to share with y'all later on this month, so we can see if what I eat this week will translate on the course in NOLA. Stay tuned! I just started reading Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor today, so I'm hoping that will give me some things to think on during the race on Sunday as well. 

Because there won't be too much to report on my training this week, this will be my last training update for this cycle! I'm hoping that this training cycle will take me through Rock n' Roll NOLA, Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend, and the LA Marathon in March. I'll of course be doing several maintenance runs between races but in terms of a training program, I won't be hopping into another one until post-LA. Crazy!! Again, I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this program and completing 99% of my assigned workouts. This is the best I've ever done during a cycle and I am so excited for Sunday. It'll be a victory lap for sure!!!

#Sub5orBust: Week 14 Training Update (January 21 - January 26, 2020)

Tuesday, 1/21 → Rest

Wednesday, 1/22 → 7 mile run (treadmill) + stretch

Thursday, 1/23 → Rest

Friday, 1/24 → 35 minute run (treadmill) + phase 3 lift + stretch

Saturday, 1/25 → 10 mile run
Sunday, 1/26 → Rest

Third to last week of training is COMPLETE! ✔ I'm not sure why everyone says they get "taper crazies" because honestly I'm really enjoying the extra time in my schedule to hang out with Brett, read, and do normal things that I haven't had time to get to while I've been training! Maybe I'm weird? Haha. 😂

I did my FINAL DOUBLE-DIGIT RUN of the training cycle on Saturday morning! I went out for 10 in the morning and while it was a chilly one, I felt really motivated to try and beat my 10 mile run from week 3 of training. I wanted to see if I could see any difference 11 weeks later, and I definitely did! I pushed myself harder than I think I would have if I didn't try to beat this time, but I managed to shave off a whole 4:46 of my 10-mile time! It definitely was tough (dem hillz) and my legs and lungs were burning like crazy for most of the run, but I beat my time by almost 5 minutes. I LOVE seeing results of my training written out in black and white!

I'm not sure I've ever seen that average pace over that many miles! 😱

Crazy splits as usual. You can probably tell which miles had long stretches of uphill running. 😂 

I also love that Garmin gave out a Lunar New Year badge! 🐭

I'm honestly really proud of myself for this training cycle, and I think that's the first time I've been able to say that about any marathon training cycle. I really put in a lot of hard work this time around. I really fought against making excuses and lack of motivation. There were a lot of times where spending hours at the gym or on the roads was the very last thing I wanted to do, but more often than not I pushed through. My training was by no means perfect, but I can say that I've tried my very hardest and I'm going to continue trying my hardest moving forward. My attitude has shifted when it comes to training and I can't wait to continue to see what I do as a runner.

This week I have a 3-miler, a 5-miler, and two 7-milers on the schedule. The good news I'm now done with strength training so I can just concentrate on my runs! I also plan to do lots of stretching and foam rolling (I'M SERIOUS THIS TIME 😂 ) and some research on pre-race diet. These next two weeks are critical in getting muscles stretched, diet right, and mind in a good place to toe the line on race day. We're firing on all cylinders, people! 

#Sub5orBust: Week 13 Training Update (January 13 - January 20, 2020)

Monday, 1/13 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/14 → 5 mile run (treadmill) + stretch

Wednesday, 1/15 → Rest

Thursday, 1/16 → Rest

Friday, 1/17 → 3 mile (treadmill) + phase 3 lift + stretch

Saturday, 1/18 → 4 mile run (treadmill) + phase 3 lift + stretch
Sunday, 1/19 → 4 mile run (treadmill) + phase 3 lift + stretch + therapy gun
Monday, 1/20 → 14 mile run (treadmill) + stretch

I'M SO DANG TIRED, Y'ALL 😩

I know I'm in taper but I am SOOOOOOOOO FREAKING TIRED. It was a struggle to get myself out of bed all week last week. All I wanted to do was sleep. I'm going to choose to believe that this is my body's way of telling me that I'm doing a good job of doing the hard work of training and I need to do a better job of doing the easy work of resting. That's logical, right? 😂

Because of my tiredness I did flip around my scheduled runs a bit. Of course, I was supposed to run 14 over the weekend, but I wanted to take advantage of my days off this weekend and sleep in as much as I could. On Sunday I woke up when my watch went off at 7 (it starts pestering me to move at 7am every morning) but knowing just how tired and sore my body was, I chose to get some more sleep instead. I ended up sleeping until 10 FREAKING AM which I haven't done in a long ass time. It honestly felt so good and I know that my body needed it so much. So, instead of pushing myself to fit in the 14 miler on Sunday, I switched in my Monday workout (which is from the week 14 schedule) and then did my 14 miler on my day off yesterday. Easy peasy!

It has been truly January the last few days. I'm not a runner who will suck it up and run in single-digit weather for more than 2 or 3 miles, so yesterday - with a real feel of 5-degrees outside - I sentenced myself to 14 miles on the treadmill. It's never fun to run for that long of a distance, no matter how much Netflix or YouTube you have queued up. I've been watching a lot of runDisney vlogs from Marathon Weekend and getting so excited for our trip for Princess Weekend. I watched a few of those in addition to ultra marathoner vlogs (which always keeps me inspired). I also fueled the way I have been fueling on my long runs for the past two weeks, but for whatever reason the Clif Blocks did not sit right in my tummy yesterday. I think it might because I ate a breakfast sandwich *right* before running, but there's always a number of factors. I'm hoping it was just a fluke!

Post-long run scene of the crime.

(For those who are curious, the treadmills at Planet Fitness only allow you to exercise at 60min intervals, so it looks like I didn't go too far. Trust me, I did! 😂)

This week -- because I did my 4 mile run & phase 3 lift on Sunday -- I only have a 7 mile run tomorrow, a 35 minute run & lift on Friday, then I'm thinking I want to do my 10 mile long run on Saturday so I can just be lazy on Sunday. Friday will be my final lift day which is exciting! So proud of myself that I stuck with both my running and lifting plan during this cycle (with a few exceptions) and I'm hopeful that it will make a huge difference on race day.

19 days til I toe the line in New Orleans!

#Sub5orBust: Week 12 Training Update (January 6 - January 12, 2020)

Monday, 1/6 → Rest

Tuesday, 1/7 → Rest

Wednesday, 1/8 → 4 mile run (treadmill) + phase 3 lift

Thursday, 1/9 → 5 mile run (treadmill) + stretch

Friday, 1/10 → Rest + therapy gun on my legs

Saturday, 1/11 → 20 mile run + stretch
Sunday, 1/12 → Rest

Peak week is over and it's now time to taper! I will admit that my second 5 mile run and second phase 3 lift that was scheduled for the week did not happen. Not really sure what the deal was with that, but we're back on the horse with the first week of tapering. Tapering has historically been me just.... not running. 😂 So this time around I want to focus on:

-Continuing to hit my scheduled work outs

-Eating well and keeping junk to a minimum where I can

-Stretching and foam rolling
-Getting my mental game right; THE POWER OF POSITIVITY, Y'ALL

-Hydrating until the cows come home

I want to have a good taper this time around. It's the last four weeks of preparation before the big day and every moment counts. I can't slip back into bad habits when I'm so close. I want that sub-5!

With week 12 being peak week, I had my 20 mile run over the weekend! The forecast called for beautiful a 60-degree and sunny day on Saturday and 60-but-rainy on Sunday. The weather changed and BOTH days ended up being beautiful, but I had already planned to run on Saturday so I got the weekend off to a productive start. Again, I had a really great long run which I'm so happy about! I stuck to the fueling and hydration plan I used for my 18 miler and it still worked so well. My legs were feeling pretty tired a bit sooner on in the run, and that could be because I had done my 18 miler just 6 days before, but I still managed to stay well under the 11:26/mi target pace. I can't tell you what a confidence booster that is heading into the taper!

My splits look a bit wonky in the first few miles. I accidentally bumped the lap button on my Garmin when I stopped shortly after mile 1 to fix the hose on my Camelbak (it had a nice kink in the hose so I couldn't drink anything 😂). I didn't realize I did this until the mile 2 split didn't beep and I had to manually hit the lap button to get back on track at mile 3. RUNNER PROBS! Either way I'm still quite happy with my splits. I really tried hard to push in those later miles when I got down to that 11:26/mi split on mile 17 & 18, and it helped me feel confident enough to go a bit faster for mile 19 & 20. It always feels so good completing that last long run before the taper, and I'm really proud of Saturday's run.

So now it's the taper - arguably the trickiest part of the training cycle. The name of the game is to rest your body as much as possible while still staying active, getting stretched, eating enough but eating well, sleeping sleeping sleeping, and getting your mental focus in place. At this point I've put in the hard work and now I need it to settle into my legs (and mind!) before race day. It's a lot to manage but I'm looking forward to actually doing the things I need to do during this taper instead of turning into a coach potato for 4 weeks before my race which I've definitely done in the past. 😂 WE'RE SO CLOSE, YOU GUYS!!!