Week Nine - In Person 5K!

Week Nine....  This week we had some dropped runs, two appointments with podiatry, a long run of 13.1, an in-person 5K and a double run day.  What a week!

So the frustrating news first.  Training and running is hard on the body and we are well aware that injuries can happen.  Liz has been working through some ankle/low calf area pain that has turned out to be Achilles tendon pain.  I have had some pain to the ball of the foot which I was pretty sure was a Morton's neuroma.  We saw the same podiatrist on the same day.  I saw him second and said "I know you can't tell me this, but I know you saw a runner this morning - we are training for the same marathon and we are a hot mess".  LOL.  Liz was told to rest (worst news ever), ice, stretch - the usual runner's medical advice.  She of course negotiated "how long" to actually rest.  For me, it was a cortisone shot to the foot which is what I was hoping for.  He injected the top of the foot (which I was thinking it would be the bottow, phew).  I asked him "can I run today" followed by "nurses and runners are the worst patients" and he said, UM - your foot will be numb and full of fluid.  Ok fine, tomorrow can I run???  LOL... he laughed and said I could do whatever I could tolerate.  24 hours of rest it was!

 

I am hoping for some improvement in the toe numbness/foot pain with after the cortisone shot.  The new shoes should start to help too.

 

This week we ran the Fitger's 5K in Duluth.  It was the most perfect, beautiful day.  The hills were an added challenge but the course was otherwise a nice route.  The race was 9 weeks to the day of Grandma's 26.2  It was a nice reminder of how much work we have left to do to get ready.  The last few week's challenges have led to dropping some of the long runs - and we know we need to kick it into gear to be able to run the marathon.  After the race, it was the perfect Duluth day to wander around canal park.

Finding this gem in Canal Park was fun.  My goal is literally just to finish!

Jenn powered through a solo 13.1 run this week!  She reports the run went well with no "hitting the wall".  What a great accomplishment anytime - but even more so when you go at it alone!

After the week we had and the recent dropped runs, our big win this week was two 5Ks in one day.  We ran Fitger's in the morning and ran another 5K in the afternoon.  Our times on both runs where very close - which was great since one route was hilly and the other one was a second run after a long break between.  Super fun, I hope to do a few more on the training plan.

Michelle also had a big win this week - with Liz and I out of commission mid-week, Michelle stayed on track and ran a solo six miles.  Nice work Michelle!

Lou and his family on their nightly walk - Sara has made a training photo, YEAH!   

After the 5K, Jenn got out and did some mountain bike cross training.  We are all realizing there are other ways to build up our endurance and we are trying to find ways to stay active in order to be able to run for five hours straight.  I finished a long workout with spin, elliptical, row and weights over the weekend.  That workout was over an hour long and I burned about the same as I would in a 35 minute run.  Such a good reminder how hard your body works when running.

One thing I have learned the past few weeks, I am definitely not eating enough to fuel these runs.  I am SO hungry.  I am working through that by increasing protein, carbs, and overall calories.  I used cuties this week on a run - it feels pretty good to be eating more fruit!

 

We are at the half way point to this training program and I did think I would be a little farther down the road with the long runs.  All things considered, we are doing well and hanging in there.  Here's to hoping for an EPIC week of nutrition, running, and cross training!
Carrie and Crew    

 

Week Eight....  We continue to work on the upside of last week's slump.  Some of us have climbed out a little farther than others.... those still climbing have the rest of us to help pull them up.  To say marathon training is a roller coaster is a TRUE STORY.  We have all hit some mental struggles the past few weeks.  I tried to pull rank this week as team captain (not sure I have that official title) and remind everyone to BE KIND to ourselves.  We are all moms with busy teenagers adolescents, and toddlers, we all work full time jobs, we lived the last year in a pandemic, and we are all over the age of 40 (some of us approaching mid-4o's, and clearly Lou isn't a 40 year old working mom but his plate is very full too).  Yet here we are, training for a marathon.  

This weekend..... This weekend we all planned a long run but we were sidetracked by the weather.  It has rained all weekend, hello April showers.  We all have access to treadmills but just not the same.  It is spring and we want to be outside...... but to be outside in the spring rain is a little tough.  Yes I know the theory - you need to train in the rain because it could rain on race day.  I love running in a summer rain but right now, it is a cold 30 degree spring rain.  None of us have a ton of outdoor running rain gear.  I invested in winter cold weather gear but not rain gear.  I am still a bit of a bigger girl (I giggled typing that) and wet clothes leads to chaffing.  Not fun.  So we let go of the long run this weekend but Liz and I still managed back-to-back days of six miles outdoors with one of them being in the 30 degree rain.  It actually felt pretty good.  We called it a day before the wet socks lead to blisters so we can stay on track this week with mileage.  We will find a spot to add in another long run or two.

 This week we did learn a few things.  Liz has had some struggles with late in the day runs.  I majorly struggled with a morning run and it wasn't even that early - it was 9:00 am.  I hadn't fueled right the night before and tanked by mile three.  It was awful.  I fueled mid run and did finished my planned six miles but not as easily as Liz.  Liz did great on her six but struggled earlier in the week with an afternoon run that I sailed through (ok sailing is a stretch but I didn't struggle).  We have decided I am an afternoon runner and she is a morning runner.  We make a challenging team, LOL.  And then there is Michelle.  She is seriously rock steady no matter what time of the day it is.  Let's all be Michelle ;)

 We welcomed April this week - our miles will really climb now! 

Six miles in the spring rain, check out that radar! 

 We did have some smiles this week.  Changing up the wardrobe to bright fun colors helped!

 Lou and is training partner Eleanore logging some miles.

  Necessary running gear.... GU, wicking shirt, body glide, sliced oranges and a water bottle with a special 13.1 Garry Bjorklund half marathon sticker.... patiently waiting for a 26.2 Grandma's sticker :)

    We had two wardrobe malfunction training bloopers this week.  I will share mine with pride.  I was three miles into a six mile run and I felt my running leggings "let go" with a small hole that popped open in the upper thighs.  Yep, heavy thighs burned a hole right through my leggings.  In fairness, I have had these for awhile ( they are my favorite) and they probably are worn out and should be retired.  Of course my first thought was... good Lord, I am still heavy enough for my thighs to create a hole in my pants.  Instead of beating myself up too much (refer back to the first paragraph, be kind, we are here everyday training).  I laughed, snapped a photo, called it a day before too much chaffing happened, and went home to order more leggings.  If anything, this running group and our stories have certainly brought some laughter to our lives..... and maybe some health and wellness too.

I am going to leave this week with some cheesy motivational quotes....... no more slump, let's drop the hammer and RUN RUN RUN.... See you next week.....

  

 

Week Seven: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Week Seven... The good, the bad and the ugly....  

We are wrapping up week seven this weekend and headed into week eight.  It has been a couple weeks since our team has checked in.  Lot's of things going on including some good, some bad, some ugly, and a good old fashioned runners slump.  Let's get caught up and see where we are headed in the next few weeks of the training plan. 

The good.....  Over the last couple weeks, our team has been busy with life.  Lots of travel happening and we conquered miles in Minneapolis, Wisconsin Dells, Florida, and Hawaii.  I am proud of the team for packing gear and making runs a priority when away from home.   We also hit double digits with a ten miler!

Sara and Lou took a family trip to Florida and Lou was able to run on the beach!

 Jenn spent some time in Hawaii and is proud to report she ran everyday!

   Liz traveled to Wisconsin Dells for a v-ball tournament and ran some hilly miles

 Liz and I took the kids to the Mall of America over spring break and packed our running gear.  Minneapolis had a late season winter storm and it was too icy to run outside.  We managed some indoor treadmill miles - boy was it hot in that running room!!!  Also we are pretty sure the treadmills haven't been maintenanced in awhile since we both managed 8 minute miles, LOL.  Lots of good miles happened while traveling the last few weeks - of course Jenn and Lou are the winners since they ran in Hawaii and Florida!

More good.....

 

  Double digits!  Logged our first ten mile of this training program.  

  I was pretty proud of this negative split run!  There is a slight downhill around mile 2-3 so I take advantage of that - but I am pumped that the last miles were still negative splits coming off the downhill slope.  

 

Sunshine smiling miles!

The bad...... So clearly, we have had lots of good in the past few weeks.  Running is weird though.  One day can be amazing and awesome and the very next day can be a rough, brutal run.  We did have a stretch of some "bad" these past few weeks.   Liz and I are both working through some runners aches and pains.  She is having some leg cramps she just can't get on top of.  She's worked on hydration, electrolytes, stretching, and has even gone to PT and is really working on her cadence.  She has been working hard to take more steps but run the same pace - weird, right?  She has even added a metronome!   For me, I am dealing with the left foot pain that is getting annoying.  There is a pain in the ball of my right foot that causes my toes to have "zingers" and then they go numb.

We both took a trip to the Duluth Running Company.  We both had very helpful advice - they are just amazing there!!  After analyzing our gate ----- which by the way, let me tell you how they do that.... you briefly run on the treadmill and they record your feet.  I unexpectedly went to Duluth so I was not prepared.  I ran on the treadmill in jeans and no sports bra with other customers in the store.  OMG.  LOL.  I really want these feet fixed so in the end, I really didn't care who watched ----- so after analyzing our gate, we both switched shoes.  Liz returned to a pair she has used in the past and I switched from Hoka to Saucony.  Liz is doing ok in her shoes since she has worn them before.  For me, I am a little nervous to run in new shoes so close to race day.  11 weeks is still time but I don't want new shoes to mess with my arches, heels, or shins.

 We are super excited we both have running gear to match our new shoes, LOL.  Of course comfort and fit are the most important.... but it helps they are pretty too! 

So with everything we have going on, the two weeks was the really the first time we dropped some runs, shortened runs, and adjusted the training plan.  After this run, I posted this....

Question:  What are your options after a stretch of challenging runs?
Answers:
A:  Quit
B:  Shrug it off

We went with..... B

 

So this is what is going on with my foot.  This is where the pain is and with my symptoms, I think I have what is called Morton's Neuroma.  I saw my primary care provider who referred me to podiatry.  I am hoping for a cortisone injection next week to help alleviate the inflammation.  The new shoes might help too - I went up by one size and got something with a wider toe box.  I am hesitant to run in them yet - I think I will try them for short runs but stay in my other shoes for long runs until I see what podiatry says.

   So this toe is happening on our team right now but I won't name names. 
Not sure if this falls under Bad or Ugly???

The ugly...... This weekend I came down with some sort of GI bug.  It has been pretty ugly the last 24 hours.  I think it was something I ate because my son and I got sick at the exact same time.  I have barely left the couch much less run.  Yesterday I didn't eat a thing until late in the evening.  I feel like I have lost weeks of training.  I missed a few runs last week with our aches and pains - and now I have missed a 12 mile.  I think this is the slump I was talking about and it is hard not to feel like I won't be able to turn this around and get back on track.  Of course I know I will - but right now, it feels like I will never run 3 miles much less 26.2

So even with the bad and the ugly the past few weeks..... I will leave the post with this.....

We will make it.... but we will also keep telling our story along the way.....

See you next week, I won't take another writer's break!

Carrie and the crew.