August 2020 – Run Read Repeat

Marathon Training Week 5- getting in a groove!

I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face- having a training plan that is flexible is key for my mom life schedule!! This is the last week of “summer vacation” also known as the never ending spring break. So this is the last week for quite some time that I’m going to have any real flexibility in my day. That means getting up earlier to get my run in. It also means having to juggle my distances from one day to the next to get all my miles in. Having one key effort each week and knowing I can make the rest of the miles up any way I please keeps training fun and less stressful!!

The key effort for the week of August 24-August 30 was speed work and the total mileage goal was 28 miles. On the heels of the trail race last Sunday, I purposely planned to keep Monday light. While I would usually get my key effort in on Monday I pushed it to Tuesday this week.

Monday– August 24

All things considered for the day after feeling like I was getting chased through the woods for nearly 7 miles I feel good. I had originally penciled in 2 miles to kick off the week to keep my run streak going and to give my body a little bit of a break. Since I cut my half marathon to a 10K I didn’t feel like I needed quite as much of a break. Still kept it light and the pace easy because I was a little bit sore. I have this reoccurring pain in my right hip that I’m constantly keeping an eye on. I ran 3 nice and easy miles on the treadmill to kick off the week.

Tuesday– August 25

Key effort run!! Speed work is still not necessarily my most favorite thing to do. It pushes me well outside of my comfort zone, but is SO CRUCIAL for form, drive and ultimately helps with overall pace. The key effort this week is 800X5. To this I added 1 mile warm up and at least one mile cool down. Additionally, I ran a 400 or a quarter of a mile in between each 800 (half a mile) to catch my breath. My goal for my 800s is 4 minutes. I’ve found that doing speed work on the treadmill gives me the most control to hit my target paces. All in all I finished up with 6 miles and felt great. The 800s are work but I’m feeling good with the effort!

Wednesday– August 26

I got outside today!! Again, I had penciled in three miles for the day but wound up doing four instead. I was feeling good. While the pace wasn’t super fast it was still decent. For the last several weeks I’ve consciously been working on slowing down my pace and lowering my heart rate. Not every run is a race and “slower” runs are critical pieces to the training puzzle. Four miles with an average pace of 8:28 per mile works for me.

Thursday– August 27

Back on the treadmill. After a busy morning of crossing things off my to do list I didn’t get to exercise until mid morning. My right hip and hamstring are feeling sore/tight. So before I ran I did about a half hour of yoga. This concentrated, focused stretching has proven to be most helpful when I find myself getting tight. Schedule called for four miles. I somehow turned that into 5.29. No idea why other than I was feeling good after warming up with yoga and trying to stretch out this last week of the month to meet a larger overall mileage goal.

Friday- August 28

We had a lengthy laundry list of items to do today. I knew we needed to leave the house by 8:30 AM (PS this is an hour later than we will have to leave for school), so I had to get my run in early to allow enough time to shower and get everyone ready. While the pacing and my watch were totally off for timing purposes, I got another five miles in and another episode of Bosch on Amazon Prime.

Saturday-August 29

It was a rainy and humid morning. While running in the rain doesn’t scare me the humidity is not my friend. That said, and I’m not complaining about the treadmill because I love it (and anything is better than trail!- but I was getting a little bored with get on and run. Despite some glute and hip soreness I opted to push the envelop with a hill program. I’ve officially used the programs on the treadmill more in the last five months than in last 18 years combined. While the hills KICKED MY BUTT- it mixed up the run and kept me on my toes. I chose a 60 minute program. That equated to twenty 3 minute segments. Some were certainly easier than others. And the doubles at full incline and top speed left me sucking wind, but it also made me appreciate the recovery segments that much more.

Sunday- August 30

Sunday, rest day. I joke. Today was my 100th consecutive day running (at least two miles each day, almost always more)!! When I started my streak back in May I would have never imagined that it reach trip digits. Now to see where it can go. Another big milestone was hitting 800 miles for the year!! I originally set a goal of running 1000 miles this year. COVID hit and my miles increased and it became clear that barring injury 1000 would be “easy” so I upped the goal to 1255 or 2020 KM. It will be a stretch but I’m feeling confident that I’ll get there!

Subscribe to follow along on my journey to a marathon in 2020.

As a reminder- I run for those who can’t. I was scheduled to run the NYC Marathon on November 1. Despite it being COVID Canceled I committed to do the training and to running a virtual 26.2. I run for my dad, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s several years ago. I run to raise awareness and important dollars to find a cure. Please visit my donation page for more information.

Marathon Training Week 2

It’s officially week two of marathon training. Or in my case weeks three and four. Going forward- I’m going to just call it what it is- so let’s call this week four. In the week one post I shared how I modified my training cycle on day one because I moved up the weekend I want to run my solo 26.2. The interesting twist this week is that I’m actually scheduled to run an in person half marathon on Sunday. Translation- I don’t really want to over do it this week, while maintaining the training schedule.

Monday

I really like to get my key effort for the week done at the beginning of the week. There’s a sense of accomplishment knowing that the key effort is complete and I can make up the rest of the miles during the week. Key effort this week 800×4. What that actually became was:

1 mile warm up

800 x 4 (at 8 minute a mile pace)/followed by a 400 at an easy jog

1.25 mile cool down

Speed work used to be my nemesis. Which often meant I skipped it. I learned quickly however, that the schedule calls for speed work for a reason…it helps- it makes you stronger and faster for longer distances. Therefore, I’m not religious about getting in my speed work. Lately I’ve been doing my speed work on the treadmill. If the kids ever go back to school my plan is to actually use the track!

The run felt great. I was working hard on my 800s but I dare say I could have pushed the pace a little bit more. We shall see next week what is the right push pace for that effort.

Tuesday

In a “normal” world I would not run on Tuesday. It would purely be a strength training day. But we aren’t living in a normal time. In pandemic times I started a running streak that I just don’t want to give up!! To keep my running streak going I’ve been running two to three miles on my “off” days. However, I made a conscious choice when I kicked off formal marathon training that I would limit the “off” days to two miles and then do some strength training.

I got outside for today’s run for the first time in a LONG time. I have a great two mile loop- out and back. I love that Stava tracks the similar loops and tells me how my run compares to previous times that I’ve done the same effort. Now, there are two thoughts to these runs. I should just go out nice and easy, do two miles and call it a day. But I also ran the 3000 in High School track. Basically, just short of two miles. So subconsciously I’m working hard on this time to see how fast I can get it.

The run felt great- average pace of 7:54 a mile. So clearly, I didn’t take it easy but instead gave it a solid effort. Came back home and did a full thirty minute of Body Weight only exercise with Move Daily Fitness.

So it was a solid “off” day!

Wednesday

Technically not an off day- but with a race looming I am not looking to add a lot of extra mileage. I’m also enjoying watching Bosch on Amazon Prime. The only time I watch is when I run on the treadmill. So the tradeoff is that I’ll run three easier miles and watch some Bosch on my iPad. So Wednesday brought three miles at an average pace of 8:11 a mile.

Thursday

Another “off” day. Back to my favorite two mile loop!! The goal other than getting in my two miles was to test some new items I got before race day. YOU NEVER USE, EAT, WEAR DO ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY!! So I was testing one of my new hats to see how it felt and whether it rubbed, along with my RoadID bracelet. Again, it felt good to get outside and off the treadmill.

Friday

Friday kicks off the virtual Rock n Roll running series. This week there were two races a 6K (3.7 miles) and a 10K. My plan was to do the 6K on Friday and then forgo the 10K this week with the upcoming race on Sunday. Again, I got outside to run. The weather was a bit cooler and I felt great! I determined that I can only really control keeping my runs easy when I run on the treadmill. I had no grand plans for this run, but apparently the run had plans for me! For the first time since I started running again I ran four miles all under 8 minutes, with an average pace of 7:48. What?? Who is this person? Bonus, I felt great!!

Saturday

The day before race day. Two easy shake out miles to keep my running streak going! Plus I got to watch part of Bosch. A win, win!

Sunday

Race day! An hour and fifteen minute drive was well worth it for an IN PERSON RACE. Ironically, I raced six months ago to the day in Orlando. The catch-this was a trail race! Read all about the good, the bad, and the ugly here.

Overall, it was a successful training week. The week called for 26 miles total, which I would have surpassed if I ran the full race on Sunday. But I ended the week with 25.2. I’m not concerned about the additional .8 miles. I’m ready to start week five!! Despite the crazy trail experience I’m feeling pretty good to start the week and I’m ready to “never miss a Monday!”

Stay tuned for next weeks review. As always, I run for those who can’t and to #endalz! Subscribe to never miss an update!

Note to self- trail running isn’t the same as road running

Twenty-twenty the year of COVID. The year of racing being canceled. The year of trying new things. Since March running races has been purely in the virtual realm. While you still get to compete (seemingly after the fact when everyone’s times are posted), it’s not really the same experience as running a true race. So when the opportunity presented itself to run a REAL in person race I was on it. Originally, I believed the course to be some trail and some road. I can do that- I thought. What’s a little bit of trail??

Friends the switch from road running to trail running IS A BIG DEAL!! It was a wave start. Twenty five people to a wave, wearing masks waiting to start the race. The temperature almost 80 with 91% humidity. Amazing. I did the ice trick under my hat…as in I filled my hat with ice and put it on my head. It worked for a bit, but was no where close to doing the trick to cool me down. And we are off. To start is a flat gravel like path before we hit the woods. As a group we went out faster than I would normally pace myself, but there was the adrenaline of a real race pushing me along. Then we hit the trail. Hold the phone- I’m supposed to run on this??

This was the entire trail, but only narrower. Oh wait if it wasn’t full of tree roots it looked like this:

What in the world had I been thinking??? So I haven’t run trails in 25 years and I sign up for a trail Half Marathon. Clearly COVID made me crazy!! I had so many thoughts while I was running and looking down at every step I took so I didn’t roll an ankle or fall. 1) What in the world is a good mile pace vs. a road pace? 2) There’s a 10K option, one loop instead of two you should really think about that. 3) If I get hurt running this race, I won’t be able to train and run my marathon this fall.

For the first two miles I was literally just trying to get my bearings, regulate my breathing and heart rate. Around mile three and a half my left foot landed funny and I nearly took a dive. My wonderful husband was sending me supportive texts from him and the boys. I couldn’t even look at them because that would mean not looking at my feet. So this was definitely way harder than I thought. Here I’m wearing my Never Give Up bracelet and seriously considering giving up. But is it giving up when it’s really the safe call so as to not get hurt??

Well, the two sides of my brain contemplated this as I continued through the woods. Finally, I stopped to walk to catch my breath. The kind woman behind me stopped to make sure I was OK. Runners support other runners in an amazing way and I was reminded of the sense of community! While I wasn’t really OK, I knew I was going to be. I took out my phone, texted my husband and said “I’m calling it at the half way point. I’m fine. But I’d like to stay that way.” As if to seal the deal it started pouring shortly thereafter. I finished or did I? Does this count as a DNF? I imagine if there was no 10K one loop option I would have plugged along and actually finished, but notified the race organizers that I had made the shift from Half Marathon to 10K and made my way to the car.

I was HOT but relieved that I wouldn’t have to make that second loop. Could I have done it? Yes. It wasn’t the distance that was the issue. It was the terrain. I was not truly prepared for the un-level ground. And it was the fact that staying healthy for the marathon is more important to me. On the post race drive home I had some more time to think. Whenever I’ve trained for a race that race was super important to me. Today’s race was something I did because it was there but deep down didn’t really mean anything to my overall running goals. Before COVID hit, I had the whole year mapped out and I can tell you with great certainty that the Bear Trail Half Marathon was not on that list of must do race.

While I was at peace with my decision, I wasn’t expecting so many questions from the boys when I got home. What do you mean you didn’t finish? Aren’t you sad? Aren’t you disappointed? I thought you said, we never give up? Man, my fan club was being pretty rough on me. But this was an important teaching moment. We talked about it. We talked about safety being number one. We talked about how we have to have priorities and that sometimes that means making hard choices to focus on those priorities. Hello, I didn’t go to law school to be a stay at home mom- but they are my priority and it’s ok for focuses to shift!

Ready for the kicker?? Remember how I said I had no idea what was a “good time?” Apparently my time, while I was sucking wind wasn’t so bad. I finished as the 9th overall female out of 81 and 2nd in my age category of 19 runners. PS the age category was 30-39 and I’m the old lady in the age category. So apparently for my first trail race I did better than I thought.

Needless to say, you won’t find me running trail again any time soon. If you need me I’ll be running loops around the neighborhood or on the treadmill!

Happy running!

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Marathon training when your race is canceled- Week One

The Spring of 2020 saw COVID hit the United States. With it came the closing of schools, work places, and basically the end of travel. Of seemingly far less importance there came widespread cancellation of organized racing. Major marathons such as Boston, NYC, and Chicago were canceled. Some found themselves mid-training cycle and unsure of what to do. Do you finish the training cycle? Stop and just go into maintenance mode? Take some time off?

Truth be told, I’m some people. I found myself mid-training cycle for a ten mile race and a half marathon. I completed the training cycle and ran both races virtually. It provided “closure” for the race and the training cylce.

The harder question wasn’t those mid-cycle races for me. It was what came next. I set my sights on running the NYC Marathon in 2020. I successfully became part of the team for the Alzheimer’s Association and registered for the marathon in the beginning of March 2020. In my mind at that point, there was no way the marathon didn’t happen in November. Come on, it was months away.

I clearly underestimated the impact of COVID on life in general. What I anticipated would be a seemingly brief disruption to life was actually beyond my wildest dreams (nightmares!) We were/are in this for the long haul. Granted keeping our family safe, engaged and happy is priority number one but there were lots of disappoints for canceled life cycle events, birthday parties, and for me races.

The news of the NYC Marathon being canceled did not come as a huge surprise when it was announced in the summer. Quite honestly, I knew it was coming and I know it was 100% the right call. While I was disappointed I began to shift my focus to my WHY and my training. When I put into perspective that my WHY- was to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of my dad. So, really, when I got down to it I could certainly continue to fundraise and share my story as to why the Alzheimer’s Association is important to me and my family.

One such fundraiser was with Momentum Jewelry. I love their motivational wrap bracelets. Not only are they great for wearing when you exercise but all the time. Using the Alzheimer’s Awareness color of purple and meaningful motivational sayings was a huge success. (There’s still time to get one if you are interested. $20 each shipped directly to you. Secure yours today by sending $20 via Venmo to @kelly-blavatt).

Additionally, this was a valuable teaching moment for my children. Why? I was disappointed. There may have been tears. It showed them that they weren’t the only ones who were upset about things being canceled. But why else? When you say you are going to do something you do it- no matter what. So COVID wasn’t going to stop me from fundraising, nor was it going to stop me from sporting my purple and lacing up my running shoes.

In June I organized a virtual 5K for the Longest Day (summer solstice). I also ran a mile ever hour for every hour of day light. 16 hours equals 16 miles run. We sold t-shirts. The boys and my husband ran. We talked about why Mommy was trying to raise money. It was the first real conversation we had with the boys about the fact that my Dad has Alzheimer’s. There were many questions. Many of the same questions I still ask. And there were tears. But there was also a new understanding of WHY doing something is so important.

I had to ability to defer my NYC Marathon registration to a future year. In 2021 I’ll find out if I’m running in 2021, 2022 or 2023. Honestly, I also struggled with this news. It seems silly now, but when you are focused on accomplishing a big goal- a goal that requires a high level of physical fitness three years actually feels like a lifetime. But, with time and perspective, I realize I’ll be fortunate whenever I have the chance to run five bridges and through five boroughs.

In the meantime however, I was left to decide what to do this year. Did my Longest Day 16 miles provide me with the closure I needed? Did I want to run the Virtual NYC Marathon near home? Was I still going to accomplish my goal of running a marathon in 2020? I had some time to decide. As the months went on I saw my weekly and month mileage continue to increase. I was consistently hitting anywhere from 28-32 miles a week, well over 100 miles a month. When I looked at the training schedule from Run Lift Mom I saw that weekly I was already hitting the heaviest weeks of training. Granted my long runs would be getting longer but it wasn’t a lot more miles per week. Additionally, wouldn’t I want to learn now how my body was going to react to a full training cycle, rather than when a “real” race was looming on the horizon? Clearly the answer is yes!! But, as I’ve discussed before running is just as much mental as it is physically- do I really have it in me to run 26.2 miles BY MYSELF?? The answer to that question is- time will tell.

I registered for the NYC Virtual Marathon. Heck, if I’m going to run 26.2 I’m certainly going to get a medal! While I had originally planned to run my at home marathon on the scheduled race day of November 1, I literally called an audible (my favorite football term) and on day one training moved up race day to the weekend of October 17-18. Per the rules for the virtual race it can be done any time from October 17-November 1. I definitely do not want the pressure of leaving it to the last minute!

So what did this change in schedule mean for my training? As I mentioned above I was already running approximately 30 miles a week. I was mixing things up in regards to having longer run, speed work, and easier runs. I had to find a way to eliminate two weeks of training to allow for a proper taper before “race day.” The beautiful thing about a flexible training plan like the one that Run Lift Mom offers is one key run a week! What did I do, combine weeks one/two and three/four. Say what?? Well the key effort for week one is a 10KTT and for week two is 8 miles with a total of 24 miles total for the week. Monday I ran a 10K and Friday I ran 8 miles. In the end I’ll have closer to 28 miles on the week, so I don’t feel as though any value was lost. Again, if I had not already been running 30 or so miles a week I would not have felt comfortable making this scheduling change, but I feel confident with the earlier weeks. In addition to running I made a much more concerted effort regarding my strength training this week. I’ve come to learn that the strength training is just as important as the running. The goal is to get the runs done, strength training done and avoid getting injured. I’m having some hip pain, which I know means I need to also make sure yoga and more structured stretching is in my future.

There is joy in the journey! Each run, each training session is another step in the journey!

What does that mean for the coming week? Technically week two of official training but really weeks three and four. Week three’s key effort calls for speed work (800×4), while week four’s key effort is a ten mile run. Total miles for the week 26 miles. How’s this going to break down? Monday I’ll kick off the week with the speed work. Check that right off the list. Then I’m going to run light the rest (2-3 miles a day with some strength training) of the week because I’m registered for a COVID compliant half marathon on Sunday. Yes, I know that 13.1 is more than 10 miles but I’ll take a little longer rather than shorter. A week from now, I’ll be “caught up” on the training plan and on target to be ready to run 26.2 mid-October.

The next two months will not only be for physical training, but also for fine tuning race day nutrition and the mental strength for running without the adrenaline/fan support of a “real” race. That said knowing that my husband and boys will be waiting for me at the end will certainly keep me going!

Stay tuned for week two! Subscribe to get updates!