Week #3 and #4 of 24

 I did not post last week so I am combining it with this week.  Honestly I feel like I am still in this fog.  Depression is too strong of a word.  I probably have depression.  A doctor might diagnose me and in fact one did in the 90's.  I am more of a functional depressed person.  When I feel it coming, I take action and do the things I need to do before it gets way out of hand.  At the same time I may have been suffocating or stifling my feelings and I worry they will explode at some point.  Yikes.  Running really helps.  It really really does.  I don't know what I would do if I could not run and so I won't take it for granted.

Monday = Long Run 5.14 miles at a pace of 9.50 minute miles.

The weather was not great...actually it was kind of miserable.  I needed to run and I waited until the afternoon to do so.

Tuesday = 5K Attempt: 25:13 with a pace of 8.07 minute miles.  This is my fastest in a couple of years but not my PR.  I don't know if I can ever break 24.  It is so hard and I feel so winded after the second mile.  I can't make myself go faster.  But I am faster than I have been in awhile and for that I am pretty proud of myself.

Wednesday = Weights and swim 1,000 yards at the gym.  Still not motivated to swim and not enjoying it as much.  I miss swimming with my friends.

Thursday = Weights and stationary bike 30 minutes on Christmas Eve.

Friday = Slower 3 mile run.  I went slower on purpose.  It was a leisurely Christmas Day run.

Saturday = Rest.  We traveled to Tacoma.

Sunday = We walked around five miles with the Roths family. It didn't feel as intense but my knee and ankle both felt sore so it was a workout.

Monday = Rest.  Travel Day back home.

Tuesday = Rest.  I needed another day to rest.

Wednesday = 5K Attempt #4 with a pace of 8:25 and a time of 26:10.  Did not PR because I started out way too fast.  My first mile was 7:44 and my second mile was a whole minute slower.  I did have to stop at least once.  Not bad considering Hailey has COVID-19 and I might have it too.

Thursday = 2 mile hike at Jory Hill Park with Rob.  Even though we are dealing with COVID I feel like my depression has lifted.  I don't feel the depressed feelings anymore.  I am not sure what changed, but it helps a lot.

Friday = Ran 5 miles with a pace of 10:58/mile.  I ran slower than normal since I might have COVID

Saturday = Stretching and strength training at home

Sunday = Long run.  9.04 miles.  I went intentionally slow again just because I have been congested and not sure if I have COVID.  It really was not all that difficult of a run.  

Week #2 of #24

 It has been a harder week in terms of many things to get done...and a harder week emotionally.  With everything getting shut down again and reopening dates being extended later and later in the spring.  It's hard to know what it is going to happen.  I think people are doing the best they can, but there is much discouragement.

I still managed to exercise this week even though my motivation was less on certain days.

Monday = Long Run.  Ran 7 miles in the neighborhood in the afternoon.

Tuesday = About 20 minutes of weights in the afternoon and swam 1,000 yards.  I did a 500 and timed myself and I was about 14 minutes.

Wednesday = 3 miles of intervals at Wendy Kroger Park and stretching/strength training at the park

Thursday = Rest. Pretty busy day.

Friday = Ran 4 miles in the afternoon around the neighborhood.

Saturday = Another attempt to break 24 minutes on my 5K time.  Close.  I got 25:48.  Whatever time is the fastest I will submit to to the 5K I am doing in December.

Sunday = Rest.  It was a busier week than originally though and I needed the rest time.

Week #1 of 24: Here We Go

 I am not training for a specific marathon in mind because I want to wait and see what is available in the spring or early summer.  I am following Hal Higdon's Marathon 3 program which is 24 weeks long.

Monday = Ran 3.1 miles at Riverfront Park while Kara rode her bike.  My time was 26:36.  I really want to break 24 minutes but it is going to be super hard.  I felt like I was going so fast as it was and could barely maintain the pace.  I am going to keep working at it.  It was nice to be outside with Kara and enjoy the Christmas lights.

Tuesday = Bike Ride at Minto Brown.  8.44 miles in approximately 43 minutes.  It felt so great (though a little chilly--should have worn a jacket) to get on my bike again.  I was so sore though.  I actually had to put an icy hot patch on my ankle at night.

Wednesday = Rest.  Kind of stressful day as there are talks (once again!) about going remote.

Thursday = Ran 6 miles in the neighborhood in the morning.  About a 9:54/mile pace.  Thankful it did not rain.

Friday = Did about 25 minutes of weights at the gym and swam for 25 minutes.  I am still not that motivated to swim right now.  Maybe because I am not swimming with my gym friends.

Saturday = I did about 20 minutes of weights and then I did intervals at Pringle Elementary.  I ran a total of two miles basically do one lap repeats with a recovery in between.

Sunday = Ran 3 miles in Keizer.  I met at Emily's house and we did three miles at a faster pace but not as fast as I ran on Monday.  It was a good run and I was glad to run at the beginning of the day.

Time to Train For a Marathon

 I have almost completed ten races in this pivotal somewhat challenging incredibly frustrating year of 2020.  I truly believe God has used running to propel through many of the disappointments.  My passions in the early 2000s were youth ministry and running.  2020 took much away from me, but it reignited my passions in both.

I plan on doing a 5K in a few weeks and see if I can hit twenty-four minutes.  Honestly I don't enjoy 5Ks because there are quick and fast.  By the time I have warmed up, I am done.  I hate having to push myself to the point I feel sick afterwards.  There is much less pressure than an actual in person race.  Kara said she would ride her bike beside me so that might help with pacing.  I am going to try and do a practice run with her next week.

Aside that I feel like it is time to train for Marathon #6.  I am actually thinking I would settle for a virtual race if in person races do not open this spring.  However it is looking promising with the vaccine coming and I will remain hopeful.  However I think I should just run one regardless.  I still want to beat four hours.  My pace per mile would have to be 9:09 and I would have to carry that for 26.2 miles.  I know I can do it for a 10K and even a half.  When doing a full I typically start to fall apart around Mile #18-19 and when I ran Arizona it was before that.  I still think that was a nutrition issue.  I totally missed an aid station and I don't know how I could have missed it.  I also did not train as thoroughly.  I did hardly anything with strength training.  I had an ankle injury and took a whole week off and cut down my long runs.  By the last few weeks I felt burned out with life in general and skipped workouts.  

This time around my work schedule is pretty light.  I am not overly busy and I can do long runs on weekdays.  Which I have not been able to do since we lived in Michigan and did not have kids yet.  I know the physical therapy stretches for my IT band and I know how to "baby" my ankle as well.  I am also continuing to work on my form which I hope makes a difference.  Running helps tremendously with all my nervous energy.  With all the COVID stress this week, I really wanted to just leave the house and go run.  I needed to take this week off after the half marathon last Saturday.

I am going to follow Hal Higdon's Marathon 3 program.  I followed it when I ran Minneapolis in 2015.  That is still my fastest marathon.  I might substitute some of the cross training for running.  I am not motivated at all right now to swim and biking is hard in the winter.  I like the short run, medium run, and long run.  I will probably do the short run as intervals or a tempo run.  Which I used to hate doing, but got really used them to this fall.  I found at least three local parks that have nice paths to run intervals on.

I am not going to pick a marathon yet until I see which marathons open up this spring.  I may try and do one local so I don't have to spend a lot on travel and lodging.

Half Marathon Training Week 4: Back to Running...and Blogging Too

 I have not kept up this blog in almost a year but I have been exercising.  I still find it very helpful to keep a record of my workouts.  I was able to do that this past summer because I participated in several virtual races that require participants to log miles and workouts.  This is a summary of the last 10 or so months.

In December I ran the Eugene Holiday Half Marathon.  The weather was amazing for a December morning.  I loved the course which was mostly through parks and on bike paths.  I also PRed.  

In January I decided to run ten races in 2020.  I decided to not start until February.  There were not many race choices in January that worked with my schedule and I did not want to run on New Years Day.  My first race of the season was Be My Muddy Valentine 5K Obstacle Course race in Tualatin.  Which is the last in person race I have run since COVID 19 hit in March.  Unfortunately I had to run Muddy Valentine alone because Derek got sick the day before on Valentines weekend.  That whole weekend was a whirlwind of up and down emotions--joys and disappointments.  Some of it had to do with work and some of it not.  I think it was almost preparing for me all the challenges and even bigger disappointments that would come in March when COVID 19 hit.

I did a virtual 10K in March.  In April I did a virtual 5K with Emily.  In May I did a virtual half marathon and I used friends houses as aid stations which was pretty fun.  In June & July I did virtual races where you log your miles.  I also did the Salem Paddy Pint Virtual 10K in June.  The race was supposed to be in March but was one of the first cancelled events when the quarantine hit.  

Now it is almost October and I am doing a 5K on Saturday.  Then I am looking at doing a triple race in November where you do a 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon in the same week.  I was up to around ten miles right before Labor Day Weekend.  I did not run in Arizona and after I came home the fires hit.  The poor air quality did not allow us to do any sort of outside activity.  Then I started to feel somewhat depressed and I needed a week off to get myself together.  Last week I ran four times and rode the stationary bike.  I did not do more than four miles.  I think I can get back up there again. I am doing Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half (which I think I did for Eugene or else I followed it loosely) and I am starting on Week #4

This is my week so far...

Monday = Rest

Tuesday = Ran 3.15 miles with a ten minute pace

Wednesday = Swam 1000 yards (about twenty-five minutes)

Thursday = R30 & 30 minutes of weights/strength training

Friday = 3 mile test run with the Run For American App

Saturday = Virtual 5K with Emily!  26:45!

Sunday = 7 mile run before church

Week 8

It was a good week overall.  Full but good things happening.

Sunday = I ran at the track in the afternoon and did a pyramid.  I did 1 x 200, 1 x  400, 1 x 800, 1 x 1200, 1 x 400, 1 x 200 with recovery laps in between.  It was a harder Sunday due to issues with the kids and feeling a little off emotionally and mentally. Running helped.

Monday = Veterans Day!  Nice day off.  I ran 4.5 miles in the afternoon

Tuesday =  Rest

Wednesday = Swam.  I did not keep track of my yards but I swam about 50 minutes.

Thursday = Group Ride.  It was a little better but still boring.

Friday = Ran 3 miles and did stretching at home

Saturday = Ran 10 miles.  It was harder than expected and I had to take some walk breaks on the hills.  I also started having mild IT band pain on some of the downhills.  It did not get paralyzing and I kept running at a normal pace.  It still hurts and I can feel it.  It is somewhat of my own fault because I have not been doing my PT consistently.  I am hoping but doing it consistently and doing some rolling and dynamic stretching before I run will help it.  I have not dealt with it in a very long time.

Weeks 6 & 7

I caught my motivation and have been working out regularly.  Sometimes I think that is the one thing keeping me grounded and sane.  I feel work is getting easier and a little more predictable.  There are still loads of challenges.  I am tired of taking classes.  It is painfully unmotivating taking a course after you already walked and went through the graduation process.  I have three more weeks but it feels like ten!  Rob was out of the country for a week and we actually did really well while he was gone.

 It was probably the first time we did as well as we did.  Then he was home for a few days and then left with Kara to St. Louis.  This is the second time in less than a year he has done going away for a long time, home for a few days, and then going away again.  The second transition back home always is harder.  I was off emotionally a good part of yesterday and feeling out of sorts.  I feel a little depleted.

Our dear friends might be moving away and we should know by next week.  If I had to guess, I would say we will be saying good-bye to them at the end of the school year.  However, we don't know for sure. I had a dream about that very thing last night and we walked about everyone will be crying at graduation.  The dream was so clear then I had to piece reality in my mind when I woke up and it took a few extra seconds.

 I know we will remain friends.  Hey friends are the friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them...ha ha.  We all learned that in 1987.  I know in their denomination they tend to move around a lot and we would have to let them go one day.  Honestly I had hoped selfishly we would be the ones to move first.  Or we would both move the same summer to the same place.  My reason being not because I want to move, but because I have a hard time letting go of people.

So that is where I am at right now...

For Week 6 which was the week Rob was gone I ran at the track on that Sunday (the 27th) in the afternoon.  I was going to run on Monday but I slept until 7 AM.  I woke up to Hailey asking, "Mom are you getting up?"  Mondays are still so hard for me.  On Tuesday I ran 4 miles.  I did go to swimming on Wednesday.  I even made it to Ride on Thursday and again was very bored.  Rob came home Halloween night.  I did weights and ran 3 miles on the treadmill after work on Friday.  Saturday I ran 9 miles and it was very beautiful out.

This past week I ran at the track on Sunday morning.  I again slept until 7 AM on Monday and forwent any plans to any sort of exercise.  On Tuesday I ran four miles and I think I was supposed to run 4.5...oh well.  On Wednesday I swam.  On Thursday I went to ride and had to leave early to bring Rob and Kara to the shuttle.  On Friday I ran an amazing six miles in the morning.  On Saturday I did weights and ran three miles though I think I was supposed to do four.

The training is going super well.  My pace is faster.  I need to keep up with my PT though and also make sure I am not oversleeping on the weekends.