Four Weeks To Go....

So I have four weeks left to get myself ready to run a marathon. Scary..this would be the shortest time that I have ever prepared for a marathon so I would really be relying on my training for the past few weeks and running the LA Marathon on March 9th.  I wonder if my body still remembers that?

I have so many things going on right now and I have made some decisions that are probably not the best a month out from a marathon. I actually tried out two new pairs of shoes this week. The first pair that I tried was the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14's. I took them out on a super easy short run to see how I felt. They felt really stiff and my feet got really hot running in them so they were a big NO!

 

I also got brave this week and attempted some speedwork. I really do not enjoy speedwork because it is hard! I know that it is a necessary evil and without it I will not get any faster. I wanted to quit the entire time and I kept thinking that I would do less than planned but I did not allow myself to quit.

After my successful speedwork session, I decided that I needed to go for a good tempo run and really try to push the pace. I tried out the Brooks Ravenna 5's on this run and I really liked them. I felt like I was not wearing shoes and they were super comfortable. This was one of my best runs in a long time. It felt good to push myself because most of the time I do not push myself like this.

My legs felt pretty good after my tempo run which was a blessing since I was worried about being sore for my long run. My long run was 15 miles this week and I ran the first 7.5 miles at an easy pace (9:11 average) and then went for a faster finish (8:41, 8:14, 8:06, 8:10, 8:09, 8:10, 8:02, 7:57.) I have two long runs left (18 and 20 miles) and then it will be race week.

TOTAL MILES: 34.15

I am honestly still undecided as to whether or not I will run this marathon. My confidence level is just not where it needs to be. I have come to terms with the fact that this marathon will not result in a BQ and it could end up being my worst marathon yet. The funny thing is that the minute that I think I am ready to back out, something reels me back in like this article. The marathon that I signed up to run is #3.

http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/escapes/go-list/The-Fastest-and-Slowest-Marathons.html

What is your shortest training period for a marathon?

Last year, I trained about 11 weeks when I ran this same marathon that I have coming up!

I Might Just Have to Do It!

In my last post I talked about my options for the marathon that I have coming up on May 25^th. Well, I was decided that I would not run the marathon. I found out that I could defer my entry to 2015 for a $17.00 fee but before I made it official, I wanted to call and cancel my hotel reservation.

I called to cancel my hotel reservation and I was told that it is non-refundable. I was not aware of that when I booked it and my confirmation mentions nothing about the non-refundable cancellation policy. I guess I could dispute the charge with my credit card company but with my luck I would end up paying for it! I am now thinking that I do not want to just pay $175.00 for a hotel that I am not going to use. This is my current dilemma that I have to deal with.

My training up until this point has not been so great but I might just end up running this marathon and swallowing my pride. I am sure it will not be anything great but if I am pain free and able to get at least one 20 miler in, I am probably going to suck it up and run it! I love the course and loved the idea that it is or should I say "was" a really small race. This year they allowed an extra 500 runners into the marathon so I am hoping that this will not be a problem since the majority of the course is on a narrow bike path.

On a positive note, running went pretty good last week.

Tuesday: Warm Up, 3 X 2 Miles with 800m recovery, Cool Down for a total of 8 Miles@ 8:37 pace. Changing things up kind of helped me to get this done on the machine without dying of boredom. I felt pretty good (during and after this run) and started feeling like I am getting back on track.

Thursday: 7.16 Miles @8:23 average pace, which was tougher than it should have been which is frustrating but I know that I have to work at it.

Saturday: 13.05 Miles @8:52 average pace. I kept it easy for the first nine miles and then picked it up for the last four. I am trying to start my long runs slower and keep the pace at what a long run pace should be. That is sometimes hard for me because I want to hurry and finish.

Total Miles: 28.21

I am hoping to increase my mileage next week and pick up the pace on my long run by adding a few more miles at MGP or faster. Thank you for all of your support over the past few weeks which has not been the greatest.

How was your week? What are you training for?

Decisions..Decisions..Decisions....

I feel like things are finally starting to move in the right direction for me as far as running but it has been a very slow process. My mileage is still really low because I am trying to slowly ease back into things. My longest run since the LA Marathon happened today and I ran a total of 17 miles for the week. 

I lost four weeks of training for my next marathon due to the pain I was having in my hip. My next race is the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon on May 25th which is supposed to be a really important race for me. I was going to make my first attempt at a BQ but with the training that I have lost I am not feeling very optimistic about my goal. I have spent this past week thinking about how I should approach this race. Last year I ran my best marathon time on this course and I want to remember this course in a positive light.

I have kind of broken in down into a few choices.

1) Run the marathon even if I have to give up my goal of a BQ attempt. I mean I really want to run this race because I love the course but running a marathon just to do it is kinda hard on your body and I am not sure if I want to do that right now considering that I am not 100%. I also have the expense of a hotel and travel and I would rather not spend that money on a race that I am just running for the heck of it. This whole running thing can get expensive!

2) Transfer my bib and not run the marathon. This is the decision that I am leaning towards if you asked me for an answer today. I have other races lined up this year and I am thinking that it may be smarter to give my body the time it needs to get back into things and then realign my goals for a future marathon.

3) Downgrading to the half marathon is no longer an option since it is now sold out.

I have a lot of thinking to do in the next few weeks since my deadline to transfer my bib is May 15th. I am going to see how my long runs go for the next two weeks (13 and 15 miles) and then make a decision. I really need to make the smartest decision because I don't want to push myself into a injury that is going to sideline me for a few months. I feel that I am lucky given that this race allows for me to transfer my bib for just $15.00.

Have you ever been in a similar situation? How did you handle it?

4/4-4/5/14: Ragnar So Cal Relay (Runner's High)

This was my third Ragnar Relay. I ran both Ragnar So Cal and Ragnar Las Vegas last year and loved every moment of it.  We had five new runners of our team this year and everyone was a lot of fun. I was in Van 2 again this year and my total mileage was 12 and some change. I like to keep the mileage low because when I don't sleep since I don't enjoy running all that much when I am dead tired. I also told my team that I will be backup for anyone who gets injured or cannot run their leg for any reason. I am also glad that I didn't go for much more than I did because of the issues that I have been having with my hip. I knew that I was going to have to take it easy which is hard.

The same company, TRL Systems, that sponsored our team last year was nice enough to do it again this year. They paid for our vans and the gas which is the largest expense for a team unless you use your personal vehicles. We did have a huge scare with our two 15-passenger vans the day before the event. Enterprise called our captain and told him that due to the Chevy recall that is going on, they were not able to rent the vans to us. After explaining our situation to them, they found two SUV's for us and that is what we used this year.

 

We also had some great volunteers who also volunteered for our team last year. They are so nice to do this for us. One of the girls on our team (pictured below in the middle) finds all of our volunteers and drivers. She is awesome and saves us a lot of headaches, time and money since we would have to pay if we did not find volunteers.

 

Our driver was awesome as well. He drove Van 1 last year and this year he drove us in Van 2. He told us that it was a whole new experience driving Van 2. I guess we were a little too crazy for him. He slept whenever he could but I know the poor man was tired.

My team had a start time of 6:45 am but we ended up starting at 7:00 am since we were busy taking team photos and missed our start time. Ooops! Not a big deal because we do not run this event for time but simply for fun. This year we ran for a more important purpose. We ran in honor of my running buddy's husband who was the driver of Van 2 last year.  He took his own life last September and he is the one who started "Runner's High" so our team ran in his honor by wearing these bibs.

The weather was so much cooler this year which was a real blessing. It was in the 60-75 range which was really nice. It was so hot last year which made it pretty tough. So here is a quick summary of the three legs that I ran. 

Leg 9: 5.3 Miles (3:23 pm): Average Pace 8:02
My first leg was the longest but the easiest. I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure what to expect with my hip but it was actually pain free and I did push it a little just to see if I could run faster than a 9:00 pace which is the pace that I committed to. I really enjoyed this leg because I haven't ran an 8:XX pace in a few weeks. I think I got 16 kills on this run too!

 

Leg 21: 3.25 Miles (2:28 am): Average Pace 9:07
This leg was tough! I had not slept at all and I was running on empty. My dinner did not sit well and I was just not feeling it! I just told myself to take it easy and try to stay at a 9:00 pace if possible and forgot about the kills. I didn't want to run alone in the dark so I pretty much stayed with another girl who was out running. We came to a signal and when the it was our turn to go she looked at me and said "Happy Trails. See you at the Finish" and took off. I wasn't sure why she said that to me. It started to sprinkle and it felt really good to run in the cool weather. I eventually caught up to "Happy Trails" and ended up passing her and she was kill #10. I think she gave me the motivation I needed to get to the exchange.

Leg 33: 3.52 Miles (11:49 am): Average Pace 8:31
My last leg was probably the most enjoyable! Most of it was on a beach path and the ocean view and breeze was amazing. I had slept for about an hour at this point so I was still lagging but wanted to finish this last leg at a decent pace because I was about to be done. My goal was an 8:30-8:35 pace and I was able to accomplish that even though I was exhausted!

 

We had a lot of fun in Van 2 and from what I hear, Van 1 was very quiet. They called themselves the "Library Van." Our van was non-stop and we had a lot of fun. We provided leg support to our runners whenever possible and we also handed out bottles of water and snacks to the other runners out there. That was pretty fun and the runners really appreciated it.

We ran to the finish line as a team which was really fun. We finished in 33 hours 2 minutes and 47 seconds to be exact and placed 304th out of 510 teams in the Regular Mixed Open Division.

Almost Wordless Wednesday