Strugglin'

That's what I'm doing. The last week of marathon training has been a total struggle, and I feel like a failure.

Exactly like I felt here. Defeated. Failing.

I have yet to be able to get my mileage over 45 miles for a week, and with only 9 weeks left until the marathon, that really, really worries me. I'm starting to think I'm just not cut out to run marathons. I'm also really starting to think that my goal of a BQ is just not possible. How the hell am I going to maintain a 8:12 pace or less if I can't even make it more than 12-13 miles at a time without wilting?

My longest run to date has been 15 miles. I missed my 18 miler due to the foot injury, and then this past weekend we only made it 13 miles before I threw in the towel (it was supposed to be 20-yikes). We were out of town in CT and it was mega hilly there, and it was super humid. I never felt like at any point in that run that I ever reached a 'groove' and the entire 2 hours felt like an enormous struggle. Also, it feels ultra pathetic that it took me over 2 hours to run 13 miles. A 9:23 pace should be easy. And at 13 miles I had to just stop. This all does not bode well for the actual marathon.

I'm thinking I'm feeling really defeated by this training program (Pfitzinger). It seems like no matter how hard I try, I can't ever consistently hit all the mileage/speed goals. My legs are constantly sore, and my average pace has slipped further every week. I don't really know what to do. I think a large part of this problem is training in the peak of the summer, when the heat and humidity are inescapable. Also, running more than 5 days a week seems to just kill me. Last week the plan called for 3 of those 5 days to be in the double digits, which meant for me there wasn't enough time for my body to recover in between for me to be able to successfully tackle the next one.

I'm not even sure what the point of all this is - if you are still reading, thank for listen to me bitch and moan. :) I think I'll try to read a few more blogs and get some inspiration back (like Kris's amazing mileage!).

I miss you, running.

So I haven't posted in a while, mostly because I haven't been running. Specifically, I didn't even run a step for 5 days. I know.

My mom and stepdad were here for the last 5 days, making it impossible to run. They don't travel much and they aren't very self-sufficient, so I felt obligated to keep them entertained. We did do a shitload of walking and I played the part of a substandard Boston tour guide (with a Southern accent) for most of the time. I have to say, being a tourist is exhausting.

Yep, Supertourist with Mama & Stepdad

Yes, this was taken from a Duck Boat.

Not giant balls. Giant Vandergraff machine at MOS (which was terribly disappointing)

PENGUINS!

SEALS!

After making my 4th trip to the airport in 10 days (and I do not work there, nor did I ever get on a plane) via MBTA (a 60-75 min one-way trip), I got home yesterday and stayed on the couch for the better portion of the day. The best part is I have only a 48-hour reprieve, because my sister and her husband arrive on Saturday. AND the day after they leave, I have more friends coming to stay with us. Hotel CK is booked. 

How do you guys get your workouts in when you have houseguests? I am at a loss trying to figure out how to do it. I guess I just worry they will feel like they are wasting their vacation time waiting on me.

My husband also had a rough week - miltary full-time job + 2 summer term grad classes = he's running on fumes. I convinced him to come run with me yesterday and we did a slow 4 miles and talked (because we've barely even seen each other over the past 7 days). 4 miles, 9:00 avg pace.

I've been reading Advanced Marathoning by Pfitzinger. I am such a geek, because I find all this information fascinating. I'm only about halfway through the book, so I will refrain from speaking about it until I finish. But already I have to say I really wish I would have read it before I ever ran a marathon. The title is somewhat misleading, because this information would be useful to anyone looking to successfully run a marathon. Marathoning isn't just about getting the miles in - it's also about fueling, hydration, rest, and run strategy -all of which is covered in this book.

Marathon training doesn't need to begin for a few more weeks, so for now I'm just running casually (and slowly) and going to the gym, yoga class, and some spinning here and there.

Long Run Sunday

We had a busy weekend and actually decided to bag Saturday's short run in favor of taking the dog for a long walk. Sometimes running isn't the most important thing on earth! I am happy to report she made it all the way around the reservoir and we didn't even have to carry her home. She was VERY tired though when we got home!

Using my purse as a pillow

So my husband had work commitments most of the day on Sunday, so we had no choice but to do our long run later in the day. I am NOT a fan of doing long runs in the afternoon/night - I usually have less energy and less drive to run, not to mention the decrease in daylight. We set out to run for ~2 hours around 6pm. It was pretty uneventful; although some runner's knee pain started around mile 9-10, so we took a shortcut on the way back and cut the run about a mile short. Since it's race week, it didn't seem worth it to me to push further and possibly hurt myself.

Run: 13.04 miles

Time: 1:51:00

Avg. Pace: 8:31

I still need to work on pacing - I told myself I was going to take it easy, but again, I just got impatient around  10-11 miles and had a random mile at 7:37, after which my exasperated husband (who was having some foot pain himself) chided me for going so fast. I seem to consistently be pretty slow for the first 5 miles - not really hitting a good stride until miles 5-10. 

There's a good possibility it will be very warm at this weekend's race - low 80's, but the race starts at 7 am so hopefully that will be helpful. Fingers crossed, I really don't want another Nashville-esque disaster.

Mile Total for the Week: 30

Training Plans

So in my super long running career (umm, like 5 years) I have always used Hal Higdon's training programs. I am really big on training programs for longer races (anything 13.1 and up), mostly because I'm terrified of running those distances without training. (I might be a control freak)

However, I'm starting to think I need to try something different. Specifically, I think I need higher mileage, at least for a half marathon. I think it might be a good idea to have a double digit run every weekend, and maybe even a few runs that are longer than 13 miles. I found this one; it looks promising. Runner's World also has a wide array of programs, but for $24.99 each, they can keep them. There are so many other free resources on the internet, I will just stick with them.

What training plans do you guys use? Do you have any super top secrets to success you'd like to share?

And a picture of my dog in a lobster costume. Just because. Doesn't she look thrilled?