Base Building Week 2

So this last full week January was a bit rough, no different from the week before but maybe a little less stressful. 
Monday was a rest day, I decided to sleep in and take it easy.
Tuesday I got up and headed to the gym. Then out for an easy run.

Wednesday I wasn't able to get up or something, can't really remember. But I was able to get out of the shop early enough to get a run in before Dorian got out of school. I didn't take Jetta this time.

Thursday I got up and headed to the gym for legs and arms, then went home to cuddle with my little boy since he wasn't feeling good.

I was again able to leave the shop early enough to get home and change my clothes and get a run in, this time I took both dogs and hoped it would be an easy run...  I felt like it was a bit faster than what I wanted.... especially after legs that morning.

Friday I definitely knew I had pushed a tad too much with Thursday's run after legs. I was sore in my legs and arms. I decided to make it a rest day although I had intended on doing some abdominals which didn't happen. Slacking......

Saturday I woke up sore and with a headache from the margarita and a half I had Friday night at Logan's, I will never be doing that again.... maybe it's the tequila but I won't be having any more margaritas the night before I need to get up and run. I asked my mom to watch Dorian that afternoon so I could get a run in, Jetta and I got in a nice easy run around my sister's and brother's neighborhood. Cold weather keeps the creeps inside haha.

I did notice during Saturday's run I was really sore in the hamstrings and glutes, and stretched as much as I could during the run but it worried me. So this morning I woke up and made a very hard decision, I wasn't going to get a long run in for this week. Technically marathon training doesn't have to start until May or even June, so I've got time, but I do want to work up to running 15 mile long runs nearly every weekend from the end of March to when marathon training starts. 

Most likely I am not going to run today, if hubby gets home by 7 I might go for an easy 3-5 miler but if not that is okay. I'm going to be ready for next week.

Registered for the Indy Monumental, Reserved hotel.. now the waiting

    November 2014 was my very first marathon, I had hoped for a finish time of 4:20:00 - 4:30:00 but due to fueling errors I got sick at mile 14 and it lasted until mile 23 which caused me to do a lot of walking. I felt kind of felt cheated out of the "first marathon" experience, I didn't hit the wall or cry at the finish line. I was frustrated but happy to finish, but this race had been on my mind a lot since then. 

   This week it crossed my mind again, and it didn't take long for me to consider it. Yesterday I registered for 2019's marathon. I was a little hesitant, not sure how this year is going to go and with my husband in the process of selling our current shop building and then the building of the new shop out on our home property this winter and spring, things are just going to be hectic and chaotic. I wasn't sure when I'd be able to break the news to him, I guess I wanted to wait until he is in a better mood and things are looking up for us. Wednesday night I mentioned to him about making the 3 of us spending a few days in Indianapolis this November if things aren't chaotic or too stressful. He said maybe, but of course asked what's up there and I mentioned my maybe doing the marathon, he didn't say no. This morning I told him I had registered for the marathon, he seemed cheerful and even mentioned me needing to train. So just before lunch I reserved a hotel room for us, from Friday November 8 to Monday November 11. Lunch was really good and he was very satisfied, so once we got back to the shop I told him I had reserved a hotel and he seemed alright with that. So far, so good. 
     Now comes the difficult part, the training. The actual marathon training doesn't really have to start until April or even May, but my goal is to finish January with 30 miles a week and go into February with 30 miles a week. Then to finish February with 35 miles a week going into March running 35 miles a week. I hope to start the official training on April 1, and ending the very first training week at 39 miles and go from there. That means no excuses and getting a run in whenever I can, and making sure I get my long runs in.
    My only goal other than to finish this race is to do better than my finish time in 2014 which was 4:48:10. My only real goal now is to finish under 4:30:00, unfortunately I never found out what made me sick so I really don't know if I can avoid it this time around. 
Anyways, that is over 8 months away and all I've got to worry about now is putting in the mileage and earning that finish line.

Thinking about 2020 Already

    Yes I know, 2019 has barely begun and I'm already looking at 2020 goals but that's just my nature and I hope it will keep me focused even when days are rough and life becomes more a struggle than it is. 
Of course, my goals for 2019 are pretty conservative I think. My first race of the year will be next month and then quite a few races to keep me busy.
2019 Races
February 23 - Bound the Mound Half Marathon (Trail)
March 16 - Run of Luck 7k
April 27 - Autism Evansville 5k 
May 11 - Newburgh Rivertown 8k
July 26 - Friday Night Fever Trail 5k
August 30 - Friday Night Fever Trail 5k
September 7 - YMCA 15k
(Hopefully)
September 15 - Honest Abe Trail Marathon
October 5 - Evansville Half Marathon

So, the only marathon I am hoping to complete this year is the Honest Abe Trail Marathon. I called about it and was told registration usually opens around April or May and I could be put on an email list to be notified when it opens. So I did just that.
Other than those, I'll be keeping my eye out for the Harmonie Trail Marathon/Half. I did talk to Chris's wife and she told me that they're working on dates as it had become very difficult over the last 2 years and they didn't even have a race last year. It was in May but then due to extreme flooding back in 2017 they changed it to November and although it wasn't awful it was in the 70's and humid. Last year they didn't even hold a race, so I'm hoping that they have one sometime this year because as long as it doesn't get in the way of Honest Abe or the Evansville Half Marathon, I will most certainly do it. I love those trails, for a half you only need to do one loop and for a full you only need to do it twice. 

Anyways.... 2020 I have hopes of making it a big year comeback as far as marathons go, but I'm going to be ready to adapt and be flexible.
Goals:

• Land Between the Lakes Marathon - March
• I did this back in 2016, enjoyed it very much, it was my first trail marathon (2nd marathon) and it was challenging but I loved it. I want to go back and do it again, or maybe even possibly attempt the 60k distance, which is 3 loops. The marathon is 2 loops, and in 2016 I very seriously considered the 3rd loop but decided I hadn't trained enough. So hopefully March 2020 I will be enjoying this race again, and quite possibly the 60k.
• St.Louis Go! Marathon - April 
• This was my 3rd half marathon in 2013, it was quite warm for an April race but I enjoyed it. My hopes is to complete the marathon in April 2020. 
• Backside Trail Marathon - April
• So I know that realistically I can't do both Backside Trail and St. Louis Go! in April. One is in St. Louis MO and the other in Louisville KY, one is early April (St. Louis) and the other is late April but I don't think my husband would be willing to spend a weekend in St. Louis early April and then another weekend in Louisville late April. Not to mention recovery time from the LBLM if I am able to do it. 
• Honest Abe Trail Marathon - September
• Depending on how it goes this year, I might do this one again.

• Harmonie Trail Marathon - May
• I did the marathon back in May of 2016, it was my 3rd marathon and 2nd trail marathon. In 2017 I did the half since I just hadn't gotten the training in, and 2018 they didn't have a race at all. Talking to the RD I was told they are working on a date this year, Spring and early Summer in our area has lots of rain and flooding and 2017 was an awful year for flooding which is why they changed it to November that year. Then last year I guess they weren't able to get that same date, so I'm hoping they'll have it again sometime this year.

So these are my goals, the majority of them are trail races. I love running trails and enjoy having an excuse to run trails I've never been on or am rarely on. If I can do the Honest Abe Trail Marathon in September I will try to continue my training and even build on it through Fall in hopes of completing the Land Between the Lakes 60K. If I can complete the 60k I will be beyond happy and won't feel bad if I can't do any marathons in April.

Finishing this Week out (Base Building Week 1)

Old Man Winter showed his freezing face this week, I was determined to reach 30 miles this week but wasn't going to hold my breath. I told myself to take each day as it came and adapt and do whatever I could.
(Note: I'll try to post pics of workouts more than type words when I can unless something needs to be said.)
Monday I hit the gym first for Back and Chest: 

Afterwards, I decided to go ahead and get a good easy run in so I was starting the week off right.

Tuesday I didn't want to get out of bed but did it anyway, and I am glad I did. Jetta and I got out the door and got a good run in that morning, getting it out of the way.

Wednesday saw no runs, unfortunately, but I did get some booty band workouts in through the day while at work and in between running parts on a machine.

Thursday I was able to leave the shop just before 1 PM and was only expecting 4 or 5 miles. I was very happy when Jetta and I finished the run with 7 miles and only 10 minutes until Dorian was out of school.

Friday didn't see anything and the weather forecast had me seriously worried that I wasn't going to get any more runs in. Saturday was rainy and cold, but not too cold so I took Dorian and the dogs out to Lincoln State Park for a little hike, at that point I had 17.7 miles and I just wanted to get to 20 (didn't have to be all from running, just on my feet). We hiked 2.1 miles and had to call it done, the rain picked up and so did the wind and I didn't want Dorian to get sick. Got a cute pic though.

After reading running blogs and being on a running forum last night and seeing others dealing with sub 0 temps, I knew I couldn't chicken out of Sunday's weather. We were up late last night, I did not get up early and go before dawn but after fixing breakfast Jetta and I got out the door. The roads were covered with snow and/or ice, and during the first 2 miles, I really didn't expect us to go more than 6 miles. I just told myself to make it to the next mile, by mile 3 we reach a backroad and the snow was packed pretty nicely. It wasn't too bad until mile 7 we reach soft, slushy snow than by mile 7.4 it was slick ice so that was just fun. From that point on it was either slush or ice but we got it done and I am excited to say I reached 30.1 miles for the week. 

2019 Is Gonna be My Year

    My last post was in May 2017, and I claimed I was going to get me back. Well that didn't happen, whatever issues I was having just were going away. Life had become hectic and stressful at the shop for my husband which carried over to home and me, our struggles were getting to be too much and we were being stretched thin. My husband was no longer as supportive of my running and fitness as he used to be, becoming more focused on just keeping us and the shop afloat. He felt that top priority needed to be on what made us a living, and that wasn't my running. My constant dealing with pain and inflammation in the tops of my feet and shins and then leading over to my calves had made running more frustrating and I had lost sight of why I fell in love with running. So I had put my focus into the gym and weight lifting while running whenever I could. 
    Last November I was dealt an injury in my left arm, I suppose from overuse and not giving it rest due to work at the shop. So as frustrating as it was, I had to take a break from weight lifting and find something else. In December I began to rediscover my love affair with running and realized how much I truly missed it. Not to mention it really helps whittle my waist and keeps me lean, I had put on quite a bit of muscle during 2018 but there was also some fat there that I need to get rid of.
   So far this month I've been putting in the mileage whenever I can, whether in the morning or right before picking Dorian up from school or in the afternoon if the weather is warm enough to take him in the stroller. Sometimes I am not able to get myself out of bed in the morning, it's hard to..... I'll be honest and say I'm burned out from the last 5 years or so struggling to get my workouts started and finished during the insane and inhuman hours of 2:40 AM and 6 AM. My goal for January is to reach 30 miles a week and then hold that for February before bumping it up to 35 in March and holding for April. With luck and determination I might be able to be back to running 35-40 mpw by Summer. I've got my buddies with me to enjoy this journey of rediscovering myself.