2021 LBL50 Training Week 8

Summer tried to come back and take over again, the mornings were seeing 60-70 degrees and the afternoons were seeing 80-90 degrees. I was only able to take Jetta with me one time because of the heat, but I got my runs in nonetheless.
Week 7 saw 60 miles and this week I increased it to 65.8 miles, I'm still feeling pretty good and my pace is getting faster, I'm back to the easy effort paces I had back in 2016-2017, down in the 9-9:30 min/mile pace. I think the hills at Audubon are definitely helping, I feel pretty good that I could even see easy effort paces below 9/mile.
Monday morning I went to the gym first, focusing on glutes, legs and back. 

Then I headed down to the riverfront for a run, focused on an easy effort pace for 6 miles. It was 57 degrees so wasn't too awful, barely a breeze of 5 mph.

Tuesday I didn't make it to the gym, but I did go to Audubon to run the trails. It was only 52 degrees, so not bad at all. The hills are insane, a great place to train for any ultra I'm sure. I ended up running 8.43 miles in 1:39:51 with an average pace of 11:50 min/mile, elevation gain of 1,558 feet. 
When running trails, I've come to learn that I can go on strava and correct the mileage because my Garmin Instinct is not exactly on point mileage wise. On trails it is typically .3-.4 miles behind so I correct it on strava, on roads it is only around .2 miles behind.

Wednesday I did make to the gym, focusing on shoulders. 

Then it was off to Friedman park to run, hoping my son was still sound asleep. It was 63 degrees and not much wind, a little humid but not bad. 
From the get-go my pace was pretty good and felt easy so I decided to just push it with each mile til I was down in the mid to low 9's. I ended up running 10.3 miles with an average pace of 9:42 min/mile and the final .3 mile was a fartlek with a pace of 7:35 min/mile.... of course it was downhill so it didn't feel as hard as it would on flat ground.

That afternoon I went ahead and took Jetta for a walk around Dorian's school til he got out. We only walked 3.05 miles, at that point it was 73 degrees and the sun was shining... so it was a bit warm for Jetta but thankfully we were only walking.
Thursday morning I headed to Audubon again after dropping Dorian off at school, I decided to change up the route rather than do my usual. It 57 degrees but felt so much warmer, I was sweating like crazy and the hills were tough. I ended up running 5:54 miles in 1:06:33 with an elevation gain of 954 feet. 

That afternoon I decided to go ahead and run again, before picking my son up from school. I ended up running 6 miles in 55:25 with an average pace of 9:06 min/mile. It was 84 degrees and partly cloudy so the sun was out a lot, cooking my skull.

Friday morning I decidedly only ran once, since I had 20 miles planned for Saturday and didn't want to be too wore out from it. I waited until after I took Dorian to school, then took Jetta out to Blue Grass to run a nice little loop. Again the temps were almost unforgivable, even at 8:30 in the morning. It was 67 degrees and the sun mocked us, not much of a breeze either. We ended up running 5.1 miles in 47:54 with an average pace of 9:23 min/mile, we even took some walk breaks and stops so Jetta could catch her breath.

Friday afternoon brought some stormy weather in that immediately dropped the temps. By Saturday morning it was 46 degrees with N winds of 13 mph, a huge change from the day before it. I was really indecisive about what I was going to wear, so I decided to park at Friedman near one of the bathrooms and so I could change clothes if necessary. I ate some oatmeal before leaving the house, I took my gear bag with my fuel and stuff. I dressed in capris, gloves and a long sleeved shirt with some sort of windbreaker fabric around the torso area. Around mile 5 I was feeling pretty warm, but thankfully I was finishing up the first loop and getting back to my suv. I then changed into a thermal long sleeve with a bright orange/pink tank over it, the winds were still kicking and I was a little bit cold but okay. The second loop went okay, it was still super dark out and nobody else (which I prefer). Finishing up the second loop and getting back to my vehicle, I decided to grap a hammer nutrition bar which has 220 calories and is easy to chew without water. Sadly it appears my digestive system isn't too keen on this bar.... on the 3rd loop, things started to get a little ugly and it didn't help that I started seeing others out there so I was no longer in the mood to run another loop with people getting out there. So I took off onto one of the out and back paths that are about 1.5 miles long, I also went down some roads off that pathway to get as many miles as I could. By the time I made it back to the main pathway of the 5.3 mile loop, I had 16 miles done. From there on I just kept putting one foot in front of the other until I finished 20 miles in 3:11:16 with an average pace of 9:29 min/mile, elevation of 532 feet. I'm not so sure about those hammer bars, I really like the consistency and ease of chewing and swallowing BUT not sure if my digestive system is going to accept them. I'm going to give it one more try this coming Saturday with my 15 miler, if I get the same issues, I'll be looking for something else for fuel and energy.

2021 LBL50 Training Week 7

 Oh what can I say about this week, this is probably the toughest week this year or first really tough week. It is not going to get easier, but won't or shouldn't get crazier until December or January.
My long run this morning got me to 60.3 miles for week 7, and I am feeling it strongly.... both in my body and mentally.
Monday morning I made it to the gym and focused on legs and back, then I had changed my clothes to go for a run but was called home due to little man being wide awake since 3 am and hubby needing some sleep. 

After I dropped Dorian off at school, Jetta and I headed out just East of the Blue Grass Fish & Wildlife area. I had kind of mapped the planned route for that morning, the 63 degrees felt rather warm and humid. I tried to take it easy for Jetta's sake, so we walked some and took some breaks.

Later that afternoon I got out for the double run, and ended up running like 5.4 miles. Jetta did stay home for this one, and I was able to hold a good pace since I didn't have to walk much at all. 

 

Tuesday morning I just didn't have the energy or desire to get up and go to the gym. I really didn't want to get up at all, but after taking Dorian to school I decided that Jetta and I would head to the trails at Angel Mounds for a quick run.

That afternoon I had enough time to go and get my double in before Dorian got out of school, I left Jetta at home again as most afternoons are not yet cold enough to take her for a second run. I also saved a soft-shelled turtle which would have been killed minutes later had I not moved her off the road, she was pretty big... the females can grow up to 19 inches and I'd say she was easily 15 inches long.

Wednesday morning I was able to make it to the gym, I mixed it up with mostly shoulders and some chest. And before I could get somewhere to run, I was called home (again) to a very awake little boy.

This time after I dropped Dorian off at school, I decided to hit the hilly trails at John James Audubon State Park. Some of the trail around one of the lakes is still closed, that lake is also almost completely dried up, I've never seen it this bad and I've no idea why. I also wore my new shorts which are not good for running... a little too cheeky for public lol.

Thursday morning, Dorian had some rough sleep so I didn't get up and go anywhere. I dropped Dorian off at school and even though it was 63 degrees, it was much cooler this morning than it was Monday so I took Jetta with me and we went to Friedman Park for what was expected to be 5-6 miles but we ended up running 8 miles.



Later that day it was still very cool, it had actually cooled off even more to 55 degrees and it was breezy with some sprinkles which felt amazing, I went ahead and took Jetta with me again since it was so cool. We only had time to run 4 miles but it was at a real good pace.

Friday I thought I was going to take it off and rest, but since Dorian was out of school for Fall Break I decided to take the 3 of them to Lincoln State Park for a hike, it was supposed to be a simple 5 miles but due to about a dozen brats on bikes we had to take a detour back to the Explorer which gave us 6.6 miles total. Rocky handled it well, mostly because I now pick him up to put him in the Explorer and pick him up to put him down on the ground rather than allowing him to hurt himself from impact.

And now for Saturday morning, finishing off this week with the long run. I had told myself that I would be alright with 16 miles but I really wanted 18 miles. I woke up and it was 37 degrees, I was no longer trying to be a badass and wear shorts or a tank.... it was capris and a thermal under a t-shirt and gloves. I am glad I did too because I was pretty damn cold the entire time, until the sun was up and that was past 7:30 am.
I wasn't feeling too great from the get-go, mentally and physically. I should've stuck to my oatmeal instead of eating a hammer bar which could have been the issue. I've felt worse though, during long runs so this was nothing new and nothing more than I could handle... and it'll  only prepare me mentally for the lows of a 50 miler. 
I was finding something like a groove around mile 10 or so, before my garmin notified me at 12.2 miles that the battery was super low... are you freaking kidding me, there was only one bar missing out of 6 bars! So I prayed it would hold out until mile 13.1 so I could save that workout and then start up Strava and record the rest. Once I saved it, the battery showed no bars and I started up Strava only to look down and see 2 bars.... seriously.... so I started a new workout on my garmin hoping it would live long enough to finish while keeping my strava on just in case. By mile 15 I decided it would survive to the end so I stopped the Strava workout and just relied on my watch. I think if it dies, it automatically saves whatever workout is going on at that moment of death.
Thankfully, it did survive to the finish but I ended up running 18.3 miles total.
The first 13.1 miles had an average pace of 10:14 min/mile and the final 5.2 miles had an average pace of 9:45 min/mile so it was kind of a negative split which I prefer.

All in all, I think it is safe to say Sunday will be a rest day as my legs are tired but my lower back is achy for some reason and I'm honestly ok with 60.3 miles for this week.

2021 LBL50 Training Week 6

 I'm slacking already, here I am in the midst of week 6 and I haven't even typed up week 5... shoot me.
Week 5 was a big week, my biggest week in a while - from a Monday to Sunday, not counting the rolling 7 days. I managed 55.4 miles that week, I probably could've managed 60 but I was trying to play it safe.
Monday morning I went to the gym, focusing on my Back and some Core at the end. 

Then I decided to head out for an easy run, still trying to be careful with my banged up knee. It was freaking 37 degrees outside, I was determined to wear shorts but did wear my long sleeves along with gloves which didn't help much for the first mile or 2. My fingers were freezing cold and nearly numb, right now I can't remember the rest of my body.

That afternoon I took Jetta for a run, it was 63 degrees and sunny but not too bad. This is the week I begin my double days, where I try to run doubles at least 2 days a week - a run in the morning and then another in the afternoon.

Tuesday morning I didn't go to the gym, I actually didn't even wake to my alarm which pissed me off. It was just vibrating, no sound whatsoever. I woke at like 5:15 and got my ass ready as quick as I could, then Jetta and I headed out to near Bluegrass to get a quick run in. It was 41 degrees, so I went ahead and wore capris, a t-shirt and gloves. 

Hubs and I went and voted before lunch, then we celebrated by going out to Bob Evans for some brunch. Then before picking Dorian up from school, I went out for another run... without Jetta as it was a bit warm and sunny, 75 degrees felt like 80.

Wednesday I made it to the gym, barely.... it was nearly 3 am when I got there but I didn't give a shit as I was determined to get there. Some legs and shoulders before going back home.

After taking Dorian to school, Jetta and I headed to Lincoln State Park for a run on the trails. It started out chilly, strangely enough.... it was only like 56 degrees but I quickly worked up a sweat. We ran 6.1 miles on the trails, elevation gain wasn't too crazy with only like 630 feet.

Thursday I didn't go to the gym, I actually slept in and then took Jetta for a run down at the river front after dropping Dorian off at school. We ran 5.3 miles at a nice easy effort pace of 9:52 min/mile

I didn't do anything else that day, other than maybe some abs.

Friday morning we got up around 4:45 or 5 am and went out just East of Blue Grass to get our run in.

That afternoon I was feeling so good, and I had an awful Mexican lunch so I decided to go for another run. I did leave Jetta at home as it was 81 degrees and sun was shining, the only good news was the wind was 13 mph.

 

Saturday morning my alarm clock went off at 5 am and I went into the kitchen for a few moments before going right back to bed, the 2020 Run with the Yeti Trail Race and I didn't want to get up. I laid there for about 5 minutes before saying screw this and getting up and getting dressed and heading out the door.
I got there about 45 minutes early, got my bib and shirt and then went out on the trails to warm up with what ended up being 2 miles. By the time I got back to the parking lot, it was time to line up. There was only 8 of us for the half marathon, I was in the lead pretty much from the start and I held on to it. This wasn't the original plan, I only planned on running this easy as a long run. Luckily for me the other 7 weren't very fast and didn't know the course. I finished in 1st Overall, and the 2nd place was nearly 20 minutes behind me. In total I ran 15.1 miles on Saturday morning. I took Sunday off.