2 Weeks to Go, Time to Mentally prepare.

The body achieves what the mind believes

Day	Planned	Actual	Comments
Monday	60 Min AR	52 min	3.81 miles 4 min run/1min walk
Tuesday	1x40 AT	1x40 AT	8'53" Pace
Wednesday	XT	Trainer day	stomach hamstrings
Thursday	60 Min AR	30:00	3.0 miles 10'03"
Friday	XT	DGF S-club
Saturday	1 hr	12.2	Swapped Sat/Sun 10'27" 8 miles MP 10'00"
Sunday	2-8-2 miles	6.35	11'15" pace

Monday - Met up with Valerie and did a run/walk.  Run 4 minutes and walk 1 minute.  Overall felt okay considering I was still recovering from the 20 miler the day after.   For the pace and distance, I was surprised at how high my heart rate was.

Tuesday Track Night - consisted of 40 minute Threshold Run.  2 lap warm up, then managed to run the 40 minutes at an 8:53 pace.   This was about 30 seconds faster than the time I did it in September when prepping for Chicago.   Speaking with Coach Mark, this would translate into a 9’49” pace.  However, he felt a 10’30” pace is more realistic due to my current mileage.   Which was the pace I was thinking of shooting for on race day.  

Wednesday - Trainer day with Kei.  Lots of core work.  Planks, Planks and more Planks, followed by leg lefts and some hamstring curls.   

Thursday - I had a date night with my Hubby to see Apollo 11.   So I snuck out of work early and got in 3 miles before heading out for the night.    I had hoped to get more, but ran out of time.  Overall, felt sluggish when I started, but started feeling better as it went on, as you can tell by my time.

Friday - I did DGF group fitness class.   It included stadium push up 2 min challenge. Then a circuit we did 3 times, which included: Kettle ball squats, TRX triceps,  Lat Pull down, Bear Crawls, Mountain Climbers, and jump rope.   Overall, great work out.  Following that I went to S-Club to try the discounted Gold Flow recovery class.   It entailed: inferred sauna, then 5 minutes of cycling, 8 minutes of rowing, and 8 minutes on a climber (all speed intervals to get the heart rate up).   Following the cardio portion, there was 10 minute foam roller, followed by 15 minutes in a normatec recovery boots, and a massage ball.   

Saturday - 2 mile warm up, 8 miles Marathon simulation pace, 2 mile cool down.  Overall, felt great on the 8 mile simulation pace.  I was shooting for a 10:30 pace, but could not dial that pace in.  I would either be 15 seconds slower or about 30 seconds faster.   Overall I opted to go with the faster pace.   The last 2 miles, felt good.  Made it up Beryl without walking, and then my relaxed pace hit my goal Marathon pace.   So I guess that works.  :)

Sunday - Wow that was an early morning (Daylights Saving Time) and a 7 am date with other runners at Dodger stadium for an LA Marathon first 6 mile preview didn’t help.  Me and 2 friends from SBRC (Anne and Brianna) met other people from various LA running groups: (LA Road Runners, LA Leggers, Pasadena Pacers, Inland Empire Running Club).   The first 6 miles are the toughest in the race with a good climb around mile 4 and 5.    Overall, the run felt good and it answered some questions of what to expect race morning.    We followed up our run, with tacos from Guisados.  So yummy. 

Work grade: A

Nutrition:  B

Nutrition goal for next week.  Log all the food I eat.   So that way I can make a truthful assessment of the food I’m intaking.  

3 weeks to go

If you fail to prepare, then you prepare to fail.   Training is all about preparation.

Day	Planned	Actual	Comments
Monday	60 Min AR	47 min	4.33 miles run/walk 5min/30sec
Tuesday	2x20 AT	2x20 AT	Kept AT under 9 min pace lower back sore
Wednesday	XT	Trainer day	glute strength stretching
Thursday	60 Min AR	34:00	3.0 miles 11'23" left quad
Friday	XT		REST
Saturday	1 hr		REST
Sunday	20 miles	20 miles	11'29" pace

Monday, felt I was still recovering from the weekend. Decided to do a sunset run/walk to get use to start and stop if I need to do that in the Marathon.  Ended up 5 min run/30 sec walk.  Felt good to get out there.

Tuesday was track night.  Ended up keeping both thresholds under 9 minute pace.   The second one was rough.  I could feel it in my hamstrings and hips.

Wednesday, I wasn't feeling it.  Ended up leaving work early and working the rest of the day from home.  Super sleepy all day and my lower back was killing me.  I think I was making Kei fall asleep during the training session.  We ended up doing some glute work, but then did about 20 minute of stretching.  (He probably didn't plan on that, but gave up on me for that session).

Thursday, I had a dentist appointment in the morning and couldn't make sketchers run at the evening, so decided to get a short run in PV after the dentist.  My quad started feeling not normal after about mile 1.5.  I kept pushing through the run, but it definitely did not feel right.   It was bothersome the rest of the day.

Friday and Saturday, I ended up resting.  Didn't want to push my quad too hard.  Need to get to race start.

Sunday, got my 20 miler in.   Overall, it was consistent with my previous 20 miler.   I didn't feel as strong as the last 20 miler.  Took an advil before the run to get through the run.  Lower back and hamstrings felt tight at the beginning.  But went away.  Around mile 17 dealt with a side stitch that wouldn't go away.  But I pushed through and got it done.

 Overall Activity Grade:  B+
Nutrition Grade: B

4 weeks to go

Have to Work for Results

Day	Planned	Actual	Comments
Monday	30 Min AR	30 min	2.66 miles 10'54"
Tuesday	2x20 AT	2x20 AT	Tough but pushed hard keeping AT under 9 min pace
Wednesday	XT	Trainer day	lots of glutes and core per my request
Thursday	60 Min AR	46:47	4.87 miles 9'34"
Friday	XT	XT	active circuits
Saturday	14 miles MS	14 miles	10'56"
Sunday	6 miles	6 miles	11'14" pace

Monday I thought about skipping the run, and doing the gym class.  But learned gym class would be leg intense with dead lifts.   So opted to skip and do a 30 minute recovery.  Overall run felt pretty good considering I had done 20 miles the day before, back was still sore.

Tuesday was track night, which was 2 20 minute threshold with 5 minute recovery.  I pushed hard, definitely felt it, but also felt good about it.  First set was easier, but both sets were under an 8'50" pace.  My back was still feeling sore from Sundays run.   Walking was bothersome, but once I got moving I was good.

Wednesday was trainer day at Dynamic Grit.   We focused on glutes and core to get work on getting my lower back to be stronger with hopes of less pain on the long run.   Definitely think I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

Thursday, was not sore like I had expected.   Thought I was going to be late to Sketchers run group, but managed to get there in time to join the group doing the Poinsettia loop.   I felt great during the run and each mile increased with speed.  It was my fastest time for doing that loop.   No pain whatsoever.

Friday I opted to go to the DGF group class.  May have been a mistake in making Saturdays run a lot more difficult.  Class was a great tough class.   But full body intense.   It was a circuit repeated 3x with 2 minutes at each stations which included: lunge jumps, tricep extensions, burpee leap overs, planks, battle ropes, and bear walks.    I'm exhausted just thinking about it again.

On Saturday,  I woke up super sore from Friday's work out.   Somehow managed to run my 14 miler in the morning.  The goal was to keep race pace.   As one can tell from my splits, that wasn't happening.   Legs and glutes were super sore and felt sluggish.   Overall this 14 miler felt worse than the 20 miler on Sunday.    Finished feeling nauseaus and had no desire to eat.   But I got it done.

Sunday, I ended up doing a 6 mile recovery run.  Overall felt good and easy going.   Knees were slightly bothering me on downhills, but nothing that jumps out as really bad.   Time to rest so that I can prepare for next week.

 Overall it was great and focused week.   4 weeks to go.   Woot Woot!

Overall Score: A
Nutrition score: B+

Learning to accept the uncomfortable

Training to be comfortable while feeling uncomfortable. 

Day	Planned	Actual	Comments
Monday	60 Min AR	32 min DGF group	3 miles @10'42
Tuesday	2x15 AT	2x15 AT	Option for 3 sets but severe side ache during 2nd set decided to call it legs ached at night
Wednesday	XT	Trainer day	Body felt dead, lots of core, lots of arms
Thursday	60 Min AR	47:57	5.09 miles 9'24"
Friday	Off	Off
Saturday	60 min	47:27	4.24 miles 11'11" pace
Sunday	20 mil	20 miles	lower back pain 11'28" pace

Monday I decided I would go to the gym and do a group class instead of running, but felt guilty and decided to go for short recovery run as well.   The run went alright, a little sluggish.   Then made it to DGF for a group class.  It included TRX rows and pushups, lat pull downs, step ups, squats, and core mountain climbers (those were the worst).    Could definitely tell my legs were dead from the weekends long runs.  

Tuesday made it to track night.  The LA marathon group could either do 2 or 3 sets of 15 minutes threshold running with 5 minute recovery.   The first 15 minutes felt awesome.  I was planning on doing all 3 sets, but on set 2, within the first couple minutes I got a really bad side ache that I had to push through for a the rest of set.   Once we got to recovery pace, I could barely breath or stand up straight while I tried to jog it out.   Never fully recovered from that set, and decided to call it a day after 2 sets.  (I was disappointed).   Once I got home and went to bed, my legs and feet joints were aching.  Body is definitely telling me it needs a rest.  (I thought good, Thursday is valentines day so I will have a couple days off).   Note:  during the day my left knee was not feeling great, but didn't have any issues while running.

Wednesday, I woke up achey and exhausted.  Thought about cancelling or requesting an easier trainer day, but instead kept my mouth shut and didn't whine until I got there.  Kei still chose to push me and not take it easy on my me.


Thursday, I was planning to take the day off, but my husband determined he wanted to take a nap after work and told me to go run.  So once again, I ended up at the 5:30 Sketchers run group who are the speedy runners.   I wasn't able to keep up with the main group, but ended up running the 5 miles with another runner Brian, who kept me at a decent pace.  

Saturday, I went took it easy and ran to my friends house to feed her cat.   It was a nice 4 mile run.  At the end of the run, I noticed my arch was bothering me.   Hoping it wouldn't bother me during long run, which it didn't (phew).

Sunday,  long run day.  Looked at the forecast, it called for rain and 25 mph winds.  Ugh, I miss the perfect California weather.   I ended up running 9 miles to the marina del rey jetty (wind was coming from the west with a hint of the north, so heading north had a nice resistance), when I went to turn around you could see the rain clouds in the south bay.    Somehow I managed to miss the rain, by the time I got back to the south bay it was gone.   Ended up needing to run an additional mile into redondo beach and back to get my 20 miles.    Got a shooting pain in my tailbone around mile 11,  once that went away my lower back remained sore the rest of the run.   I ended up having my best 20 mile run by about 10 minutes.    Woot Woot!    Once home, I stretched and foam rolled.  

Work out grade: A-
Nutrition Grade: C

Hard Work is paying off

Take Pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go

Day	Planned	Actual	Comments
Monday	60 Min AR	Rest	rest letting arch recover
Tuesday	2x15 AT	Skipped	Work
Wednesday	XT	2x15 Trainer day	4.02 miles Felt alright
Thursday	60 Min AR	47:22	4.83 miles 9'42"
Friday	Off	DGF Group Stretch
Saturday	18 miles	18 miles	11'25" pace
Sunday	60 min	47 min	4.1 miles 11'25" pace

Decided to take Monday off to rest and let my arch continue to recover.  Ended up taking Tuesday off as well due to being pulled into an Urgent work need that entertained me for 14 hours of the day.   Probably for the best,  because my arch didn't bother me on any runs the rest of the week.

Wednesday I got back at it.  I ended up skipping out of work early and went to the aviation track to get Tuesdays missed work out in.  It was 2x15 min threshold with a 3 minute recovery.   Overall I felt pretty sluggish, but ended up keeping up pace (under 9 min) during the threshold portion.   After my run, I headed over to Dynamic Grit for my training session with Kei.   We did a lot of glutes, core and some arms.  I was sore on Friday and could pinpoint exactly what exercises hit me hard.

Thursday, I made it to the 6:30 SBRC run group.  We did the poinsettia loop.   Overall my goal was not be the last one back, and I wasn't.  I ended up feeling pretty good on all the hills and managed to keep up with a few of the other runners.  

Friday was a rest day.  I ended up going to Dynamic Grit group class, where we focused on an hour of stretching. Super tight in my neck and shoulders.  But overall my legs felt alright.

Saturday I made up missing last weeks 18 miler, with repeating it on Saturday.  Went out not knowing how it was going to go,  overall it felt pretty good.  My back was bothering me but that was going to happen whether I ran or not.  Weather was perfect.  Legs felt great.   Hoping next weeks 20 miler feels the same or better.

Sunday I woke up, not really motivated.  Decided to go out for a 3 mile recovery run and ended up doing 4.  Legs were tired, but pace was alright with a low average heart rate.  I was surprised at my pace with heart rate.  

Work out Grade: B+   (Proud of myself for getting out there on Saturday and Sunday, when I really wasn't feeling it)

A little rain never hurt

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body"  - I had my challenge of mental training this week.

Day	Planned	Actual	Comments
Monday	60 Min AR	55:20	5 miles 10'58 pace left arch
Tuesday	4x10 AT	3x10 AT	4 miles left arch
Wednesday	XT	Trainer Day	sluggish
Thursday	60 Min AR	47:22	5.05 miles 9'22 pace left arch
Friday	Off	Off	Left Arch
Saturday	18 miles	11	11miles 12'03 pace
Sunday	10K	10.45 miles

Started off Monday with a beautiful sunset recovery run along Redondo Beach.  For having done 15 miles the day before, I was actually feeling pretty good.  Legs were a little sluggish, but run-able.   Towards the end of my run, my left arch started bothering me.  I didn't think much of it, because of the long run the day before.

Tuesday, I got late to track night due to kitty vet appointment (normal checkup).  Ended up getting 3 of the 4 sets of 10 thresholds.   I was really slow and couldn't get my legs moving.  I try and keep my thresholds at 9 min pace, and for the life of me I could not do that.  By the end of the track night, my left arch was killing me.   Ended up rolling it out with a lacrosse ball and decided the Hokas were not the right shoe for me.

Wednesday was a trainer day.  I got there a few minutes late, but made it.  Had to do rowing, something I need to work on.  Overall it was a full body work out, but I just wasn't feeling it.

Thursday, I ended up doing the 5:30 run group to chevron plant.  They went out for their "easy" pace which was a threshold pace for me.  I was able to keep with them until about mile 3.5 (even ended up PR'ing my 5k time), however fell back after I got back up on the strand. By mile 4 my arch was killing me.    After my run, I went to a yoga/recovery stretch class with SBRC.  It was great to get a post run stretch.   Continued to use the lacrosse ball.   Arch pain bothered me just walking around at work the next day.

Saturday... my goal was to get 18 miles in and then run Sundays 10k on tired legs.   Mother nature had a different opinion (with wind and rain).   I ended up parking down by the beach, and headed North on the strand. The rain wasn't too bad when I started.  The original plan was to keep fairly close to my car and just repeat the same strand multiple times, but I felt if I turned around I would be tempted to stop, so I just kept running.   At Dockweiler, I could tell the wind was at my back pushing me and the rain was really starting to come down.  I knew I was in trouble when I saw my friend D headed back towards Manhattan Beach. I asked him how bad it was heading that direction and his response was miserable and that he had almost called Jac multiple times.   Right then and there I should of turned around, but no I kept pressing on.    I reached my turn around spot at mile 7.5, only to be caught in a true down pour with winds causing me to be pelted in the face and feel like I'm running with resistance and getting no where.   The strand path on my way back had gone from some water on the path, to ankle deep puddles.   My friend Erica called me and asked if I wanted a ride.  I said let me think about it, and she said okay I will come pick you up.  (overall all I don't think I had a choice).   After about another mile,  Jac called me saying she was at El Porto as was going to come find me to pick me up (this was not an option), but I thanked her and said Erica was on her way.   (She strongly believes you should never miss your long run, turns out today was an exception).     I was thankful to both of them to watch out for my safety and misery, especially Erica who had dry towels and hot cocoa waiting for me in the car.   Overall I got 11 of my 18 miles with very mentally challenging run.    Took me awhile to warm up after that run.

Sunday I woke up, looked at the weather forecast, yay no rain until about noon.  So I ended up running from my house to race start.   About 10 minutes before race start the rain started to come down, about 5 minutes to race start it really started pouring (so wasn't thrilled about another wet run).  Luckily the race director took pity on us, and started the race a few minutes early to get us moving and keep us warm during the down pour.   My goal was to run at race pace under an 11 minute pace.   I really wasn't feeling it this morning.  Stomach issues and didn't sleep well,  probably due to yesterdays fun, but manage a 1:04:10 time at 10:19 pace.    My marathon pace goal is 11 minute pace.  So I was well within that plan.  Of course my legs were not as tired as they could be. My run there was an additional 1.7 miles, and my run back ended up being 2.43 miles.   So managed to get a little over 10 miles.

Warm-up

Redondo Beach 10k

Cool Down

Start of Race

Post Race Super Star - shoes are so squishy

As of Sunday night, I have 2 pairs of mizunos that are drenched and drying out for next week.  Note I did not have arch pain on Saturday or Sunday, but did take advil and KT taped my arches.  They were both tender after the run.

Work out Grade: A-