Closing 2016

As 2016 is drawing to close and like most people I am reflecting on the year of 2016 and it has been interesting one to say the least.  I will say that I can very close to my overall goal of 1800 miles in a year but, will end up missing it about 50 miles and I’m ok with that because I never thought I would be able to do that many miles in a year.  The first half of the year, I completed another marathon and my first ultra marathon, which I would recommend that everyone should try to do an ultra marathon once in their lifetime because it is such a humbling experience.  I helped a friend complete another half marathon but, it was first one post baby.  I coached a friend up to first half marathon and she did amazing job.

I have said on multi times that life is a journey, which is this year it has taken me on many twists and turns.  The journey this year and has shown me that we weren’t actually done having children even though, we thought were done after we had a 3rd child back in 2010.   As well as learning that I need to stop putting things that I want on the back burner.

Back the end of 2015, my husband and I thought it would be funny to put on our status on Facebook that we were walking into 2016 single.  Well, during 2016 we were introduce the law of attraction, which basically says that whatever we put into our universe (good or bad) will come about when it is time and needless to say that my husband and I almost walked out of 2016 being single because we put in the universe for it happen.  While, neither one of us realize it at the time of how powerful the law of attraction could be, it didn’t stop us from being that idea in our universe.  Yeah, definitely not a good idea because once somethin is your universe it will find it way to come true, if that’s what you truly want.   I do find the law of attraction a very interesting thing because I have put into my universe many times to run a sub 4 hour marathon with no success but, it isn’t that I can’t physically run a sub 4 hour marathon.  I have concluded that mentally I have blocked myself from running a sub 4 hour marathon because I have no other goal after I achieve it.  So, while I put it in my universe that I would like the sub 4 hour marathon, I don’t truly believe that I deserve it, which is why I haven’t achieved it yet.

That’s why this year, I’m going to try to work on enjoy my running journey more and accept that I do deserve it.  I will stop putting things that I want on the back burner because in that sense when I’m happy the rest of my family is happy.  I don’t know exactly what 2017 will hold for my life, family, and me as whole but, I’m very looking forward to it because I’m embracing the journey.

Here to 2017 :)!

Picking It Apart

Now being two days post marathon #7 and experiencing more soreness from this marathon than I have in the past.  I have started picking apart of the race and what I can do differently leading up to and during the race as well as post race.  The biggest thing I failed to do this marathon training cycle and this year in general is my cross training by that I mean I would start it but, then slack off of it for whatever reason and the only conclusion I can come to is that I went from 4-5 days a week to 6 days a week of running so it left no more room for it.  I realize that I’m more sore after this marathon than other one not due to the lack of my nutrition or hydration because that was on mark for once but, I depleted my body more of everything due to running a marathon on day 2.  The morning of the race I ate my breakfast too early so, I used the most of the fuel from that by mile 15.  Then lastly, I feel like an 18 week plan is too long for me to stay focused anymore.  Post race, I definitely need to eat closer after the finish as well as start the repair of the muscles that break down during any races.

So, as I move forward from this marathon and looking forward to next one (which I hadn’t chosen yet):

• I will go back to running 5 days (altering the Hanson Marathon Method to suit that)
• A shorter training cycle for a marathon instead of 18 weeks, I’m going to try a 16 week plan
• Cross training 3 – 4 days
• Eat breakfast 45 minutes before the start of the race because then fuel will there more so towards end of the race
• Try to have a better understanding of where I am in my cycle to better plan my race
• Eat right after the race versus waiting until we are home or hotel

WGM16, Marathon #7

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So in 2 years and 5 months I have completed 7 marathon distances.  I say marathon distances because Mind The Ducks was actually an ultramarathon in that I completed 50K (32 miles).  Wineglass Marathon is a beautiful scenic course that I highly recommend whether it is your first or 20th marathons because the volunteers are awesome and very helpful, it is well organized, and the “bling” is pretty fabulous.  I went into the marathon with the goal of qualifying for Boston and given what my training was like this summer it was definitely possibly but, it didn’t happen and I’m ok with it.  I know for me that day 2 of my cycle is NOT a day that is good for running and I do try to plan my running around that in a sense as I have heard from many other women do too.  Well, when I was registered and planned for Wineglass Marathon, I was expected to be at the tail end of that part of my cycle (sorry I know TMI).  Well, I had a major increase of mileage this training, which is altered my cycle in a way I was expecting because even when I swam competitively, I didn’t have that issue.  So, instead of being at the tail end of that part of my cycle I was on my day 2 today, which meant my hormones were at very lowest level making it difficult to run.  While I was determined not to allow it to dictate my race because I wanted to reach my goal, it did affect me a lot.  By mile 11, I was issues because that I need and want my hydration vest in that it felt like I was carrying bricks on my back but, I convince myself to just finish the interval because Bill would be waiting to take it from me.  While I drop off pace a bit because of this but managed to finish that interval at 9:25 average.  By the time, I got to Bill and I gave him my hydration vest, I was struggle a lot but, I told him that I was ok and I wanted to finish.  I hit mile 17 and I knew I was in trouble because IT band, which I have been struggling with on and off since this past March mainly because I didn’t properly for Rock-n-Roll DC marathon, increased my mileage too quickly and that is big no-no.  From mile 18 to 21, I maintained 10:00 average pace, which was way off of my intent pace but, by that point I had already accept it was going to just another run and I just needed to finish strong.  Between mile 22 and mile 23, a nerve in my lower back as well as IT band pinched and I almost fell but, choose to stop running and walk until the pain lighten up, which is it did by mile 24 unfortunately, there was a downhill slope that was gradual but, another to bother it.  By the time I got to mile 25, I didn’t care how bad my IT band was hurting, I just wanted to finished and I was going to push for that last, which is what I did.  I was finally on the bridge, which is big thing before the shoot and one of my fellow MRTT/METJ mamas Kathryn began to run beside and my emotions just started pouring because I had been her pacer at the beginning of September and now she was returning the favor even though, she had ran the half marathon with Tami (my run client).  I turned go into the shoot and Kathryn left me to finish mainly because she knew that I was go “balls to the wall” to finished, which I did.

Overall finished was 971 of 1918

Division female group 35 – 39 was 89 out of 211

Chip time was 4:27:30

My watch time was 4:25:47

 

Tapering Done, Coaching Complete (kind of)

Tapering is done for Marathon distance #7, WOOHOO!!!!!!  I wish I could say that it has sunk in but, it has not yet and probably won’t until I have my bib in hand tomorrow at the expo.  The journey through this marathon cycle was interesting because I was coaching a fellow MRTT mama to her first half marathon as well as her weight loss journey.  I have to say that I accepted a while ago that I was a loner runner and I would go as far to say that I enjoy it because I depend on me to get the mileage and push myself but, coaching while I have been training has been unique experience in having a variety of emotions attached to it.  I mean I have coached before this i.e. I wrote a plan for my husband to do a half marathon in 2014, I coached our kids to their 10K last summer but, this coaching experience was different because I was really coaching, coaching and having to adjust plans and readjust plans while still training myself.  So as of Sunday, my coaching job with her is complete and while it has been amazing journey and I’m over the moon for her to complete her first half marathon, I’m kind of sad too because I won’t be there with her as she crosses the finish line because I’m running the marathon part of the same race.  To all of the coaches out there, I have definitely have been humbled by this experience because until you are in that position, you don’t truly realize how much love, commitment, heartache, etc goes into coaching an individual let alone team so, all I can say is thank you to my coaches of the past.  Will I continue to coach after this experience?  Short answer, Yes.  Long answer, I would like to continue to coach individual who want to make a change in their life or would like to get into running but, aren’t sure where to start.

Week 14: Interesting One

Week 14 of Wineglass Marathon training was an interesting one because I did 12 miler on Saturday evening and then just over 12 hours after finishing that run I had the honor to be a pacer for one of my fellow MRTT and METJ mamas.  She did such an amazing job and I was happy for her to not only be a part of her first half marathon post baby but, that her older son ran the last a quarter mile to finish alongside of us it was a beautiful thing.

I have been trying to follow the Hanson Marathon Method to a “T” this training cycle and I definitely feel the difference especially when I have to do the back to back long runs because even though, my legs were tired and right hip was giving a bit of issue, I was able to keep and continued to feel strong.

This training cycle, I have spent over a month with 50+ miles a week, which is something that I never thought I would be able to do because it suppose to be that 45 miles in a week was my break point then it was 50 miles in a week was my break point so, I have been amazed that I have been able to push pass 50 miles in a week and feel amazingly strong.

A little busy

I know that I haven’t blogged in a bit mainly because life has just been a little crazy.  We have decided to go back to homeschooling with our younger two children because they both tend to self-pace as well as directed type students and do better with smaller setting.  As of Wednesday last week, I have hit 1000 miles for the year, which is just amazing to me because a few years ago that type of mileage seemed unreachable.

Definitely have been experiencing some new challenges with my training both good and bad.  So far in this round of training I have experienced heat exhaustion 3 times, one of which was at a race but, it didn’t realize it until the next day when I having issues with general functioning.  The heat exhaustion was last Thursday and after talking with my husband and others I realize I was on the edge having heat stroke because while I thought I was being a good coach in taking my client’s hydration vest in that she had started to experiencing heat exhaustion earlier than me, it in the end up causing to me to overheat more and my heat exhaustion speed up in a danger way.  I’m learning that training in summer is a lot harder this year than it has been in the past because the heat seems to hanging around a lot longer and more often.  Some good stuff of this training cycle is that I am feeling stronger than I have ever felt.  I won my age group in a 10K that I was running as training run and was in total shock that I won because I didn’t like was running fast, I was just running in my comfort tempo pace.  As of today, I don’t really need to lose any more body fat, just need to tone everything from now until Wineglass Marathon because I’m back to 14% body fat and that is a good place for me when I’m racing.

 

End of Another School Year

As of Wednesday we completed another school year with everyone in tact and passing to the next grade.  So now, we have a 1st grader, 4th grader, and 5th grader.  We will continue to homeschool our youngest son because we feel it is best option for him right now and we will go back to homeschooling our daughter in that the current school district we are in refuses to do anything about the bully that has continuously harassed our daughter to point of physical abuse.  Our oldest son will be returning and continuing onward in his current program that he attends, he has done so well that next year he will be going from a 1:1 aide to 2:1 aide, which is a huge accomplishment for him.

I’m very proud of our children and how well they did in school as well as changes in our home life this year.  They managed to re-adjust to daddy going back to second/swing shift, mommy working a split shift/coaching/training for a marathon and ultramarathon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My motto

So, one of my motto is to “embrace the journey” because everyone always be in a rush to get from point A to point B.  And I’m guilty of it too because I have been trying for 2 years to break a 4 sub marathon with no success, which has been extremely frustrating in that I have put the time and training in to get with no success.  At the beginning of this year, I decided that I really REALLY needed to live and follow this motto this year and see what happens. Since January, I have tried everyday to just “embrace my journey” and amazingly I have been able to be more positive, find a new love and enjoyment in my running, starting working more part time hours, and helping another person embrace her journey through coaching.  It is not to say that I haven’t some bumps in the road since January because I definitely have but, I’m starting to be able to see the bumps and not let them suck me in like they would have in the past.  A good example would have been the Mind The Ducks of how in the past I would let the bump in the journey de-rail in that I was shooting for 50 miles in 12 hours well, at 50K (aka 32 miles) my body said it was done and I listened.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t keep pushing to 50 miles but, I accepted that my body needed to be done for that day and I can try again next year.   I have had some bumps personally in aspects but, it does NOT mean I’m miserable and I’m trying to make others miserable if anything I hope it helps them make forward progress in their own personal journey.  When the bumps and negative stuff come up, I vent about it for a bit but, then I let go of it continue on with my journey because I don’t want to be eaten up with negative energy anymore in that I have recognize that it does hinder my journey as a wife, mom, runner, a coach, and a person.

Have you learned to embrace your journey? What does it look and feel like?

 

Last 2 months

So almost 2 months ago I started being personal coach a fellow homeschooling mama as well as a mama that was a part of MRTT but, wasn’t actively involved because she didn’t she was fast enough, or skinny, or a “real runner”.  Since we started she has lost 12 lbs, ran her first 5k, has signed up for another 5k as well as her first half marathon in fall.  We both have had some setbacks and stumbling blocks but, we remind each other to stay positive.  I’m so very proud of her and how she starting to embrace the journey because it is so easy to say that you are going to embrace but, when you experience a setback and/or stumble it very easy to fall back into old habits and be negative.  Since I started coaching her, I have been working on finding my way back to my “true self” and my root of why I started running because for me, I think with training for marathon after marathon and then an Ultra, I lost my way of why I started running.  When we started this journey, I was about 2/3 of the way through my training for an Ultra and even though, I knew I was ready for the challenge of it, I didn’t really know why I was doing other than to say that I did an Ultra and I could add to my records.  After the Ultra, I was running with her a few days but, it was nothing more than 3 miles so, it allows me to rest and reflect upon my journey.  Now, that I have had 2 weeks to reflect and kind of rest (thanks to my husband and her), I have been see why I started running in the first place.  Her and I have talked about law of attraction and I feel that we were meant to meet and we feed off each other positive energy, which has allowed me to renew my spirit in coaching as well as my personal running journey. So, like I keep telling her, “you have to embrace the journey because amazing things happen when you do.”  I’m so grateful to have the opportunity everyday to not only embrace my journey but, continue to help her embrace her new journey whatever it may be.

Starting A New Training Cycle

Yesterday marked the start of new marathon training cycle, after 2 weeks of running when I feel like it or when a group run was available it is time to get back on the road.  I have to say that I truly feel rested and ready to start this training cycle, which isn’t something I have had in awhile so, it makes me feel happy and excited for it too.  I will be following the Hanson Marathon Method almost to a “T” this time around because I know that I have endurance but now, I need to learn how to maintain speed over the course of the run.

As the new yearly mileage goal of 1800 miles, which would be 200 miles more than last year.