Success is Grown in The Little Things

by Jodi

On February 1st, my husband Curt and I participated in the Roaring Run in Scio, Oregon. He ran the 10k. I gave full effort for the slowest half marathon I've run in over eight years. BLECH.

Trying to pretend we were excited to go run in the rain and the wind.

Such a small event that my finish time got me second place age group and fourth overall woman. 

Dr. Stilp makes everything better.  I love him.

When I tore my meniscus in August of last year, I was over four years into my run streak.  Each of those four years, I ran an average of 2,000 miles a year or about 5.5 miles a day.  I had a broad base of mileage and speed to pull from, and I loved being strong and fast.

My exercise rhythm post-surgery has been challenging.  I can't quite seem to find a healthy balance between running, rest, and implementing other forms of exercise like yoga and walking. 

I tried an exercise streak, but only made it 73 days before I accidentally missed a day.  I was irritated, so I took two more days off just because I could. You'd think I would come off those days feeling rested and relaxed, but I just felt bloated and grouchy. 

I put the Roaring Run half marathon on my calendar hoping it would motivate me to get back in the swing of doing some hard workouts again.  I put track, tempo, and long run workouts on my calendar.  Each time they came up, I found a reason to cancel or modify the workout. I was woefully undertrained for this race and I knew it.

Race morning it was raining with 17 mph winds on an exposed course. Wind is my least favorite weather condition to race in.  Curt doesn't even like running.  He was just participating because it was something we could do together. We legitimately considered skipping the race and going back to bed.  Even worse, I was the one who suggested this.

In the car on the way to the race, I committed to stop whining about the 13.1 miles ahead of me and choose joy, be thankful, and give my best effort. 

The race was hard.  I knew it would be.

• It was a super small crowd of runners this year.  I chased a woman for the first six miles, but once I passed her, I was alone on the country roads.  It was super lonely and difficult to maintain a race mentality.
• This race was only my fifth double digit run in the last seven months.  YIKES.  My legs were tired at mile 9.  
• I had trained so little that I didn't have a realistic goal pace per mile.  I really had no idea what my body could do. I thought a 7:45 pace was attainable, and I maintained it for the first 6.82 miles.  Then I turned a corner and ran straight into that 17 mph headwind.  It obliterated me.  I kept the same effort and my pace dropped 20-30 seconds per mile.  It shows in my splits.
• The rain was persistent enough that I was soaked by the time I finished, but it could have been a lot worse.  I was thankful that the showers were scattered and not consistent.
• The water stations were limited and I was relying on them for water, so I was thirsty a lot. 
• Something in the air triggered my occasional shortness of breath so I worked hard for big chunks of the race to manage my breathing. 
• BLAH...BLAH...BLAH...

I was on the Struggle Bus.

Some days, running is just hard, even when you're well trained and prepared, which I was not.  I reminded myself of the goal I set in the car, and am very proud to say I followed through on managing my attitude, giving my best effort, and being grateful even when it was tempting to sit down on the side of the road and cry or call for a ride to the finish.   

I suspected that I had lost all my speed and a a large portion of my mileage base.  The Roaring Run race gave me a concrete number to solidify this theory.  I can work with that.

A few days after the race, I added a late spring half marathon to my calendar and downloaded a new training schedule.  The first long run was 9 miles and I lined up two friends to run some of it with me.  The morning of our run, one got sick and one got called into work. Immediately I texted, "I'll probably just skip it and do yoga instead."  For real.  This coming from the girl who didn't miss a day of running in four years.

I put down my phone and was immediately convicted.  I can't whine about being slow and out of shape if I'm not willing to put in the work to be fast and in shape.  I can't make a commitment to myself and then break my word to myself just because it's hard.  It's not right.  

It's not who I am.

I stopped what I was doing and headed out for ten lonely, but satisfying miles.  

Success is grown in the little things.  

View on my run.  It had a lot of climbing.

Those ten miles were the first of many little steps to a more successful half marathon later this spring.

What about you? Are you on the Struggle Bus, breaking promises to yourself or to others?  Do you want to join me in committing to keeping your word and growing success through the little decisions?  Let's go!

How Fatigue Made Me a Smarter Runner

by Carissa


On Sunday I ran Vernonia Half Marathon, my first race of 2016.  I signed up for the race on Monday of race week. My intention was to use it as a training run for Hippie Chick Half Marathon in May.  I wanted to get some miles in for the weekend and be at the race to cheer on friends running the marathon including my sole sisters Jodi and Tanya.  My good friend Devon was running the half marathon too.  I knew from her the first half of the course would be downhill (fast but tough on the quads) then flat to the finish.

Going into the race I was only three weeks into increasing my mileage base for a half marathon.  Monday I ran my first double digit run since fall.  Feeling ambitious on Wednesday I did a track workout, my first since September.  This is clearly how NOT to train for a half marathon!  I was not ready to race on Sunday which means I showed up laid back with no expectations.  At worst, I would slog through 13.1 miles.  At best, I would run comfortable/hard treating it as a tune up race.

A couple of years ago I was really good at making 13.1 miles miserable.  I would go into a race with an ambitious time goal and run my legs to misery.  I started fast and hoped to hold on.  And guess what?  My second half was always slower than my first and always painful as the wheels fell off maintaining an overly ambitious pace.

What's My Number?

By Carissa

I ran the Helvetia Half Marathon earlier this month because I felt compelled to race again.  I knew my time would be a far cry from my personal best.  It wasn’t about time.  It was about accepting where I was in my fitness.  Giving myself a "number" or finishing time I might not want to see.

The last time I raced was the Bridge of the Goddess Half Marathon in September 2014.  The race felt horrible.  I knew I struggled with fatigue through my training so I felt uncertain going into race day.  Out on the course I stopped multiple times to walk because I felt dizzy.  I swore to not run another half marathon until I figured out what was going on with my health.  

Over the next several months I had doctors appointments, consulted other runners and medical professionals and waited out some bad fatigue.  In January I started taking daily iron supplements.  Over the next few months the fatigue got better.  By April I started to feel like a slower version of my former self: someone who could dream about tackling longer distances.  That’s when I started to get the itch to train.

Pacific Crest Sports Festival 2015: There's Still Time to Register

by Jodi

My Facebook status earlier this week garnered a few, "You should make that into a blog post" comments.  So here's what I wrote. 

"Eight years ago I was living in Chicago - an exhausted mom of four babies. My husband and I were out of shape and overweight, but planning to meet my family in Sunriver for a big family reunion the weekend of the Pacific Crest Crest Sports Festival - an entire weekend of races in Sunriver. We didn't want to be the only out-of-shape people at the reunion so we started running. It was painful and we were SLOW, but we worked our mileage up to about 4 or 5 miles, hoping to stretch ourselves and run the 10k at Pacific Crest.   

The night before the half marathon, my Aunt Jacque pulled me aside and told me she knew I could run the half marathon. She shoved registration money into my fist and told me to go prove to myself that I was an athlete. 

The Mighty Willamette

By Tanya

Growing up in Portland Oregon, I have always had a fondness for our beautiful bridges that span across the Willamette River connecting the east side of town to the west. As a child I lived closest to and would often cross the Ross Island Bridge.  Named for it's proximity to Ross Island, the largest of four small islands in the Willamette River just south of downtown Portland, it holds a special place in my heart.

A view of downtown Portland and Willamette from the east side

As we drove across the bridge I would often dream about what it would be like on the island, never really giving thought about how I would get out there. When I was a child the Willamette River had a bad reputation for being polluted.  The majority of Ross Island was owned by the Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company who used it as a quarry, so people were seldom in the water nearby.

Fast forward to 2014.  I still love Portland.  I still have a fondness for the bridges around the city and for Ross Island.  However, now I get to spend my summers training for a triathlons by swimming in the Willamette River and taking my kids in our kayak out to search for magic pebbles on the beaches of Ross Island!

2014: A Summer of Adventure

By Tanya

The summer of 2014 has certainly shaped up to be one of new experiences and adventures. As evidenced by the lack of new blog posts, we Sole Sisters have been hitting the road this summer.

Carissa and Jodi have both traveled across the U.S. on family vacations, and in true Sole Sister fashion, running, swimming and hiking along the way. I have remained closer to home gearing up for my first triathlon, the Mid-Simmer Olympic Tri on August 3rd at Blue Lake Park in Portland, Oregon. I somehow convinced Carissa to do the Mid Summer Tri with me and it has been fantastic to have a training partner. Jodi wanted to join us but she had some friends who offered her a spot in the Cascade Lakes Relay on the same day. She has always wanted to run that race and couldn't pass it up so she has been training amongst her travels.

Training for this triathlon has been a fantastic experience! I have followed though on my initial plan to split my training week up into one long ride, one long run, one ride/run brick workout, and two swim/core workout days and my body has felt really good!

Fast and Furious comes to a Stop

By Carissa

I embarked upon a bit of an adventure several weeks ago when I decided to train for a 10k.  My first move was to pick a Hal Higdon training plan.  Hal’s plans are familiar to me.  I trust the process.  I know the workouts and I feel challenged by them.  

The first workout made me cringe.  I was to run five miles with three at 10k pace.  For training purposes I picked 6:40 min/mile as my pace.  I can’t think of a time outside of racing that I’ve ever tried to maintain that fast of a pace for consecutive miles.  To my surprise the run went great.  I was working for it but I could maintain my pace.  That was good because I would be running fast and furious a lot.  

A typical week for Hal Higdon’s Advanced 10K plan included 400s at the track, a tempo run, a pace run and a “long” run (between 6 and 10 miles) with the last 25% at race pace.  My watch was hitting 6:XX regularly.  I enjoyed that my runs were shorter and yet I still felt like I was getting a great workout.  I felt strong and I was getting faster.  One week when the plan called for a 5K tune up race I simulated my own 5K and raced a PR by a few seconds.  It made me excited for my target race and a potential new 10K PR.

My Toolbox is Full; It's Time to Build

By Tanya

As you may remember my 2012 was filled with running injuries galore, the worst of which was a painful locking up of my back that would take days, sometimes weeks, to relieve.  In 2013 I decided to hang up my running shoes and fill up my toolbox. This meant taking a year off from my usual 10k race series as well as any other additional races I like to throw in and spend the year collecting tools to build strength and balance in the areas that seemed to be causing my problems. For me this meant spending two months with a personal trainer, ten months of cross training, and a year of learning to listen to my body.

In the beginning when I started working with the personal trainer I was not allowed to do much in the way of aerobic exercise.  To help me from packing on the pounds and to see if any thing I was eating was causing pain from inflammation, I decided to go on an elimination diet. I started by only eating fruits and veggies and then added in different types of foods one by one for a six weeks. Though my pain and inflammation did not go away, I did learn how much better my body feels when on a clean, whole foods diet.

During this time I also became better aware of how many of my activities of daily life created an unequal imbalance in my posture. This led to changes in how I sit, stand, sleep and bend.
When the time came for me to add in more exercise, I started swimming more and rekindled my forgotten love of dance through Zumba. Dancing really helped me to loosen up my back and after a couple of months I stopped having painful back lockups.

When Things Don't Go as Planned

by Jodi

Life has a way of turning things upside down.  When things don't go as we planned, we still have to roll with it.  Carissa, Devon and I have all experienced that in the past couple of weeks.

We have been training for a race this Saturday.  We set aside weeks of effort in training, speed work, and intentionality to be top speed on race day. Things looked good for personal records for all of us.

But Carissa got sick.  Her sickness has lingered on and on. Eleven days with the stomach flu and once that was better a sore throat appeared.   As a result her heaviest week of speed work got wiped out and replaced with being on the couch (as much as life allows with three busy sons and a husband).

Run Less, Run Faster

by Jodi

Last year at this time I was in the early stages of marathon training, following  a plan that required running high mileage six days a week with no room for cross training.  My body wasn't ready for it and I fractured my foot ten weeks into training.

My post-injury running was middle distance focused on time with friends instead of pace.  This summer Carissa and I switched to triathlon training.  The diversity that swimming and cycling added were a welcome change mentally and physically to my exercise routine.

It has been nine months since I've challenged myself to run farther or faster.  While I was resting I read an interesting book called Run Less, Run Faster (RLRF) co-written by Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, and Ray Moss.  The basic premise of the training plan is quality over quantity.  The authors advocate running three specific, pace-based workouts per week.  Combine two cardio cross training days and you have their 3plus2 training program.

Learning to Be Flexible (In my Thinking)

by Jodi

Carissa's post about her fitness goals for 2014 got me thinking about my lack of goals for 2014.  I pulled out my list from 2013 and immediately laughed.  On my list of nine goals I accomplished exactly (embarrassed pause)... three.  Here's why.

I was on track to run a fast marathon, but fractured my foot ten weeks into training.  Instead of racing a marathon, I spent weeks learning to rest.  Believe me - it felt like I was training.  I don't naturally rest well,  but through this season I learned to listen to my body.  Now I know to rest when I'm tired instead of plowing recklessly ahead.

how I spent the spring: watching my family do cool stuff like play water polo

I registered to run a half marathon with Curt exactly one day before I fractured my foot. Instead of running with him I served as his Primary Cheerleader and Water Sherpa. I rode my bike beside him on his long training runs and set up cheering sections for him on the race course.  On race day a small crowd of family and friends took my place running with Curt, tagging out every couple of miles.  He only ran alone for the first three miles and I got to jog into the finish with him.  Not what we planned but with a little flexible thinking, it ended up being better than what we originally planned.

What is Next

By Carissa

It’s been more than a month since my triathlon.  What have I been up to? Rest, a chest cold, one day of the flu and lots of on again/off again exercise.  After 19 weeks of training I was ready for a mental and physical break.  So I took a break.

During this month of light exercise a buzz started among my Sole Sisters.  Both Jodi and Tanya were considering Whidbey Island Marathon.  I wanted to be in.  I love doing races with my Sole Sisters.  I wanted to train for a spring marathon.  But as much as I wanted to be a yes, I intuitively said no.

Another thing I am not doing is going back to Boston for 2014.  After the bombings last year I was sure that’s exactly what I wanted to do but then I changed my mind.  Going to Boston is a big commitment of time and money.  It’s also a big emotional commitment.  When August/September rolled around and it was time to decide I realized that I didn’t want those commitments.

Triathlon Dress Rehearsal: Two Training Approaches. Two Outcomes. One Big Adventure

By Jodi

Swim.  Bike. Run.  This weekend Carissa and I exercised our way through a dress rehearsal of the Olympic distance triathlon we plan to race in two weeks.  Above all else it was eye-opening for me.  There was a clear distinction between Carissa's well prepared, thoughtful training program vs. my winging it, it's-summer-so-I-don't-want-to-train-for-anything "schedule."  Carissa was much faster than I was on all three disciplines.  But I expected her to be.

This was our finished picture.  Notice how refreshed Carissa looks?  And how exhausted I look?

Carissa toyed around with the idea of a triathlon last fall, took her first swim lesson in December, and  got serious about triathlon training after she finished the Boston marathon.  She has trained with the determined consistency that defines who she is, following a rigorous schedule and mastering two skills that were foreign to her a matter of months ago.  Carissa has worked hard and her training has clearly paid off.  She was fast, strong, and capable on all three events today.  On race day she will reap the reward of her hours of effort.

I, on the other hand, didn't decide to do this triathlon until the middle of July.  While I learned to swim and cycle three years ago these are not sports I have not done with any consistency.  Saying yes to triathlon training was like starting over from scratch, especially with swimming.

Motivation: My Mind Said No

By Carissa

~I started this post two weeks ago but didn't have the "motivation" to finish it until now...

We’ve all been there - that place in your training when you lose your drive.  You don’t care anymore and you have a long list of reasons not to carry on.  Somewhere between last week and this week I lost my motivation.  

On Monday morning the alarm went off.  I got up and groggily made my way through my routine to get out the door.  On the drive to the gym I let my negative thoughts simmer. "I don't want to be up at 4:45 a.m. to battle through an hour of spin and 45 minutes in the pool.  I don't want to work out.  I don't want to work hard for a triathlon I am confident I can complete today.  I should be in bed right now."  It was my third morning commute to the gym feeling this way and I knew it was a red flag.  

Once at the gym I checked in and put my bag in a locker.  All I had to do was walk through the door to class and sit on a bike.  If I did that I would be assured of a commitment to the next 60 minutes and following through with my workout.  But I didn’t.  I chose to listen to the voice that reassured me that every fiber of me did not want to work out.  I passed several regulars on their way in as I did the walk of shame out and back home to bed.

Do Not Be Afraid or Discouraged...

my son Grant practicing his butterfly in Timothy Lake

by Jodi

I am abnormally afraid of snakes and drowning.  Both have consumed many a nightmare over the years.  It's no secret that nothing about swimming comes naturally to me.  There is not a swim workout where I don't try to talk myself out of going.  I'm nervous the entire drive to the pool.  The pool deck and lap lanes intimidate me.  Before I even get into the pool I'm already anticipating the joy of getting out.  Like Adam Sandler in the movie Happy Gilmore I feel like I need to tell the lifeguard, "I'm a runner but I'm swimming today."  ...as if it's not painfully obvious.

When I'm swimming I panic over the dumbest things.  Water in my nose, water in my mouth, shortness of breath, an inability to swim the distance I sent out to conquer, tired muscles, or watching the depth of the pool drop off below me all have potential to induce wave after wave of panic.

Fear lies.  It whispers to me, "You will not be okay.  When you swim in that triathlon you will not make it out of the lake alive."   If I give in to the mental turmoil that fear creates when I swim, it tortures me up and down the lane.  Sometimes it's intense enough that it chases me straight out of the pool.

Trying a Tri

By Carissa

When it comes to athletic pursuits, I like to push my limits.  For a while that has been in the form of distance and pace.  This summer I’m dipping my toes into the unknown world of the triathlon.  I’ve been asked in the past if I would train for a triathlon.  My typical response was that I can’t bike and I can’t swim so no, triathlons weren’t a logical sport for me. 

Then last summer I bought I road bike.  Did I start riding it?  No.  To my husband’s chagrin it sat in the garage with promises from me that once I wan’t busy training for foot races I would indeed get on it.  Next, I had the opportunity to work with a trainer at my gym on lap swimming.  It isn’t pretty, but I now know how to lap swim.  Prior to diving into training for the Boston Marathon I took spin class and managed to get into the pool a little.  Once the running picked up I dropped everything else and focused exclusively on getting in my miles for the week.

Side note: Check out Jodi's blog for her experience learning to swim.  She promises humor.

The one time I actually rode my bike on the road and look, no clips...

After Boston I knew I wanted to get back to spin class, I wanted to get back in the pool and I wanted a goal race that would give my workouts focus and purpose.  A triathlon seemed to fit the bill.  There was only a few rather small hiccups in my ambitions.  I had yet to ride my bike on the open road.  The thought of getting used to my clips was anxiety producing.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to build up the necessary endurance to swim the race distance and I had zero experience in open water.  Have I built a good case for thinking I push my limits?

Boston Training Weeks 14 and 15: Shamrock Run and 22 miles

By Carissa

My muscles are sore and my left arch is tight, but I made it.  The past two weeks concluded what my schedule deemed race preparation.  Am I prepared to race?  I sure hope so.  One would think fifteen weeks of training would get me ready.  But the marathon has an uncanny way of humbling every runner.  There’s no guarantee that all this work will translate into a great race.  As a runner we must embrace that uncertainty and be prepared for the lessons we will learn along the way because lessons and growth are what is guaranteed. 

At least I had some new shoes and
Skirt Sports shorts to break in on the treadmill.

Week fourteen started with the treadmill.  Four days later I was still on my treadmill due mainly to the fact that my youngest is three years old and with me 24/7.  As much as the treadmill is a lifesaver, twenty eight miles on the thing drove me a little nuts.  I cut my Thursday run short by two miles because I couldn’t handle another minute on the thing.

Sunday of week fourteen was Portland’s Shamrock Run.  I signed up to run the 15k although I have never run that distance before.  I wasn’t sure what to expect out of the hilly course that climbs up Terwilliger before dropping back down for the finish or an event that hosts 35,000 runners! Lucky for me the race starts were staggered and the 15k started first so I was up against the smallest crowds of the day.  After a warm up I knew I needed one more trip to the bathroom and by the time I was out of the port-o-potty, the race was about to start.  My friend Kelly and I rushed to the start and jumped through an opening in the barricades where the 7-8 minute milers were lined up just before the gun went off.  

I stole the green arm band from my six year old.

The first couple of miles were really crowded.  I forced my way through narrow gaps between people instead of my normal strategy of weaving around racers.  The crowds thinned out by the time I started to make my way up Broadway.  I tried to race at a comfortable pace because I didn’t want to totally burn out on the big climb up Terwilliger.  Once I got to Terwillerger my pace felt good for the climb.  I have the opportunity to run hills frequently so they do not scare me.  This gave me an advantage over many other racers.  I passed people at a steady clip and  felt remarkably well.  All I had to do was get to the Chart House and it was downhill from there.

Official results

Many racers dress festively for this event so I made it my goal to not let someone in a tutu beat me.   Once I reached the downhill, it was bliss.  I was flying and hoped the course wouldn’t level out before the finish.  About two miles from the end of the race I counted seven women in front of me.  I knew having that many women finish right in front of me would be a good ding in my standing so I worked on passing each of them.  By the end of the race I passed all seven!  I came into the finish feeling strong, fast, and ecstatic to be feeling good after such a disappointing last race.  My finish time was 1:04:22.

The following day was a challenge.  My schedule called for a seventeen mile training run on tired muscles.  I know how sore I can be after racing and I wasn’t sure how it would feel.  My answer?  IT WAS SO HARD.  I was really blessed to have Jodi join me for this one.  I love spending long runs catching up with her.  It was the only thing that saved me.

I could tell by six miles that I was fatigued.  By twelve miles I was hungry.  Really hungry.  I had another Gu but my body wanted food.  A hamburger in fact.  Jodi had some raisins/Craisins with her and I ate all of them.  It didn’t hit the spot but it was better than a Gu.  By the grace of God my watch eventually dinged 17 miles.  I made it!  We returned to the small shopping strip where our cars were parked and Jodi joined me as I scarfed down some Mexican food which she said looked like “barf on a plate.”  She cracks me up.

My muscles took some time to recover from that big effort.  It’s no surprise that my speed session that week did not go well.  By the weekend it was time for my last long run and my only 22 miler of the training cycle.  I was intimidated by the thought that this run could feel anything like the one with Jodi. Despite feeling nervous I set off to meet my friend Holly.  Holly and I live a couple of miles apart.  She’s one of my roommates for Boston and though our pace is really compatible we haven’t done much training together.  I’m so glad we could run that last big one together.  We had some climbs and some rolling hills and it was nice to pass the miles catching up with each other.  When I got home I was so excited.  I was heading into the three week taper that comes before the race.

We'd love to hear from you Sole Sisters!  Did you run Shamrock?  Have you ever raced in a tutu?  Have you ever gotten REALLY hungry on a long run?  Do you have experience with racing the day before a long run?

Boston Training Weeks 12 and 13: Up All Night and Revising the Plan

By Carissa

The finish line is in sight.  Ahead are two weeks of hard training and then it will be time to taper.  Weeks twelve and thirteen brought more lessons in training.  Literal, by-the-book, see-the-workout-through-even-if-it-kills-you Carissa made some revisions to the plan and they were good choices.  

The best part about week twelve had nothing to do with running.  For the second year in a row I had the luxury and privilege of attending a Women’s Night of Prayer.  This event went from 11:59PM to 6:00AM.  Last year I was training for a spring marathon as well. It was with trepidation that I ran seventeen miles the morning of the event wondering if I really could stay up all night.  By the grace of God I did and I knew I could do it again this year.  I wasn’t the only one either.  Three of my friends that attended Night of Prayer are also marathon training.  I love that they chose this event over sleep.  The night was food for my soul: worship, prayer, confession, quiet time, girlfriend time.  I came home refueled and refreshed.

My name of God from the night of prayer.
I'm so thankful that He DOES supply all my needs.

I’ve been making a few revisions to the running plan.  I mentioned last time that I didn’t realize when I chose this plan that it would be so much harder than my last training plan.  I continue to suspect that I’m toeing the line with overtraining.  I feel pretty unequipped to make the call but I’m doing my best to be smart and open to revisions.

My first revision was in week twelve.  The day before my 17 mile long run I was supposed to run a race.  It was a Thursday and there was no race for me to run.  In fact I was at home running on my treadmill.  Initially I thought I would run a mock 10k.  I’ve read about runners doing this and it seemed to go well for them.  However, thanks to some wise advice from the Team Athena coach I realized this workout wasn’t the right choice.  Instead I ran a tempo run and it felt like the appropriate level of difficulty.

The next revision came this week for my long run.  As I have mentioned before, the Hal Higdon schedule I followed last spring alternates peak training weeks with recovery weeks.  The Advanced Marathoning schedule has five hard weeks in a row.  This week was the third hard week.  My long run was going to be a tough one: eighteen miles with the last fourteen at marathon pace.  Suffice it to say this run has been taking up a lot of mental space all week.  

I picked up this tank and shirt to get printed with the Team Athena logo.
I will probably be wearing one of these for my race.

On Thursday I came to terms with how tired my body was.  My speed work on Tuesday was a poor showing yet again.  I just can’t rely on my legs for speed lately.  I thought to myself, "I’ve already logged 29 miles this week.  I should just log two more easy runs, use this week as a recovery week and go into the next two hard weeks refreshed."  

The morning after I made the decision to scrap my long run, I planned to run six easy miles.  It was a cool sunny day and it felt great to be outside.  With a full night’s sleep under my belt and no expectations for the run, I set out.  I was less than a quarter mile into my run when I decided I should make it a pace run.  The schedule doesn’t have me running race pace very often. I felt good. Why not take this opportunity to log some miles at race pace?  Six miles became eight.  And eight miles became ten.  I felt great. I could have kept going but I needed to get back home. 

After the workout I felt conflicted.  I thought I was being smart by making the change.  But because the run felt so good, I also felt like I just missed my opportunity for a confidence building, challenging eighteen mile run.  In either case, the benefits remain.  I was happy that ten went so smoothly and I think my legs will feel better going into next week.  Even if I could have run eighteen and have it go well, it doesn’t change the fact that cumulatively it might have done me in.  It’s a hard call to make.  

Try this for a quick lunch: massaged kale (prep ahead), lentils,
avocado and Annie's Goddess dressing

On another note, my pacing is dreadful.  The race pace I wanted to train at was 7:38.  Hitting 7:3X on my pace run would have been great but I couldn’t do it.  Every time I looked at my watch I was up to 30 seconds faster.  If I tried to slow down I would miss the mark and end up being 30 seconds too high.  My overall pace ended up being 7:24.  I hope this isn’t a problem when I’m running Boston.  I am queen of going out too fast at the start.

Do you ever notice your body wants to go a certain pace?  What if your targeted race pace is different than what feels natural?

Boston Training: Weeks 10 and 11

By Carissa

Just like that two more weeks are completed.  I wrapped up the eleventh week of training with a twenty mile run.  I checked the last workout off the second mesocycle (or phase) of my schedule.  The mesocycles I have completed now are endurance and lactate threshold and endurance.  The next two phases will be race preparation (intimidating!!!) and tapering (my favorite.)  The Boston marathon is now seven weeks away.  It finally doesn’t feel so far in the future.  

Top: The whole schedule
Bottom: Mesocycle 2

I like to study my training schedules.  Looking at the big picture or even just the next few weeks helps me wrap my head around what is ahead of me.  It was the process of looking ahead that brought about some anxiety and concern last week.  I looked at the next five weeks of training and saw that they were all 50+ miles a week. It dawned on me how much more demanding this schedule was going to be.  I wasn’t sure I could handle it.

Boston Training Week 9: Half Way There

by Carissa

Mile by mile, day by day the boxes on my schedule are getting checked off.  I’m now half way through my 18 week training schedule.  There are distinct feelings I associate with being this far into a schedule.  

By now the excitement of the monumental task I’ve taken on has worn off.  Despite the lack of enthusiasm, there is a rhythm I have found.  Workouts that were a bit more of a struggle a few weeks ago happen with ease.  I’m getting faster and I’m running farther. 

It doesn’t hurt like it used to.  I have already logged 18 and 20 mile runs.  They felt good.  I still marvel at how different that distance now feels.  The first time I ran training runs that long was with Jodi for the 2010 Portland Marathon.  Those runs took everything out of me.  Just covering the distance was killer and finishing was a minor miracle.  I’m so glad I can remember how it used to feel.  It helps me appreciate those runs now.  If you haven’t experienced it personally, I promise you it is so different to cover that distance now.  Our body’s ability to adapt, change and grow stronger is incredible.