Weeks 10 & 11 - Befriending the Dreadmill

As always, I like to thank my amazing friends and supporters who have donated to my Boston Marathon fundraising page for Victory Programs.  Many thanks to Amy M., the O'Brien Family, Daniela F., Tashia G., Edda M. and the incredible Nancy L, for their generous donations!  I am now over my fundraising goal and am excited to try to reach $5,500!  If you haven't made a donation yet, but would like to, you can click here to give.

Snowmaggedon Strikes Again

After thinking I was in for a lovely winter of marathon training, it seems everything has taken a turn for the worst - weather-wise that is. Snowstorm upon snowstorm upon bitter cold upon bitter cold, it's been a real mess.  This has caused a rash of indoor gym runs and lack of anything particularly interesting to share with all of you, so I decided to recap weeks 10 & 11 in one swoop.  After all, how many photos of treadmill workout summaries does anyone really want to see?

Week 10

One thing of note that has happened over the past two weeks is that I have finally begun cross training.  My orthopedic doctor had told me that I really need to start working my leg muscles to avoid re-injuring my knee, but I've always been really intimidated by the weight room at my gym.  My boyfriend knows his way around all the weight stuff that scares me, so he offered to come with me on week 10 and show me how to use them.  He also tortured me with squats, lunges and planks.  I thought I was strong because I do distance running, but was VERY humbled by how HARD all of those exercises were. My boyfriend really kicked my butt at all of them! Really proved that I have a lot of work to do to get as fit I need to.  He taught me how to use the abductor and adductor machines, which my doctor specifically told me to use as well as some of the other weight machines and I have started incorporating the weight routines into my training.

I didn't get a lot of miles in on week 10 because of a very busy schedule.  On Valentine's Day weekend, I was in a performance of the Vagina Monologues and we had rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday with performances on Friday and Saturday, leaving me a very limited window to get my runs in.  I did a little 3 miler on the treadmill on Tuesday (2/10) and didn't get back to the gym until Saturday evening.  That's right, I spent a very romantic Valentine's Day evening logging 5 miles on the treadmill!  Snow was falling in earnest by the time I walked home and continued to fall and fall and fall right through the night.

The following day - February 15 - was my birthday (34 years old...yikes) and, of course, there was a blizzard.  Another 14 inches of snow on the ground meant a housebound birthday just me and my cats (in case you were wondering, my boyfriend was in Utah for his brother's bachelor party so he got an excused absence).  I spent the day enjoying mimosas, doing laundry and watching Netflix.  The snow abated around noon and the sun actually came out.  I thought it would be fun to try to get a few miles in, but when I stepped outside to give it a go, the wind was blowing so hard I could barely see.  I decided to scrap my running plans for the day for safety reasons.  Nothing is worth getting hit by a plow for!

Week 11

Monday, the 16th was Presidents Day and since I hadn't gotten a long run in over the weekend I decided to spend the day at the gym.  As far as I am concerned, the idea of running 15 miles on the treadmill is a miserable one.  To keep it from making me totally crazy, I split my run into three sets of 5 miles with short breaks between them where I used the weight machines and did some stretches.  It was the longest run I had done in a long time and I forgot to bring any fuel with me and that really impacted the last 5 miles. I ended up doing a walk/run for the last 5 miles and had to stop to re-tie my laces (hence the 4 screen shots on the left).  It was HARD and took about 4 hours out of my day.  Yikes!

Anyone who lives in Boston knows the recent storms have really taken a toll on our public transit system and my psyche wasn't the only victim of the mess.  I had planned on going to the gym after work on Wednesday before going to my mom's house for a belated birthday dinner, but after a THREE HOUR COMMUTE home, there was just no time to fit it in before dinner.  Thursday evening brought another belated birthday gathering with friends, leaving only the weekend for quality time at the gym.

My boyfriend and I had plans Friday evening so I had enough time to log 5 miles before going out and hitting the town.  I also had a realization that Friday marked the two month countdown to Marathon Monday on April 20.  Oh jeez. I gotta get serious and FAST!  

Sunday called for another long run and it was actually a lovely day - the first above freezing day in as long as I can remember.  The sun was shining and it would normally have been a perfect day to run outside - and I probably could have except I didn't want to deal with the insane amount of slush the warm temperatures caused to pool at each and every crosswalk. I haven't invested in very good wet/winter weather socks and one wrong step could have made it a REALLY long run.  Long story short, I went to the gym to tackle 16 miles. 

This time, I remembered to bring water and fuel but forgot to bring my phone! You'll have to take my word for having completed the run, but I did!  I found out that the treadmills by the window allow you to go for up to 99 minutes, as opposed to the set of treadmills on the other side of the room that I usually use that only allow you to do 60 minutes at a time.  Lesson learned!  I set a slow pace and ran 9 miles before taking a break to refill my water bottle and help myself to some Cliff Shot Bloks (my fuel of choice) before resetting the time and doing another 7 miles.  I had my boyfriend snap this pic of me once I got home as some way to prove I really did it.

Two long runs in one week meant a total of THIRTY-SIX miles logged in week 11!

So here were are, less than two months to the big day and it's time to get down to brass tacks.  I am going to be doing a 21 mile run in March and want to be sure I am strong and ready by the time it comes along so I am looking forward to bringing my momentum into week 12.