Taper Time!!!! Bad Shoe Luck & Another Race

As expected, it was tough getting the miles in over the last week because I was traveling for work.

Monday was complete chaos because I was supposed to board my plane at 5:10 am.  Mitch woke me up at 4:30!  We live about 20 minutes from the airport and I still had to check my bag and get through security.  Thank goodness for our little airport because I made it just before they closed the door. Thank goodness for Mitch too because 1. I wouldn't have woken up on time at all and 2. he drove me to the airport so I didn't have to find parking.  The rest of my day was dedicated to work and then dinner/drinks with a broker.  I didn't run at all.

Tuesday was my best day.  We finished visiting potential clients fairly early so I had plenty of daylight to work with.  My hotel in Independence, Missouri connected to a 15 mile bike trail.  I am leery of running alone in strange cities, but this trail seemed inviting and I didn't want to run the treadmill if I didn't have to. 

 

I got a great ten mile run on this trail.  The elevation is less than 1000 feet above sea level (easy breathing) and the trail is relatively flat.  It runs along a canal through tree covered sections as well as open glades, under the occasional busy street, over little wooden bridges and by an old railroad trestle.  It is such a diverse trail and I loved it.  I didn't take enough pictures though.

 



After too much food and beer on Monday, I opted for big salad for dinner at On the Border.  It didn't taste as amazing at is looked, but it was okay.  I appreciated the evening to myself so I could run, eat and then work on emails until late into the night.

Wednesday and Thursday were short runs on the treadmill at my hotel in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  I didn't have much time so I tried to make the best of it and add some speed play to my quick workouts.  I flew home on Thursday and didn't get in until 11pm.  I was so tired on Friday that I didn't run.

I came home to a new treadmill which I'm excited to get some miles on when the weather turns cold again and new trail runners that I ordered before I left.  I already run in the Altra KingMTs and they have about 500 miles on them.  They've been great for some of the worst terrain I've had to run on.  Sadly, these will be going back to Altra because they are considerably smaller than the first version.  Now that I've seen them I'm not sure I like the updates they made to the tongue either so I might wait until I can find a store that sells them before I get another pair.

This has been my luck lately with shoes.  I had the same thing happen with the Topos I bought for road running.  They were way too small and I had to send them back and replace them.  Now I don't think I can wear them for longer runs at all after my experience this weekend.

Saturday was my final long run before heading in to the taper.  If you're not familiar with this lingo, the taper is the last weeks leading up to a race when you cut your miles back and allow your body to recover from the high mileage peak training.  I was going to run 18 miles, but it didn't happen.

I did the road from Molt to Phipps Park, which was just over 13 miles and planned to change my shoes and finish on the trails.

This is what running roads in rural South-Central Montana looks like -

It will look much prettier when it turns green.  I can't wait!  Brown is not my favorite color.

I chose this road as an opportunity to see how my chosen shoes would do on a long downhill.  This was a mistake because I've done something to my Achilles.  I didn't notice it when I was running, though I could tell at the end that I'd pulled my calf muscle on that leg so I didn't do the trail section of my planned run.  I ended with 13.3 miles for the day.  By the time I got home I could hardly walk with the fire in my Achilles.  I have been icing it, soaked in Epsom salt and rubbed it down with Hammer Balm.  When I woke up it felt better but it didn't take long of standing on it before it started to hurt again.  I'll be taking today off and see how it feels tomorrow.  I didn't want to run the marathon in my Brooks wear-test shoes.  I LOVE them, but my toes jam against the front of the shoe on the downhill which is going to be problematic at my marathon.  But I would rather lose a toenail than suffer an Achilles injury.

Thankfully it is taper time so I am not worried about going easy for the next 3 weeks.  I'll run when I feel I can do so without hurting myself.  As far as training, the "hay is in the barn."  There isn't much I can do to improve my fitness between now and Revel Mt. Charleston.  I've done the training and my results will be based on the last 29 weeks of preparation.  It has either been enough for a BQ or it hasn't.

On another note, I've signed up for a small 5K locally.  I don't run races here in Billings very often but I couldn't turn this one down.

Next weekend we head out to Lewis and Clark Caverns to run an 8k event.  Next week's post will be late since we will be out of town for the whole weekend but hopefully I'll come back with some awesome pictures.

First Race of the Season, Spring has Sprung & My Weak Link

Last weekend was Run to the Pub - the kick off race to our season.  We finally got a decent break in the weather and we didn't freeze to death.  I will be posting a race recap and review later in the week so stay tuned.  Spoiler alert:  We finished!

I felt pretty good for that run consider the mileage I put in during the preceding days.  I did a 20 miler the day before.  I had never done this route.  I basically ran from one end of the city to the other and then back tracked to my office where I'd left my truck the day before.  The snow and ice made it challenging and seemed slow.  I don't know if I'll do that again.

 

 

I took the Monday following the race off from work and since I would be flying out for work on Tuesday, I hit the roads for my Tuesday Ten on Monday instead.  Spring weather is finally here!

 

I bought a new pair of shoes - Topo Magnifly 2s.  I wanted something that is low drop (zero) and wide in the toe box with a little cushion.  I tried on a pair of the Altra Torin's, which I have loved in the past but the current model had way more fluff than I wanted.  The Topos are very nice, but I'm not sure yet if they are going to work for me.  I'm suffering from pain in my right foot and at this point I'm unsure if that is a result of these shoes or the sandals I wore for 3 days while traveling.

PS.  Somehow I already have a sock tan line.  How is that possible?

After my ten-miler, I took myself on a date to the 406.  The restaurant has been open at least a couple of years now, but this is only the second time I have been there.  I was highly unimpressed the first time.  This apple-brie grilled cheese was pretty decent though and the beer was delicious (sadly I can't recall what kind it was).  Sometimes it's just nice to go on a lonely date, but it was entirely unnecessary since I would have to do it a couple of times while I was traveling anyway.

I went to Oklahoma City on Tuesday.  I knew it would be difficult to get in my training, but it was my goal to do it regardless.  Unfortunately, traveling is my weak link.  I eat terrible and work too late in to the night and I didn't get much running in at all.

I did get a running tour of Bricktown on the first night.  I ran from my hotel to the canal trail and through downtown, along the canal again at the Botanical Garden before heading back to my room.  I loved the trail along the canal but construction areas made it so that I couldn't easily get from one side to the other.  I do love this city. 

This is the Botanical Gardens (can you see the trees growing inside?).  From the front it looks like a space shuttle capsule. The canal trail goes under the building which is pretty neat and the canal is full of enormous Koi.  I took a picture, but it didn't do them justice.

On Wednesday and Thursday I should have run 9 miles each day but I was up until after Midnight working both of the preceding nights.  Getting up early just didn't happen. So I got a quick mile on Wednesday and 4.5 on Thursday using the hotel treadmill.  My view from the treadmill was kind of cool but nowhere near as awesome as running the city.

I've listened to the audiobook version of "My Year of Running Dangerously" by Tom Foreman a few times.  It's really good book and the author reads it himself.  He's very engaging to listen to unlike many of the audio books I have downloaded on my Audible app.  The first several chapters of the story is about how he and his daughter decided to do a marathon together and his training adventures while working as a busy news anchor.  This guy worked 100 hour weeks, traveling all over the place, running on strange streets and on strange trails (even after dark without a headlamp) and always managed to get in his miles. I need to be more like this guy.

I took Friday off because I had to finish preparing for my final work meeting while in OKC and then my travel home wouldn't get me in to Billings until 10:00 pm. 

Then I ended up taking Saturday off as well.  My right foot has been bothering me quite a bit this week.  I opted to work on getting out kinks so I did some hot/cold therapy - switching back and forth between ice and heating pad and massaging it with a golf ball and Tiger Balm. 

It feels much better and I am heading out for 18 miles shortly. 

I'll be home for a week and it's hell week on my training schedule.  I have 3 days of 10 milers in the middle of the week and a long run of 21 miles on Saturday.  There are no rest days over the next two weeks.  I will need to evaluate if that is a wise strategy for me as I put on the miles.  I have another week of work travel coming up too.

Four weeks until Revel Mt. Charleston.  I feel really good about my endurance, but I'm not overly confident about my speed.  I'm perfectly capable of maintaining the necessary pace on down hills but I haven't had enough training on extended down hill to know if I can maintain the speed as long as needed.  My training has been very hilly with plenty of ups and downs so I'm hoping that will translate in to a solid base over all.  For better or worse, the time is near and I'm excited to be going to Vegas regardless.

BTW... I'm still working on Mitch, trying to talk him in to letting me do Javelina Jundred in October.  It's more the traveling logistics that are complicated (and expensive) than anything else.  If you have any great suggestions on how to get all your 100 mile gear for a HOT weather race to a location 1200 miles away and still be somewhat frugal, I'm listening.

Peak Training Has Begun, North vs. South and My New Habit

I have officially hit the peak weeks of my training schedule. With one more run to go this week I am at 47 miles.  It's hard to see at a glance using the Training Peaks app, but I believe the peak training will top out somewhere around 67+ miles/week.  I would be lying if I said that doesn't intimidate me a bit.  I don't recall what my biggest week is, but I know it's somewhere in the 50's.

I had to travel for work this last week.  Getting in the running was going to be very challenging, let alone the weight training.  I did weight workouts the Saturday and Sunday before knowing that I would not get to while I was out of town - partly due to time but as it turned out I didn't have access to dumbbells at one of my hotels either.

I left Billings on Sunday afternoon and got in to St. Louis around 1:30 am and had to get up, check out of my hotel and get to my client's location by 7:30.  Meetings wrapped up there at 3:30 and then I had a 5+ hour drive to Willow Springs, MO.  I just have to say that driving through Oklahoma was a lesson for me... don't travel without cash.  I had to pay a toll on the interstate at 2 places and couldn't get off the freeway outside of the metro area without paying another toll to get OFF the freeway.  It was hours before I could use the restroom.

Thankfully Monday was a rest day.  I got in to Willow Springs around 9:30 pm and I was pooped.

I had the pleasure of running outside on Tuesday.  My schedule called for nine miles, which seemed like it would be difficult to do while I was out of town.  But Willow Springs is a sweet little town so I wasn't afraid to go running alone and I had plenty of daylight once my meetings were over.

They had a short, 1/2 mile loop around the park that I incorporated in to my run so that I could pick up the speed a little.  I did 3 loops when I first found it and another 2 on my way back from touring the town.

This mural is in the town center. There was another one as well and there was a nice "picnic" area.  I didn't get to learn much about Willow Springs, but I suspect it was a bustling railroad town at one time.

Their high school track isn't connected to the school.  I got here before students filtered in for whatever sport they are training for this time of year.  It is a really nice, paved track so I did four loops so I could pick up the speed again for a bit.  I didn't do the nine miles exactly by the prescribed speeds, so this is how I made up for it.

Willow Springs has these boxes at various places around town.  The first one I saw was at the park with the walking trail. This one is by the high school track. There are jars of food in this one.

As you can probably tell from the pictures above, the weather was pretty nice.  It was blissful to run in the sun and warmer weather.

Meanwhile in Montana.............. (I had Mitch screenshot this from his weather app at the same time I took the one above)

I flew home on Wednesday and got home after 6:30.  Mitch and I went to dinner and then I did 6 miles on the treadmill.  I was supposed to hit a 7:44/mile pace for the last 20 minutes of my run but I was tanked.  I could only hold that pace for about 3 minutes at a time.

While I was out of town, it snowed.... and snowed... and snowed.  When I got home, it was still snowing.

Thursday I had ten miles to do, broken up in to 5 mile segments of intensity.  I did the first five on the treadmill before I went to work and the other 5 in the neighborhood when I got home.  It was snowing again.

The temp was somewhere near zero.  These hand warmers are a life saver.  I wouldn't be running outside at all this year if it weren't for the bulk bags of them we bought at Scheels last winter.

I miss the beautiful 60 degree weather I enjoyed while in Missouri.  Why oh why didn't I bring it back with me?

I did 7 miles of interval work on Friday morning before work.  Then it snowed again that evening.

This weekend the bottom dropped out of the thermometer again.  I was planning to do Saturday's long run outside in spite of the forecasted 0 degrees.  But when I got up, it was -14 with a breeze which prompted me to change my plan.  Fifteen miles on the treadmill is good mental training, right?

Today is worse.  It is currently -19 degrees and the wind chill is somewhere in the -40's.  I'll be running inside again but thankfully it will be a much shorter run than yesterday.

I really dislike winter and the last month has highlighted exactly how much.  We've had the coldest February on record and plenty of snow to back it up.  I should live in Arizona.

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I started a new habit recently.  It is my goal to drink over 100 ounces of water/day.  I dislike plain water so I don't get enough.  I started three weeks ago and only missed the days I was traveling and that is because you never know when you are going to get to use the restroom on an airplane or how long you might have to sit on a plane without going anywhere. I kept my liquid intake to a minimum on those days as well as the day I had to drive from Oklahoma to Missouri.

We bought a water filter for the sink because we already use a ridiculous number of plastic bottles.  If we added another gallon worth of Dasani bottles every day it was just irresponsible (we do recycle at least).  I got this crazy big water jug with motivational notes on the side to help me stay on track. It holds a gallon.  I've been teased a little at work about it.

I've had the Aftershokz Trekz Titanium headphones on my wish list for a while now.  They are bone conductive so they don't go inside your ears.  You can hear what is going on around you while still listening to music, books, podcasts, etc.  Yesterday we found them on sale at Sam's Club so I got a pair.  I'm excited to try them out.  Stay tuned for a review.

I hope you have a great week with perfect running weather!  

I Missed A Week of Training

I started coming down with a chest cold on Tuesday.  If you've never heard it before, let me reiterate the common rule for running when sick:  Above the neck, run.  Below the neck, rest.

I'm not going to lie.  I've never followed this because I've almost always been in the middle of a streak during cold/flu season.  I would get out and run at least a mile regardless of where the cold had settled in.  Before last year when we bought the treadmill, I usually went outside and ran regardless of temp.  This is the first time I've taken days off for chest congestion because I'm not in a running streak.

I'm beginning to think that I was doing it right all along.  This chest cold has settled in deeper and worse than anything I've had in the last several years.  Maybe getting out and working the lungs helped to work it out.  I'm not sure, but I'm prepared to go back to my old way of thinking.

I didn't run Tuesday through Friday.  That makes for a pretty cranky Angie.  I did get my LBC (Lean Body Challenge for those of you that haven't been following) workouts done every day, though they were done carefully and easy.  I was still sore the next day so I must have got something out of them.  I ran on the treadmill yesterday.  My plan called for 17 miles so I figured I would just get on and see how far I could go. 

We have a new running set up.  Mitch found a killer deal on a 55" smart TV at Sam's Club and since we'd been looking at that same TV when it wasn't on sale he bought it.  This TV now sits on a mock fireplace ledge in front of the treadmill.

I recently discovered TreadmillTV on YouTube and used the Roku on the new TV to stream a trail run in Singapore for my run yesterday.

(Excuse my mess!)   I think I like this set up better than using Zwift, though I could do both at the same time if I want since Zwift is done on the computer (which is set up to my left).  I tend to just watch the numbers on Zwift rather than the world I'm running in.  The TreadmillTV feed has the numbers of the person that's filming which are not relevant to me.  The trail I watched was really pretty and I didn't think about time too much.

Speaking of treadmills, we have been looking at buying a new one.  The one we have now is an older Proform.  I'm not exactly sure how old, but I think ancient.  I'm pretty sure the speed is way off, it gets squeaky, the incline doesn't work right and it doesn't have any cool functions.  It was a steal at $120 when we bought it off the Facebook marketplace, but I really want a new one.

I think we've decided on this one from Bowflex.  It has great reviews, connects with Zwift (or so I've heard).  The two things holding us back right now:  there is quite a bit of show at the back door that leads to where it would go - it comes in one box that weighs 300 pounds so the closer we can get it delivered to its destination the better.  And then we have to put it together, which apparently takes 2 people about 2 hours.  This doesn't sound like fun at all! 

My training has been disrupted by this cold but I'm still working on my Coaching certification.  My coworker found out that I was studying anatomy and was awesome enough to bring me her college text book so I can look up visual references (I learn much better this way).  PS. I love that there is a triathlete on the cover.

My course materials do not include any videos or great visuals.  I started out trying to memorize flashcards that I made but I have a hard time making myself pick them up in the middle of the week, so learning that way was slow.  Then I discovered that there are tons of YouTube videos on any subject, particularly college subjects.  I found some great mini-lectures on the skeletal system and I remember so much more than using the flash cards.

Click the picture for a link to the youtube channel

 



I'm hoping to get back to my full training schedule starting on Tuesday.  I may get on the treadmill and get a couple of miles or so, but today's workout is supposed to be speed which will get my lungs too worked up.  Monday is rest day, but I will get my LBC workout done.

Here's what my week looked like:

Sunday - LBC Legs (drop sets... those are killer) and hill sprints on my treadmill - sort of
Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - LBC Shoulders which was thankfully short and easy because this is when the cold hit.  I slept almost all day.
Wednesday - LBC Back/Biceps - I made it to work and this might have been the day I felt best all week once the cold settled in.
Thursday - LBC Legs - I cut out a couple of the moves because they were too much cardio so it was short.  I went to work but coughed all day and felt pretty cruddy by the time I got home.  Thankfully Mitch and I had Valentines Day dinner over the weekend before.
Friday - LBC Chest & Triceps - I stayed home from work to spare my coworkers the awful sounds I was making but worked from home.  I had some periods where I felt pretty good and did my workout over my lunch.  Feeling cruddy set back in later.
Saturday - 5 miles on the treadmill.  I thought I might run farther but took a break at 5 miles and when the painful coughing set in I called it a day.

See you Thursday with a throwback race recap.  I'm planning to post about the Beaverhead 55K, which is one of the hardest things I have ever done.  In case you missed the Revel Rockies recap, you can find it here.  Or if you want to spend some time reading my race recap of the firs time I did the Rut 50K, you can check it out here.

What type of learner are you? Do you get more from books, videos, hands on?  I prefer hands on, but that's hard to get with anatomy.

Have you been sick this year? This might be the third time for me this season, which is unusual.  It's been a rough winter!