McGinley Method, Week 4

Here we go week 4! I thought I'd be running by now but that's not happening.. though hopefully soon! I'm 20 weeks out from the Boston Marathon but that is not my focus right now. It can't be! I can't even run a mile never mind 26.2! But unlike all the other marathon build-ups in my life, I feel like If I am able to get this one going it will be more stable than any build up I've ever done. I've almost always failed to make it to the start if my training is more than 10 weeks long because the pain compounds and compounds until I literally can't run. I know in the grand scheme of marathon builds that's a short amount of time, but if I spent any longer training hard I'd get hurt. I think in this case I'm going to be able to trust my body more in many ways towards the end....but the one big wildcard is if and when the Botox will wear off... and if I'll have the money to go to Wyoming (obviously we are budgeting for it, but life happens and we're new homeowners and let me tell you - every season there's something new to do! Hopefully nothing urgent like the water tank before Christmas!) As of right now I still plan to run Boston even if I only get my long run to 2 hours. I'll likely take a very similar approach to Erie... Cross train half the time... So I'm going to need to start cross training... But for now I still have training wheels and am just trying to get movement into my life with good recovery.

Monday May 17, 2021
Rough but fun start to the week. As I posted last Sunday my husbands friend Jack was visiting so Sunday night we stayed up a liiiiiiittle too late or a typical Sunday... So basically I just got home and tried to CHILL! My husband was going to be gone for a bunch of days so we prepped for that and I took an epsom salt bath. My legs start to feel better by Sunday and then Monday hits and I've gotta be keeping up with kids and just doing every movement mindlessly. Siiiighhh I know I over did it from the start so it’s hard to write blogposts and be like “I did nothing” but sometimes nothing is everything... as is the case most of this week.

Tuesday May 18, 2021
Matt left early in the morning so I had to get Raea ready myself and Matts mom came for Maebel. Fortunately that all went off smoothly. I had a call with a new athlete which is exciting! I'm trying to decide where to cap my roster but I do love coaching so much that it's hard to really pin-point what "full" is... Especially when I have the summer off and pre-covid teaching is WAY easier than what I've been doing so I should have more capacity in the upcoming year....We shall see! I had a hard time with dinner and bed time tonight. Not that the girls weren't good, just my legs get so tired! Hopefully this fatigue level goes away soon. Barely slept because it was hot as hell and our AC didn't work. Ugh. Not prepared for spring to be over! Overall just another day of focusing on doing as little to aggravate my legs since I bit off a tad too much early on.

Wednesday May 19, 2020
​I haven't worked a Wednesday in a while but I had to work today because of the Standardized testing. I had to get both girls ready for the first time in a really really long time. Stress is stress so even though I’m literally doing nothing except foam rolling and recovery stuff... adding anything right now wouldn’t be in my best interest even if my legs felt up to it. Fortunately the girls were really cooperative! I dropped Maebel off at my moms who lives next to my work and then Raea came with me as always. The day went well. I actually sat a lot more than usual because I was working with the student who was remote a lot of the day. After work I cleaned my car and ate dinner at my parents. One less thing to do at home. I was limping a lot by the end of today though my mom even noticed. I'm telling you- the multidays of work in a row is tough! My goal on weekdays for now is survival and recovery... then I try to mix in some stuff on the weekends. I’m less frustrated about it than I initially was. Initially I just thought I had made it to the goal when i got to Wyoming! I’ve adjusted my thinking a bit and am feeling emotionally better.

Thursday May 20, 2021
I took today off from work.
1. I had no childcare,
2. No testing today and my legs were going to HATE 4 straight days!

Today I got a lot of rest in which I needed badly since the AC situation had me up late and late night with Jack from last week. I was offered a discount on a massage gun... and it’s just about the only recovery tool I don’t have and one the nurse mentioned. It came in today and IT WAS WORTH IT! GAME CHANGER!!!!! I don’t really want to be associated with any product I don’t actually like because my reputation as a reliable source is too important to me— AND my husband works in the industry—too much to lose, so... it was great! I don’t actually know the science behind these things, but it felt effective and Im a big believer that even if something is placebo (they say KT tape is, I will never believe it) “the placebo effect is still an effect”... so the Ultra Recovery gun really seems to be working! Yay!

EDIT: After I posted on Instagram they gave me a discount code! Am I an influencer now? I don’t think so... but this massage gun has been CLUTCH!

visit Ultra Recovery and use code GERMAIN for 20% off

Friday, May 21, 2021
I went back to work today but felt really inspired to try some plyos when I got out. I had purchased an agility ladder knowing these type of things will be helpful and wanted to bust it out. I did a bunch of different ones...

​1. quick feet
2. centipede (moving laterally two in, two out)
3. icky shuffle (two in one out)
4. double icky shuffle (two in two out)
5. bilateral hops

I also tried single leg hops. Running is single leg so that’s the goal before I run again, but immediately felt like a setback. I was pissed and threw up a little temper tantrum Instagram post... I rolled and ultra-gunned, and did the compression boots. Matt came home from his trip at like midnight so at least I could’ve focus on myself (sort of?) for the weekend.

Saturday May 22, 2021
Up at the crack of dawn for the girls dress rehearsal. Hair, make up, and Covid restrictions galore. My legs felt surprisingly normal after the plyo mishap. When the crazy dance morning was over we added more craziness with yard work. Legs were tired but felt balanced... like nothing glaringly bad-no hot spots! The yard came out pretty good on a budget-I’m sure I’ll manage to kill everything but... worth a try. #homeownership... we went to get ice cream after. What a jam packed day and NO LIMPING!

Sunday May 23, 2021
I spent all morning writing training plans. I picked up 2 athletes in this last week and one of my athletes just started up after a really great marathon... so lots of looking ahead and making notes. After that I was able to get some drills in. I’m still having a hard time with the coordination so I did some slow motion “speed” drills. It really went well! I think I’m turning a corner where the pain I feel is more normal training fatigue as opposed to doing too much too soon or just having no fucking clue how To use my Botoxed Legs combined with whacky compensation patterns. We picked up an AC unit from my friend who had an extra, and then went out to dinner. Someone paid for our whole meal! This was the first time the girls have been in a restaurant since Covid. Massachusetts gets rid of all restrictions next week so back to keeping my kids somewhat quarantined (away from high risk activities) until vaccination rates are higher. Fortunately Massachusetts is doing pretty well! I can’t believe if all times to be in a restaurant someone pays!

In summary:
​This week started off badly but I’m turning a real corner. Hopefully next week I can start building a routine and some consistency. Still can’t believe i have this rare condition... sometimes it feels like I’ve been dealt a bad hand, but with a VO2 Max north of 60- i can’t complain about my cards-just looking forward to playing them all.