Road to Boston: Week 7

This week was a huge improvement from last week.Last week was full of disappointment and this week was quite the opposite. I think I'm in this state where I feel very much like the underdog of my former self, and it's taking some of the pressure off. Sometimes, especially if you are entrenched in the world of social media, it feels like training should just trend upwards all the time if you're consistent, and do all the right things; the truth is it doesn't. Sometimes there are two steps forward, one step back, or in my case I feel like it's been had 3 steps forward, 5 steps back, 2 steps forward, 2 steps back, 5 steps forward, 4 steps back... and this week maybe another 2 steps forward.... I'm just making all that up, but the point is I've had almost as many setbacks as I've had breakthroughs, but you know what? With nearly all the set backs I've gained more knowledge about my postpartum body and that has propelled me forward. Most of my blog posts are obviously highlighting my training for Boston. My goal is to break 3 hours at Boston, but I realize a lot needs to come together at the perfect time for that to happen. I will only be 8 months postpartum, and with the very slow recovery I've had from this pregnancy, it wouldn't be wise to tether my happiness to Boston or measure my success in this sport to that one race. Instead, I'm going to just continue to focus on a gradual upward trend (which may involve some dips in there) and hope that come April 16th, I'm where I want to be (and that all those other annoying Boston Variables play to my favor... like the weather... 40 degrees and overcast, please!!! Also, does anyone know the rules on breast pumps? With my mastitis history I need to pump as close to the start as possible). Boston is a benchmark to a bigger goal, so everything I do is to support THE goal which is to hit the Olympic Trials Standard of 2:44 (shooting for 2:43 to be safe!). Some of you may be following my blog to learn more about my training, some of you to just see if I do this, others to make fun of me in my attempt. I get it, I've been all of those people... but I've especially been the hater. It's easier to sit back and watch people fail than it is to fail yourself.... but I'm not afraid to fail anymore... When I look into the eyes of my daughters, I know I already have everything I need in life, but I want to demonstrate for them what it's like to really go after something.... even if you come up short. This was a quiet goal of mine long before I had kids... and it's been sitting on the back burner for too long. So if I should fail in Boston, I fail forward... and if you fail forward enough times, you just might make it. 

Monday: Yoga went really well last week, so I did it again this week. I went to the slightly "easier" class, but in actuality it wasn't easier at all. Last week I went to a class called "stronger flow" and we spent the whole time preparing for headstand, but the Headstand part itself took up a significant part of the class and it was a lot of sitting and learning and experimenting. This class was flowing the whole time (75 minutes)  which challenge me more cardiovascularly than I expected. Also, it was packed wall to wall to wall to wall of yoga mats. I don't think I've ever poured so much sweat... this includes Bikram classes I've gone to. My mom, brother, and his girlfriend were all there, which made it fun. We were spread out and arrived at different times but it was still cool to experience with family members. The class had a good energy, but I was hesitant about doing any deep adductor stretches, and I also modified side planks. I've avoided a lot of drills that I have been doing for weeks just because I'm not 100% sure why my hip seems to be improving, but I'm not going to add any extra stress to it. I felt incredibly balanced after this class both physically and mentally so I'm going to stick with this as long as my wallet and husbands schedule allows. 

Tuesday: 7 Mile Morning Run (8:13/mi) As much as I wanted to explore some of the roads I'm not super familiar with, last week was not good so I stuck with a boring out and back course. There's not much snow on the ground, but lots of black ice from the melting and refreezing... because of that I hit the main road. Keep in mind, I live in the sticks, so the main road isn't even traveled that much. Mostly just buses and some commuters. It was hilly... because where I live it is literally impossible to not be climbing... from where I sit right now, I barely remember how I felt which I think is a good thing. Having a run that isn't memorable means nothing when wrong. I do remember at one point I was running next to a bus for about a mile and kids were cheering for me. The bus stopped nearly every other house and every time it stopped I'd catch up and pull ahead and we went back and fourth for about 5 or 6 stops. Needless to say, that was my fastest mile. Other than that, nothing memorable which means my hip felt ​fine. ​

Headlamp is almost a thing of the past

Wednesday: WORKOUT! Last week when I did faster intervals, I could barely walk for the rest of the day and I was panicked about the state of my hips postpartum. It literally felt like I was less than a month out from having Maebel... there's no way to describe to someone that has never had a baby what your pelvis feels like after having one.... but its not good... and to be blasted back that far really freaked me out. I took the paces I was given very seriously this time and checked my watch frequently for guidance as opposed to running blind and checking data later like I did last time (not like that really helped most of the time... I seemed to check my watch whenever it was reading something really glitchy like "10:30/mi" or "4:50/mi"... Obviously, NO) This weeks workout was 2 mile warm up, 6 x 5:00 @ 7:15 dropping down 5 seconds each interval. Obviously without a track you can't know for sure what pace you are going, so I did the math based on mileage and figured I was a little under 6;50 after the first repeat. I spent the next 3 trying to slow down (and it went by so fast because I was calculating mileage and pace while I ran. I can't add, but I can do elapsed time no problem!) Once I got back to the pace I was supposed to run I just ran off of feel and tried to get a sense for what it felt like to speed up each interval. I don't want to train my body to slow down at the end, so I didn't want to get *too* caught up in hitting the paces, but I also wanted to run cautiously (especially in the beginning with so much of the work in front of me) for the sake of my hip. Once I felt confident in it I relinquished a little control and checked the watch a lot less. My actual paces were 6:48, 6:59, 7:06, 6:39, 6:39, 6:33 with quite a bit of incline on the way out and decline on the way back (which is harder for my pelvis). I got to run this mid-day because I had a training that got out early and it was simply beautiful out! Totally felt renewed in my goals after this run. I also had 2 hours of driving today to listen to Beyond Grit and really get my mind in a good place.  

My Lunch... No really, this was it.

Success looks different on everyone

Thursday: Bike Not much to report here. I didn't want to do this because we had a guest over for dinner and I was so tired and knew I had to get up and run in the early morning... but I got it done anyway with the help of the Ali on the Run show. Her episode with Emma Coburn got me through the whole hour. Although, I checked how much more to go an exceptionally large amount of time. 

Tuesday/Thursday Adjustments

Friday: Morning Miles 8.7 Slow and pissed off. It's pathetic to be mad at a 6 month old, but I was. Happy 6 month sleep regression! Maebel was particularly a pain in the ass, or more like a pain in the boob(s) Thursday night. At one point I keeled over sobbing (and swearing...) to my husband that I simply couldn't do it. I was too tired and sore to feed her (Ouch, teeth!) and he kindly told me I was putting too much pressure on myself and I'm sure I barked some mean response back. He offered to feed her the bottle but this happened to be the first day I really under produced during the day since she ate so much more than usual and I only pumped 12 oz (which usually is what she takes when I'm at work and then she clusters when I get home to make up for it. She's never been 100% comfortable with the bottle) so I was almost 10 short for the day and the thought of having him feed her with the bottle didn't help because I was just going to have to pump anyway. The thing was she wasn't hungry. I kept trying to nurse her to get her to sleep, but she was just latching and biting and laughing at me. and I was yelling "What the fuck child! You're so fucking cute but this isn't fucking funny!" (yes, all those F-bombs and more at my 6 month old, myself, and my husband... I think this is where I should say, you'd have to know me. I have exaggerated ways of expressing myself) I'm not sure if I was laughing or crying at one point when she smiled and laughed and looked at me with an adorable "I own your life" smirk. NOT. FAIR! Then I spent the whole night in and out of dosing trying to get her to nurse in the bed and she was biting, kicking and playing. My husband got up for the bathroom and I asked him what time is was... I knew it had to be close to when I was waking up, but was hoping I had 30 minutes since she was sleeping now. He said "5:30" I was like No! Fuck NO, NO NO NO NO! My alarm went off seconds later and I threw the covers and yelled "I'm leaving" Meanwhile, Maebel woke up laughing just as she had been all night. I should have run much longer than the 1:17 that I ran, but I had to get to work. I was feeling relieved to have it done because only a day of work between me and my vacation... and I had a hunch my students were going to earn a movie for the afternoon. I wanted them to earn that movie more than anyone else, but it was one of those days where they were off the walls too, and finding something to reward was not easy! TGIF!!!!!

Yup, it's dark... so is my mood

Foggy like my Brain

Saturday: OFF Raea fell asleep on the floor at the same time Maebel fell asleep in my arms... so I fell asleep, too. Glorious 1.5 hour nap on the couch with the Incredibles in the background. I spent Friday night looking for information on the Obterator Internus and how to treat it by myself at home. I'm 90-99% sure that it is the source of my problems. This blog I found helpful and he has a video on youtube. I incorporated these drills into my day. Fingers crossed they help! After the random and much needed nap time, I hit up the playground with the girls before the snow came back. 

What?! This NEVER happens!

Having Fun without the sun!

Sunday:  16 Miles, 7:45/mi with 2:00 pick ups Matt and I were planning to run together Wednesday for Valentines Day, but Raea had a tiny fever so I didn't want to call a babysitter just in case it got worse (it never got over 99, this happens often when she refuses to poop... weirdo). So, we did our Run Date today and it was beautiful out. It snowed about 7 inches over night but the temps are supposed to hit 60's in the next few days and already started to rise before our run. There's nothing more beautiful than a run in the sun with the sparkling snow! On our way to my mothers house we dropped waters and a gatorade  (not my drink of choice, but it is what Boston uses, so I think it's important to keep it in my rotation... lemon lime, the taste of the marathon....) and then we dropped off the girls. I practiced fuel and hydration every 30-35 minutes per recommendation of my coach. I usually fuel every 40-45, but last week with the really cold rain I bonked a little bit since I spent so much energy keeping my body warm. This run I had more in the tank... at least another mile or two. Even my hip handled it well. I struggled a bit with the downhill pick-ups at the end, but I have been doing this loop purposefully because of the downhill finish. Boston is net downhill but the back half has a reputation of chewing up peoples quads, so I'm working on getting my body ready for this in every way possible. My pick-ups were 7:06, 6:47, 6:35, 6:05, 6:00, 6:06/mi pace. I was very pleased with this because it felt easy.  I'm looking forward to seeing what next week will bring! 

Goal Setting every morning

Total: 41.2
Chriopractor: 2x
Yoga: 1x
Ice Bath:1x
Ice Packs: EVERY DAY!
Epsom Salt: 2x
​Obterator Internus Drills: 2x

Some of the things I use that you can get on Amazon! Big thanks to those of you who purchased last week! I made my goal of filling my gas tank! Lets keep this going! Every little bit helps and if it's something useful to you anyway, your purchase here supports my blog. Note: I fully control what you see on this blog and never post anything that I don't believe in! 

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